Top 10 Over The Top Supervillain Portrayals

Script written by Garrett Alden

Top 10 Over the Top Supervillain Portrayals

Subtle these performances are not! Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 over the top supervillain portrayals.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the performances by actors playing supervillains that are incredibly over the top. These aren’t necessarily unenjoyable portrayals, just lacking in restraint for better or worse.

#10: Paul Giamatti as Rhino

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014)

Paul Giamatti is an actor who can bring pathos and gravitas to his roles. But his role as Aleksei Sytsevich, a.k.a. Rhino, is kind of the opposite of that. “I am the Rhino!” A Russian mobster foiled by Spider-Man, Rhino acquires a powerful mech suit shaped like the animal from which he takes his name and promptly begins to cause havoc. Giamatti’s absurd Russian accent and vigorous over-acting are incredibly cheesy, though reportedly, he chose to play it that way intentionally and had a lot of fun with the role. Despite getting little screen time, that enthusiasm definitely shows in his performance.

#9: Michael Shannon as General Zod

“Man of Steel” (2013)

As a conquering alien general out to change Earth into a new Krypton, Zod requires a certain degree of bombast to him. While Michael Shannon brings plenty of that, he does occasionally show the Kryptonian villain’s more insidious nature as well. It’s just a shame that he veers wildly between the two extremes, playing it cool one second and then turning his performance up to eleven the next. [“I will find him!”] In fact, you might say that his performance is about as subtle as a snapped neck. What? Too soon?

#8: Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy

“Batman & Robin” (1997)

This entire film is made up of campy performances, from Robert Swenson as a dumbed down version of Bane, to another villain we’ll get to later. But Uma Thurman’s turn as Poison Ivy stands out as one of the more prominently exaggerated performances. She plays the seductive Poison Ivy with the kind of languorous, over enunciation you might hear from a stereotypical cougar character in a teen comedy, but not a supervillain. Granted, she’s supposed to be a seductive, sexy villainess, but we’ve seen more subtlety from B-movies.

#7: Peter Sarsgaard as Dr. Hector Hammond

“Green Lantern” (2011)

This movie was let down by a lot of things, including the performance of its villain. Peter Sarsgaard is a rather underrated actor with a number of phenomenal roles under his belt, but he is not at his best here. In fact, he might be at his worst. The big-headed Hector Hammond and his mental abilities should be threatening, but Sarsgaard plays the character twitchy and weird, and that’s when he isn’t screaming. Far from eliciting menace or empathy, his high-pitched screams and yelps are actually kind of hilarious. It’s almost as if Sarsgaard knew the movie was going to be a dud and just had fun with it.

#6: Colin Farrell as Bullseye

“Daredevil” (2003)

Surely assassins should be a bit more subtle, no? Colin Farrell portrays Bullseye, a hitman who always hits his marks and who comes into conflict with the titular hero when Daredevil causes him to end that streak. Farrell plays the unbelievably accurate villain with a kind of confident, grandiose swagger reminiscent of cocky star athletes, and with facial expressions that are just as exaggerated as his physicality. Then again, the possibility for subtlety in the role may have been moot from the start, given the crosshairs on the character’s forehead.

#5: Jared Leto as The Joker

“Suicide Squad” (2016)

Batman’s nemesis, the clown prince of crime, requires a degree of theatricality and flamboyance from every actor who plays him. But Jared Leto takes it a step further and goes completely over the top with his portrayal of the Joker. The actor’s overacting, from his over enunciation of words, to his awkward laugh, to his weird, cat growls all came across as obnoxious to many viewers rather than entertaining or threatening; so we can only imagine how bad it was for people on-set, since Leto reportedly stayed in-character outside of filming too. Of course, the Joker’s look didn't help either - as it was similarly edgy and over the top.

#4: Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin

“Spider-Man” (2002)

Willem Dafoe rarely does subtlety and this mean green villain is no exception. The first big villain Spider-Man faces in the Sam Raimi films is the father of his friend Harry, who is exposed to an experiment that gives him super strength at the expense of his sanity. Dafoe plays up the Green Goblin personality with his legendary big style, alternating between a sinister, nasal drawl and full-on cackling in evil glee. The “Spider-Man” trilogy is cheesier than a lot of people remember, but Dafoe’s performance is a big slice of ham on top of the first film - and it honestly worked.

#3: Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016)

Lex Luthor and “quirky” are not two things people associated with one another before this performance. Jessie Eisenberg’s turn as Superman’s archenemy, besides being out of character, was also quite excessive. Eisenberg plays Luthor more like the Joker or even the Riddler; swinging between posturing speeches and lots of little ticks and quirks, with plenty of “hms” and “ahs” along the way. Granted, Eisenberg may have been playing to his particular strengths as an actor, but his strengths were a bit strong for many viewers and longtime fans of the character.

#2: Jim Carrey as The Riddler

“Batman Forever” (1995)

[“Was that over the top? I can never tell!”] Well we can, and yes, yes it was. Jim Carrey is known for chewing the scenery in his films, but he positively devours it with his high energy performance as the Riddler. Tommy Lee Jones tries admirably to match Carrey’s level of eccentricity as Two Face, but he simply can’t compete with Carrey’s absurd overacting. While it arguably distracts from the rest of the movie, Carrey’s performance is incredibly watchable and, for better or for worse, it’s easily one of the most memorable parts of “Batman Forever.”





Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:



Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus

“The Spirit” (2008)





Jamie Foxx as Electro

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014)

#1: Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze

“Batman & Robin” (1997)

Here’s a fun drinking game: take a drink every time Mr. Freeze doesn’t say a line with a pun or joke related to ice. We don’t recommend the reverse, as you’d soon find yourself out cold! Along with the terrible dialogue, Schwarzenegger plays the icy villain with such supremely bombastic glee that he makes some of our previous entries look mild by comparison. Whether his acting melts your face or makes you freeze up in a permanent cringe, Schwarzenegger is clearly having an absolute ball as Mr. Freeze.