Top 10 Times Supervillains Actually Did Something NICE

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009)
When Logan has a showdown with Weapon XI, it looks like he’s met his match. But after being a genuinely awful person for most of the movie, Sabretooth, aka Victor, surprises everyone. He shows up at the last possible moment to give his brother much needed backup. After Sabretooth stops Logan from falling to his doom, the villain speaks a line that could not fit the tone of this movie more. Thanks to the antagonist’s help, Wolverine is able to take down Weapon XI with a devastating and head-rolling blow. It may not erase all the bad blood between the duo, but Victor came through here.

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (2021)
In “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, Avengers Sam and Bucky decide to turn to an old foe for help tracking down where a group of villains got Super Soldier Serum. They just have to break the antagonist out of jail first. It’s an interesting team-up when you consider that Baron Zemo helped break the Avengers apart in “Captain America: Civil War.” But the villain is actually extremely helpful. He shows that even though he’s responsible for some terrible and murderous things, he is interested in keeping the world safe. If Zemo had just turned down his violent tendencies a little, Sam and Bucky may have extended their partnership.

“Watchmen” (2019)
When villainous mastermind Ozymandias meets his daughter Lady Trieu, we soon learn that she’s even more troubled than he is. She reveals to her horrible father that she plans to use Dr. Manhattan's powers to turn the world into whatever she wants it to be. Dr. Manhattan, naturally, realizes this will be terrible. The blue hero decides to send Ozymandias to his old squid-creating lair. Once there, the megalomaniac decides to use cephalopods to his advantage to dash his daughter’s plan. He triggers a hailstorm of the frozen creatures that kill Lady Trieu before she can finish her evil plan. Although Ozymandias deserves credit for saving the world, he is understandably arrested for his crimes immediately.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)
Ultron’s ultimate goal throughout the film was to wipe out a large portion of humanity. Originally, he teamed up with Wanda and Pietro to execute his plans. But they eventually turn on him when they realize how many innocent people he’s trying to kill. After a major battle, Wanda finds a damaged Ultron. He’s surprisingly tender when he warns her that she could die if she doesn’t leave the crumbling remains of her homeland. It’s hard to say why Ultron seems to have such a caring impulse towards her. Perhaps he understands her darkness? Ultimately, he didn’t get the chance to find out, because Wanda ripped his robot heart out for slaying her brother.

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021)
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is a superhero martial arts film that deeply explores family trauma. After spending thousands of years accruing power with his ten rings, Wenwu starts a family. When his wife is slain by his old enemies, he treats his children harshly and isolates them. Wenwu and his children clash again when an evil other-dimensional being called the Dweller-in-Darkness tricks the man behind the ten rings into breaking the monster out. Upon seeing this dweller in darkness, Wenwu realizes he’s been duped and protects his son. The villain even gives up the power of the rings to Shang-Chi. Wenwu’s final act as a father was ensuring that his son might defeat this evil.

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017)
In this 2017 movie, Peter Parker realizes that his homecoming date Liz is Adrian Toomes’ – aka the Vulture’s – daughter. The villain soon realizes who’s underneath the webhead’s mask too. Since Spider-man saved Liz earlier in the film, the Vulture agrees to leave the hero alone as long as the kid doesn't interfere with any future schemes. But Peter still ditches the dance to thwart the villain. After Vulture’s arrested, Mac Gargan approaches Toomes and asks if he knows who Spider-man is. Although he could expose Parker, Vulture keeps the secret to himself. The aerial villain probably did the webhead a solid because Peter saved him from a fire. No matter what the Vulture’s motivations were, it was nice of him to keep Spidey’s identity safe.

“The Flash” (2014-)
In “The Flash” TV series, the Reverse-Flash, otherwise known as Eobard Thawne, is that nemesis who’s never gone forever. And at least in this one instance, that's a good thing. When hero Barry seems to be at the end of his rope with Godspeed, the Reverse-Flash speeds into the fray. The two team up against this common enemy together and race into an epic battle. In the end, Thawne takes Godspeed out. Unfortunately, the goodwill between the rivals doesn’t last for long. Thawne does make a decent attempt to take out the Flash before giving up. While it wasn’t a great way for him to end the battle, there would likely be no Flash left to fight were it not for the villain’s actions.

“Thor: The Dark World” (2013)
While “Thor: The Dark World,” isn’t necessarily everyone’s favorite Marvel film, it marks the beginning of Loki’s path to redemption… sort of. The Trickster starts the movie imprisoned on Asgard and estranged from his brother Thor. But everything changes when their mother Frigga is murdered. Her death leads to the siblings and Jane Foster teaming up against the Dark Elf Malekith who killed her. During the climactic battle, Loki personally saves Jane’s life not once but twice. He’s also instrumental in stopping the villain Kurse. Naturally, the antagonist keeps up his mischievous streak and fakes his death before assuming Odin’s identity. But despite the outcome, the heroic deeds he performed for Jane and his brother can’t be ignored.

“X2: X-Men United” (2003)
Although Charles Xavier and Magneto both want to protect mutantkind, their vastly different approaches to helping their brethren often makes it impossible for them to work together. But the master of magnetism seems to turn over a new leaf in “X2”. After Charles gets captured by the sinister Stryker, Magneto teams up with the heroic mutants to help save their leader. During the partnership, the villain gives advice, saves lives and opens up about his motivations. We were almost convinced that he was a fully fledged hero…until he tried to strike a blow against humanity. Magneto’s temporary alliance with the X-Men does serve as a nice break from his struggle against Charles.

“Spider-Man 2” (2004)
Dr. Otto Octavius gives directionless, confused Peter Parker some much-needed guidance and support in “Spider-Man 2.” But thanks to a failed experiment, the scientist starts to be controlled by his evil tentacle arms. It seems like the good man who befriended Peter is gone forever once Otto turns on a dangerous machine. Just when all hope seems lost, Spider-Man takes off his mask and gets through to his old mentor. Doc Ock suddenly is able to gain control of his evil arms and decides to undo the damage he caused. He ultimately sacrifices himself to stop his invention from wrecking the city and taking lives. Doc Ock’s final act of kindness completed arguably the best villain redemption arc of any superhero film.