Top 14 Great Characters Done Dirty By Their Movie

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


This film was disappointing on many levels, including box office-wise, performing below expectations. An even more egregious misstep was this polarizing reinterpretation of Lex Luthor. Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor is younger, awkward, and almost manic in taking down Superman. While far from the standard rational genius characterization, this interpretation is seemingly based on Mark Waid’s “Superman: Birthright” series. Unlike in that comic, however, Eisenberg’s Luthor has no childhood relationship with Superman. It may work for casual viewers, but for fans, this reimagining goes too far astray. He may as well be a totally different character altogether.

“Freddy vs. Jason” (2003)


Speaking of two heroes fighting, what about two villains having an ultimate showdown? Unfortunately, this early-aughts crossover managed to squander its premise’s potential, dissatisfying both fandoms. Jason fans were disappointed to see him allied with teens to stop Freddy and disliked how the film was based more on the “Elm Street” world than “Friday the 13th.” Freddy fans griped about Jason getting a high kill count. Fans also lamented that Kane Hodder couldn’t reprise his role as Jason, with Ken Kirzinger playing the role. The film managed to kill the mystique of not one, but two iconic horror murderers.

“Dark Phoenix” (2019)


A soft reboot of “X-Men: The Last Stand,” this film’s origin story for Jean Grey manages to mangle her character even further. After learning her father is alive from the car crash that killed her mother, Jean sets out to find him. When she learns her father abandoned her because her powers had caused the crash, Jean breaks down and accidentally kills Raven. This makes less sense than her actions in “The Last Stand,” where she kills Charles Xavier for keeping the truth from her and suppressing her powers. If the idea was to get justice for a character done dirty in the past, killing a random mutant and sacrificing her life to save the world isn’t the way to do it.

“The Dark Tower” (2017)


This adaptation of Stephen King’s novel series of the same name had been in production hell for years. Not only was it a dud for general audiences. It was a massive disappointment for fans, especially because of the villainous Man in Black. Obsessed with taking down the Dark Tower and ruling the universe, the Man in Black plays a much bigger role in the books than in the film, conceived by King as the consummate charismatic villain. To see Matthew McConaughey’s more grounded Man in Black defeated in the end and forced to deliver exposition was disappointing, to say the least.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” (2024)


Making a sequel to a standalone film like 2019’s “Joker” was already a very risky move. Turning it into a musical was even more so. Arguably the true damage done was to Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck. From the get-go, this film made it clear that it was no comic book origin story of an iconic villain, but a character study of Arthur Fleck. Fleck even gives up on his Joker alter ego, realizing it was just a shield to deflect responsibility. As the last slap in the face to fans of the character, it is revealed that the Joker we know wasn’t Fleck himself, but a fellow inmate who admired Fleck’s crimes, even usurping him. Talk about assault to injury.

“Halloween” (2007)


Another slasher villain ruined by the remake. This remake of the classic John Carpenter film is an origin story for Myers as he gets taken to a sanitarium and finally escapes to terrorize Haddonfield’s residents. Humanizing Myers as an institutionalized result of a broken home only raised more questions than answers. For instance, if Laurie was Myers’ sister, and if Myers cared for her in his younger years, then why would he terrorize her and kill everyone close to her fifteen years later? The motivations are not ambiguous, they are nonsensical. Perhaps it was better when Myers was just a man in a mask.

“Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022)


This affable Norse god took a turn for the worse in this tonal clash of a Thor film. In this installment, Thor must team up with now-superpowered ex-Dr. Jane Foster. The result is an awkward, fumbling second-chance romance that doesn’t quite deliver. It doesn’t help matters that Chris Hemsworth’s more lighthearted Thor no longer has the character arc established in the previous entries. Hemsworth even admitted in 2023 that the film went over-the-top in the wacky humor, feeling Thor has become a parody of himself. There is a clearly thin line between comedy and clownery.

“Terminator Genisys” (2015)


Granted, the T-800 was also a victim of bad writing, but John Connor suffered a major blow in this installment, perhaps ruining him for good. In this reboot, Connor is no longer the future resistance leader against the machines, but an evil Terminator who goes back in time. It turns out that Connor was attacked by Skynet and turned into the T-3000. His mission is to prevent Sarah Connor and the T-800 from destroying Skynet’s Genisys system. The film ends with Connor’s death at the hands of the T-800. What? Naturally, fans cried foul at this literal character assassination. You just don’t turn a hero into a villain without very good reason. And this wasn’t it.

“Spider-Man 3” (2007)


This third installment of Sam Raimi’s trilogy is clearly the most flawed. One of its worst mistakes was in bringing in Venom as the villain. The problem is not just that Raimi was forced to include the character due to studio interference. Topher Grace’s Venom does not have much to do, having to compete with Sandman in an already bloated film. The fact that Raimi admitted to not liking Venom, preferring Vulture to be the third movie villain, only made matters worse. Maybe Vulture would have been the better choice after all.

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (2008)


The problems with the fourth “Indiana Jones” film are too many to count. Arguably the worst victim of this mess was Indy himself. The film’s many gags about his age were groan-worthy, and the slapstick at his expense tilted into the cartoonish. Then there was that infamous scene that had Indiana hide in a fridge from a nuclear bomb. Most damnably, Jones has even less agency than in the previous installments, with the aliens killing the bad guys. 2023’s “Dial of Destiny” didn’t redeem the character, turning Jones into the sidekick of his own movie. A sad fate for a beloved adventurer.

“Spectre” (2015)


This James Bond villain is one of the most iconic, perhaps the ur-example of a villain introduced with his face obscured, stroking a white cat. Great villains are like weapons; not all of them are suitable for all fights. In this case, including Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld opposite Daniel Craig’s Bond was a mistake. For one thing, the film had the risible idea to make Blofeld our hero’s adoptive brother, taking on the alias in his revenge quest, resenting Bond for being his father’s favorite. This cheap Cain-and-Abel plot twist is the same one done in “Austin Powers,” as a parody. It’s a waste of a legacy villain.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (2011)


Few franchises have such a bigger-than-life character as Captain Jack Sparrow. And he is great… as a comic supporting character. Not a protagonist. “On Stranger Tides’s” attempt to make a main lead out of this pirate lord is undoubtedly a failure. In this entry, Sparrow is forced to serve Blackbeard in searching for the Fountain of Youth. Having to watch the pirate work for someone else on a goal he himself has abandoned is dull, to say the least. Even his madcap brilliance is missing. Without Will and Elizabeth, Sparrow’s lack of agency and his inability to carry a whole film is glaring.

“The Last Airbender” (2010)


We are all familiar with the car-crash spectacle of this infamous film adaptation, based on the beloved animated series. Beyond floating rocks and other lore-breaking blunders, there was the insane character assassination. Sokka is no longer funny, Katara lost her fiery personality and powerful bending, and Aang lost… pretty much everything that made him Aang. Then there was the fact that white actors played the heroes while Indian actors played the villainous Fire Nation characters. Add in the exposition-laden dialogue, the poor acting, and the results are a complete nightmare. RIP Aang and co.

“Fantastic Four” (2015)


This origin story is nowhere close to being fantastic. After their teleporter explodes, giving them powers, friends Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben eventually decide to use their powers to help people as The Fantastic Four. Part of Four’s charm was their sense of found family and camaraderie, all but missing here. The team’s powers are also severely underused, and their individual motivations muddy. Let’s not forget what they did to Dr. Doom. From his weird plastic-like appearance to his lack of clear motivation, this iconic villain was all but wasted in this film. With such shoddy character assassinations, it’s no wonder it is one of the lowest-rated superhero movies.


Which other great characters do you feel were ruined by their own films? Let us know in the comments down below!