3 Perfect DC Castings Wasted On Awful Villains

A villain can make or break a superhero movie. The Marvel Cinematic Universe puts all of its eggs in the Thanos basket, building up the Mad Titan in several movies before finally unleashing him in Avengers: Infinity War. The plan goes off without a hitch, with the villain proving to be both menacing and sympathetic. However, the movie could’ve been a disaster if the right buttons hadn’t been pressed. DC also owes a great deal to a single villainous performance, as Heath Ledger’s Joker elevates Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy from good to great. Unfortunately, the company has never been able to replicate the formula Nolan used.

Since The Dark Knight, many major DC villains have been brought to the big screen, whether in the DC Extended Universe or in a one-off movie. Some of the performances land, but there are a few notable ones that stick out like a sore thumb despite having potential. Here are three perfect DC castings wasted on awful villains.

3) Mark Strong as Sinestro

2011’s Green Lantern aspires to build its own franchise, introducing the Green Lantern Corps and its newest recruit, Hal Jordan. Ryan Reynolds’ hero learns all he can while he’s on Oa, but he doesn’t get much time on the practice field because he has to deal with two lackluster villains, Hector Hammond and Parallax. From the jump, it’s clear that Green Lantern‘s villains are generic comic book movie bad guys that will fail to make an impact. However, that’s not the case for every character.

Helping train Hal is Sinestro, played by Mark Strong. The actor brings his A-game to a character who’s going through a crisis of faith, losing his belief in the Guardians of the Universe. Unfortunately, Sinestro doesn’t get nearly enough to do, and the set-up for his future goes nowhere because the movie doesn’t have a sequel. At least Strong gets to redeem himself ever so slightly by playing Doctor Sivana in the DCEU.

2) Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a graduate of the Nolan school of casting. Zack Snyder brings in an Oscar-winner in Ben Affleck to bring his dark vision of Batman to life, and he also takes a major swing in the villain department. Jesse Eisenberg, who isn’t known for playing menacing characters, lands the role of Lex Luthor, who is almost Riddler-esque in the DCEU.

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Eisenberg is a great actor; there’s no doubt about it. His performances in The Social Network and A Real Pain prove that he deserves a seat at the table with Hollywood’s heavy hitters. Sadly, he’s not a great fit for Lex, though it’s hard to imagine any actor making the character feel intimidating with the material Snyder and Co. provide.

1) Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord

The first Wonder Woman movie has a major villain problem. Despite bringing in two notable actors to play bad guys, Danny Huston and David Thewlis, Patty Jenkins’ movie fails to do them justice, providing them with generic dialogue and convoluted motivations. Wonder Woman‘s sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, barks up the same tree with its villain, Maxwell Lord.

Lord, of course, is played by the busiest man in Hollywood, Pedro Pascal. His goal is to recreate the world in his image using the Dreamstone, and Diana Prince won’t stand for it. The battle between the two leaves a lot to be desired, though, especially because Lord never really leaves the runway, sitting in place and letting the events of the movie come to him.

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