By Josh Oakley
No one will remember the Dark Elves. They may remember the Portal-esque fight sequence, or the
one-liners uttered from Tom
Hiddleston’s beautiful lips. But they won’t remember the Dark Elves.
Those elves are at the center of both the newest Marvel
movie Thor: The Dark World and one of
the main recurring problems in the series: the lack of villains worth giving a
damn about. This has been an issue since the very beginning: who recalls the
motives or characteristics of Iron Man’s
Obadiah Stane, beyond his incessant abiding? The second Iron Man didn’t fare much better, though that movie’s problems extend far past cardboard bad guys (as great as Sam Rockwell, the one redeeming factor
of that pile of trash, was, his character was non-existent). Thor and The Avengers utilized Loki, the career-defining role of Hiddleston, but one victory hardly creates a trend. 2013 was the worst year
yet, with both Iron Man 3 and now the
new Thor dropping in empty enemies
with little in the way of characterization or nuance. (To be fair, the reveal
behind the Mandarin was brilliant, but Guy Pearce’s character was woefully
lightweight).
As the greatness of Loki-as-villain proves, I’m not
insisting on these franchises becoming deep character studies of what it means
to be “evil”. Loki is a great villain because the Marvel universe has attached
charismatic writing to a charismatic actor. As the failure of Ifans’ Lizard and
Rockwell’s Justin Hammer prove, it’s rarely the actor left to blame. Hiddleston
is marvelous, but Loki is an icon because he is given great things to say.
Along with that, his reasons for villainy (or, ugh, “origin story”) stems from
at least a little bit more than
simply “fuck the world”, as if the most powerful men on earth are all college
sophomores who really “get” Nietzsche. Daddy issues are far from original, but
in the current landscape of cinematic villains, Loki brings something
more than “nihilism plus magic”.
There are other routes to go down when writing a villain, of
course. Perhaps the best example hails from the only super-villain to ever win
an Academy Award. Heath Ledger’s Joker was a great creation for a number of
reasons, but one of his most fascinating details was the lack of any true
origin story. The Dark Knight made
The Joker’s incoherency of purpose a main facet of his identity, and that is
why the character populates Halloween, even five years later. Alfred
Molina’s Doc Ock (Spider-Man 2) didn’t even rely on his story to entice. That character was
simply a marriage of performance, script and character design, with his
physicality adding to Ock’s threat and power on-screen.
I understand that the emphasis of a superhero film is,
generally, the hero. And the lack of development in an antagonist is somewhat
understandable in the first outing; a franchise’s attempt to acclimate the
audience to a new world. But in a sequel, when the main conflict of the hero is
repeated and the universe is only slightly expanded, a strong villain can support
a further explanation of the series’ themes (The Joker in The Dark Knight) or simply reinvigorate what made the first effort
enjoyable (Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2).
Beyond that of course is the hope that all characters in every movie are
thought-out and developed. But if the focus is squarely on appeasing an
audience and creating profit, there’s no reason to ignore solutions that could
aid creatively and commercially.
(Spoilers for the
post-credits tag in Thor: The Dark World
ahead)
The trend may be changing, at least to some extent. The
post-credits tag for The Dark World shows
Benicio del Toro doing his best “Tom Waits by way of Mugatu from Zoolander” in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy. The Internet
seems unsure if the role is expressly that of a villain, but his goals as
established in the tag seem to imply so. 2015 will see James Spader, one of the
most beautifully hammy actors we have facing off against the Avengers. There’s
no definite promise that either of these villains will become icons, but the foundation
for hope is there.
The reason that I so dislike the taste of generic villains is fairly simple: if the antagonist is poorly developed, it is difficult for the film’s conflict to hold any weight. Of course Thor and Loki and fainting-Natalie Portman will be fine; nothing as simple and unprofound as the Dark Elves will take these characters down. Tony Stark will not be bested by revenge-of-the-nerd Guy Pearce. The stakes drop dramatically when the threat is ill defined. And that definition doesn’t have to be a dry explanation – far from it. The situation should simply be unique and authentic and, if the villain’s motives are a mystery, that should inform the events unfolding. We've seen enough people who want to destroy the world simply because. "Simply because" is bad writing. "Simply because" is not befitting of creatures that wish to wipe humanity from the face of the Earth. In universes where literally anything is possible, from gods enjoying a cup of coffee, to the richest man in the world flying around in a metal suit, "simply because" is how the bad guys win. These are not the villains we deserve, or the villains we need now, or ever again.
The reason that I so dislike the taste of generic villains is fairly simple: if the antagonist is poorly developed, it is difficult for the film’s conflict to hold any weight. Of course Thor and Loki and fainting-Natalie Portman will be fine; nothing as simple and unprofound as the Dark Elves will take these characters down. Tony Stark will not be bested by revenge-of-the-nerd Guy Pearce. The stakes drop dramatically when the threat is ill defined. And that definition doesn’t have to be a dry explanation – far from it. The situation should simply be unique and authentic and, if the villain’s motives are a mystery, that should inform the events unfolding. We've seen enough people who want to destroy the world simply because. "Simply because" is bad writing. "Simply because" is not befitting of creatures that wish to wipe humanity from the face of the Earth. In universes where literally anything is possible, from gods enjoying a cup of coffee, to the richest man in the world flying around in a metal suit, "simply because" is how the bad guys win. These are not the villains we deserve, or the villains we need now, or ever again.
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