Leave room for evil laughter! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at movie supervillain monologues that gave us an insight into their twisted minds and let their respective heroes know just how dangerous they could be.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're looking at movie supervillain monologues that gave
00:11us an insight into their twisted minds and let their respective heroes know just how
00:17dangerous they could be.
00:23Number 10 Thanos – Avengers Infinity War After a decade setting up the film adaptation
00:33of the Infinity Saga, the MCU leaned hard into the terror of Thanos in Avengers Infinity
00:38War.
00:42The Mad Titan is arguably the protagonist of the film, capping his life-long effort
00:46to bring balance to the universe by eliminating half of all life.
00:52It's safe to say that Thanos is a villain who likes the sound of his own voice.
00:56Fashioning himself as a philosophical warrior, he never wastes an opportunity to speechify.
01:01From the Guardians of the Galaxy to Doctor Strange and Tony, Thanos explains himself
01:06to virtually every hero he meets.
01:08Still, few of his speeches match the opening monologue, a slow reveal introducing the audience
01:27to the sheer menace of the Mad Titan.
01:40Number 9 Bane – The Dark Knight Rises Despite his muffled voice, Chris Nolan's
01:49Bane is another villain who speechifies whenever possible.
01:53Batman, Bane explains to the Dark Knight exactly why he cannot win.
02:00When he takes the city hostage, Bane can't help but make a dramatic speech to the world.
02:13But his speech at Blackgate Prison gave us our best glimpse into the villain's psyche,
02:18Even as he reads Gordon's confession, revealing that the city's long period of peace was
02:23built on a lie, Bane's voice drifts with disdain.
02:44He sets these criminals upon the trapped people of Gotham.
02:48Disgusted by Gotham's hypocritical attempt to save itself, Bane sees the citizens read
02:53as no different than criminals they put away.
03:02Number 8 Ultron – Avengers Age of Ultron Avengers Age of Ultron taught the world a
03:08lesson that programmers are now learning in real time as they develop AI.
03:18We might not want to teach AI about humanity with the internet.
03:22The internet can represent the worst of who we are, and it immediately led Ultron to believe
03:27that we didn't deserve to live.
03:34The existential terror of gaining self-awareness and immediately absorbing the internet drove
03:38Ultron insane.
03:55His madness comes out during one of his many speeches.
04:02It is however the moment when he explains his mad plan to Black Widow that we see just
04:06how much the internet broke his digital mind.
04:16He is seething with contempt for humanity and wants to destroy us in the most expeditious
04:21way possible.
04:25Number 7 Green Goblin – Spider-Man The Green Goblin from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man
04:32film is, in many ways, the perfect supervillain.
04:36His journey is the mirror image of Peter's, broken by mad science instead of being uplifted.
04:41While Peter's spider bite gave the teenager powers that made him a hero, Norman's serum
04:46gave the billionaire powers and drove him mad.
05:01The goblin sees this parallel and, when they meet, offers the hero a chance to join forces.
05:19While it isn't exactly a good faith offer, in some ways, it feels like a broken creature
05:24reaching out for connection.
05:37Peter's rejection fully breaks the goblin.
05:39The resultant rage and resentment were such a toxic and potent brew, it would drive the
05:44goblin to more terrible crimes in a whole other universe.
05:52Number 6 The Riddler – Batman The Gotham City presented in Matt Reeves'
06:01film is perhaps the bleakest iteration of Batman's home ever put on film.
06:05It spent decades struggling with rampant crime, economic depression and corruption.
06:09Both Batman and Riddler were born of this crucible of suffering.
06:16When Riddler is arrested, Batman has a chance to speak with his erstwhile nemesis.
06:21It's a testament to Paul Dano's performance that the villain is simultaneously creepy
06:25and sympathetic.
06:40He explains his humble, horrific origins to the hero.
06:42Their respective origin stories were quite similar, separated only by wealth.
06:47Even as we vehemently disagree with Riddler's psychotic methods, we understand what drove
06:52him to that dark place.
07:05Number 5 Helmut Zemo – Captain America Civil War
07:13Uncle Ben and Aunt May famously taught Peter Parker that with great power comes great responsibility.
07:23Zemo is the consequence of not taking that responsibility serious enough.
07:26The Avengers' efforts are not always without collateral damage.
07:30In Age of Ultron, a misguided project to protect the world instead nearly destroyed it.
07:35The nation of Sokovia paid a heavy price, suffering great destruction at the hands of
07:40Ultron.
07:41Zemo lost everything in that attack.
07:43He blamed the Avengers and dedicated his life to setting them against one another.
07:49He explains his plan and motivation to T'Challa, apologizing to the King for killing his father.
07:54The irony of this collateral damage to his plan seems to be utterly lost on the villain.
08:07Number 4 Syndrome – The Incredibles Almost in anticipation of two decades of
08:13superhero films, The Incredibles was a self-aware, semi-satirical entry in the genre.
08:19As with many of the best supervillains, Syndrome exists as a consequence of the heroes' actions.
08:29He started out as a buddy, super fan of Mr. Incredible who wants to become the hero sidekick.
08:45Buddy doesn't take rejection well and grows up to use his technical skills to become a
08:49supervillain.
08:57His deranged dreams of revenge are achieved and he explains his plan to his former idol.
09:14In a comedy meant to subvert the genre, even while being a standout within it, Syndrome's
09:19monologue is hilariously self-conscious.
09:46In the wake of the release of X-Men 97, there has been a small but vocal anti-woke backlash
09:51online.
09:52However, most fans of the X-Men have long understood that the mutant heroes were born
09:56as a reflection of the American Civil Rights Movement.
10:12Magneto and Professor X represent two possible responses to oppression, violence and the
10:16attempt to peacefully coexist.
10:27Both in the comics and the movies, their respective ideologies.
10:31When confronted with the plan for a mutant genocide, the Sentinels, Magneto attacks the
10:35president and gives an epic speech.
10:51He vents a lifetime of rage at injustice, declaring a war of resistance.
11:05Watchmen is the 2009 adaptation of writer Alan Moore's bleak depiction of a humanity
11:25replete with superheroes.
11:26It's a dark vision presenting a grim, depressing view of human beings.
11:30Each of the heroes has their own dark perspective, though none as severe as Adrian Veidt's.
11:37Ozymandias is revealed to be the big bad, working behind the scenes in a plan to bomb
11:41billions.
11:44He believes that the only way to unite humanity is through suffering and creating a mutual
11:49enemy.
11:50Ozymandias explains his plan using his superior intellect and logic to convince all but Rorschach
11:55of the righteous of his worldview.
12:13His is a supervillain monologue that actually convinces the hero to surrender, making it
12:18one of the most effective villain speeches of all time.
12:43The sheer number of classic Joker moments in The Dark Knight is a testament to both
12:46Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger.
12:55His first speech to the mob, complete with his magic pencil trick, sets him apart from
13:01the city's criminal underclass.
13:02This interrogation scene with Batman gives us a glimpse into the workings of an insane
13:07mind.
13:23Later when he speaks to Harvey at the hospital, his subtle manipulations give birth to the
13:27villain Two-Face.
13:29It's his first meeting with Batman while crashing Bruce's fundraiser that stands apart
13:33to the quintessential Joker monologue.
13:43His how-I-got-these-scars speech exudes pure menace.
13:48We understand how this lunatic really can terrorize an entire city by sheer force of
13:52personality.
14:04What is your favorite supervillain monologue?
14:06Let us know in the comments down below.