Batman: 15 greatest Batman movie villains of all time

8. Max Shreck (Batman Returns)

Actor: Christopher Walken

Max Shreck wasn’t the Batman villain we’ve seen in any of the movies. He wasn’t a guy dressed in a costume with a theme and henchmen that matched it and he wasn’t a crime boss. Shreck may have been worse.

He was an awful human being who looked at Gotham and the people who lived there as things to make him money. They weren’t even people. All he wanted was power and he’d use anyone he could to get it. Shreck even tried to kill his assistant after she found out what he was up to (thankfully she survived). He was creating a power plant to steal money from Gotham rather than provide it.

For all of his despicable ways, you had to give Max Shreck credit. He could see a situation and make it work in his favor. He found a way to make Penguin a star and almost made him mayor. He could talk the spines off a cactus and then sell them back for triple.

Going back and watching Batman Returns helped me realize how great of a character he was. He wasn’t a villain that Batman could defeat by punching. Comic book movies need more antagonists like this. Ones that are so detestable that only terrible people would root for them. It’s a shame he’s forgotten and underrated.

Memorable moment: Talking Penguin into running for mayor.