Who are the top 12 villains from X-Men movies? Keep reading to find out.
Villains being important is one thing that holds true when the topic of comic book movies is brought up. They can make or break a project. Malekith in Thor: The Dark World is a good example. He’s among the worst villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and so was that movie. If he was more like the comics, Thor 2 would have been better. 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise is the exception to the rule. They had bad villains in good movies and vice versa.
Magneto is one of the most popular antagonists in any genre. Thankfully he was played by Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender. Two actors who truly brought Magneto to life. Even when the movies were bad, they managed to make their scenes stand out. Sometimes, those two were the only reason the projects they were in were watchable. Imagine their roles being played by a subpar actor. The franchise may have been cut earlier than it was.
With that in mind, let’s look at the 12 best villains in the X-Men movies. In this list, you’ll see that some of them were fantastic despite being in bad films. Not just because they were trying to take over the world. It takes more than that to be memorable. A lot of people on this list are beyond deplorable. Some of them have their reasons and you may be able to relate. You’ll also see how words like villain or offender aren’t necessarily the right word to use. Let’s begin.
Honorable mentions: Pyro, Angel Dust, Juggernaut (Deadpool 2)
12. The Essex House
"“The day of reckoning is here!”-The Headmaster"
Movie: Deadpool 2
The Essex House is the most deplorable group of people in any movie. They abuse kids, justify it under the mask of religion, and constantly tell them they’re evil. This will leave the children scarred for life. Who knows what kind of person they’ll grow up to be.
Sometimes they’re Domino. They don’t take it out on the world and help people in the end. Or they become Rusty. A guy who kills their Headmaster and becomes a killer. That’s only two examples. Imagine all the other children who grew up and became worse than Firefist.
The Essex House could be the worst, but they weren’t the focus of Deadpool 2. They were the focal point of Rusty’s rage, but they didn’t have a lot of screen time. Even when they did, it was usually faceless goons getting beat up and killed. Nevertheless, you can’t take away what they did. Especially their Headmaster (played by Eddie Marsan). He was making it a point to personally tell the mutant kids how bad they were. It was a disgusting thing to witness.
The most disappointing part is the name. Essex House hints towards Mr. Sinister (Nathaniel Essex) coming to a future project. As we’ve all seen, that never happened.
11. Reavers
Movie: Logan
"“Well, I left him in the same ditch you was going to leave me in…”-Donald Pierce"
This list begins with a group that puts the word human to the test. The Reavers sacrificed their humanity for evil and money. They’ll remove parts of their limbs and replace them with cybernetic enhancements to turn their bodies into weapons. It isn’t the machine parts that should revoke their card from humanity. It’s the fact that they did it to hunt mutants and kill them if needed.
As you’ll see in this article, villains do things for various reasons. Some of their motivations could be considered noble. The Reavers do it for money. That’s not honorable. To make it worse, it’s usually children that they’re going after. In the end, the same children they hunted and killed became their demise. An irony they deserved.
As good as the Reavers were, they didn’t leave a lasting impression on the audience. Granted, a lot of that has to do with Hugh Jackman (Logan) and Dafne Keen (Laura) doing such a great job. Thankfully, Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) was there. He made sure that the Reavers were more than just a group of faceless grunts. His moments of cowardice and arrogance were brilliantly done. He was everything that Logan wasn’t and exactly what the movie needed.
10. Phoenix
Movies: Dark Phoenix, X-Men: The Last Stand
"“I don’t know how to stop. I don’t know what’s happening to me. When I lose control… things happen, bad things… to people I love.”-Jean Grey"
It was difficult putting Jean Grey on this list. She wasn’t evil in the way viewers look at Donald Pierce or Bolivar Trask. Jean was possessed by a force that made her do things she normally wouldn’t.
In X-Men: The Last Stand, she wasn’t in control of herself and Magneto took advantage of that. Dark Phoenix was similar to when the D’Bari was using her. One could go a step further and say killing Mystique didn’t make her bad either. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean she isn’t the villain of the two stories.
One of the definitions of a villain is the person or thing responsible for specified trouble, harm, or damage. Jean was all of this. Making Xavier “walk” towards her and not taking responsibility for killing Mystique is what put her on this list. In a lot of ways it’s close to what Wanda Maximoff was like in WandaVision and Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness. She wasn’t malicious, but the results are the same. She murdered Xavier in X-Men: The Last Stand and almost killed her fellow X-Men as well.
We’re not saying she should have turned herself in to the authorities, but she knew what she did was wrong. Like Magneto said after he came to see her, “You didn’t come here looking for answers. You came here looking for permission.”
9. En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse
Movie: X-Men: Apocalypse
"“Everything they’ve built will fall! And from the ashes of their world, we’ll build a better one!”-En Sabah Nur"
En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse) falls into that category of being at a disadvantage before the project was released. The character is too good. To make things even worse, he was played by one of the better and most loved actors in Hollywood in Oscar Isaac. That put pressure on the shoulders of him and the creative team. So, while X-Men: Apocalypse *should* be judged harshly for being bad, Apocalypse himself shouldn’t be.
Apocalypse wasn’t as dramatic as he was in Marvel Comics and the animated series. He was very much to the point. However, when he did, Oscar Isaac was fantastic. His speech about, “arrows from the Tower of Babel” or the sincerity when he called mutants his children was beautifully done. Then, when he needed to show the world his strength, viewers witnessed how powerful he truly was. It took the Phoenix Force to finally stop him. It was a fantastic balance. Too bad the movie was so poor it out shadowed anything he did.
Oscar Isaac should have gotten another chance to play Apocalypse. One where the focus wasn’t the Four Horsemen. Novice comic book fans only know Apocalypse for having the Horsemen with him, but he’s more than just the mutants he enhances. Had Isaac been given another chance he could have shown that and become a top-five villain. Instead, he was amazing in an uninspired movie.
8. Cable
Movie: Deadpool 2
"“I was born into war, bred into it. People think they understand pain, but they have no concept of it. What’s the most pain you’ve ever felt? Maybe the kind that leaves you more machine than man.”-Cable"
Here we have another character that could be categorized as a hero. Cable was on a mission to stop Rusty Collins before he killed the Headmaster of the Essex House. Once he kills him, Rusty would get a taste for it. This leads to him eventually killing multiple people. Among them were Cable’s wife and daughter.
Knowing this, it makes sense that Cable would try and stop Rusty. Not only did he kill his family, but other innocent people felt the wrath of Firefist. However, Cable’s methods weren’t right. As we see at the end of Deadpool 2, everything could have been solved with a conversation. Or maybe Cable should have killed the Headmaster himself before Rusty could.
Cable was in an emotional state. All he could think about was not being able to protect his family from Rusty. That frame of mind leads him to think murder was the only solution. A debate could be made that the only reason Wade got through to Rusty was their bond. The problem is Cable never tried. The easy solution was killing him. Thankfully, Rusty didn’t kill despite having the Juggernaut on his side.
7. Victor Creed/Sabretooth
Movie: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
"“I’m not your friend. I’m an animal, who dreamed he was a man. But the dream is over. And the beast is awake. And I will come for you without mercy, because it’s my nature.”-Victor Creed"
Wolverine has a lot of enemies, but none of them are as immoral, persistent, and ruthless as Victor Creed (Sabretooth). Tyler Mane played Sabretooth in the first X-Men movie and left a lot to be desired. It was a disappointing first outing for Creed. Thankfully, Liev Schreiber came in and showed non-comic book fans what Sabretooth looks like.
It will be weird to read this, but Liev Schreiber was flawless as Victor Creed. It wasn’t the action that did it. It was his personality. You can start with his facial expressions. His smile was terrifying. For example, as Creed was about to kill Chris Bradly, he grinned. He took pleasure in scaring his victims.
On top of that, Sabretooth was snarky. If it didn’t affect him directly, he didn’t care about it. People, places, and inanimate objects were nothing but obstacles. He’d laugh and joke about the carnage he was going to cause. It’s something else that separates him from other antagonists.
Liev Schreiber’s performance brought Marvel Comics’ Sabretooth to life. If X-Men Origins: Wolverine was received better, Schreiber would have battled Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in more projects. He may have gotten his own spinoff. Unfortunately, like Apocalypse, he falls victim to a bad movie. The difference here is Schreiber stood out more.
6. Bolivar Trask
Movie: X-Men: Days of Future Past
"“Never before, in all of human history, has there been a cause which could unite us as a species… until now.”-Bolivar Trask"
Bolivar Trask designed machines that would neutralize and, if necessary, kill anything with the mutant gene. It’s bad enough that he created robots to harm people (mutants are people). What’s ironic is that the plan was supposed to protect humans, but ended up putting them in danger. It wasn’t just mutants who got treated unfairly. Even if you didn’t have mutant powers you were still processed just in case. That future was dark, deadly, and set into motion by a man with ill intent.
Sometimes, the bad people win. It’s a reality that comic book projects have made a point to show. Days of Future Past is an example of this. Bolivar Trask and his Sentinels ruined the world. Trask may not have wanted this to happen, but, in this case, what he intended doesn’t matter. Only the results.
As awful as this was, it ranks low on this list for a couple of reasons. First, that future doesn’t exist. The heroes saved the day and made sure that the dystopian future didn’t happen. Since the outcome wasn’t the same, it can’t be as high. Second, Peter Dinklage wasn’t given enough time to truly shine. Had he been, there’s no way he wouldn’t have been ranked higher.
5. William Stryker
Movies: X2, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse
"“You don’t realize this but we are at war. I took an oath: Protect this country. My name is William Stryker, and I am not a monster. I’m simply a patriot.”-William Stryker"
There has been a version of Williams Stryker in multiple X-Men movies. In each of them, Stryker is a terrible person. People could say that he’s doing it because he’s a soldier following orders. Then you remember what he did to Logan in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Stryker wanted to erase Logan’s memory so he could control him. Who knows what he would have made him do. Especially after seeing what happened to Wade Wilson (where they ruined Deadpool). These are the things that make him awful, but a fantastic antagonist.
The X-Men’s best enemies are the ones that aren’t powered. X-Men teams are hesitant to use their powers for a couple of reasons. First, they’re trying not to harm them too much. Second, the perception makes mutants look worse.
Most of the public is either scared or hates mutants. They’re perceived as evil despite not having a choice in what they can do. When footage comes out of mutants defending themselves, the narrative is that they’re dangerous. This goes double for Stryker. It makes mutants look as if they hate the military. This is why the U.S. Government puts more money into locking up, attacking, and killing mutants with Stryker in charge.
4. Ajax
Movie: Deadpool
"“Oh, joke away. One thing that never survives in this place is a sense of humor.”-Ajax"
Ajax (Francis) gets forgotten as a villain in the 20th Century Fox X-Men movies. It’s disappointing because he was truly an evil person. Was it his fault? That’s up for debate. On one hand, his enhancements made it so he couldn’t feel anything including emotions. That left him unable to feel for his “patients”. On the other hand, it sometimes appeared that he understood what he was doing and enjoyed it. Either way, Francis was the worst.
Ajax sold mutants (of which he is one) to other people against their will. He helped a company that tortured mutants until their powers kicked in. If they didn’t die, they kept putting the person in physically traumatic situations until their victim developed powers. Ajax didn’t just oversee the abuse. Sometimes he helped. Even if Francis’ abilities didn’t allow him to have remorse, he must remember the pain he went through. Unfortunately, he didn’t care.
Lastly, Ed Skrein was phenomenal as Ajax. He was funny, brutal, and knew exactly what to do to get Wade where he wanted and how to keep him off his game. He did all of this better than most of the people on this list. If not for Deadpool, Ajax would have continued selling mutants to the highest bidder and enjoying inflicting punishment on them.
3. Mystique
Movies: X-Men, X2, X-Men 3
"“You know people like you are the reason I didn’t like going to school as a child.”-Mystique"
When it comes to overlooked performances in a comic book project, Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique is at the top of that list. It wasn’t just that she acted a lot like the comic book character. Romijn was absolutely fantastic. As you can see in the quote above, she’s an example of what happens when someone is pushed too far. They eventually push back. And sometimes they push harder.
In Mystique’s case, she used her abilities to not just shove. She struck major blows to the establishment. Putting a beating on Wolverine, replacing Senator Kelly, and breaking into various computer systems are examples of her greatness. Without her, Ian McKellen’s Magneto doesn’t become the force seen in the movies.
You probably noticed that Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique isn’t on this list. One, she wasn’t really a villain. Raven spent most of her time in the X-Men movies as a hero. Second, she wasn’t that good. Jennifer Lawrence is a top-tier performer in Hollywood, but her performances in the X-Men movies weren’t up to the caliber that we’re used to seeing from her. There were moments when she was amazing, especially in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Because she was so good there you’d hope that would continue. It didn’t. Meanwhile, Rebecca Romijn was a ten every time she put on the blue makeup.
2. Sebastian Shaw
"“I don’t ask for favors, Colonel. I express my expectations. So, let me say it again. I EXPECT you’ll reconsider.”-Sebastian Shaw"
Movie: X-Men: First Class
The Hellfire Club was different in the movies. Instead of being a mutant group of socialites who controlled the world from the shadows, they were mutant terrorists and their leader was Sebastian Shaw. Shaw had been a deplorable human being since World War 2. During that time, he was part of a group that was experimenting on people with abilities. Among them was Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto). In order for Shaw to get the most out of Magneto, he shot and killed Erik’s mother. For decades after that, Shaw went on to kill dozens of people to get what he wanted.
Unlike some leaders, Sebastian Shaw didn’t sit back and wait for things to happen. Most of the time he was in front with his team making sure everything went the way it was supposed to. A quality that makes people respect their leader. Plus, he really helped the audience truly hate him when he was the one doing the killing.
There’s no way that people would have thought Kevin Bacon would be this good of a comic book villain in 2011. It didn’t seem like a role he would take. However, fans know that Kevin Bacon almost always knocks a role out of the park. This is why it’s not shocking that he helped return the X-Men movie franchise back to prominence. Even if it was a short stint at the top.
1. Magneto
"“Today was meant to be a display of your power. Instead, I give you a glimpse of the devastation my race can unleash upon yours! Let this be a warning to the world. And to my mutant brothers and sisters out there, I say this: no more hiding.”-Magneto"
Movie: Everyone that he’s in
There was no way anyone expected anyone but Magneto to be the best on this list. Not making him the number 1 would make anyone question the validity of this list. Sure, Erik Lensherr may not be a true villain and evil is too strong of a word to use. Everything he’s done is for the advancement of mutants. His methods can be wrong (see X-Men 1), but he does them for the love of his people. He’s also what happens when someone is pushed too far.
Ian McKellen’s Magneto did things with flair. All of his mannerisms were that of a showman or a maestro. He made being a villain look amazing. His voice was deep and commanded respect. He was also funnier than he’s given credit for. Michael Fassbender’s approach was different because was in the earlier stages of being the Master of Magnetism and slightly unsure of himself. Regardless of that, he never appeared weak. He knew how to use his powers to the fullest at the time. It was cool seeing how strong he became as time went on.
Lastly, they were the best performers themselves. Fassbender’s speech (that you can see above) was powerful. What really sold it was the cold, dead look in his eyes and the single tear that followed. For McKellen, there wasn’t a time he wasn’t masterful. If he was on screen, he stole focus away from everyone. Truly, two of the best in any comic book project.
How would you rank the villains on this list? Who else should have been on this list? Let us know in the comments below.