13 Comic Book Movie Supervillains Who Were Right All Along

It's hard to imagine a more well-rounded supervillian. Played by two superlative thespians - Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender - Magneto fights on the wrong side of justice for mutant rights.

Why We Hated Him: From the earliest films in the X-Men saga, Magneto has no trouble dispatching non-mutants to make a point. At his most villainous, he envisions a world where people without mutant abilities don't exist.

Why He Was Probably Right: As a child growing up during WWII, Magneto saw atrocities committed in the name of genetic superiority firsthand. He believes that, given the chance, humans will round up mutants and do away with them - or, at best, put them into forced labor. His actions are drastic, but they're done to keep his people safe.

Mystique has been an important figure in the X-Men franchise for decades, and as her character has progressed throughout the series, she's gone from a dangerous shape-shifting agitator to a nuanced antiheroine audiences can actually root for despite her diabolical pursuits.

Why We Hated Her: At the onset of the X-Men saga, Mystique is actively trying to cause chaos and rid the world of non-mutants. She boldly throws in with the mutant rebels led by Magneto and uses her shape-shifting skills to disrupt the government at its highest levels.

Why She Was Probably Right: Not every mutant has the luxury of looking like a "normal" person. Unlike Jean Grey or Wolverine, Mystique must use her powers to hide her true self because your average Joe can't handle being confronted with something different. After a lifetime of dealing with the vitriol of regular humans, it makes sense that she would want to lash out.

Michelle Pfeiffer's turn as the caustic, slightly psychopathic Catwoman in Tim Burton's Batman Returns is a performance for the ages. Not only does she rock that leather suit, but she shows nuanced layers that make her character hard to pin down.

Why We Hated Her: While Catwoman's relentless sabotage of former employer Max Shreck's business is somewhat understandable, her choice to aid Penguin in his vendetta against Batman is harder to forgive. 

Why She Was Probably Right: Before her transformation into Catwoman, her boss, Shreck, pushed her out a window - so it makes sense she's not hyped on him. Realistically, she's only working with Penguin as a way to get closer to Shreck and complete her vengeance. If you'd ever been pushed out a window, you'd probably find it hard to hold that against her.

It's hard to think of Dr. Fries (AKA Mr. Freeze) as anything but the ice-pun-loving strong man played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though he's incredibly goofy, this cold villain has a heartwarming backstory.

Why We Hated Him: Aside from the puns, the most heinous thing this master villain does is attempt to freeze Gotham and all its inhabitants.

Why He Was Probably Right: Fries's wife is suffering from a rare disease, MacGregor's syndrome, that only he might be able to cure. In order to fund his research (and keep his diamond-powered life support suit operating), he has to keep stealing. Not exactly virtuous, but he is doing it for a good cause - after all, think of all the other people who might also benefit from a cure. In fact, Batman's own Alfred Pennyworth suffers from MacGregor's syndrome too.

Black Panther from 2018 gave audiences one of the best villains since the inception of comic book movies. Played by Michael B. Jordan, Killmonger is ruthless but righteous. His actions make you think about who's actually in the wrong in the MCU - as well as the non-cinematic world in which we live.

Why We Hated Him: The gist of Killmonger's plan is to take vibranium tools and globally distribute them to the systematically oppressed, sparking chaos that could lead to the demise of millions.

Why He Was Probably Right: It's not cool that Killmonger wants to cause mass panic and anarchy, but he is correct that colonialism has given indigenous people across the world a raw deal for generations. His plan to reset the order that's been created by systemic, race-based prejudice is something that, at its heart, isn't bad. It's just all the violence that's not so great.

With an 18-film buildup to carry out his master plan, Thanos is one of the more nuanced characters in the MCU. Even though audiences don't love what he did (wiping out billions or maybe trillions of sentients), his plan was somewhat admirable.

Why We Hated Him: With a snap of his Infinity Gauntlet-clad fingers, Thanos wiped out half the population of the universe, including some of our favorite heroes. To say this was very uncool is the understatement of the century.

Why He Was Probably Right: Overpopulation is a problem; there's no way around that. Humans have developed an unsustainable way of life that's led to the climate crisis and food shortages in places that should be rich in natural resources. Thanos's plan for zero population growth across the universe may be overkill, but hey - at least he's taking action to make the cosmos a better place.