We’re months and months from the release of Star Trek Into Darkness and we don’t even know what character he’s playing, but general Internet consensus seems to be that Benedict Cumberbatch will be pretty much the sexiest villain ever. I have no problem with this.
But maybe you do. Who are the sexiest movie and TV villains?
I’ll wait till I actually see Star Trek Into Darkness before making an official decision on the sexy quality Cumberbatch’s bad guy, so for now I’m gonna go with Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber in Die Hard, who combines criminal cleverness and a great accent in an impeccably dressed and groomed package to make a deliciously evil foil for John McClane.
Your turn…
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In my eyes, Loki definitively surpasses Cumberbatch’s character in that department. But after the trailer, Loki’s definitely got a run for his money. Can’t wait to see the film.
I was trying to think of a suitable female contribution, and I’m honestly coming up blank. There are plenty of “sexy” female villains, in the sense that they’re in shape and wear tight/skimpy clothing. But there aren’t a lot of juicy female villain roles, IMHO. If there is a female villain, they usually end up redeeming themselves because of their love for the male protagonist or whatnot. It’s super lame and predictable, but I guess that’s what I get for expecting depth out of action movies.
I do like Molotov Cocktease from the Venture Brothers, but she is, after all, a complete parody of the whole be-catsuited female villain trope.
What about Supreme Commander Servalan from Blake’s 7?
ETA: And from American television, “Carla” (played by Tricia Helfer) from Burn Notice.
What about Tricia Helfer’s 6 on Battlestar Galactica? Of course, various incarnations are more villainous than others….
Indeed – I nearly mentioned her role as 6, but talked myself out of it.
Beat me to it: I was about to mention Servalan. Not only a great villain, and sexy to boot, but a camp icon with it.
Ooh! I have to add another +1 to Servalan.
Xenia Onatopp from Goldeneye? No redemption through love for her.
Yes. Very scary sexy. Reminded me of Pris in Blade Runner with the thigh squeeze. Pris was more diabolical, using JL Sebastian’s empathy to get to Tyrell. Both are so amoral and evil. I’m goin’ to my bunk (oops! Saffron from Firefly-ditto).
Would you consider Serleena from Men in Black II? Granted, her true form is a man-eating, tentacled plant, but in disguise she’s pretty sexy.
Or heck, Dr. Girlfriend.
Oh, hell yes.
Speaking of the Venture Brothers, I think I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the current Sovereign of the Guild… David Bowie. Do I have to say anything other than All Hail the Sovereign!
Cumberbatch will blow everyone away in this. All man. I couldnt take Loki seriously at all. Too camp.
I like Cumberbatch as an actor, a lot, and he’s fantastic as Sherlock. Don’t find him even remotely sexy, though. Don’t know what it is/isn’t, but there we go.
But, sexy villains. Hmm. From TV – Michael Rosenbaum’s Lex Luthor from early Smallville (I only watched the first couple of series, though, so I don’t know where it went from there). Also Spike from Buffy, and any other villain James Marsters has ever played because he’s delicious in everything. Also Zachary Quinto in Heroes – so intense, which is what I think is mostly sexy about the villains.
Film; Antonio Banderas in Interview with the Vampire was about a trillion times sexier than either Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, but I did watch that at a young and impressionable age.
Also Ralph Fiennes had a mesmerising sort of intensity in Schindler’s List
Salma Hayek in Savages (recent).
Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel (all time, although she isn’t a mastermind of crime I would definitely call her a villain in it).
Yaphet Kotto in Live and Let Die (an otherwise horrible movie)
Oh, I have to dispute Marlene Dietrich’s Lola Lola in The Blue Angel. I think Professor Rath and all his judgemental uptight bourgeois morality is the villain in that film.
But, all the interesting films with a designated ‘villain’ really are about some other theme that the ‘villain’ represents — either an antithesis to or a personification of.
You could say that Salma Hayek’s character wasn’t The Villain, either, as Savages had a lot of other layers.
Wow, Yaphet Kotto! Brilliant!
Another Bond sexy villain: Mads Mikkelson as Le Chiffre
And another: Luciana Palluzzi as Fiona Volpe
And another: Toby Stephens
And another: Christopher Lee as Scaramanga
And another: Sophie Marceau as Electra King
…
After the trailer, he did not just looked badass and yes, sexy. But he looks EVIL. Like, evil-EVIL!
Cumberbatch I can see. Hiddleston as Loki for sure!
Isn’t the quintessential (or at least classic) example Frank Langella’s turn as Dracula (on stage and screen–boom, pow!)?
John de Lancie on TNG back in the day.
Perhaps Alice Krige as The Borg Queen?
Too terrifying?
i always thought of Q as a-moral rather than immoral.
Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer was so sexy evil that they had to put him on the redemption train.
Well, Hans Gruber will always be my top choice, of course! But I always seem to go for the villains in movies. Thankfully, in real life I don’t go for bad boys, but movie villains always seem to have more character than the heroes, and I always end up rooting for them.
Off the top of my head: David Bowie in Labyrinth, Geoffrey Rush in Pirates of the Caribbean, Humphry Bogart in gangster mode, Frank N. Furter, Hades in Hercules, and pretty much anything played by perennial baddies Alan Rickman, Sean Bean, Gary Oldman, and Jeremy Irons. An English accent, mincing ways, and a tortured soul are usually enough to seal the deal, regardless of looks. No musclebound just plain evil villains, please. They are boring.
Including but not limited to:
Brigid O’Shaugnessy (The Maltese Falson)
Catherine Weaver (The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Milady de Winter, of course…
I still have a crush on Julie Newmar’s Catwoman from the ’60s Batman TV show.
So, of course Servalan.
Also Ursa from Superman 2.
Timothy Dalton in Flash Gordon as Baron (though he is redeemed)
Brigitte Nielson in Rocky 4
Catherine Deneuve in The Hunger!
Angela Jolie is going to be playing Maleficent in a movie. I haven’t seen any footage, only still pictures, but I’ve already made plans to find her sexy when the film comes out.
It’s Spike, and he’s wearing the coat! Actually all of the Fanged Four during their soulless days, including S2 Angelus.
Also Faith, Lilah and VampWillow. Whedon knows his evil, and his evil is hot.
And what sort of genius is Marsters, that he also managed to out-sexy Barrowman on Torchwood? Captain John Hart is also wearing the coat!
I vote for Christopher Eccleston as Ben Jago (from the updated movie version of Othello)
Yes, yes, yes to James Marsters, Alan Rickman, and Tom Hiddleston. Have to add Michael Fassbender as Azazeal in the short-lived British series, Hex.