2022 was a great year for movies and television shows, with the business slowly recuperating after two chaotic years of the pandemic. From superhero movies to hardcore dramas and hilarious comedies, the industry gave audiences what they wanted and more.
Every great film and show must have a great protagonist but an even greater villain, and 2022 delivered some of the best and most complex antagonists in recent memory. Comic book villains like Riddler in The Batman and cruel schemers like Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon made 2022 a memorable year for villainy. Still, even evil has shades, and some 2022 villains were decidedly more wicked than others.
10 Miles Bron (Edward Norton) — 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery'
Edward Norton is incredible at playing smug characters. The three-time Oscar nominee plays billionaire tech entrepreneur Miles Bron in Rian Johnson's whodunit Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and he nearly walks away with the whole film.
The ever-charming Norton plays Bron with a mix of panache and a barely-hidden need for approval. Bron reeks of desperation, filling his luxurious, over-the-top house, the eponymous Glass Onion, with artwork and gadgets that scream, "Please respect me; I'm cool." Norton and Johnson are very obviously poking fun at a certain tech billionaire whose social media antics earned him the people's scorn; if only the real-life counterpart were as charming as Norton.
9 Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman) — 'The Northman'
Nicole Kidman is one of Hollywood's most daring and consistently interesting actresses. Unafraid to take risks and play provocative, unconventional roles, Kidman has built a reputation as an experimental actress, comfortable in romantic comedies and psychological thrillers alike.
2022 gave audiences one of Kidman's most wicked performances as Queen Gudrún in Robert Eggers' The Northman, the epitome of a revenge movie where everyone loses. Elegant but fierce, Kidman's Gudrún is coldness embodied. The actress produces a masterclass in complex villainy, playing a monstrous mother figure and delivering one of 2022's best monologues. All hail Queen Gudrún. All hail Queen Nicole.
8 Agatha Trunchbull (Emma Thompson) — 'Matilda the Musical'
It's not easy to play a character that another actress has excellently portrayed. Yet, Emma Thompson wisely chooses never to imitate Pam Ferris' seminal portrayal of Agatha Trunchbull in Danny DeVito's beloved adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic.
Instead, Thompson portrays Trunchbull as an obsessive woman whose hatred for children comes more from a deeper place. Thompson's disgust has layers of frustration, evidenced by the musical number "The Smell of Rebellion," one of the film's highlights that ranks among Thompson's finest on-screen moments. Matilda the Musical excels at nearly every level, but its greatest decision was casting Thompson as Miss Trunchbull.
7 The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) — 'The Black Phone'
The Black Phone works as a coming-of-age horror movie and a showcase for Ethan Hawke's impressive talents. The plot centers on the Grabber, a magician and serial killer who kidnaps children and subjects them to torturous games while holding them captive in his cellar.
Spending most of his time behind a mask doesn't stop Hawke from delivering a tour-de-force. As the Grabber, Hawke is menacing and disturbing, a villain straight out of a child's nightmare; perhaps that's why adults also find him so unnerving. The Black Phone is a cautionary tale against parental neglect, and Hawke's Grabber is the perfect instrument to drive the point home.
6 Edward Nashton/Riddler (Paul Dano) — 'The Batman'
Paul Dano has made a career out of playing meek young men that could easily go from victims to perpetrators given the right circumstance. None is this quality better represented or used than in Matt Reeves' neo-noir take on the superhero genre, The Batman. Dano brings Riddler to life as the ultimate villain for the internet age, an extremist that adds an uncomfortable layer of realism to one of Batman's most flamboyant villains.
In Dano's hands, Riddler is a radicalized and frustrated young man that could easily exist in real-life, lurking in some of the darkest corners of the internet. Yet Dano never forgets that he plays a superhero villain famous for his gimmicks and flare. Dano's Riddler might lack his comic book counterpart's style, but he has enough panache to compensate for it.
5 Jean Jacket — 'Nope'
There are few things humans fear more than what they can't understand. Jordan Peele's Nope understands this and plays with audiences' minds and expectations, delivering a thoughtful and insightful look at show business and culture's obsession with fame and relevance.
The film's antagonist, nicknamed Jean Jacket by the protagonists, is an alien creature and worthy successor to some of cinema's best monsters. On a deeper layer, Jean Jacket is a metaphor for greed and obsession, continuing Peele's trend of hiding layer upon layer of meaning within its sci-fi pieces. Nope is one of the all-time best horror Westerns, and Jean Jacket will surely make its way to the pantheon of great sci-fi antagonists.
4 Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) — 'Better Call Saul'
The Breaking Bad franchise has some of the best villains on television, from Gus Fring to Walter White. However, Better Call Saul is the rare spin-off that surpasses the original, thanks to its narrative complexity and nuanced, unforgettable characters, including Tony Dalton's Lalo Salamanca.
Like other villains in this deeply corrupt universe, Dalton's Lalo is engaging and charming; that's what makes him so dangerous, especially compared to his more straightforward relatives. Salamanca disguises his evil as simple mischief, which only makes his true nature more disturbing. He is playing a game, and things won't end well for anyone who doesn't play along.
3 Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) — 'Severance'
Sci-fi has long been the perfect genre to explore humanity's dark side. By featuring themes of authoritarianism, control, and the all-consuming pursuit of ambition, sci-fi forces audiences to confront some of their ugliest qualities. Severance is the perfect example, and Harmony Cobel is the ideal character to use.
Played by Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette, Harmony is the floor manager at Lumon Industries. Determined and ruthless, Harmony is the embodiment of "corporate," a woman who breathes and lives to protect the interests of her employers. At an age where people are becoming more aware of the importance of having a life outside of work, Harmony is the ultimate villain, a woman who exists solely to serve "the board."
2 Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) — 'House of the Dragon'
Game of Thrones has no shortage of great villains, and its first spin-off lives up to the original's reputation. The multifaceted English character actor Rhys Ifans plays Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon as a cross between Tywin's cunning and Littlefinger's manipulative charm.
Otto is the architect behind the Dance of the Dragons and the show's true antagonist. He spends years preparing his house to take over the Iron Throne, working behind the scenes to ensure his ambitions and using every tool at his disposal to succeed, including his daughter. Otto is a true player of the game, a man whose ambitions will ultimately get the best of him, and he knows it. Yet, few things matter more when the prize is the Iron Throne, including one's sense of self-preservation.
1 Henry Creel/One/Vecna (Jamie Campbell-Bower) — 'Stranger Things'
Stranger Things broke the internet when its long-awaited fourth season debuted in July. The show returned with a new mystery and a new terrifying villain, the powerful creature known as Vecna. Throughout the season, fans discover Vecna's origins and the extent of his powers, eventually acknowledging him as the show's ultimate antagonist.
Played by English actor Jamie Campbell Bower, Vecna is the perfect villain for the Gen Z generation. He is menacing and mysterious yet strangely alluring, imperfect and terrifying yet fascinating. Thanks to Campbell Bower's powerful performance, Vecna is among the most memorable characters of 2022. A great villain must have loads of personality, and Vecna has more than enough for himself and the whole of the Upside Down.