Top 10 Disney Movie Villains Who Deserve Their Own Movie
They say that a story is often as good as its villain. We’re way past traditional storytelling that pits the obvious knighted good guys against Sauron-type antagonists who only wish to destroy the world as we know it. Well, unless you’re Disney, that is. It’s true, the bad guys are less flashy and obvious these days (remember how shocked we were all after Hans’ betrayal in Frozen), but you can pinpoint the antagonist from a crowd of thousands.
That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing, though. A villain can be wholly evil and nonredeemable. As long as we kind of get it and as long as they instill in our hearts the dread and intimidation they’re supposed to, they’re doing their job right. After the success of Maleficent, we can’t help but want to see more of Disney’s timeless villains be given more depth. These are the Top 10 Disney Movie Villains Who Deserve Their Own Movie.
Courtesy of Disney
Scar is arguably Disney’s greatest villain, if only for the fact that he was able to murder his own brother in cold blood via stampedes. We are given a detailed peek into his backstory through the book A Tale of Two Brothers, but it would all translate even better on the big screens. The vicious lion’s biggest flaw might just be his alleged one-dimensional personality, which would easily be countered through a movie that unfolds the growing hatred for Mufasa and his descent into darkness.
Face it, Hades was one of your favorite characters in Hercules. It’s difficult not to like him – he is a completely different, cranky, and comical version of the God of the Underworld and it all works surprisingly well. A backstory movie on Disney’s Hades would be like a full-length feature film with Loki. Would anyone have any complaints to that?
Courtesy of Disney
The dark undertones in this movie were mostly thanks to Claude Frollo, so make no mistake – a movie all about him probably wouldn’t be that much of a family-friendly production. This possibility opens the door to a movie that tackles down powerful and sensitive topics such as religion and corruption, a foundation for a heavily-themed and profound motion picture.
Every single character from Wonderland deserves to have a spotlight shine on them, but it’s always interesting to see how the bad guys of the story came to be what they are today. How did the Queen of Hearts rise to power? Was it hereditary? Did she take it by force? Is her favorite way of execution, decapitation, just a fancy quirk or does it have roots in her childhood? There are so many aspects to explore that we get excited just thinking about it.
Courtesy of Disney
The wicked witch who keeps Rapunzel locked in a tower in order to benefit from the magical youth-inducing powers of her hair can be so much more than, well, a wicked witch. Mother Gothel confused us all with the contrast between her obvious evil vibes and the strange feeling that, deep down, she may have cared for Rapunzel even a little bit. Where her obsession with eternal youth comes from and how she really feels about Rapunzel would all make excellent topics for a film.
Some villains are menacing while some are… so much better than that. The Emperor’s New Groove was a radically different story from what we normally get from Disney and arguably the biggest stars of the movie were Yzma and her simple-minded sidekick, Kronk. Just the story of how Kronk came to be in Yzma’s service would be amazing, but it’s safe to say that a movie whose main focus is Yzma has the potential to be one of the most hilarious Disney products ever.
Courtesy of Disney
Yes, we all tend to forget this sometimes, but Pirates of the Caribbean is a Disney movie. Davy Jones was intimidating and ruthless, something that apparently was the result of his heart getting (literally) ripped away by the goddess Calypso whom he’d fallen in love with. From the love story to the typical pirate adventures, the descent into darkness, and how Davy Jones came to become the captain of the Flying Dutchman, this tale already sounds fascinating.
When you think about it, was she really a villain? Sure, it was her magic that rid Ariel of her voice and threw in some complications in her quest for love, but if it weren’t for Ursula, none of it would have been possible to begin with. Ariel had to learn the harsh way that you can’t gain something without losing something else in return. But what we’d really love to see, aside from a movie set underwater full of mermaids and corals and colorful fish, is how Ursula came to earn her reputation in the kingdom underneath the waves.
Courtesy of Disney
In Beauty and the Beast, the biggest enemy was the Beast himself with his insecurities, monstrous appearance, and temper. Therefore, it’s clear that Gaston wasn’t created to be a full-fledged villain and, rather, a complication. He’s narcissistic, arrogant, all brawns and no brain, and he would make a fantastic protagonist in a movie that explains how he came to be what he is. Perhaps he was spoiled rotten – either way, whatever the reason, we would get a comical movie with a main character almost as vain and clueless as Kuzco from The Emperor’s New Groove.
The 2015 movie adaptation of the classic tale already took a different turn with the Evil Stepmother when it revealed that, in fact, she was envious of Cinderella’s kindness all along. Although there are no superpowers involved, Lady Tremaine’s backstory has the potential to be an emotional tale that can have her come out on top as the result of an unfortunate series of moments in her life. Maybe she was cursed with parents who treated her as horribly as she treated Cinderella. Whatever it was, it’s a chance to showcase a story of corruption that, ultimately, has no happy ending.
That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing, though. A villain can be wholly evil and nonredeemable. As long as we kind of get it and as long as they instill in our hearts the dread and intimidation they’re supposed to, they’re doing their job right. After the success of Maleficent, we can’t help but want to see more of Disney’s timeless villains be given more depth. These are the Top 10 Disney Movie Villains Who Deserve Their Own Movie.
#1 Scar, “Lion King”
Courtesy of Disney
Scar is arguably Disney’s greatest villain, if only for the fact that he was able to murder his own brother in cold blood via stampedes. We are given a detailed peek into his backstory through the book A Tale of Two Brothers, but it would all translate even better on the big screens. The vicious lion’s biggest flaw might just be his alleged one-dimensional personality, which would easily be countered through a movie that unfolds the growing hatred for Mufasa and his descent into darkness.
#2 Hades, “Hercules”
Face it, Hades was one of your favorite characters in Hercules. It’s difficult not to like him – he is a completely different, cranky, and comical version of the God of the Underworld and it all works surprisingly well. A backstory movie on Disney’s Hades would be like a full-length feature film with Loki. Would anyone have any complaints to that?
#3 Claude Frollo, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”
Courtesy of Disney
The dark undertones in this movie were mostly thanks to Claude Frollo, so make no mistake – a movie all about him probably wouldn’t be that much of a family-friendly production. This possibility opens the door to a movie that tackles down powerful and sensitive topics such as religion and corruption, a foundation for a heavily-themed and profound motion picture.
#4 The Queen of Hearts, “Alice in Wonderland”
Every single character from Wonderland deserves to have a spotlight shine on them, but it’s always interesting to see how the bad guys of the story came to be what they are today. How did the Queen of Hearts rise to power? Was it hereditary? Did she take it by force? Is her favorite way of execution, decapitation, just a fancy quirk or does it have roots in her childhood? There are so many aspects to explore that we get excited just thinking about it.
#5 Mother Gothel, “Tangled”
Courtesy of Disney
The wicked witch who keeps Rapunzel locked in a tower in order to benefit from the magical youth-inducing powers of her hair can be so much more than, well, a wicked witch. Mother Gothel confused us all with the contrast between her obvious evil vibes and the strange feeling that, deep down, she may have cared for Rapunzel even a little bit. Where her obsession with eternal youth comes from and how she really feels about Rapunzel would all make excellent topics for a film.
#6 Yzma, “The Emperor’s New Groove”
Some villains are menacing while some are… so much better than that. The Emperor’s New Groove was a radically different story from what we normally get from Disney and arguably the biggest stars of the movie were Yzma and her simple-minded sidekick, Kronk. Just the story of how Kronk came to be in Yzma’s service would be amazing, but it’s safe to say that a movie whose main focus is Yzma has the potential to be one of the most hilarious Disney products ever.
#7 Davy Jones, “Pirates of the Caribbean”
Courtesy of Disney
Yes, we all tend to forget this sometimes, but Pirates of the Caribbean is a Disney movie. Davy Jones was intimidating and ruthless, something that apparently was the result of his heart getting (literally) ripped away by the goddess Calypso whom he’d fallen in love with. From the love story to the typical pirate adventures, the descent into darkness, and how Davy Jones came to become the captain of the Flying Dutchman, this tale already sounds fascinating.
#8 Ursula, “The Little Mermaid”
When you think about it, was she really a villain? Sure, it was her magic that rid Ariel of her voice and threw in some complications in her quest for love, but if it weren’t for Ursula, none of it would have been possible to begin with. Ariel had to learn the harsh way that you can’t gain something without losing something else in return. But what we’d really love to see, aside from a movie set underwater full of mermaids and corals and colorful fish, is how Ursula came to earn her reputation in the kingdom underneath the waves.
#9 Gaston, “Beauty and the Beast”
Courtesy of Disney
In Beauty and the Beast, the biggest enemy was the Beast himself with his insecurities, monstrous appearance, and temper. Therefore, it’s clear that Gaston wasn’t created to be a full-fledged villain and, rather, a complication. He’s narcissistic, arrogant, all brawns and no brain, and he would make a fantastic protagonist in a movie that explains how he came to be what he is. Perhaps he was spoiled rotten – either way, whatever the reason, we would get a comical movie with a main character almost as vain and clueless as Kuzco from The Emperor’s New Groove.
#10 Lady Tremaine, “Cinderella”
The 2015 movie adaptation of the classic tale already took a different turn with the Evil Stepmother when it revealed that, in fact, she was envious of Cinderella’s kindness all along. Although there are no superpowers involved, Lady Tremaine’s backstory has the potential to be an emotional tale that can have her come out on top as the result of an unfortunate series of moments in her life. Maybe she was cursed with parents who treated her as horribly as she treated Cinderella. Whatever it was, it’s a chance to showcase a story of corruption that, ultimately, has no happy ending.
