From 'Gorr the God Butcher' to 'The Grabber': Here are our 10 Movie Villains Of 2022

“A villain must be a thing of power, handled with delicacy and grace. He must be wicked enough to excite our aversion, strong enough to arouse our fear, human enough to awaken some transient gleam of sympathy. We must triumph in his downfall, yet not barbarously nor with contempt, and the close of his career must be in harmony with all its previous development.”

The aforesaid quote, by American essayist Agnes Repplier, more or less sums up why an antagonist is just as important to a motion picture's success as a protagonist or hero. Every good story deserves a great villain because without him, the hero can't stand out while saving the day.

As the force of antagonism, a villain is responsible for driving any motion picture's narrative and keeping viewers glued to their TV screens. A villain's constant back and forth with the protagonist, allows for the hero to grow, exceed expectations and overcome all challenges presented before him.

2022 has seen the birth of new and returning villains on both the silver screen and the small screen. From cosmically-powered characters like 'Gorr the God Butcher' (Dr. Strange in the  Multiverse of Madness), to deranged serial killers like 'The Grabber' (The Black Phone) and psychotic meta-humans who pretend to be good guys like 'Homelander' (The Boys), the year has given us a bunch of memorable bad guys.  

In homage to some of the best movie bad guys to hit our screens this year, here is our list of the top 10 movie villains of 2022. Beware of spoilers ahead since the identities of some of them are only revealed in the latter stages of their respective films or TV series.

10. Pearl (X)

Pearl is the primary antagonist of the 2022 horror slasher film 'X' and she is also the focus of the franchise's prequel movie 'Pearl'. As the oldest villains on our list, Pearl takes tenth place for her brutality and ruthlessness. She is an impulsive killer who targets young people because of her obsession with beauty and juvenility.

Owing to the fact that her husband is sickly and can't perform his expected duties as a man, Pearl takes out her pent up sexual frustrations on any young men (and women) unfortunate enough to find themselves on her farm which is practically in the middle of nowhere.

She uses her elderly appearance to lower the guards of her potential victims before killing and raping them. Yes, necrophilia is right up Pearl's alley! She later strings up their bodies in her basement where she keeps them as trophies. Her age makes many of the film's characters underestimate her capabilities and this is something that they end up paying for with their lives. Pearl is played by actress Mia Goth.

9. Ghostface (Scream 2022)

Ghostface is the name of a number of fictitious serial killers who run amok in the world of the 'Scream' movie franchise. Known to don a long black robe and a creepy, white ghost mask, Ghostface terrorises the students of Woodsboro High School before diabolically murdering them.

His preferred weapon of choice is an eight-inch hunting knife and that alone should tell you how unhinged the character is. Unlike other villains on the list, Ghostface rarely works alone since in every rendition of the film, there are at least two such characters in the movie.

Their identities are mostly always kept secret until the final third of the film and when they are revealed even the most avid movie enthusiast will be caught unawares. Ghostface takes this position because of how conveniently he positions himself next to his potential victims, masquerading as their friends, before making his move at the last second. You practically won't see him coming if you are unfortunate enough to be on his kill list.

8. Dr. Robotnik (Sonic the Hedgehog)

This goofy but likeable doctor, also known as Dr. Eggman is the primary antagonist of the fastest blue hedgehog, Sonic. A brilliant, unstable and narcissistic scientist, Robotnik's main objective is to steal Sonic's powers and use them for world domination.

Portrayed by comedy acting great Jim Carrey in the latest installment of the Sonic films, Robotnik is known to be very quick to anger, ruthless and violent when enraged. His narcissistic tendencies and the fact that he often underestimates the protagonist is the only reason that most of his plans to conquer the world end up in failure. He nonetheless makes for a very memorable and likeable character whenever he appears on screen.

7. Scarlett Witch (Dr. Strange: In the multiverse of Darkness)

A hero turned villain, Wanda Maximoff or the Scarlett Witch is the main villain in the most recent Dr. Strange movie. After losing her husband and children during the finale of the 'Wanda Vision' tv series, she turns to dark magic in an attempt to recover her lost children. Fueled by rage, she attempts to forcefully take the powers of one American Chavez, a young girl with the ability to traverse across the multiverse, so that she can be reunited with her deceased children.

As a user of chaos magic, the Scarlett Witch is nigh-indestructible and all powerful and any unfortunate soul that stands in her way ends up with an imploded head.  She is so strong that even Dr. Strange admitted that he couldn't defeat her in one-on-one combat. It is worth mentioning that Elizabeth Olsen, the actress who played Wanda in the film, effectively brought to life the essence of Wanda Maximoff, a character that is at the same time a terrifying villain and a tragic superhero.

6. Gorr the God Butcher (Thor: Love and Thunder)

Not all villains start out as bad guys and Gorr is the perfect example of this. When we are first introduced to him, Gorr is nothing more but a devout follower of the alien god Rapu. He prays to Rapu everyday and lives his life in line with the teachings of the alien deity.

He is a good man at heart and an even better father to his daughter, Love. This however changes when, despite praying to his god for salvation, Love dies from starvation. Seeking answers, Gorr seeks out Rapu and is severely disappointed and shocked to realize that the deity had heard his prayers but chose to ignore them.

After this, Gorr abandons his devotion to the god before killing him with the necrosword, a cosmically-powered blade which has the power to kill celestials. He then vows to rid the cosmos of all gods. It doesn't help that the necrosword corrupts him with every use and he ends up being even more sadistic.

Gorr, played by former Batman actor Christian Bale, revels in murdering any god he comes across but with a name like 'Gorr the God Butcher' this doesn't come as any surprise.

5. The Grabber (The Black Phone)

Firstly, I highly recommend this film if you haven't watched it already; it is one of the hidden gems of 2022. Albert Shaw or 'The Grabber' as he is known for most of the film is the final serial killer to make our list. He is different in that he explicitly targets young boys, kidnaps them and locks them up in his basement before torturing and murdering them.

He buries their remains at an apartment adjacent to his own. By the time we meet him, he has already killed five children (that we know of) and has already identified his next victim in the form of Finney Blake. He makes the list because the film's director opted to make his past a mystery.

As a viewer, you have no idea what motivates him to perform some of the hideous acts you'll see on screen. All we know is that he is cold, ruthless and can't be reasoned with. He is portrayed by actor Ethan Hawke.

Compassionless, emotionless and akin to many corporate nightmares, Harmony is a character that would make any worker rage-quit on the first day. Actress Patricia Arquette gives an Emmy-deserving role in this performance. With every stare or reprimand she deals out to her employees, viewers are left speechless at how ruthlessly terrifying this woman is.

What makes her memorable is unlike other villains on the list, she is very grounded and genuinely believable. This is scary considering the fact that someone somewhere could have such a person as a boss.

The much darker fourth season of Stranger Things finally reveals the antagonist behind the weird things lurking behind the shadows in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana; Vecna. Born Henry Creel, Vecna discovers that he has special abilities at the age of 12 which he uses without any care in the world.

He spends a significant period of his early life in Hawkins Lab before he is de-powered by Dr. Brenner. He is later banished to the upside world where instead of withering out and dying, as Dr. Brenner had predicted, he ends up becoming much stronger.

Fuelled with hate, rage and a distaste for 11, Vecna is responsible for controlling the demogorgons and is the series most scariest villain to date. Actor Jamie Campbell Bower brings the character to life in the hit TV series.

Few villains have made a more chilling impression than 'The Boys' Homelander this year. Ruthless, cynical, callous and morally depraved, Homelander is as nasty as they come. As his world's foremost superhero, who mirrors Superman in terms of ability, you would be mistaken for believing that Homelander is a goody two shoes when you are first introduced to him but once you see him behind closed doors you start seeing him for the terrifying villain that he truly is.

He uses force to coerce people into doing his bidding and he always goes overboard whenever he kills the few that would dare defy him. From imploding his victims' heads with heat vision, to driving his own hand through their chest and letting a fully-boarded plane crash when he has the ability to save the passengers, Homelander's list of atrocities is as long as the Nile. He is played by actor Anthony Starr who is famous for playing Sheriff Hood in 'Banshee.'

The Riddler is the mysterious villain in The Batman who nearly steals the show. He has a commanding presence on screen and his modus operandi is reminiscent of the real-life Zodiac Killer who operated in Northern California in the 1960s.

Director Matt Reeve's take on the character gave him a more grounded and realistic origin story which is quite distinct from all past live-action reiterations of the character. Actor Paul Dano brings an air of cruelty to the role; he is jarring, conniving and unsettling in all the right ways and is also a match for the batman in terms of wits and that's what makes him our best movie villain of 2022.