Batman Villains Ranking - 38 Live-Action Batman Villains Ranked

In this video I rank all the Batman villains from the live-action Batman movies. I'm ranking 38 villains in total in collaboration with Cody Leach, who has also ranked the live-action Batman villains over on his channel. Let us both know your favorites, and least favorites, down in the comments.
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Bryan Lomax Movie Talk is home to film reviews, scene analysis, "explained" videos, movie essays, top 10 videos and lots of other kinds of film discussion.

[@BishopWalters12]

Top 5 1.Paul's Riddler 2. Jack's Joker 3. Michelle's Catwoman 4. Colin's Penguin 5. Danny Devito

[@martinwolters1839]

It's Cesar Romero, George A. is from the zombie movies.

[@BryanLomax]

Aww crap! Totally missed that COCK UP! BALLS!!!

[@justindriscoll1844]

@@BryanLomax 🤣🤣🤣

[@sumneetnirankari4098]

One thing about Bryan that will never change is his undeniable love towards Batman and James bond

[@filip5804]

1. The Riddler (2022) 2. Joker (2008) 3. Ra's Al Ghul (2005) 4. Bane (2012) 5. Joker (1989) 6. Penguin (2022) 7. Catwoman (1992) 8. Two-Face (2008) 9. Carmine Falcone (2022) 10. Scarecrow (2005) 11.Catwoman (2012) 12. Penguin (1992) 13. The Riddler (1995) 14. Max Shreck (1992) 15. Carmine Falcone (2005) 16. Sal Maroni (2008) 17. Mr. Freeze (1997) 18. Penguin (1966) 19. Catwoman (1966) 20. Joker (1966) 21. The Riddler (1966) 22. Talia Al Ghul (2012) 23. Poison Ivy (1997) 24. Two-Face (1995) 25. Bane (1997)

[@DarthBullyMaguire98c]

RIDDLER ABOVE HEATH LEDGER WHAT!!??? I think I have to rewatch The Batman, because right now, he would be around number 5 in my list, and if we count Gotham, he is not even in the top ten.

[@TheSoldier1984]

@@DarthBullyMaguire98c come on bud It’s just his opinion Nothin wrong there

[@MikeOrtego]

Cody Leach sent me here

[@jordanmoran1983]

Excellent list. I recently seen Liam neesons gravitas in the Lego movie as good cop/bad cop, breath taking. 🤣if I was in the cinema when you shouted 'Thats Zsasz, played by Tim Booth' I'd have thrown my galaxy caramel wrapper at you really hard'. Side note, you had me thinking I could watch the batman animated movies with my 2 year old, they're cartoons so fit his criteria!

[@jaredliebergen1179]

Loving all of the Batman content! Would you ever do rankings centered around the animated series? Favorite episodes, villains, etc.?

[@BryanLomax]

I'm actually planning on doing some 😁

[@dinocollins720]

I've watched a ton of Batman villain ranking videos. Your list is my all time favorite so far! This video was excellent!

[@BryanLomax]

Thanks.

[@captcrais101]

For a guy who says he knows the DC comics doesn’t know Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, founded the Birds of Prey not Harley Quinn.

[@Xehanort10]

4:20 It's Caesar Romero Bryan. Unless the Dawn of the Dead director had an acting career at some point.

[@BryanLomax]

I know. I cocked up!

[@Matt.Pattinson]

Personally I love Cesar Romero's Joker but thats the beauty of opinions and yeah there is no excusing that mustache is there?

[@BryanLomax]

🤣 no, certainly not.

[@kevindobson3701]

The dark knight and Batman returns are my 2 fav batman movies of all time

[@tonymoviechappied9neillblo996]

My top 10 favorite Batman villains 10 catwoman the dark knight rises 9 falcone the Batman 8 scarecrow the dark knight trilogy 7 Talia al Ghul 6 the penguin the Batman 5 Ra's al Ghul 4 two face the dark knight 3 riddler the Batman 2 bane the dark knight rises 1 joker Heath Ledger

[@captcrais101]

Michelle’s Catwoman is better Catwoman than Anne

[@Xehanort10]

19:36 These days though Carrey's pre Riddler Edward Nygma is a cliche because there's been loads of "nerd obsessed with the hero then feels betrayed by them" villains in superhero films like Amazing Spider-Man 2's Electro, Iron Man 3's Aldrich Killian and so on. Manipulating people minds with technology is more Mad Hatter's thing than Riddler's too.

[@jashaun2252]

Cody sent me

[@captcrais101]

The Snyder version of the Joker, we don’t get enough of him to really judge him.

[@maxscheidler]

Great list Bryan! I’m looking forward to when you start making those comic book videos you were talking about on the autopstream. I haven’t read too many comic books and am really looking forward to starting!

[@BryanLomax]

I'll mostly be reviewing Batman and Detective Comics. Should be fun.

[@dinocollins720]

Daggett is a great character just because he develops Bain's character with that one iconic scene haha

[@BryanLomax]

"Do you feel in charge?" 🤣

[@dinocollins720]

@@BryanLomax haha epic!

[@whobitmyname]

9:17 George Romero played Joker? Wasw that before or after he started directing?

[@anthonyb7060]

U said George A Romero , isn't it Caesar Romero? George A. Romero is the writer/director of "the living dead" series of films along with The Crazies n a number of other classic horror films.

[@BryanLomax]

Yep. Slip of the old brain matter. It happens every so often and you don't notice until you've published your video.

[@Catcupid]

I don't know that there can ever be too much Batman content. I enjoyed your ranking. I think the only one I felt was too low was Raz Al Guhl. I think I put more emphasis on his personal Mark on Batman. I also agree with the Cat woman rankings, but I also love that there are 3 wonderful versions of this character, since villains are more predominately male.

[@themidnightwoodsman1804]

Great vid. Did Bob from Batman89 miss out on account of not fighting Batman directly? I always liked that guy and felt sorry for him when he died. Also, I've always liked the guy who puts up an amazing fight in the belltower at the end. I wish he'd had a name and been in the movie earlier. Bit weird how there's 3 of them just camped up there in case Batman comes along (but that's going off on a tangent).

[@BryanLomax]

🤣🤣🤣 Yeah, I came real close to putting Bob the Goon on there but I'm not sure dropping a knife and running away can be classed as a confrontation 🤣

[@Xehanort10]

25:26 Getting rid of the tattoos and giving him longer hair doesn't make his version of the character better though. And it got cut out of the film but in the trailer Snyder had him unironically say the stupid "We live in a society" meme as a serious line.

[@BryanLomax]

It felt MUCH more Joker to me than that two-bit gangsta we got in SS.

[@papaj9072]

Great video bryan. Can definitely see your love for batman and i respect that immensely. Is batman your favorite superhero? Hes forsure my favorite

[@BryanLomax]

100 percent!

[@Xehanort10]

31:18 In the original plan for a 3rd Nolan Batman film Two Face wouldn't have been killed off in The Dark Knight and would have gone on a rampage that revealed Joker's corruption of him to Gotham City's people. The original idea was Joker escaping while on trial for his crimes in The Dark Knight.

[@mikegonzalez503]

Interesting list. I'd rather watch Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy over most of these entries. Not understanding even ranking zzazz or kgbeast when they barely have any screen time. And are pretty unmemorable. Ohh well. Interesting list.

[@mikegonzalez503]

And you put Phoenix's joker and Harley Quinn on the list? Gotcha. Well, congrats on the video.

[@123cfc3]

I think Aaron eckhart two face is so low on this list

[@Xehanort10]

14:52 The more Batman, Gordon and Harvey go after his money through Lau and Joker starts to take over the city and kill his fellow mobsters like Gambol and The Chechen the more power Maroni loses. Then obviously Two Face kills him for paying Wuertz and Ramirez to help Joker kidnap him and Rachel.

[@captcrais101]

The problem with Lex Luthor is in movies we had only Gene Hackman who was only good in Superman 1, 2, and 2 Donner cut. I think the Lex from Lois and Clark was good. The Lex from Smallville was great and I loved the Clancy Brown Lex from the DCAU. If Batman v Superman had a Lex Luthor that is a good blend of Michael Rosenbaum and Clancy Brown with the Armor suit from the comics and Turn Scoot NcNery into Metallo that would have been better than the mess than the movie we got.

[@Xehanort10]

7:57 Apparently Two Face was going to be in the 60's show as an actor who was scarred when a camera exploded in his face but that was considered too violent for the campy show.

[@BryanLomax]

Have you seen the animated movie with Shatner voicing him?

[@Xehanort10]

@@BryanLomax No but I've heard about it.

[@gamegraves]

There are so many

[@TheRealBGregz]

George A. Romero’s Joker? 🤔

[@BryanLomax]

I know I know, I cocked up! It happens to the best of us.

[@imperialproductions3060]

Youre talking about zodiac like he’s a movie franchice

[@cganimefan1267]

For my ranking, I decided to include villains from the Suicide Squad, the movie serials and the obscure Filipino film Alyas Batman en Robin My ranking of the Batman movie villains from least favorite to favorite: 40. KGBeast (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice) 39. Killer Croc (Suicide Squad) 38. Catwoman (Alyas Batman En Robin) 37. Victor Zsaz (Birds of Prey) 36. Two-Face (The Dark Knight) 35. Harley Quinn (DCEU) 34. Bane (Batman and Robin) 33. Catwoman (Batman: The Movie) 32. Deadshot (Suicide Squad) 31. Wizard (Batman and Robin movie serial) 30. Bane (The Dark Knight Rises) 29. Black Mask (Birds of Prey) 28. Carmine Falcone (Batman Begins) 27. Talia Al Ghul (The Dark Knight Rises) 26. Ra's Al Ghul (Batman Begins) 25. Scarecrow (Batman Begins) 24. Joker (The Dark Knight) 23. Doomsday (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice) 22. Jason Woodrue (Batman and Robin) 21. Dr. Daka (Batman movie serial) 20. Catwoman (Batman Returns) 19. Catwoman (The Dark Knight Rises) 18. Penguin (Alyas Batman En Robin) 17. Two-Face (Batman Forever) 16. Riddler (Batman Forever) 15. Joker (DCEU) 14. Polka-Dot Man (The Suicide Squad) 13. Max Shreck (Batman Returns) 12. Joker (Tim Burton's Batman) 11. Mr. Freeze (Batman and Robin) 10. Penguin (Batman Returns) 9. Steppenwolf (Justice League) 8. Lex Luthor (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice) 7. Poison Ivy (Batman and Robin) 6. Ratcatcher 2 (The Suicide Squad) 5. Joker (Joker) 4. Joker (Alyas Batman En Robin) 3. Penguin (Batman: The Movie) 2. Joker (Batman: The Movie) 1. Riddler (Batman: The Movie)

[@BryanLomax]

This ranking is crazy to me, but to each their own I guess 😂

[@tonymoviechappied9neillblo996]

Let’s be honest bane from Batman & Robin is pretty much a version of Frankenstein

[@BryanLomax]

Pretty much. But dumber.

[@Xehanort10]

Nah. The original novel version of Frankenstein's Monster is actually smart. Hell the dumb childlike Boris Karloff version is still smarter than B & R Bane.

[@kurglekreutzer6344]

I would probably rank the villains mainly based on if they fit their respective films or in this case also the '60s series. This in mind I think most of them did a fine job. The ones that somehow elevated the story or perhaps influenced the future villain portrayals are probably first found in the Burton "saga" and rightly so. Personally I don't like Jack Nicholson's questionable talent as an actor (I think he has ever portrayed a single characater in his life, that being a Looney Tunes cartoon characterization, with flailing arms and raised eyebrows etc. They are his cheap parlour tricks to make one think that he is "emoting", when he has in fact stayed on the same bad note his whole career), his "what's up doc" -type of a Joker was influential though, there is denying that, but the real thanks even of that portrayal being so famous goes to him being a Hollywood darling, meaning he will get automatic praise for any and all of his appearances - in other words he was there to create some free positive press for the revived Batman! For these reasons I can only give two stars for Nicholson's performance! (It is no wonder that Burton rarely worked with him again, I mean why would he, when he could choose people like Martin Landau, Christopher Lee, Helena Bonham Carter or even Vincent Price!) (Nicholson's best performance might be in, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest and even there he is not as good as the other actors. For example compare Nicholson to Brad Douriff's career and simply ask could Nicholson have done those performances and you know the answer is NO! Brad Douriff is a guy who can give a better performance in an X-Files episode (easily Oscar worthy stuff) than Nicholson in any of his best films! At the end of the day Nicholson is a movie star and not much more, yes, he can do Nicholson with a cheese or Nicholson with no mayonnaise, but he can not not become a Nicholson and that is his problem as an actor.) From the Burton saga I would easily pick the Penguin and the Catwoman as the best villains. They may not be Hollywood darlings so that no matter what they do, their performances are praised, (to make people go see the film) but they really gave great performances in a Burton fairytale. (Danny DeVIto is also easily a better actor than Nicholson has ever been. He can become just about anything, while Nicholson can only be Nicholson.) I kind of liked Jared Leto and thought that he did just fine, but of course we didn't get to see him enough. Bane (the modern one) was good too. I didn't mind the voice and thought it was actually cool. It was like a gentle sounding Darth Vader. Harley Quinn was a memorable Villain and she achieved something special in that, it is probably because of that portrayal of the character, that they decided to make more of those type of films! Even though Doomsday sucked and was nothing like his cool comic book counter-part, I have to give him some props for killing that woeful imposter Superman - it was one of the most heartwarming moments ever! Of course I knew they would revive the imposter one day, but still that moment was pure gold! Heath Ledger's Joker is the best live Joker portrayl easily! His film is also the one where they could really concentrate on the sound design and editing to help the Joker's delivery! The best scene for this is the Joker in the party. The sound design, when Ledger starts to speak, is probably Nolan's best moment as a film maker. (I don't think he can top that one, simply because it is not just Nolan and his ideas, but everything working together to make that scene work). What we can also learn from Ledger's performance is that he took some of the Nicholson's mannerisms and made them better. He was not like Jack Black who copied Nicholson 100% to become Jack Black we now know! My number one Batman villain is a surprise, surprise Batman himself! Yes, he really became a "villain" when he fought against Superman and even though his cause may have been justified in his own mind (to murder the evil Superman, which is highly commendable) it still was strictly speaking him trying to murder someone! That makes him a villain of the highest order! So the number one spot goes to Batfleck! (It is too bad that he failed in his mission)

[@joshuanelson6795]

Always nice to come across a fellow Batman fan who is familiar with the source material. I'm curious to know what your favorite Batman comics are, Bryan.

[@BryanLomax]

Year One, Killing Joke and Hush are absolute musts! But I'm also a sucker for the entire Knightfall storyline and love the one-shot, 'Vengeance of Bane'. Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan are my guys, along with Norm Breyfogle.

[@joshuanelson6795]

Great picks! I’m glad you gave a shoutout to Chuck Dixon, Graham Nolan and Norm Breyfogle. Some of my favorites are Denny O’Neil, Scott Snyder, Jim Starlin, Paul Dini, Alan Grant, Marv Wolfman and Tim Sale to name just a few.

[@BryanLomax]

@@joshuanelson6795 same! I love what Denny O'Neil gave us. Ras al Ghul, awesome! I've written a feature film script for a Batman / Azrael movie. Azrael is such an unsung, brilliant creation, and I'd love for him to be a household name.

[@joshuanelson6795]

Jean-Paul Valley was the perfect foil for Bruce Wayne in “Knightfall”, but that sadly seems to be all he is remembered for.

[@wickdaline8668]

I believe Jesse Luthor is based on a comic series Superman: Birthright. Where Lex is pretty much like Jesse. Wouldn't be surprised if that comic iteration was just as unpopular as seen in BVS.

[@BryanLomax]

Well, that, and the Lex from the original 30's and 40's comic books who was a mad scientist character rather than the suave business tycoon we know today.

[@Riky_Jones]

What did you think of Black Mask?

[@BryanLomax]

I actually loved him, along with that movie. I just couldn't include him on this list because, as far as the DCEU goes, he's not gone up against Batman at all.

[@Riky_Jones]

@@BryanLomax Yeah I think this version of Black Mask would be great in the newest Batman.

[@BryanLomax]

@@Riky_Jones me too. Shame they killed him off.

[@Riky_Jones]

@@BryanLomax also I think the ventriloquist and clay face could be done right.

[@BryanLomax]

@@Riky_Jones ventriloquist is actually one of my favourites. A very grounded character. I'd also like to see The Tally Man.

[@tonygold1239]

I've always wanted to know what where your thoughts on Gotham the TV Series

[@BryanLomax]

I did review every episode of the first season and most of season 2.

[@cyrisssmith8830]

I don't think Catwoman shooting that dude in the new movie would have been villainous it's exactly what I would have done.

[@BryanLomax]

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, which is why Batman doesn't kill, and why he stops Selina becoming that which she hates. To call oneself good you must hold yourself to a higher standard, even though that can be the hardest thing in the world, as we all let our feelings lead us.

[@ParanormalFire]

4:17 George A????

[@BryanLomax]

Yeah, sorry bud, that bloody mustache always got on my nerves.

[@BryanLomax]

Aww crap! Just realized what you are talking about. I cocked up. Ball sack!!!

[@doomraven0]

Interesting video. I can't get behind you on any of the Snyder villains. I don't blame the actors, they are excellent in everything else, but Snyder is the worst kind of arrogant "visionary" and everything he wrote and directed was crap. Of all the possible versions of Joker and Lex Luthor *that* is what Hack chose to commit to? Ugh. BvS and JL are downright painful to watch. Horrible stories, visuals, and dialogue. You must have some really good wacky tobaccy to love a Snyder film. As far as Ledger's Joker, yes, The Dark Knight has several flaws as a film but Ledger is flawless. Just a perfect performance.

[@wardy_0528]

Top 5 for me 5) Scarecrow (Dark knight trilogy) 4) Two Face (The dark knight) 3) The Penguin (The Batman) 2) Bane (The Dark Knight Rises) 1) The Joker (The Dark Knight) I was so excited for Paul danos riddler and loved him in the first half of the movie but I was disappointed with where the character went and he ended up being the most disappointing part of the movie for me

[@m.godwin9480]

You mean when he starts to shout ,sing more of a nerd at the end.Completely agreed ..It was unnecessary to waste the potential of this zodiac riddler...However judging by the first two acts ,he is great .In the third act,hes poured into water ...

[@wardy_0528]

@@m.godwin9480 yep. The creepy killer was brilliant but then he went into KZbin mode and it was crap from then