There are many tropes that we’ve seen in superhero movies over the years, especially as they’ve arrived more consistently in recent memory. We know about the big CGI battles that tend to come up where the hero battles the villain and we know about the major team-ups that happen. One thing that comes up in superhero films is the moment where the antagonist actually defeats the hero around the midway point of the story, only for the hero to regroup and overcome the odds before winning in the end.

It happened in Black Panther, The Dark Knight Rises, and Guardians of the Galaxy, just to name a few. Since we’ve seen that often, it’s intriguing to see cases where the heroes don’t fully turn things around. There are a few superhero films out there where the villain ends up as the winner. They might overwhelmingly come out on top or, more often, they might not look like the winner, yet their ultimate goal is actually successful. They could end up in jail or dead, yet they still somehow got their way.

The superhero films where the villain wins are rare, yet they’re also often in the conversation for the best entries in the genre, while also making for a pretty unique experience overall.

Key Takeaways

• Villain Wins: Some superhero films feature villains who achieve their goals despite being defeated.
• Unique Stories: These films often provide a fresh perspective on traditional superhero narratives.
• Memorable Examples: Films like Avengers: Infinity War and The Dark Knight showcase this trope effectively.
• Genre Impact: Villain victories can elevate a film’s status within the superhero genre.

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

The idea that the villain kind of wins in Captain America: Civil War is rather wild to consider. The film brings together more heroes than any non-Avengers project in the MCU. Cap is joined by Iron Man, Black Widow, Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, Vision, and more, while the movie also introduces Spider-Man and Black Panther. Going up against them is not some overwhelming entity, but instead is a normal, everyday man named Helmut Zemo.

Zemo was never going to beat a single member of either side of the civil war on his own, even if it was a non-powered human like Clint Barton. So, he found a way to pit the heroes against each other and make them fight. At the end of the film, he reveals the truth that Bucky killed Tony Stark’s dad, leading them to fight. Even after he’s arrested, Zemo notes that he didn’t really lose because his goal was to break up the Avengers through infighting, which is what he succeeded in doing, at least temporarily.

Brightburn (2019)

Brightburn is a unique movie among the rest of these because while it’s technically a superhero film, it’s more of a supervillain tale. The premise of Brightburn is basically “what if Superman were evil?” It centers on Brandon Breyer, a young boy who arrives on Earth from an alien planet and learns that he has superpowers. However, he ultimately uses those abilities to murder and abuse people instead of helping and saving them.

It takes the concept of Superman and turns it into a horror tale. The entire time you watch this movie, you expect his parents to find a way to talk him down and get him to understand that what he’s doing isn’t good. When his mother attempts this and tries to stab him, he anticipates it, flies her up into the stratosphere and drops her to her death. He then destroys an airplane just for the fun of it. It’s a harrowing conclusion to a dark story.

The Batman (2022)

Over the years, we have seen so many iterations of Batman on the big screen. The most recent was Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which saw Robert Pattinson step into the titular role. The villain in this story is The Riddler, who succeeds in his goal but not in the most obvious way. He gets put in jail and Batman ultimately becomes a symbol of hope for Gotham.

That said, the Riddler’s main goal was to expose the systemic corruption around the city and to take out many of the elite figures running Gotham. Those objects are achieved when he floods the city. Batman manages to save many people, so while he does achieve his goal, the Riddler does just enough to also get what he wants.

Watchmen (2009)

Watchmen arrived at a time when superhero movies weren’t as prominent as they are today. It also stood out from the rest of the pack for its daring ending. The film sees a group of heroes investigate the death of one of their own, which leads them to Adrian Veidt, better known as Ozymandias. In the end, the good guys confront him, only for things not to go as planned.

Ozymandias confesses to the murder and to his plot to frame Dr. Manhattan as the actual villain. The countries of the world come together with Dr. Manhattan as their common enemy and even Dr. Manhattan comes to understand that this is a good idea. Other than Rorschach, they agree to keep Ozymandias lie, allowing him to prevail.

Unbreakable (2000)

People often forget that Unbreakable was one of the best superhero movies before the genre became such a huge staple of Hollywood. The film arrived before the likes of Spider-Man, setting an early tone for how intriguing the genre can be. Unbreakable focuses on two complete opposites.

The hero is a man with superhuman strength and invulnerability, while the villain is a domestic terrorist with brittle bone disease. The ultimate climax reveals that the antagonist, Mr. Glass, orchestrated many events, including the train crash that helped the hero learn about his own abilities. It proves the existence of superheroes and validates Mr. Glass’s own existence as a villain, meaning that his ultimate goal was achieved, even if he ends up confined to a psychiatric hospital.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War is likely the most infamous case of a villain winning. The epic film brings together more superheroes on screen than ever before as the original Avengers team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, the people of Wakanda, and more, to stop the Mad Titan, Thanos. Thanos’ plan is to collect the Infinity Stones and use them to snap away half of all life in the universe, allowing more resources to be readily available for the remaining people.

Despite a team of incredibly powerful heroes, Thanos ends up as the winner. He succeeds in gathering every Infinity Stone, even going as far as to sacrifice his “daughter” Gamora to do so. Not only that but Thanos manages to snap his fingers and indeed wipe out half of existence. It’s an unprecedented win that makes Avengers: Infinity War such a special film.

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Dark Knight remains in conversation for being one of greatest superhero movies of all time especially given that it landed a Best Picture nomination. Both Joker and Two-Face are villains in this film yet Joker is considered main antagonist who sets everything in motion pushing Harvey Dent into full-on villain territory.

This leads Joker ultimately ends up winning because Batman gets him locked up yet people of Gotham choose not blow each other up but Joker reveals Harvey was his ace in hole proving you could take someone who is endlessly good and turn them into monster leading Batman cover up what happened Harvey Dent sending himself into exile.