The history of cinema is full of examples to follow, of characters with granite morals capable of changing the world with their actions. Unfortunately, we are not all that perfect and in the same way that this example shines with its own light to illuminate the lives of those of us who have gone astray, we also have next to us the example of those who do not want to follow in the footsteps of that idyllic path and prefer evil, or simply rudeness.
What is an antihero?
The genre of superhero movies has given us in the last 50 years a huge number of examples of what moral rectitude and acts have to be. Characters chiseled in the stone of virtue who rarely stray from the established in their monotonous existences. So to have a good time, what better than to take a tour of the circus of the horrors of sins? Now, do you know exactly what an antihero is?
If we go to any dictionary, we will find in the definition of antihero that it is that “character of a work of fiction that plays the same role of importance and protagonism as the traditional hero, but that lacks its characteristics of perfection because it has the virtues and defects of a normal person”. Two classic examples of Spanish literature could be those of El Lazarillo de Tormes and Sancho Panza, the faithful squire of Don Quixote . So you can get an idea…
Superhero movies have proliferated in recent years around these figures too, controversial and not exactly a good example for youth. So with the intention of remembering the most outstanding ones, in case you want to give yourself a marathon of movies of a certain moral baseness and unleashed instincts where those moral values that the Marvel or DC characters remind us of every so often are questioned, here is a small list of the ones that (we believe) are the best.
The best movie antiheroes (of heroes)
With all of the above on the table, we have gone to the superhero genre to find out who are those antiheroes who have starred in their own movies and who are not, precisely, an example to follow. Paradoxically, it has been this imperfection that has made them popular idols. Here you have them.
Joker
Arthur Fleck has one passion in life: making others laugh. The problem is that society does not seem to accept him and little by little it is pushing him towards a spiral of violence from which he will not be able to escape. Before him will be presented a single path that has only one way out: to become the Joker.
Watchmen
The year 2009 will be remembered for the arrival of the first batch of great antiheroes to the world of cinema. Alan Moore’s characters made the leap to the big screen thanks to Zack Snyder in a film that is already an icon among comic book fans, and a clear example of what main characters are that we cannot consider as examples of anything. Or maybe yes?
v for Vendetta
London is immersed in a kind of police regime where the iron fist is applied to the population. In the midst of this dark present , the figure of a savior emerges who uses terrorist techniques to end the tyranny. Although it is true that such V is not, precisely, the best example to follow.
dark-man
Sam Raimi was already flirting in 1990 with superhero movies inspired by comics with a film in which an accident leaves a scientist practically faceless or who has just discovered how to make synthetic skin. Although his values are noble, deep down what he seeks is revenge on those who caused him so much harm. And of course, that is not a feeling to consider as positive, right?
Logan
How is it possible that we consider a movie with Wolverine as an example of antiheroes? In fact, that’s the way it is, at least in James Mangold’s film, where a wolverine come down has to face everyone and everything to protect a girl who seems to have special powers. The problem is that along the way he will make some decisions that will bring him closer to the abyss of darkness than to the abyss of light.
Spawn
As in the case of Darkman , the antihero created by Todd McFarlane is moved by a pure instinct for revenge and in the 1997 film it is very clear. In this case we have a character, Spawn, who has made a pact with the devil that will lead him to gain some superpowers that will allow him to complete his Machiavellian plan.
Dredd
In a rather dark future of a society divided between rich and poor, the police must impose order, although it is the agents themselves who cannot boast too much of their virtues . In this case, the famous Judge Dredd, armed arm and executor who passes sentence just before pulling the trigger.
Venom
An example that we all have very fresh in our memories, thanks to two films that have increased his already enormous fame. Venom is a symbiote that is a clear example of what an antihero is because it is not possible to find a single virtue in him, although he later faces the bad guys and kills them in the most violent way he can.
Suicide Squad
DC found a gold mine in that of taking a group of villains from the comics and putting them in front of a mission with an (apparently) noble end. But nothing is further from reality because you only have to see the result of the two films that have been released (in 2018 and 2021) to understand that, although “the monkey dresses in silk, the monkey stays” .
Mega mind
This Dreamworks Animation movie is wonderful as it shows us what happens when a villain kills the superhero and the city he was protecting is left at his feet. After so much destruction, he seeks to create another opponent capable of fighting him but along the way he will see that, after all, he will have no choice but to be the one who ends up protecting Metro City from the beast he has made.
hell boy
This comic book character has some very interesting films behind him, although we are left with those of Guillermo del Toro. It is a kind of quite violent and wild half-demon who cannot erase in one stroke what his dark origins are and who he serves, although some of his actions may seem to be good.
Hancock
We come to another of the heroes who are neither noble nor are they moved at times by doing good just for the sake of it. Hancock is quite unpopular, he lives in a permanent state of dissatisfaction and is tormented by the way everyone sees him. The problem is that although he saves many lives, he causes real catastrophes that take him far away from the image that we all have of him being a superhero.
Birds of prey
This is the same case that occurs with The Suicide Squad , where a series of villains from DC comics gather around the famous Harley Quinn. It doesn’t matter how much it seems that they fight against evil, that after all they practically represent the same side of the coin of that evil they claim to fight. Too dangerous.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Over the years and the movies of the different phases of the UCM we have all ended up thinking that it is a group of superheroes but nothing is further from reality. That gang of five (almost) failures is the best example of what antiheroes are: misfits with distracted customs who, in this case, wander the galaxy doing what they can. Even if they end up doing good by rebound.
dead pool
Surely this Marvel character was the first that came to mind when you read about the best movies about antiheroes. Deadpool is a disturbed man with more or less special powers who doesn’t do good out of conviction, but out of pure revenge to pay for all the torture he went through.