Whether they were human, robot, ape, or beaver, no villain was safe in 2024. These are just a handful of the bad guys that met a permanent end on the big screen over the course of the year. Just beware: spoilers ahead.
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00:00Whether they were human, robot, ape, or beaver, no villain was safe in 2024.
00:05These are just a handful of the bad guys that met a permanent end on the big screen over
00:09the course of the year.
00:10Just beware — spoilers ahead.
00:13When the first trailer for Madame Web dropped in November of 2023, the internet couldn't
00:17stop obsessing over one particular bit of awkwardly-worded dialogue.
00:20He was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died.
00:26So who's the he in that sentence?
00:28That would be one Ezekiel Sims, who dons a legally distinct spider suit in his efforts
00:32to prevent his own destruction.
00:34After he gets a vision of the future in which he's killed by three super-powered women,
00:38Sims dedicates the remainder of his life to snuffing them out before they can ever become
00:42crime fighters.
00:43It's a bold plan, and it might have just worked if local paramedic Cassandra Webb hadn't just
00:47conveniently gained the power of clairvoyance.
00:49Thanks to the efforts of Cassie and the three teenagers she rescued, Sims is stopped once
00:53and for all.
00:54Her fight in an abandoned fireworks factory ends in explosive chaos, but after Cassie
00:59manages to get her new friends to safety with her powers, Sims gets crushed like a spider
01:03by a Pepsi sign.
01:05It's not the first recorded case of death by product placement, but it still makes for
01:08a rather unceremonious ending to a disappointing movie.
01:12The rank of Prime is perhaps the highest honor that a heroic Transformer can receive, but
01:16not all robots who call themselves Primes have goodness in their giant mechanical hearts.
01:20Case in point, Sentinel Prime, whose position as the seemingly benevolent leader of Iacon
01:24City in Transformers 1 hides a terrible truth.
01:28"...Down here, the truth is what I make it."
01:31Everyone on Cybertron sees Sentinel Prime as a legendary hero, including mining robots
01:36Orion and D-16.
01:37Eventually, though, they discover that rather than defending the planet from evildoers,
01:41Sentinel Prime has been colluding with the wicked aliens known as the Quintessons.
01:45He's even removed the transforming cogs from many of the planet's various denizens, including
01:50the heroes.
01:51And what's a Transformer that can't transform?
01:53Orion Pax and D-16 are both crushed by this news, but they each process their pain in
01:57starkly different ways.
02:00Pax wants to help the oppressed robots rise up and take control of their destiny, while
02:04D-16 wants to exact violent revenge on Sentinel Prime.
02:07It's not long before D-16 lets his vengeance take over, ripping Sentinel Prime in half
02:12in front of a crowd of other robots.
02:14As the murderous Transformer takes on the name Megatron, it's clear that one monstrous
02:18machine has paved the runway for another.
02:21Despite ordering the destruction of entire houses, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen isn't the
02:25type to actually get his hands dirty, unless you count his oil baths.
02:28He'd much rather have other people doing the dirty work for him as he soaks in his tub
02:32and watches his gladiator battles.
02:34That is, until trouble finally makes its way to him.
02:36In the first dune, Harkonnen orders an attack on House Atreides in order to ensure control
02:41of the Arrakis spice trade.
02:42This vicious maneuver inspires a lust for vengeance in the heart of young Paul Atreides,
02:46and after nearly six hours of screentime, the ending of Dune Part 2 finally sees Paul
02:51exacting his revenge.
02:52After leading a battle as the Lisan or Gaib, Paul finds Harkonnen holed up in the Imperial
02:57Complex.
02:58Newly armed with the knowledge that the Baron is his grandfather, he executes him on the
03:01spot.
03:02Sorry, Pop-Pop.
03:03He's down like an animal.
03:10Joining the Baron in death is his creepy nephew, Fade Rotha, who also finds himself on the
03:14receiving end of Paul's knife.
03:16If the books are any indication, Paul's power over the Fremen seems to be leading him in
03:20a similarly fanatical direction.
03:23In their first big American crossover movie, Godzilla and Kong eventually put aside their
03:27differences to take down Mechagodzilla.
03:29Instead of pulling another villain from the existing roster of kaiju for Godzilla x Kong
03:33the New Empire, the titanic duo end up facing off against a brand new foe, a dark parallel
03:38to Kong.
03:39Paul's king remains obsessed with reaching the surface.
03:43The Iwi call him the Scar King.
03:46A massive red ape whose evilness stretches back to before the first Ice Age, Scar King
03:51lives deep in Hollow Earth with a gorilla army and a giant ice-breathing lizard called
03:55Shimo.
03:56Scar King has a crystal that's basically a dog whistle for giant frost monsters, so he
04:00commands Shimo to attack Kong and let him ride her around like a pony.
04:04The plan?
04:05Get to the surface world via portal and do what kaiju do best.
04:08Things come to a head when Scar King and Shimo make it to Rio de Janeiro.
04:12It seems like the monsters might just start a second Ice Age, but the little big ape Suko
04:16manages to change the tide of the battle by shattering Shimo's crystal.
04:19With Shimo on their side, as well as the newly reborn Mothra, they're able to stop the simian
04:24dictator.
04:25Shimo frees the Scar King solid, so Kong can shatter him into countless shards of ice,
04:29Terminator 2-style.
04:30Thanks to a masterful marketing campaign and the acting talents of Nicolas Cage, Long Legs
04:35ended up being one of the most memorable horror movies of 2024.
04:39With the help of an impressive team of makeup and prosthetic artists, Cage was transformed
04:43into his most menacing character yet, and there's a lot of competition there.
04:46"...accept the gift, and destroy it, and destroy yourself."
04:53A demonic entity prone to acts of evil and fits of bizarre singing, the murderer known
04:58as Long Legs leaves a lengthy string of bodies behind him, despite never actually being in
05:02the houses of his victims when they die.
05:04The fact, along with a series of coded messages, drives FBI agent Lee Harker to track him down
05:09with what may or may not be psychic abilities.
05:11Once Harker and her associates track down Long Legs and arrest him, it seems like they
05:15finally might be able to get a confession and learn the truth.
05:18But the killer has different ideas.
05:19He slams his own head into the interrogation room table so hard that his nose comes off.
05:24Long Legs may be dead, but his murderous plans continue thanks to an unexpected accomplice.
05:28It seems as if he's so powerful that he can commit crimes from beyond the grave.
05:33In the two previous Deadpool movies, the supervillains mostly played second fiddle
05:36to Deadpool's snarky comments.
05:38Deadpool 2 in particular featured a handful of temporary baddies before the finale revealed
05:42that the juggernaut was actually the story's big bad.
05:45In Deadpool and Wolverine, the two lovable mutants end up fighting one of the MCU's strongest
05:49mutants, at least so far.
05:50Cassandra Nova, the twin sister of Charles Xavier
05:53"...we shared a womb, tried to strangle the sly little fellow with my umbilical cord."
05:58"...Amen.
05:59I've never loved roommates."
06:01Born with unsettling mental powers, Cassandra was brought to the void by the Time Variance
06:05Authority when she was a newborn.
06:07She eventually procures an army of other abandoned mutants to do her bidding, surviving in the
06:11harshest place imaginable.
06:13Enjoying in these conditions makes Cassandra a terrifyingly imposing mutant, but like so
06:18many other seemingly unstoppable Marvel movie baddies, she isn't immortal.
06:22Eventually, Cassandra concocts a plan to wipe out multiple universes using the TVA's Time
06:27Ripper.
06:28Deadpool and Wolverine unite to stop it, no matter the cost.
06:31And when they finally do destroy the device, Cassandra is destroyed along with it.
06:36She could survive the void, but she couldn't survive the combined might of Ryan Reynolds
06:39and Hugh Jackman.
06:41When rumors started swirling that the 2019 film Joker would be receiving a sequel, fans
06:45cooked up all sorts of theories about what Arthur Fleck's next misadventure might look
06:49like.
06:50The possibilities were endless, but I don't think anyone predicted that it would be a
06:53cross between a courtroom drama and a jukebox musical.
06:56Nevertheless, that's exactly what Jokerfolia 2 was, for better and for worse.
07:00While on trial for the crimes he committed in the previous films, Arthur bonds with several
07:04of his fellow inmates, particularly his love interest, Lee, and it brings out his humanity.
07:09As the trial concludes, he rebukes Joker, finally taking responsibility for his actions
07:14and admitting that he needs serious help.
07:16Such a revelation doesn't sit well with various Gotham citizens, who have made Arthur Fleck's
07:20persona their entire reason for being.
07:22Uh-oh, I'm in trouble.
07:25In the controversial ending of Folia 2, Arthur stops to chat with one of his prison pals,
07:29Jack Oswald White, who has a joke to tell.
07:32The punchline of that joke is White stabbing Arthur to death.
07:35Hilarious.
07:36Despite the original Joker being an origin story, this version of the character will
07:39never go on to torment Batman.
07:41Instead, he's just another failed comedian bleeding out on the floor.
07:45There's nothing quite like a satisfying revenge story, and Dev Patel's Monkeyman hits the
07:49spot.
07:50As a kid, the hero, called Kid, was helpless as corrupt cops destroyed his village and
07:54killed his mother, under the direction of the spiritual guru, Baba Shakti.
07:58As an adult, Kid makes it his mission to avenge his community by eliminating Shakti and Rana
08:03Singh, the police chief who does his dirty work.
08:05Even though he supposedly preaches peace and love, Shakti isn't exactly the nicest guy.
08:10In fact, he's an advisor to some of the most hateful and popular politicians in India.
08:14He's so popular that Kid and his allies have to take down dozens of bodyguards before they
08:18can even get close to him.
08:20After taking out Chief Singh, Kid finally comes face-to-face with Shakti himself.
08:24They're not exactly evenly matched, but Shakti takes a page from Assassin's Creed and does
08:28some damage with hidden blades.
08:30Eventually, though, like so many action movie baddies before him, Shakti succumbs to the
08:34hero's incredible combat skills on the top floor of his massive complex and dies.
08:38"...forgive me.
08:39Have mercy, please."
08:40"...and then God can forgive you now."
08:46It doesn't take a super-genius like Cesar Catalina to figure out why Megalopolis bombed
08:50at the box office.
08:51Despite writer-director Francis Ford Coppola's lofty ambitions, the film in its final form
08:56is a bunch of famous people stiffly reciting Shakespeare in front of cheap-looking backdrops.
09:01If there's one bright spot in the ocean of CGI noise, though, it's Aubrey Plaza's conniving
09:06reporter, Wow Platinum.
09:07She doesn't just have a great name, she's also a classical schemer in a world full of
09:11actors sleepwalking through their roles.
09:13"...you and I ought to have an understanding.
09:15You're on my territory now, and you're gonna play by my rules."
09:20Platinum eventually formulates a plan to steal away the wealth and power of her husband,
09:23Hamilton Crassus III, by plotting and sleeping with his son, Claudio Pulcher.
09:28Their nefarious ambitions result in Crassus having a stroke.
09:31Pulcher and Platinum visit the bedridden Crassus to revel in their victory, only for Crassus
09:36to make the deadliest d---- joke of the year.
09:38Revealing a tiny crossbow under his sheet, he fires an arrow into Platinum's chest, killing
09:42her instantly.
09:43And with that, the most compelling character in Megalopolis is gone.
09:47It's probably impossible to count the exact number of beavers that appear throughout the
09:51movie Hundreds of Beavers, but it's safe to say that the title doesn't lie.
09:55Taking inspiration from Buster Keaton and Looney Tunes, this micro-budget comedy pits
09:58struggling Applejack salesman Jean Kayak against an ever-growing army of woodland creatures.
10:03The best part?
10:04Every single one of them is being played by a human being in a mascot suit.
10:07No animals were harmed in the making of this picture.
10:10After Kayak's orchard is destroyed by the beavers, he decides to earn the affections
10:13of the local merchant's daughter by giving her father as many pelts as possible.
10:18With a narrative that resembles a video game more than a movie, Hundreds of Beavers shows
10:21the spurned salesman developing unique beaver-killing strategies and upgrading his gear as he attempts
10:26to complete his quest.
10:28Beavers get crushed, clobbered, exploded, and so much more.
10:31The increasingly convoluted acts of violence then come to a screeching halt when Kayak
10:35is put on trial for his actions, by the beavers.
10:38Although originally screened in 2022, it didn't see its video-on-demand release until
10:42early 2024, and remains one of the most criminally under-seen movies of the year.
10:47The fur trade has never been funnier than this.