2. Terence Stamp as General Zod in “Superman II” (1980)

There’s a bit in “Superman II” where Terence Stamp, in his immortal role as arch-villain General Zod, shoots lasers from his eyes. This special effect, aside from probably blowing our unformed minds when we first watched it, is almost entirely superfluous, because Stamp’s eyes do the job their own. Without a doubt the smoothest, most implacable, and best-looking villain on this list, there’s an icy, alien, reptilian ruthlessness that Stamp brings to Zod that makes his incarnation, despite the cronkiness of the special effects and the famously mish-mash nature of the Donner/Lester film, a completely defining villain for the Man of Steel. Matching him power for power and not suffering from the debilitating disease of “caring about people” Zod is Supes’ equal, and so for once the stakes are high, because you know this is the one guy that Superman can’t, if push came to shove, shove harder. But it’s the solemn, chilling glee with which Zod scorches his path to ultimate power that makes Stamp’s version indispensable. Where Michael Shannon played Zod as a brawny, raging, bellowing thug, Stamp is so much more chilling by being almost effete — lithe, sardonic but so in control he makes Superman seem gauche. Frankly, if you gotta kneel before someone, you could do worse than Terence Stamp in black PVC.

1. Heath Ledger as The Joker in “The Dark Knight” (2008)

Eternally proving that premature fanboy outrage over casting can always, always be disregarded, the announcement that Australian actor Heath Ledger would play Batman’s most famous foe, The Joker (previously brought to life by as legendary a figure as Jack Nicholson) inspired uproar from certain segments of the fan community. “Probably the worst casting of all time,” wrote comments sections. “I am not seeing this movie if he is in it,” they continued. “I won’t be able to watch it. I’ll keep expecting him to have sex with Batman,” added one particularly enlightened fellow. Well, the comments boards, as usual, were wrong: Ledger was a phenomenal choice, reinventing the character just as thoroughly as Nolan had brought new life to Batman in the previous film. Never playing to the crowd like Nicholson had, Ledger makes the fantastic choice to make the Joker funny, but only to himself, and it’s an immediately unnerving, twitchy turn in which almost every choice the actor makes goes against the grain in constantly surprising and satisfying ways; it’ll likely forever change the way the character is thought of. The performance was hugely acclaimed — indeed, it’s likely to be the only acting turn in a superhero movie ever to win an Oscar — and should have turned Ledger into the megastar he deserved to be. Sadly, he passed away of an accidental overdose six months before the film’s release, so the performance stands only as a reminder of his enormous promise.

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