5 Movie Villains with Evil Plans So Dumb No Hero Intervention Was Even Needed
These five were so counterproductive at their core that they didn't even need heroes to fail miserably.
A good movie villain often has a grand and elaborate scheme that the heroes have to foil with the best of their skills or by sheer luck.
However, some of their plans are so flawed that they are doomed to fail from the start and ultimately self-destruct.
So here are five nonsensical villainous plans that would never have worked even without the protagonists' involvement.
1. The Nazis — Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
To be fair, most Indiana Jones movies end with villains being destroyed by forces beyond their control, but Raiders of the Lost Ark kind of set the tone for the entire franchise.
Despite Indiana and Marion's best efforts, the Nazis get their hands on the mythical Ark of the Covenant, only to have their faces melted and heads exploded by the unleashed divine power moments later.
2. The White Death — Bullet Train (2022)
Michael Shannon's Russian-born Yakuza crime boss has devised an exquisite plan to get everyone involved in his wife's murder on a train to kill all the birds with one stone.
But before the movie even begins, the hitman who killed his wife, Carver (a brilliant cameo by Ryan Reynolds ), falls ill and is replaced by Brad Pitt's Ladybug, undermining the most crucial part of the plan.
3. Lex Luthor — Superman Returns (2006)
Lex Luthor's plan in this 2006 movie was just a "remake" of the one he had in 1978's Superman (considering that Superman Returns takes place in the same universe), only on a larger scale, which is to create a whole new continent, cause widespread destruction, and become the insanely rich ruler of the new land.
However, if Superman was killed or didn't intervene at all, Lex would have been instantly destroyed by the countries of the world, who would have then fought each other for the remaining land.
4. Thanos — Avengers: Infinity War ( 2018)
The debate over whether the Mad Titan's plan to annihilate half of the universe's inhabitants in order to solve the resource crisis was stupid or genius continues to this day.
But it was undoubtedly temporary, as he merely postponed the crisis and then decided to chill out on a distant planet instead of coming up with a solution to prevent it from happening again.
5. Max Zorin — A View to a Kill (1985)
The James Bond movie franchise is full of nonsensical villainous plots, but few are stupid enough to actively go against their own goals.
Well, that's exactly what Max Zorin did, because by destroying Silicon Valley he would have just killed his own customers instead of overtaking the microchip market.
