Disney Has a Huge Villain Problem, Here's How to Easily Fix it, According to Fans
Morally grey villains are great... until they are not.
Don't get us wrong: it's always boring to watch a villain with no motivation but to "conquer the world" or "destroy everyone". However, it turns out that the recent trend to make every anti-hero morally grey, redeemable and sympathetic has played havoc — particularly when it comes to Disney content.
Disney has blessed nerds with an entire plethora of villains who were simply evil, with no generational trauma or a sad backstory to justify their behaviour: from Lion King's Scar to the original Cruella. Now that the trend dictates the necessity to spin the villain stories in a different way, Disney found itself trapped in a vicious circle of morally grey villains that are getting boring to watch.
"I got nothing against morally grey or villains that get a redemption that's fine but in Disney's case they've been doing that a lot, and it becomes a tiresome formula plus their haven't been any true villains as of recently," Twitter user ComicLoverMari noted in a lengthy thread on Disney villains.
How to fix that? Well, it looks like returning to the "evil because they're evil" scheme might help. We don't actually need to root for villains all the time; after all, their function is to be an antagonist and make fans hate them. This does not necessarily mean that there is no place for character motivation; but how about the good old devious plans?
"I'm kind of tired of seeing villains THAT DON'T PLAN THEIR GIGS. It is cool to see what they have in mind, succeed and try to fight keeping it. That's what makes a hero beating their schemes so satisfying. Cheat or not, more to a plot," Twitter user scottwolf14 noted.
It's great to have hard time choosing who to root for, and everyone loves some ethical dilemmas from time to time, but it looks like the time has come for a truly wicked villain who does not need redemption.
"Morally gray or sympathetic villains are fine, but not every villain needs a sob story, sometimes I want a unrepentant, mustache twirling, evil-for-evil's-sake VILLAIN, that steals, kills, and destroys because they just like it and has no inevitable redemption," Twitter user AgentSovereign argued.
Can someone finally turn on some eerie music and make an epic entrance while the thunder is rattling? We don't ask much.