Evil Slow-Burn: 5 Most Enigmatic Villains Who Took Forever to Appear on Screen

Most movies don't waste too much time before introducing their big bad guy for the heroes to clash with, leading to intense confrontations that last almost the entire movie.

Others, however, take their time and don't rush things at all, sometimes almost a bit too much, with the villain only really appearing halfway through at best.

So here are 5 "slowest" movie villains that took forever to appear on screen.

Count Dooku — Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones (2002)

Although Darth Sidious was always the main antagonist in both the prequel and original trilogies, he manipulated events from the shadows until Episodes III and VI.

Count Dooku, played by Christopher Lee, served as the primary villain for Episode II, but he does not appear until about the 1 hour 15 minute mark and is not properly introduced until the 1.5 hour mark.

Colonel Kurtz — Apocalypse Now (1979)

The entire story of Francis Ford Coppola's epic war movie revolves around finding and killing Colonel Walter Kurtz, portrayed by Marlon Brando, who went rogue during the Vietnam War.

However, despite being on many of the movie's posters, he does not appear until about 2.5 hours into the movie, after an immensely effective build-up that spans almost the entire film.

Xenomorph — Alien (1979)

Speaking of effective build-up, for half of Ridley Scott 's iconic horror film we see various stages of the Xenomorph's life cycle, from egg to facehugger to chestburster.

The first brief glimpse of the creature's final form comes at the one-hour mark, and even then we don't see it fully until the film's finale.

John Doe — Seven (1995)

David Fincher slowly builds tension by showing us the mutilated victims of the mysterious killer throughout the first hour of the movie, but even when detectives Somerset and Mills first confront John Doe in the flesh, his face remains obscured.

He finally introduces himself properly half an hour later, and walks right into the precinct at the 1.5 hour mark.

The Caller — Phone Booth (2002)

This one is a bit tricky because the villain, simply known as The Caller, portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland, terrorizes Colin Farrell 's Stu throughout the entire movie, talking to him on the phone while remaining unseen, adding to everyone’s paranoia.

But when he finally appears in the flesh, it is just before the movie ends, leaving the mystery of his identity unsolved.