It has often been said that a story, typically of the thriller variety, can live or die by the strength of its villain. However, there are many films and TV shows that like to keep the suspense high by keeping the antagonist a secret until later.
Unfortunately, this does not always result in the most satisfying or logical outcome, as the following examples will show. Also, keep in mind that there will be SPOILERS.
Aldrich Killian (Iron Man 3)
A key reason why many fans do not like Iron Man 3 is that the apparent main antagonist, The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), is revealed to be a scapegoat imposter named Trevor Slattery. However, there are also many people, myself included, who feel the disappointing twist pales in comparison to the pitifully petty motivations of the true villain, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who invents a terrorist persona to get back at Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) for ignoring him at a New Year’s Eve party once. I mean, is that not the plot of The Incredibles?
The Final Five Cylons (Battlestar Galactica)
Ronald D. Moore‘s SyFy original version of Battlestar Galactica is considered one of the most refreshing TV reboots of all time, in spite of its lackluster finale. The sci-fi drama’s long-awaited reveal that the Final Five Cylons are Saul (Michael Hogan) and Ellen Tigh (Kate Vernon), Galen Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), Samuel Anders (Michael Trucco), and Tory Foster (Rekha Sharma), who also had no recollection of their origins, left many fans disheartened.
Blofeld (Spectre)
Director Sam Mendes’ second 007 adventure, 2015’s Spectre, was already slightly tainted by the reveal that the events of the previous Daniel Craig-led James Bond movies were quietly orchestrated by the character’s historical archenemy, Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). The absurdity only grew when the villain unveils a twist right out of the spy movie spoof, Austin Powers in Goldmember: he and Bond are half-brothers.
Colleen Wing (Iron Fist)
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe-canon series, Iron Fist, it is revealed that Danny Rand’s (Finn Jones) ally, Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), is associated with the evil organization, The Hand. However, this twist was largely ignored very shortly afterward, making it ultimately underwhelming.
Roman Bridger (Scream 3)
Scream 3 is widely considered to be the weakest of the self-aware slasher movie franchise, and much of the concern is tied to the person behind the Ghostface mask this time, Roman Bridger (Scott Foley). Not only does the director of Stab 3 turn out to be the unknown half-brother of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), but he claims to have been orchestrating the kills in the first two installments out of revenge against their mother, who rejected him years earlier.
Flint Marko (Spider-Man 3)
Just like in the comics, Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man movie establishes a random burglar as the one who killed Peter Parker’s (Tobey Maguire) uncle, Ben (Cliff Robertson). However, Spider-Man 3 lazily retcons the incident as the fault of the otherwise sympathetic superhero movie villain, Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), who also happens to get thrown in a particle accelerator that turns him into Sandman.
John Connor (Terminator Genisys)
The idea of humanity’s destined defender, John Connor (Jason Clarke), being turned into a cyborg was widely deemed a cheap stunt that was stupidly given away in the marketing for 2015’s Terminator Genisys. However, what really makes this an objectively dumb movie twist is that, early on in the film, John’s biological parents, Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), irreversibly transport themselves from 1984 to 2017, meaning that, based on the Terminator movies’ rules of time travel, John should have never been born.
Khan (Star Trek Into Darkness)
Admittedly, the reveal in 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness that Commander John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) is really Khan (the iconic villain originated by Ricardo Montalban) is not exactly nonsensical. However, fans of the franchise saw it coming from a mile away, so it wound up being deeply unsatisfying.
Walter Sparrow (The Number 23)
In Joel Schumacher’s 2007 psychological thriller, The Number 23, family man Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey) becomes obsessed with a disturbing book about a killer that turns out to be his own memoir, which he wrote and forgot all about after a stint in a mental institution. That is already a little far-fetched, but the most flabbergasting aspect of the twist is that his wife, Agatha (Virginia Madsen), who is fully aware of his past, is the one who buys him the book in the first place. Why would she want to conjure up those kinds of memories?
Dylan Rhodes-Shrike (Now You See Me)
One of the most notoriously illogical “the hero was the bad guy the whole time” twists comes from 2013’s Now You See Me, which stars Mark Ruffalo as FBI agent Dylan Rhodes, who obsessively pursues a group of illusionist thieves who call themselves The Four Horsemen. By the end, it is revealed that he is actually part of their group and orchestrated the entire ordeal to avenge the death of his father, a magician named Lionel Shrike.
The Plants (The Happening)
Considered one of the weakest M. Night Shyamalan movie twists is the reveal that the mysterious, deadly event at the center of 2008’s The Happening is being caused by a hypnotic pheromone vengefully released by the Earth’s vegetation. Then again, the ridiculous plot point is among the key reasons the thriller is considered a classic of so-bad-it’s-good cinema.
Alchemy (The Flash)
Tom Felton was cast as Dr. Julian Albert on The Flash at the same time the mysterious Alchemy was introduced on the Arrow-verse series. Considering the actor’s reputation for villainous roles, especially Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies, it quickly became apparent to viewers that the historian and the masked villain (an avatar for the evil Speedster, Savitar) were one in the same.
Will Benson (I Still Know What You Did Last Summer)
In I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Julie James’ (Jennifer Love Hewitt) classmate, calling himself Will Benson (Matthew Settle), confesses that he is “Ben’s son” and orchestrated this Bahamian bloodbath with his father, Ben Willis, who targeted her and her friends just a year earlier. This punny twist is exactly why I can’t help but enjoy the absurd 1998 slasher sequel.
Olly (Game Of Thrones)
While the determination to avenge his parents’ death was cited as a motivation, Olly’s (Brenock O’Connor) villainous turn ultimately feels forced, especially when you consider how loyal and good-natured he was when first introduced on Game of Thrones.
Mac (Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull)
In 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Mac (Ray Winstone), reveals himself to be a collaborator with the bad guys, then claims to be a double agent really on the side of Indy (Harrison Ford), and then, at the end, says he actually lied about being a double agent. I am honestly more disappointed by this lazy double-twist than any of the other reasons most fans don’t care for the fourth Indiana Jones film.
Gabriel (Malignant)
I think the crazy twist from the Malignant ending –Gabriel is Madison’s (Annabelle Wallis) parasitic twin and has been possessing her body to commit vengeful murders – is actually pretty awesome. However, one thing I have never understood about James Wan’s 2021 Giallo tribute is how Gabriel can control electricity or make telepathic phone calls.
Marie (High Tension)
With heart-stopping suspense and some unforgettable kills, High Tension is a great breakout feature from writer and director Alexandre Aja… up until the end. The 2003 French-language horror flick stabs itself in the foot by revealing that the crazed killer (Philippe Nahon) whom Marie (Cécile de France) has been trying to save her friend, Alexia (Maïwenn), from is her own dissociative identity, which feels lazily tacked on and contradictory to the entire plot.
Christina Scofield (Prison Break)
In Season 4 of Prison Break, it is revealed that Michael Scofield’s (Wentworth Miller) mother, Christina (Kathleen Quinlan), is a high-ranking member of the conspiratorial society called “The Company.” This entire subplot actually left critics and fans underwhelmed, believing it was a desperate attempt to keep the show going after the eponymous escape had already been achieved.
William Schenk (Spiral)
The key to a great Saw movie is not how cool the torturous traps are, but a suspenseful aura that keeps audiences on their toes, complemented by a killer twist ending. Unfortunately, most viewers were able to guess that the mysterious main villain from the franchise’s ninth installment, Spiral, was the seemingly slain Det. William Schenk (Max Minghella) pretty early on.
Silas (The Vampire Diaries)
On The Vampire Diaries, when the shapeshifting Silas reveals that his true face is identical to Stefan’s (Paul Wesley), fans of the CW series were not too amused.
Dr. David Callaway (Hide And Seek)
In 2005’s Hide and Seek, widowed psychologist David Callaway (Robert De Niro) comes to the horrifying realization that a series of murders that his daughter, Emily (Dakota Fanning), claims are the work of her imaginary friend, Charlie, were actually committed by his own dissociative identity. No matter how well this thriller may have attempted to cover its tracks, the whole Fight Club-style, “I had no idea it was me the whole time” reveal had grown into a tired cliché by then.
Dan Humphrey (Gossip Girl)
I have a theory that the people behind Gossip Girl never had any idea what the true identity of the eponymous blogger (voiced by Kristen Bell) was going to be. So, they just said, “You know what would be crazy? What if it was Dan Humphrey?” because that would be the biggest surprise. Indeed, it was, but only because it makes absolutely no sense, given how shocked and angry Penn Badgley’s character was by many of Gossip Girl’s posts about him.
Yuri Komarov (A Good Day To Die Hard)
I could go on and on about why fans and critics alike despise 2013’s A Good Day to Die Hard, but let’s just focus on one reason for now. In a cheap plot twist, John McClane (Bruce Willis) and his CIA operative son, Jack (Jai Courtney), discover that the man they have been protecting, Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch), is the true enemy.
Nathan Shelley (Ted Lasso)
In the Apple TV+ original series, Ted Lasso, reporter Trent Crimm (James Lance) tells the titular character (played by Jason Sudeikis) that it was Nate Shelley (Nick Mohammed) who shared confidential information about his panic attack with him. Apparently, Nate sells Ted out and goes on to coach the rival team because he felt like Richmond’s head coach abandoned him, for reasons that still feel vague and inexplicable to me.
Tom Watson (The Girl On The Train)
At first, The Girl on the Train convinces you to suspect that the main character, Rachel (Emily Blunt), accidentally murdered Megan (Haley Bennett) while under the influence. As it turns out, in a twist ripped from an episode of Dateline, the true culprit was Rachel’s abusive, gaslighting former husband, Tom (Justin Theroux).
Brahms (Brahms: The Boy II)
The 2016 thriller The Boy leads you to believe that a porcelain doll is possessed by the spirit of a deceased child named Brahms, only to show that the strange happenings were done by the real Brahms, who is alive, grown-up, and living in the walls of his parents’ estate. However, the sequel, Brahms: The Boy II, retcons that ending, revealing that the doll is, indeed, sentient and has been manipulating children, including the real Brahms, into committing horrific acts for years.
Ares (Wonder Woman)
While widely considered to be one of the better DCEU movies, many also feel that Wonder Woman suffers from a lackluster ending, in which it is revealed that Sir Patrick (David Thewlis) is Ares in disguise. Let alone the underwhelming execution of the twist, the emergence of the true God of War deprives the comic book film of a more potent message about humanity’s flaws and contradicts the motivations of Gal Gadot’s Amazonian warrior in other films.
Ian Buckells (Line Of Duty)
When the British cop drama, Line of Duty, ended with the reveal that “H” is Ian Buckells (Nigel Boyle), fans theorized this was a red herring that would be resolved in a subsequent season. That is the only way they could reconcile with such a foolish character being identified as the corrupt criminal mastermind.
Detective David “Rooster” Fisk (Righteous Kill)
The 2008 cop thriller Righteous Kill is widely considered to be a low point in both Robert De Niro and Al Pacino’s careers, especially because of the twist. It turns out that Pacino’s character, Rooster, is the vigilante killer whom he and his partner, Turk (De Niro), have been pursuing all along.
Owen Carver (Fountain Of Youth)
By the end of Apple TV+’s Fountain of Youth, archaeologist Luke Purdue (John Krasinski) discovers his wealthy financier, Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson), is actually a corrupt liar who greedily wants the titular mystical artifact all for himself. While quite nonsensical, this deeply uninspired twist is just one of many ways the adventure film’s ending rips off Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Aliens (The Forgotten)
In the 2004 thriller, The Forgotten, Julianne Moore’s character, Telly, just kind of randomly assumes that the mysteriously lost memory of her deceased son, among other children, could be the work of extraterrestrials. She just so happens to be right.
Ray Bronson And Stevie Ward (I Know What You Did Last Summer)
In the 2025 legacyquel, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Stevie (Sara Pidgeon) decides to kill her friends, believing they are responsible for the accidental death of her boyfriend, even though they tried to save his life. However, her murder streak also includes people who had nothing to do with the incident. Even more absurd is that original survivor Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr) helps with the scheme, believing the world forgot about what happened to him and his friends in 1997. However, this begs the question of why he decided to kill a popular true crime podcast host who was preparing to do an episode on that very ordeal.
