Martin Scorsese’sa filmmaker known for exploring morally ambiguous - and sometimes downright evil - characters throughout his work. He often humanizes them or gives them qualities that are admirable, maybe even relatable, but also refuses to shy away from depicting the terrible things they may do. Sometimes, he makes films where no single character really even stands out as a hero or villain, because everyone is morally some shade of gray.
That makes ranking the best villains in his movies a little tricky, given it’s hard to single out a villain in something likeGoodfellas(most of the fellas are, indeed, not good), and even trickier when it comes to the darker and more cynicalCasino. Yet some of his flawed characters stand out as more flawed than most, and his filmography certainly doesn’t lack its fair share of identifiable villains (sometimes, a villain’s even the main character). The following are some of his best, ranked below roughly by how villainous they are.
10Jimmy Doyle from ‘New York, New York’ (1977)
A lesser-known Scorsese film,New York, New Yorkis both a gritty drama and something of a musical, and stars bothLiza Minnelliand frequent Scorsese collaboratorRobert De Niro. The two play musicians, Francine Evans and Jimmy Doyle, who fall in love during the 1940s, only for Jimmy’s anger issues to cause their eventual marriage to crumble.
RELATED:Every Martin Scorsese Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best
De Niro played plenty of volatile characters to great success in numerous Scorsese movies, but something about the intensity of his character within this kind of movie does feel off. The quality of the movie aside, however, it can’t be denied that Jimmy’s a pretty awful and even scary character, and it’s easy to see him as the villain and Minnelli’s character, Francine, as the hero.
9Jake LaMotta from ‘Raging Bull’ (1980)
Up there withthe best biopics of all time,Raging Bullis a relentlessly tense film to watch, with Scorsese and De Niro committing wholeheartedly to a warts-and-all depiction of the life of boxerJake LaMotta. He may be the central character in the film, but he’s no hero, arguably being his own worst enemy by ruining his family life due to his uncontrolled temper and violent tendencies.
He may not be likable, but he is deeply human, and his story is compelling, thanks to the careful manner in whichRaging Bullwas made and acted. Unlike other Scorsese villains, you could argue that LaMotta hurt himself as much as he hurt his victims, but his outbursts and terrifying demeanor ultimately still qualify him as a villain of sorts.
8Jordan Belfort from ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013)
It’s possible to compareThe Wolf of Wall StreettoGoodfellas. Each presents narratives that span numerous years while being based on true stories, featuring fast-paced editing, voiceover narration, being filled with profanity, and having a streak of dark comedy run throughout.
But while the morally dubious cast ofGoodfellasmakes it hard to pick out a central villain,The Wolf of Wall Streetspends more time on a heroic character of sorts: FBI Agent Patrick Denham, played byKyle Chandler. He’s directly opposed to lead characterJordan Belfort, and that makes Belfort feel appropriately villainous… oh, and he did cause huge amounts of financial damage to people through his scams. Hemight not have murdered people directly, but he did hurt most people he came into contact with.
7Rupert Pupkin from ‘The King of Comedy’ (1982)
Rupert Pupkin is the lead character inThe King of Comedy, and spends so long trying to be a funny guy that he completelyoverlooks ever attempting to be a good guy. He has aspirations of becoming a famous comedian, and will go to extreme - and eventually criminal - lengths to replicate the success of his idol, late-night TV host Jerry Langford.
RELATED:Martin Scorsese’s Best Documentary Movies, Ranked
Pupkin is deeply troubled as an individual, and his actions are disturbing, with him emerging as one of the most unsettling characters in any Scorsese film. Robert De Niro is phenomenal in the role, and thoughJerry Lewis’sJerry Langford isn’t a great guy, it’s hard to see him as a villain after what Pupkin ends up doing.
6Sport from ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976)
Few movies from the1970s stand the test of timeas well asTaxi Driverdoes, and similarly few still feel genuinely shocking and quite so intense. De Niro stars as its lead character, Travis Bickle, a man who ends up lashing out violently against society after a cocktail of past trauma and disillusionment with the world causes him to snap.
Bickle might emerge as a villain if he didn’t come into contact with Sport (Harvey Keitel), who’s morally worse. Keitel makes a great impression with limited screen time as a sleazy pimp who’s not afraid of having underage girls under his control, allowing Sport to serve as the film’s most twisted and villainous character.
5Russell Bufalino from ‘The Irishman’ (2019)
Compared to earlier Scorsese gangster movies,The Irishmanis considerably slower, more understated, and a good deal bleaker. Its subdued approach made it fitting, then, that the closest thing it had to a central antagonist would be a gangster who’s a little more reserved than expected, though no less cutthroat.
Joe Pesciended up being the man for the job, with his character, Russell Bufalino, being just as menacing as the hot-headed, loud, and violent gangster characters he played in movies likeGoodfellasandCasino. He does this with remarkable subtlety, orchestrating a series of tragic events that end up haunting (the also flawed) lead character Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) well into old age.
4Frank Costello from ‘The Departed’ (2006)
The Departedis another Martin Scorsese movie with plenty of morally dubious characters populating its cast,butLeonardo DiCaprio’scharacteris the one who emerges as the closest thing to a protagonist. He’s a cop working undercover inside a criminal gang, all the while the same gang has sent one of its members into the police force, infiltrating them from the inside.
RELATED:The Best Jack Nicholson Movies of All Time, Ranked
Jack Nicholsonplays mob boss Frank Costello, and emerges as the main villain thanks to his fiery outbursts, vulgar behavior, and inability to care about murdering those who get in his way. As the gang member infiltrating the police,Matt Damonalso portrays a solid antagonist for DiCaprio’s character, but it’s Costello who steals the show, and Costello who’s behind most of the terrible things that end up happening.
3Girl Angel/Satan from ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ (1988)
Some may want to point to Harvey Keitel’s Judas as the villain inThe Last Temptation of Christ, butScorsese’s compelling (and once-controversial) takeon the story of Jesus’s final days makes Judas complex and even sympathetic at times. There’s also the fact that Satan is a genuine character in the film, and it’s hard to get much more evil than the devil.
Satan appears sporadically throughout the film, tempting Jesus and trying to get him to stray from his mission, including appearing in the final act as an apparent guardian angel in the form of a young girl. The film depicts Jesus as human, and someone who almost gives in to temptation, though resists it by the end. Considering how close Satan got here, and what could’ve happened if Jesus had failed, the film’s take on the devil makes for a genuinely menacing villain, appearance aside.
2Max Cady from ‘Cape Fear’ (1991)
WithCape Fear, Scorsese allowed De Niro to go all-out in depicting an absolutely irredeemable monster: Max Cady. Previous De Niro characters might’ve had some redeeming qualities, or been victims of their circumstances to some extent… but Cady’s a capital A antagonist.
He plays a monstrous criminal who, upon being released from prison, stalks and torments the family of the lawyer he blames for his imprisonment. The character’s one of the most brutal and horrifying in a filmography filled with characters who do numerous terrible things, making Max Cady a villain for the ages.
1Bill the Butcher from ‘Gangs of New York’ (2002)
The best part ofGangs of New Yorkis the performance fromDaniel Day-Lewisasthe infamous Bill the Butcher. He’s the film’s central villain, being a violent (and seemingly indestructible) man who Leonardo DiCaprio’s character wants to seek revenge against, given Bill is the man who killed his father.
A performer chewing through scenery has scarcely been as scary as Day-Lewis devouring the set around him inGangs of New York. Bill the Butcher is a force of nature and entirely uncompromising when it comes to getting what he wants, elevating an otherwise solid film considerably by being the best Scorsese villain, and also an iconic all-timer of a movie villain in general.
