Yes...Much to your dismay or delight, I am back once again with my
Baddies That Need Movie Love. The last several installments have been with Marvel villains and I'm staying there one more time and highlighting Mr. Sinister, one of the X-Men's most popular and dangerous foes. Sinister is also a popular choice for a film villain, mainly because he has the potential to fix the problems that are currently plaguing the X-Men film franchise, but more on that later. Let's take a look at this very intriguing and superbly bad-ass character.
Back in the 1800's, scientist Nathanial Essex was approached by Apocalypse, yet another dastardly X-Men baddies, who used his technology to transform Essex into "Sinister," which was the last word his dying wife spoke to him. Sinister gained his shape-shifting ability during a brief encounter with Courier, who along with Gambit, were displaced in time. During World War II, Sinister worked closely with the Nazi's, and during this time, he encountered Sub-Mariner, which influenced him to create a clone of Namor. This clone, known as N2, was later defeated by Captain America.
Many years later, Sinister recruited the help of Gambit to gather the Marauders and under his guidence, they set out to destroy and massacre the Morlocks. He also cloned Jean Grey, creating Madelyne Pryor, in hopes that Cyclops and the clone would create the "ultimate mutant." But Cyclops rejected Pryor once Jean returned. The child was sent to the future, only to return as Cable. Mr. Sinister has aligned himself with many other evil-doers, but some of his most well known works are those of his own design. He even went as far as joining the re-established Weapon X program as Dr. Robert Windsor under the impression that he would help mutants escape the "concentration camp" of Weapon X, but in reality, he was using them as his own test subjects.
While many of the foes that the X-Men have faced have been of the more physical threat, Sinister found ways to attack the X-Men emotionally, hitting them were it hurts the most: their loved ones. The pain and sufferning that he has caused Cyclops and Jean Grey alone is astonishing. Including this character in a film would take the characters and franchise in a direction that we have yet to see. Not only is the physical threat still present, but the drama and emotion that could arise from the stories and plots of this charcter would be simply incredible to witness on scree.
As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Sinister is a favorite among fans to be included in an X-Men film, mainly because he is one of the few "things" that could fix the problems that the current X-Film universe has created for itself; specifically the deaths of Jean Grey and Cyclops. Sinister's use of cloning in the comics would suit this issue damn near perfectly in this situation. Aside from that...I would just love to see one of my favorite comic book characters grace the silver screen.
Which leads me to my next point: Which actor should play this role? I have seen some interesting choices for this character, some of which just baffle my mind. One suggestion is Keith David. While the actor does have a menacing look, I just don't see it...at all. When Kevin Bacon was cast in
X-Men: First Class, many thought that he would be playing Sinister, which really isn't terrible, but as we now know, this didn't happen. I have narrowed my options down to two actors. The first is a fan-favorite in Jason Isaacs. The actor is most known for his work in the
Harry Potter series as Lucious Malfoy. He continually steals the screen whenever he is on the screen in those films. Isaacs was also incredible as the antagonist in
The Patriot, opposite Mel Gibson, which was a ruthless and heartless character. I would not have any issues with Isaacs taking on Nathanial Essex.
The other actor is a bit less known, but I have suggested him in conversations throughout the site. Michael Wincott is most known for his role in
The Crow opposite Brandon Lee. Not only does Wincott have good look for the part, but his voice, with some modification, could come across as down-right frightening, which would be a great addition to a character as menacing as Sinister.
Be sure to check out the past installments of
"Baddies that Need Movie Love:"
Ultron
Kingpin
Black Tom Cassidy
Omega Red
Brainiac
The Shade
Harley Quinn
Ventriliquist & Scarface