7) Ra’s Al Ghul – Liam Neeson, Batman Begins
After the cartoonish depths of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman in Batman & Robin, Batman Begins needed a villain with real gravitas to wipe away any lingering bad memories. They definitely made the right move, then, in casting Liam Neeson as one of the most layered Batman villains we’ve ever seen.
Unlike a lot of these entries, Ra’s Al Ghul isn’t a cackling madman but just someone with a slightly different moral outlook than Bruce Wayne. They both want to clear up the corruption of Gotham – it’s just that Ra’s wants to raze it to the ground rather than beat up some criminals.
Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow also deserves a shout-out here as well. He might be Batman Begins’ secondary villain, but Murphy makes sure the psychotic psychiatrist is a lot of fun to watch.