What Other Blockbuster Villains Can Learn From David

in Alien: Covenant
One of the strange side effects of the rise of superheroes in Hollywood, as
well as the borderline superheroes who populate franchises like The Fast
and the Furious, has been a lack of equal opposition: The villains in these
movies cant hold a candle to the protagonists. Marvel in particular
hastaken a lot of guff for its villain problem, but the issue extends beyond
just the MCU; in general, the new stress on cinematic universes and
endlessly iterative properties puts the onus on continuity, and the agents
of continuity are the heroes. Theres no better example of the problem at
work than the recent decisions by both the MCU and Fast and Furious to
pit the heroes against each other.
Meanwhile, one franchise is showing its still possible for a modern
blockbuster to have a great villain. In Alien: Covenant, David the
android played by Michael Fassbender, first introduced in Prometheus
comes into his own as a fleshed-out, dynamic, and genuinely striking
antagonist, one who isnt just an equal match for the heroes, but even
becomes the central thread of the series. Hes a huge part of what
makes Alien: Covenantwork, and you can rest assured hell play a major
role in whatever happens with the next two installments Ridley Scott has
teased.
In addition to his importance to the Alien series, though, David offers a
few useful lessons that other franchises can take away in trying to solve
their own particular villain problems.
1. Give the villain a coherent philosophy
Over the course of Alien: Covenant, we slowly learn Davids worldview. At
first, he seems simply scientifically interested in the aliens, but as our
understanding of David evolves, we come to recognize him as a much
more complex, and insidious, figure. Hes the enlightened monster, the
educated, urbane intellectual who should be familiar to anyone with a
working knowledge of 20th-century history. Like Nazi scientist Josef
Mengele, David is a eugenicist and murderer who couches his
philosophies in Nietzschean rhetoric about furthering the species,
complete with quotes from Romantic poets like Lord Byron except in
this case, the species is the terrifying, parasitical Xenomorph.
While there are plenty of dangers in basing something as relatively
innocuous as a baddie in a popcorn film on horrific real-world analogues
at another point, David annihilates the indigenous life forms of a
strange planet he lands on, which has definite shades of the atom bombs
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki its also what gives the film its
resonance and meaning. Its just as true now as ever that an elegant
sophisticate can be a great perpetrator of evil, and that the urge to create
can be used for terrible ends as well as good. David is a far more relevant
and instructive villain than, say, Marvels generic Ultron, whos basically a
less interesting version of HAL 9000, or the ultracartoonish Cipher
of Furious 7, a hacker whose entire plan seems to based on a freshman-
level understanding of game theory. If you believe that big films as well as
small can aspire to the achievement of art and meaning, then the
interrogation of themes like these is a welcome sight.
2. Let the villain do stuff
Similarly, David gets to actually play a physical role in the plot of Alien:
Covenant. He welcomes the gang to his lair, climaxing with a fascinating
moment in which he rages at one of the crew for shooting and killing a
Xenomorph, and, like any good villain, he gets the films most interesting
dialogue, including a strangely touching scene in which he teaches the
other android, Walter also played by Fassbender to play music. That
might seem an obvious thing for a villain to do, but youd be surprised
how many modern blockbuster villains dont pass that test. Instead, they
often spend their entire films separated from the main characters, hiding
behind faceless minions who get killed by the thousands.
Not David. Hes constantly doing stuff in the film: reciting poetry, making
art, cutting his hair, lurking. He is active within the fabric of the film, not
just a catalyst that makes it happen. And the way he does factor into the
end is another major factor:
3. Let the villain win or at least give him a chance
The biggest problem with the villains of most contemporary studio movies
is that they never stand a chance. Their plans are always so hysterically
large destroy Earth! enslave all humans! turn all living matter into an
extension of themselves! that their success wouldnt just mean the end
of the main characters, but also the end of the franchise, the cinematic
universe, and, well, everything, in general. Since a big-budget tentpole
movie cant end like that, their villains are hopelessly neutered.
Alien, of course, has a huge advantage, in that the main draw are the
aliens, not necessarily any one hero or group of heroes. (Although the fact
that the series still produced a hero as emblematic as Ripley is also worth
noting.) But that didnt require Covenant to pull off the coup that it did, in
which David ultimately gains the upper hand, taking over the ship while
the helpless heroes look on. And beyond that, the mere thought that
this could happen makes David a drastically more compelling figure than
your average villain: Hes actually dangerous, not just a convenient
conduit for stunts and CGI battles who will be disposed of by films end.
Like many of the best movie bad guys, including Hannibal Lecter
and Sevens John Doe, he represents a demon that even his total defeat
couldnt fully banish.
4. Let the star be a star
Of course, none of this matters without Michael Fassbender. Fassbender
is so good in Alien: Covenant, so fully committed and clearly happy to be
playing the role, that its hard to imagine the part without him. Actors
playing blockbuster villains are often obviously showing up for the
paycheck, or else so bereft of material to work with that they end up
lending the character distracting and unnecessary affectations. But in
David, Fassbender has a disturbing, and disturbingly complete, mindset
to work with, and he plays the part with relish, never more than in the
classic moment at which he kisses himself.
More than just about any other type of role, villains allow actors to leave
their stamp on a character which is why theyre so much harder to play
than heroes. In a heroic role, particularly a superheroic one, you basically
just have to reflect the arc of the audience, an arc thats pretty much
identical in the vast majority of contemporary blockbusters. Play a villain,
on the other hand, and you always run the risk of looking like Eddie
Redmayne in Jupiter Ascending: Youre giving 110 percent to the movie,
but the movie has nothing to give you back. With the best villainous
performances, the film will instead nurture and reflect the actors
performance, as The Dark Knight does for Heath Ledger, Mission:
Impossible III does for Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Skyfall does for
Javier Bardem. Sure, those actors cant win but theyre such an integral
part of the movie that it doesnt really matter.
Thats what Scotts latest Alien iteration has managed to achieve with
Fassbender. And totally apart from what happens with the Xenomorph,
the esoteric mythology of the series, and the fate of Katherine Waterstons
Daniels, its David whos worth returning to for another go-round of the
franchise.