From hideously disfigured anarchists to the ultimate Bond baddie, we look at some of cinema’s most formidable antagonists - and muse about the watches we would have loved to see them wear, whilst doing terrible things
Whether you’re a Palme d’Or devotee or are still trying to digest the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’, one constant which unites us in our collective love of the movies is a fascination with well-drawn, well-acted villains.
A make-or-break ingredient in many of Hollywood’s beloved blockbusters, there is a lot that goes into the creation of the perfect antagonist. Beyond all the obvious stuff—a great actor and character arc, memorable dialogue—the importance of visual storytelling shouldn’t be underestimated.
In cinema, clothes and accessories have always been essential to this ‘show, not tell’ idea; but few items can do as much to focus our perceptions of a particular character, for as little physical space, as the wristwatch.
Consequently, in this episode of Culturecheck we thought it’d be fun to fantasize about the kind of watches our favorite on-screen baddies should have worn. Break out the popcorn, and let’s begin…
Hans Gruber x Audemars Piguet ‘Edward Piguet’ Tourbillon
Hans Gruber is a rare inclusion for our list, by dint of the fact that he is already depicted wearing a watch on-screen. Still, he remains one of the definitive bad guys to emerge from the zeitgeist of 1980s action cinema.
The Die Hard antagonist is played to perfection by the inimitable Alan Rickman - before, best known for working with the Royal Shakespeare company. Rickman's performance imbues Gruber with a fatalistic, lupine sophistication. Ergo, the smartest man in the room. Since 1988, the character has become synonymous with a particular kind of archetypal villain. (The tropes of which are so ingrained in pop culture that shows like Rick & Morty satirize them.)
Throughout the film, Gruber wears what appears to be a yellow gold Cartier Tank. For our hypothetical purposes, however, we like to imagine he has a range of fine, similarly shaped watches in a Cayman Islands safety deposit box. Such as this Audemars Piguet.
Part of the vastly underrated ‘Edward Piguet’ family of dress watches, it is a lethal foil to the TAG Heuer diver worn by John McClane - Die Hard’s everyman protagonist. Early on, before committing one of the film's most disturbing acts of violence, Gruber muses on his childhood love for miniature models; and the “exactness” required to build them.
For a man obsessed by “attention to every conceivable detail”, the construction of this watch’s tourbillon movement and array of intricate finishes used to craft the dial will prove alluring. Enough to stage an elaborate heist on Christmas Eve? We’ll let you decide that.
Erik Killmonger x Urwerk UR100V ‘Full Black’
The Black Panther heavy is the hashtag-era personification of that classic adage - “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. Played with righteous fury by Michael B. Jordan, this performance is a significant example, in recent years, of a blockbuster where the hero is upstaged spectacularly by the villain.
For his portrayal, Jordan drew on a range of disparate influences. From Dragon Ball Z’s Vegeta to the cadence of real-life civil rights activist Malcolm X.
Killmonger is ultimately a tragic figure: the product of systematic exposure to violence and the socio-economic pressure so many African-American communities face. That those complex issues never detract from the film is, in large part due to Jordan’s layered and compelling performance.
In Black Panther, the film’s narrative concern with sci-fi macguffins mean that watches from a brand like Urwerk don't look amiss. Already an established name in the Marvel universe - courtesy of Mr. Tony Stark himself - the signature UR-100 makes a lot of sense on Killmonger.
The character’s zeal for forbidden, cutting-edge technology is captured in the UR100V’s innovative 'wandering hours' display. Plus, the titanium case and bracelet feel right at home next to Killmonger’s array of tactical goodies - armor, explosives, automatic weapons.
Raoul Silva x L’Epée 1839 ‘Wristcheck’ Grenade
A gleeful and chameleonic cipher, Silva is a huge part of what makes the 2012 Bond flick Skyfall so beloved. The character, played by Oscar winner Javier Bardem, is a cyberterrorist for hire: motivated, as the plot later reveals, by revenge.
Silva's character description is effectively the least exciting thing about him. Yet what is dastardly about this all-time-great Bond villain, in a very rewatchable way, is everything else.
There's the duality of his physical appearance (beautiful clothing vs. facial disfigurement). Or the sequence, shot by Roger Deakins, in which the character is finally introduced—more than an hour into the film. And who can forget that scene? A psychosexual sparring match for the ages - between Silva and Bond - which works just as well as meta-commentary about the entire 007 mythos.
Throughout Skyfall, it's evident that Silva is a villain with a very robust range of tools at his disposal. He attempts to kill Bond using henchmen, firearms, and even by exploding (thus crashing) a train.
Yet my personal favorite involves the film's final Scotland showdown: an extended sequence in which Silva opts to flush Bond out using...grenades. Yet more proof that nine tenths of great acting is nonverbal: the dainty (almost effete) flair Silva has for explosives evoked the image of L'Epée.
The Swiss maker of high-end mechanicals is well-known for reimagining the display of time in artful ways. This special edition 'Grenade', made in collaboration with us here at Wristcheck doesn't explode (don’t worry, I checked) but will make a fine addition to any serious Bond villain's island lair.
The Joker x MB&F M.A.D.1 RED
A character who has had the distinction to be played by A-list actors over the course of multiple decades, it says something that Heath Ledger’s Joker is today almost unanimously credited with transcending the role of the comic book villain in popular cinema.
The Joker, as portrayed in The Dark Knight (2008), is an anarchic force of nature. A self-described “agent of chaos” who has neither grand designs of world domination nor building lasers on the moon. His bag, as it turns out, is making the citizenry of Gotham city question the limits of their own morality. Invariably with fatal results.
Ledger’s performance is so layered and full of fascinating internal contradictions that it has invited comparison with Nietzsche’s Übermensch. A malevolent presence whose origin story is unreliably (self) narrated, the Joker leaps - almost boredly - between bank robberies and mass kidnapping. Seemingly, for no purpose beyond humiliating his enemies (chiefly Batman) and tearing at the flimsy veneer of civilization.
In spite of the Joker’s on-screen penchant for gunpowder and gasoline, there are a few bits of throwaway characterization that hint at a possible curiosity about watches. A much more on-the-nose mashup would involve putting this iconic villain into one of the Joker-themed watches of Konstantin Chaykin, but we’re of the opinion that MB&F’s (appropriately named) ‘M.A.D.1’ works equally well.
The watch immediately stands out thanks to its crimson dial and inverted triple-blade rotor; and I can plausibly imagine a Dark Knight deleted scene in which the Joker takes his hilarious and terrifying ‘pencil trick’ a step further - this time using the M.A.D. 1.
T-1000 x De Bethune DB28 XP Cellini Limited Edition
Played with an eerie, dead-eyed stillness by Robert Patrick—even when he’s sprinting 80km an hour—the T-1000 stands apart from the rest of our rogues’ gallery, thanks to the sheer lack of dialogue spoken over the course of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
In place of villainous monologues, Patrick articulates the T-1000’s cold and implacable aura of evil through pure physicality—a dramatic choice that is greatly aided by the 90s-era revolution in special effects.
Indeed, many have argued that the T-1000 is the first truly iconic CGI villain; imbuing Terminator 2 with many of the film’s biggest ‘oh snap’ moments. An unsettling mass of liquid metal capable of mimicking any human form it chooses, the T-1000 was pivotal to creating an air of fear and tension that propels the overarching story of T2 forward.
Much as Hans Gruber did for money-minded sociopaths, the T-1000 raised the bar for what cinemagoers would expect from their favorite alien/cyborg villains.Yet even in an era when CGI is fast becoming photorealistic, watching the T-1000 sieve itself between prison bars or skewer some poor unfortunate at the end of a milk carton, never gets old.
For this mimetic metal assassin (sent back in time, mind you, to kill a teenager) we thought we’d recommend a watch that is similarly futuristic. Made for the historic retailer Cellini, this limited edition of De Bethune’s iconic DB28XP bears a passing resemblance to the T-1000’s gelatinous metal form. All planar surfaces and elegant streamlined finishing, its gleaming metal details bring to mind the T-1000’s weaponized appendages.
