M3GAN, Norman Bates & The Strangest Cases of Horror Villains Becoming Horror Heroes
M3GAN 2.0 takes a wild risk by turning its renegade robot into an unlikely ally, but it’s not the only horror sequel that redeems a villain into a hero.
Sequels — particularly horror sequels — are subject to an extra level of scrutiny that often makes it seem as if they’re set up to fail, whether that’s by playing it safe and delivering more of the same or taking a wild swing that goes in a completely different direction. One of the most interesting angles that a sequel can take is when the first film’s antagonist turns into an unlikely ally and protector in the second go around. Terminator 2 may be the gold standard of this pivot, but it’s a controversial approach that’s found a healthy life in horror.
Most recently, M3GAN 2.0, the sequel to 2022’s Blumhouse hit, opted for a genre-bending angle that also turns M3GAN into the lesser of two artificial evils.
M3GAN 2.0’s underwhelming box office returns are a helpful reminder that this bold shift can’t just be done with any character. Certain horror icons, whether it’s Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, Art the Clown — or evidently, M3GAN –either feel unnatural in this friendly role or its antithetical to what made their character so interesting in the first place. M3GAN 2.0 is a fascinating lesson in both understanding one’s audience and the tenets of a film’s universe.
That being said, M3GAN 2.0 is hardly the most radical example of a horror villain-turned-hero.
Norman Nordstrom
Don’t Breathe
Fede Álvarez has proven to have a knack for reinventing classic franchises, whether it’s Evil Dead, Alien, or even The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Don’t Breathe, Álvarez’s original film, reinvents home invasion horror with a massive twist that turns the prey into the predator. Don’t Breathe actually sets up a sequel, only for Don’t Breathe 2 to go in a completely different direction than what makes sense. Stephen Lang’s Norman Nordstrom is certainly presented as a victim in the original Don’t Breathe, but his attempts to karmically rebalance the universe are the definition of overkill and he gets pushed into increasingly disturbing territory.
There’s a world in which a Don’t Breathe sequel that still presents Nordstrom as its main character would work, but he has to be up against a considerably more vile threat. This is a tall task after what’s accomplished in the first Don’t Breathe. However, Don’t Breathe 2 gets a little too sure of itself and Lang’s cache as an actor when it attempts to turn Nordstrom into a full-on hero, rather than an antihero who the audience loves to hate. Don’t Breathe 2 unleashes Nordstrom on a gang who has kidnapped his adopted daughter as he selflessly does whatever it takes to get her back. It turns Don’t Breathe into Taken and it’s just too difficult to forget Nordstrom’s basement baster of horrors.
John Kramer
Saw
The Saw franchise crafts a surprisingly intricate lore with overlapping characters and timelines that are spread out across ten films and counting. When the first film was released, James Wan and Leigh Whannell had no idea that it would evolve into a billion-dollar franchise, otherwise John Kramer (Tobin Bell) — Jigsaw — wouldn’t have been at death’s door with a fatal prognosis. Jigsaw’s twisted morality is still present in the first movie, but he’s firmly a villain here. Over time, Kramer gets treated as a misunderstood prophet who has spawned plenty of loyal acolytes who are actually grateful for his death games.
John Kramer’s position in the spotlight varies over the course of the franchise, but Saw X — which is set between Saw and Saw II’s events — makes him the hero and asks the audience to empathize with his actions and see them as just. The people who are caught in his traps this time around are presented as truly wicked individuals, particularly Cecilia Pederson, an opportunistic and corrupt doctor who preys upon people’s hope. Saw X actually sticks the landing when it comes to John Kramer’s heroic turn, even if it doesn’t justify the many lives he’s claimed.
Daniel Robitaille
Candyman
Tony Todd’s Candyman helped turn the actor into a legendary horror icon. Candyman’s evolution as a character has been particularly fruitful and it follows a trajectory that’s rather fitting for this oppressed figure. Daniel Robitaille – Candyman – is a murderous figure in all three of the ’90s Candyman films, even though they do spend a healthy amount of time on Robitaille’s past and that the mythic monster he’s become is because of tremendous social injustice and racism. This message permeates through the entire franchise and Nia DaCosta’s underrated 2021 reboot/legacy sequel connects the dots with the original in a powerful way.
2021’s Candyman teases the idea of the Candyman urban legend being a generational force of nature that evolves with society. This new take on the classic horror icon initially resembles Anthony (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), but eventually morphs into Todd’s Robitaille. Candyman claims lives throughout the movie, yet the film concludes with Candyman being turned into a protective figure who punishes the corrupt and helps protect the targeted and afflicted in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green. Brianna (Teyonah Parris) can summon Candyman to solve her problems and know that he’s a figure of justice, rather than someone who she should fear.
Norman Bates
Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is not just a classic horror film, but it’s regarded as one of the most iconic films of all-time. The first film’s presentation of Norman Bates left audiences terrified to take a shower and while the film tells a complete story on its own, there’s actually quite a bit of value in Norman’s continued adventures in the subsequent Psycho films.
Richard Franklin’s Psycho II actually crafts a brilliant mystery about the nature of rehabilitation as a slew of murders begin and Norman is left to wonder if he’s responsible for these crimes. Anthony Perkins pours everything into this role and his deep understanding of Norman is part of the reason that his directorial work on Psycho III works as well as it does. Norman’s morality and the fate of his soul is in play in each of these films as the audience actively hopes that he’ll make it out of this okay and gain control of his trauma.
Psycho IV: The Beginning provides a de facto conclusion to Norman’s saga. Psycho IV juxtaposes Norman’s painful childhood with his present years as he faces rehabilitation and exorcises his demons for good. It’s the type of definitive end to a franchise that’s become more and more rare today.
Andre Toulon’s Puppets
Puppet Master
Full Moon’s Puppet Master franchise has had a robust expansion that’s led to dozens of tiny puppet-based murders. These films are hardly high art, but there’s a charming quality to the first two films that showcase a wide range of disturbing killer puppets, such as Blade, Leech Woman, and Tunneler. The third Puppet Master movie, Toulon’s Revenge, is a prequel that explores the life of the puppets’ creator, Andre Toulon. In this context, it makes sense for the puppets to be helpful, since they’re still carrying out their master’s bidding.
However, Puppet Master 4 takes the franchise in a radical new direction that introduces the demon lord, Sutekh, who uses tiny demon Totems to cause chaos. Toulon’s puppets are now the heroes who help battle these underworld monsters. Puppet Master 4 and 5 skew to a younger audience and have a very Power Rangers quality to the villains. The franchise eventually figures out that Toulon’s puppets are at their best when they’re taking out humans, rather than demons from Hell.
Leatherface
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Horror is a genre where less is often so much more, which is definitely the case with the Sawyer family from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Bubba “Leatherface” Sawyer has certainly become the franchise’s face, yet he’s actually the most ‘innocent’ member of the family. The first Texas Chain Saw Massacre film lets the audience infer many of the circumstances behind Leatherface. However, it’s still quite easy to perceive him as a threat, especially when he accrues a body count and waves around his chainsaw. The rest of the Sawyer family are too far gone for redemption, but Leatherface becomes an increasingly tragic figure as the franchise continues.
There are even several films that turn back the clock and unpack Bubba’s roots before he dons the mask and learns that the saw is family. Leatherface transforms from an enigmatic monster to fear into a scared boy who just wants to feel like he belongs. He may never officially become a “hero,” but later Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequels do turn him into a savior of sorts who is one of the few people who can stand up to his macabre family.
Hannibal
Hannibal
Hannibal Lecter is one of fiction’s most popular characters and someone who has endured across multiple decades. The problem with a character like Hannibal Lecter is that returning to the same well inevitably dilutes what made the figure so effective. Lecter’s appearances in Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal all present him as a wicked and cannibalistic serial killer, even if he’s infinitely enigmatic. Hannibal succumbs to temptation and begins to turn the character into more of an anti-hero as he takes on the deranged Mason Verger.
Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal series also presents the titular character in a complicated light. Hannibal may often feel like it’s in love with its charismatic cannibal, but it makes it clear that he is by no means a “good” person. The franchise does go a step too far with the largely unnecessary prequel effort, Hannibal Rising, which pathologizes Hannibal’s habits and turns him into a sympathetic victim of circumstance. These details are alluded to in other stories, but few were interested in a Hannibal Lecter origin story movie.
Predators
Predator
The Predator franchise was in a rough place for a long time that seemed beyond the point of redemption before Dan Trachtenberg’s creative reimagining has made the Yautja killers more versatile than ever. To be fair, Predators aren’t necessarily villains so much as they are highly-skilled mercenaries who thrive on a good hunt. The Predators’ staunch sense of honor presents them in a more honorable light than their Xenomorph adversaries in the Alien vs. Predator films.
The idea of a rehabilitated Predator becomes more normalized in Shane Black’s 2018 sequel, The Predator, which pits Yautja against Yautja and leaves the humans aided with the hunters’ extraterrestrial tech. This trajectory seems like it will reach its apex in the upcoming Predator: Badlands, which has a young Yautja outcast as its protagonist, who works together with a Weyland-Yutani android. Audiences have previously feared the Predator and been left in awe of their skills, but Badlands will make them empathize with these aliens.
The Firefly Family
The Firefly Trilogy (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, 3 From Hell)
Rob Zombie’s Firefly family have become modern horror icons and their introductory film, House of 1000 Corpses, is an especially impressive debut feature by Zombie. Cut from the same cloth as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the sadistic Firefly family are certainly the film’s most interesting figures. That being said, it’s the beleaguered teens who wind up at Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madmen who are positioned as the movie’s heroes. The film’s sequel, The Devil’s Rejects, adopts a subversive approach by making the Firefly family the main characters. However, The Devil’s Rejects is careful to never praise these individuals. They’re arguably even more depraved than ever in this sequel and the audience is forced to reckon with this extended exercise in torture, as if they’re one of the Firefly family’s victims.
The audience follows the Firefly family, but there’s a desire to see Sheriff Wydell succeed in his vicious mission to execute these outlaws. The audience isn’t supposed to mourn their deaths at the end of the film, but rather cheer that twisted “justice” has been served. What’s odder than this finite ending spawning another sequel, 3 From Hell, is that this final film does in fact present the Firefly family as sympathetic folk heroes. The audience has seen these characters commit too many atrocities to suddenly be rooting for them, let alone believing that the public would hold protests over their incarceration and demand their release. 3 From Hell doesn’t just ask its audience to root for these characters, but it gaslights them into thinking it’s the norm as they go up against individuals who are presented to be just as depraved.
Godzilla
Godzilla
Godzilla often doesn’t get enough credit for being one of the longest-running film franchises of all-time, with nearly 40 films that have been released for more than 70 years. Godzilla is a destructive force of nature that’s meant to be a condemnation of America, yet the kaiju’s role changes over time, especially once more kaiju enter the equation. The fifth Godzilla movie, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, marks the start of the creature’s transition into a friendlier kaiju and ally to Japan against deadlier monsters. In fact, King Ghidorah becomes the central antagonist of the Godzilla universe, which further highlights how far the character has come. It even reaches the point when Son of Godzilla introduces Minilla and this once-feared kaiju is now a proud parent.
The American Monsterverse has continued to subvert Godzilla’s image, even though King Kong is often presented as more of the hero in their crossover efforts. Audiences have repeatedly proven at this point that they buy the King of the Monsters as a virtuous hero and symbol of peace, ironically enough.
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