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Oh, OK ... according to Jesse Eisenberg, Lex Luthor's insane plan is the result of him becoming "increasingly unhinged" -- because the scariest villains are the ones who progressively become stupider and less in control as the film progresses, right?

Also, just as a side note: If a film requires extra post-release interviews explaining what the characters' motivations are, it's a bad film. As someone way too excited about the Independence Day sequel, I fully understand what it's like to love something regardless of quality -- but Lex Luthor's randomly insane presence is the perfect representation for why Batman V Superman is a fundamentally broken film.

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But it's also not the only one with this problem, because The Joker "just chasing cars" caused pretty much every writer to realize that making your villain crazy means that you don't have to think too hard about their motivations. And so everyone from Professor Moriarty to Ultron to a fucking dinosaur has been branded psychotic and unpredictable.

BBC, Marvel Studios, Universal Pictures

These three also makes for a thrilling "fuck-marry-kill."

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Don't get me wrong: I love Sherlock, don't hate Age Of Ultron, and have so far done a really good job not slapping Jurassic World fans. This trope fills the full spectrum of quality but nonetheless drags each and every villain down by not challenging the writer to make a fully dimensional character with clear goals and evil aspirations. Instead, it enables them an easy pass from one action setpiece to the next without having to think too hard in between.

The Joker being unbridled and whacked-out is what makes him so uniquely frightening as that specific character. Copying those qualities onto every adversary is like giving the next Bond villain Predator mandibles because it makes him scary. It's inappropriate, unoriginal, requires zero creativity, and the character will ultimately never join the ranks of Vader or Hannibal. Because if you're too busy just doing what the last guy did, how are you gonna ever be the last guy?

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By giving the next Bond villain Predator mandibles, obviously.

If you work for Eon Productions and are interested in a really brutal James Bond spec script, please contact Dave on his Twitter.

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