The more I think about this, the more it solidified in my mind: Elijah Price AKA Mr. Glass may just be the finest comic book villain ever portrayed on film, or perhaps anywhere else.
We’ve read and watched so many stories involving the villain, a wronged individual or one out for revenge, or one who simply “wants to watch world burn”.
I guess in my lifetime I’ve never met a character quite as complex, heartbreaking, aggravating as Elijah price.
As clever as I’ve ever seen any villain, even one as subversive and Meta as that say, of watchmen ( which may be viewed as the “endgame” of all comic book novels) still I am not certain it holds up to this character.
Elijah, an individual who suffered from an extraordinary disease, who’s bones break like glass and spent nearly his entire childhood bedridden reading comic books, and somewhere along the way became convinced a “Superman” had to be real.
What is so spectacular and crushing about this character is that he has one sole modus operandi and that is: To find Superman and convince the world he exists.
It is entirely incidental that he finds himself to be the villain, he discovers it and accepts it. As if the universe has pre destined it he realizes he HAS to, MUST play the villain in order for David/Superman to exist. It seems to be a cross he is willing to bear for the greater “good”. His mother taught him to never stop seeking his own potential even at a painful cost, this is the lesson he imparts upon David.-
I guess I’ve never seen or heard of a villain who is ALSO rooting for the hero. Elijah teaches David how to be better, he WANTS/NEEDS him to succeed and the means he goes through are solely to build David up.
To see a villain who is both Yoda and Vader is something I find worthy of note.
I can’t comprehend another scenario where I’ve seen anything close to a villain who is wreaking havoc on the world in sole order to better the hero in which he is fighting.
Submitted January 05, 2019 at 10:01AM by apollodeen http://bit.ly/2SB0RHr