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12 Marvel and DC villains ranked according to ridiculous eyeliner

From Winter Soldier's moody emo smudge to Hela's power shading, the villains of Marvel and DC know how to rock a look.

Claire Reilly
Claire Reilly was a video host, journalist and producer covering all things space, futurism, science and culture. Whether she's covering breaking news, explaining complex science topics or exploring the weirder sides of tech culture, Claire gets to the heart of why technology matters to everyone. She's been a regular commentator on broadcast news, and in her spare time, she's a cabaret enthusiast, Simpsons aficionado and closet country music lover. She originally hails from Sydney but now calls San Francisco home.
Claire Reilly
suicide-squad-joker
1 of 12 Warner Bros.

12: The Joker in Suicide Squad

If Marvel and DC taught us anything, it's that you aren't a true super villain until you've put on some wicked bad eyeliner. It shows the audience that you're super serious about taking over the world and looking, like, totally troubled at the same time. But while some of these villains get it so right, some get it so terribly wrong. Here are the best of the best or the worst of the worst, depending on your perspective.

Jared Leto. We don't blame you personally for this one. You were probably really psyched when your agent told you you'd landed the role of Joker. Cut to 2015, when the first-look posters for Suicide Squad came out and you'd turned into a perfect amalgam of all the worst OKCupid selfies, complete with hair that definitely won't look good after three washes. We know he's damaged. Mostly because he has the word "damaged" across his forehead. 

Get the look: Buy a Sharpie and scrawl your deepest desires on your forehead and borrow one of your sister's clip-on diamante earrings. Or, for a better look, just copy Jared Leto's Rayon character in Dallas Buyer's Club. 

ghost-ant-man
2 of 12 Marvel Entertainment

11: Ghost in Ant-Man and the Wasp

You've gotta love comic books. Ghost is only just managing to hold a very tenuous grip on reality (you would too if your molecules were trying to rebel against you), but she still has time to rock a moody kohl eyeliner. 

Get the look: Like all good quantum physics, your eyeliner should be able to shift states -- from work to Friday night drinks in a flash.

deadpool-2-firefist
3 of 12 20th Century Fox

10: Firefist in Deadpool 2

By the time we get to Firefist in Deadpool 2, we know that eyeliner means "T-minus 'evil' in three snappily-written acts." This was a bold new line for New Zealand's beloved Julian Dennison -- great to see the kid hitting the big time, but we still miss Ricky Baker. 

Get the look: Drug store eyeliner in "All Black" shade. 

spider-man-3
4 of 12 Columbia Pictures

9: Spider-Man in Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man gets edgy in Spider-Man 3. And just like all good boys gone bad it follows the classic pattern: he starts wearing guyliner and acts like a total jerk in a jazz club. If it's possible to mansplain on a piano while crashing your ex-girlfriend's waitressing shift, then Spidey does it perfectly. 

Get the look: The side-fringe isn't a phase, Mom!

ronan-the-accuser
5 of 12 Marvel Studios

8: Ronan the Accuser in Guardians of the Galaxy

You draw your winged eyeliner perfectly on one eye, but the other eye doesn't quite match. So you keep making it bigger and bigger until suddenly you've gone full panda. Yeah. That. 

Get the look: Blend your eyeliner down, blend your lipstick up, and join the two somewhere mid-cheek. Or just bite into a tub of ink, just like Ronan is doing here. 

suicide-squad-harley-and-deadshot
6 of 12 Warner Bros.

7: Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad

When Suicide Squad hit theaters, you just know Party City stocks went up immediately in anticipation of all those cosplay wig sales. Winning points for throwing some colour in the mix, Harley's look is instantly recognisable. Just like the tattoos spelling out her inner demons. 

Get the look: You don't have to brave the hotpants and terrible tattoos, just throw on some red and blue and you do you.

marvelinfinitywar-wintersoldier
7 of 12 Marvel Studios

6: Winter Soldier in Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Bucky Barnes is a Really Bad Guy. You know it from his troubled stare, from his ill-kempt hair and from the fact that Winter Soldier was objectively the most boring Marvel movie of the decade. Don't @ me.

Get the look: Borrow your sister's eyeliner, smoosh it around your eyes in the bathroom of a "Fallout Boy" concert and stare into the distance while you wonder why Cap hasn't returned your calls. 

marvelinfinitywar-thecollector
8 of 12 Marvel Studios

5: The Collector in Guardians of the Galaxy

Benicio Del Toro has essentially made a career out of rocking the look we all wish we could pull off. We particularly like the eyes here. The eyebrows say, "I know how to throw a party!" but the eyeliner says, "None of you even noticed the decorative crystal punch bowl I bought!"

Get the look: Spray in some volumizing hair spray, bleach those brows and bite into your ballpoint pen real hard. 

hela1
9 of 12 Marvel Studios

4: Hela in Thor: Ragnarok

No one takes a look from "work drinks" to "heat death of the universe" quite like a comic book villain and this one gets a massive "hela yeah" from us. Not only was Cate Blanchett's Hela a perfectly villainous foil for Thor, her eye makeup was shaded to perfectly match the lines of her headpiece/spider-antlers. 

Get the look: Get a job, buy your own apartment, start that spin class and destroy the patriarchy.

doctor-strange8.jpg
10 of 12 Marvel Studios

3: Kaecilius in Doctor Strange

This is what happens when you don't take your eyeliner off after a gig and use that new moisturizing eye cream before you go to bed. Eczema is not just for Christmas, it's a serious condition.

Get the look: Spend a solid hour getting ready for a night on the town, then cry it all off on Brenda's shoulder after two many tequila sunrises.

batman-robin-poison-ivy
11 of 12 Warner Bros.

2: Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin

There's a lot happening here -- the clip-in hair extensions, the two-tone autumnal eye shadow that Ivy has taken no effort to blend, not to mention the jazzy Christmas earrings that Ivy definitely bought from Claire's. This girl will break your heart, but she has to get it done before her dad picks her up at 9 p.m.

Get the look: You're going to want to block out that brow with a gluestick, ladies and gents. Throw on your favourite shades of matte eyeshadow (why stop at two colours?) and pencil on a razor-thin brow a la Gwen Stefani circa No Doubt. Don't forget the Lipsmackers for that poisoned kiss!

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12 of 12 Marvel Studios

1: Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok

Yes! Yes, yes yes. Jeff Goldblum can do literally no wrong. When he flashdanced into our electric dreams in Thor: Ragnarok it was like watching Jurassic Park through a glitter kaleidoscope. You just know Tan from Queer Eye on Netflix is trying to pull off this hair. 

Get the look: Find a metallic eye shadow pencil and go nuts. If all else fails, just borrow your Dad's outfits from when he was in that Flock of Seagulls tribute band. Now, control time with your thoughts. 

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