Bloopers That Change The Way You See These Sci-Fi Villains

A good blooper brings the fun in any circumstance, and a good sci-fi blooper provides the bonus of philosophical schadenfreude: A genre premised on the efficiency of technology, suddenly falling prey to the fallibility and unseriousness of man. A lot of the best sci-fi movies and shows — especially those of the more meditative "hard sci-fi" variety — don't even release blooper reels, so as not to break the illusion of an immersive high-tech world.

Among the movies and shows that do, however, we often have the pleasure of watching the villains of the high-tech worlds in question fumble their way through scenes and lines, or just up and go off-script for the sake of the crew's momentary entertainment. And the results can be hilarious, endearing, and even informative about what makes those movies and characters tick. From Cate Blanchett to Tatiana Maslany to Jamie Campbell Bower to a stubborn light pole, these bloopers cast sci-fi villains in an entirely new light.

Cate Blanchett knew from blockbuster sets by the time she boarded the Marvel Cinematic Universe in "Thor: Ragnarok." We're talking, of course, about the original live-action Galadriel — and, in addition to the "Lord of the Rings" films, the Australian actress appeared over the years in big, action-driven projects ranging from "Hanna" to "Robin Hood" to "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." "Ragnarok," however, more than likely marked Blanchett's first time donning a motion capture suit and partaking in make-believe fantasy stunts; indeed, the obvious joy she's taking in the role of Hela accounts for 50% of why that movie works so well.

As it turns out, she may even have experienced a little too much joy. The blooper reel of "Thor: Ragnarok" brims with snippets of Blanchett acting goofy in between takes, in a way that might come as a surprise to those who only know her for the regal screen persona she channels as Thor's warmongering sister. And the most invaluable of those snippets reveals that the two-time Oscar winner struggled with one particular challenge of fantasy action cinema: conjuring sounds in your head. While filming a scene as Hela, Blanchett makes sound effects with her mouth to match her character's necrosword-summoning gesture, and then immediately corrects herself. "I shouldn't make the noises with my mouth, should I?" she asks, bursting immediately into self-deprecating laughter.

The "X-Men" film franchise has spiraled and sputtered to the point where some fans are all but begging for it to be rebooted, but, not so long ago, its unlikely tightrope walk between different temporal continuities actually worked pretty darn well. In fact, one can easily pinpoint the moment where things began to go south: 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse," the muddled, convoluted third installment in the prequel series. Chief among the film's many, many errors, it cast Oscar Isaac, then at the height of his climb to superstardom, in the role of the titular villain — and then gave him absolutely nothing of note to do as an actor.

The character of En Sabah Nur, a.k.a. Apocalypse, was written in such a dour, generically portentous way that Isaac couldn't inject any sort of life into the role, even if he weren't completely covered in emotion-nullifying prosthetics. But when you watch the film's bloopers, you can clearly see the drama of a once-in-a-generation wellspring of acting talent and charisma inhabiting a completely charisma-free character. While shooting the film's climax, in which Apocalypse engages in a telepathic fight with Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Isaac can't help himself, and jokingly interrupts a long cry of pain to declare "Oh, it feels good!" It's more entertaining than anything in the film.

Rather than undercut the fantasy, "Orphan Black" bloopers amp up the magic of the show's signature special effect. That would, of course, be Tatiana Maslany's multiplicitous performance as the clones at the center of the Project Leda conspiracy. It's a hoot to watch Maslany slip in and out of character. Her superhuman dedication to nailing each performance comes through even more clearly when we see her drop the act and just be herself for a moment. 

The most fascinating example is her "downtime" as Rachel Duncan, the show's icy central villainess. As the least-fleshed-out, most reserved of the main Leda clones before her character revamp in Season 4, it's easy to take for granted how much Maslany transforms when donning Rachel's golden bob and slipping into her posh British English. And then you watch her flub Rachel's calm delivery of instructions during a phone call and mumble "Ah, crrrrap it," followed by a cut to Maslany asking — in her real, significantly higher-pitched voice — "More acid?" It's a peering-behind-the-curtain moment: She actually sounds like this. And what's more, each of her line readings as Rachel, no matter how "natural" to the character they sound, is the result of careful deliberation with the filmmakers. Talk about acting, man.

A Kree warrior, unsure of himself? It's more likely than you think. Every "Guardians of the Galaxy" film features a great dramatic actor as its main antagonist, and, fittingly for this particular MCU sub-franchise, each of those actors also boasts a knack for comedy. On that note, Lee Pace's work as Ronan the Accuser in the inaugural 2014 film is arguably the least-remembered among fans — which makes sense, as that film had its hands full with establishing a huge set of heroes — but he's quite possibly the funniest actor yet to have played a "Guardians" villain.

If you want proof of it, look to the movie, which sees Pace gives a performance absolutely delectable in its knowing narminess, delivering every one of Ronan's megalomaniacal speeches with absolute conviction. He, as they say, understood the assignment. Or, watch the blooper reel. One of the things it reveals about the three films' seemingly very fun sets is that, while shooting a scene on Ronan's ship, the Dark Aster, Pace delivered a line with such purpose and intensity that you'd think it represented the character's most important moment. Except the line in question — "Today, power becomes the only law!" — is nowhere to be found in the finished film, and, immediately after saying it, the reel shows Pace slipping out of character and wondering aloud, "Wait, that's not right, is it?"

Part of the wonder of Matt Reeves' "Cloverfield," the trailblazing found-footage monster flick that ballooned into a cinematic universe, is the way it contrasts highly realistic handheld camerawork with believable mass-scale horror. No other kaiju film before it or since so adroitly convinced the viewer that this could be happening to them. For that gambit to work, the film needed incredible — and incredibly immersive — visual effects; any one snippet of its behind-the-scenes footage is mind-boggling just for how carefully engineered it reveals Clover's rampage to be.

One moment in the film's blooper reel, however, brings about the opposite thought, showing how easy it would have been for a movie like that to not be convincing at all. In the scene where the Statue of Liberty's head suddenly lands in the middle of a street, a light pole should fall to the ground — a practical effect. But, during the shoot, the pole doesn't fall completely, instead just lowering itself very, very, very slowly. Eventually, the crew gives up and starts laughing.

Seeing what "Stranger Things" actor Jamie Campbell Bower looks, acts, and sounds like in real life can be a bit of a shock to the system after a season's worth of being terrified of him as Vecna. The show's decision to portray its ultimate big bad largely via prosthetic makeup allows Bower to impart a rawness and a sense of physicality to Vecna that make him that much more credible — and therefore scarier — as a screen presence. But it also makes the contrast with the real Bower jarring: When out of dungeons-'n'-drag, in real life or playing Henry Creel, you can almost see Vecna there, even as you're just looking at a normal guy. Mentally, it's all rather tricky to process.

Not for nothing, that's exactly what makes bloopers and behind-the-scenes footage featuring Bower-as-Vecna so entertaining. At a moment's notice, he can break character and amplify the cognitive dissonance: Suddenly, we're looking at Vecna, but with the demeanor of a sweet, hilarious English actor. For instance, the Season 4 blooper reel shows that, during one take of the scene in which Vecna traps Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Bower accidentally let a "Yes" slip out in response to Dyer's cries of "No!" It was enough to take Dyer out of the moment and cause her to laugh — followed, of course, by Bower's characteristically boisterous snicker.