…I love an antagonist who can be simultaneously sympathetic and badass. A bad guy who isn’t so much ‘bad’ as ‘misunderstood’ and ‘kind of actually crazy’. The sort of guy you cheer on whenever he goes up against the good guys, even though you know you shouldn’t be cheering.

Time for a Spaceman’s Favourite Antagonist Checklist! See if you can guess the movie I’m talking about.

Difficult childhood? — Check

Grew up feeling isolated? — Check

Lives in darkness? — Check

Anger management issues? — Check

Possessive? — Check

Dresses all in black? — Check

Long flowing Black Cloak of Badness? — Check

….if you’ve got this far down the list and you’re thinking “ah-ha, it’s Alan Rickman’s Sheriff of Nottingham, from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves!” then technically you could be correct, except for the fact that everybody gets bored of that movie and nobody in their right mind cheers on Robin Hood….

Wears a mask? — Check

Unpredictable personality? — Check

Kills a bunch of people? — Check

Kidnaps a girl and carries her to his Secret Villain Lair? — Check

Talks about darkness and turning away from the light? — Check

….this darkness/light theme is a really big clue. A huge deal is made about it in the movie. Are you there yet?….

Gets angry when his demands aren’t met? — Check

Feels betrayed by those who know him? — Check

Sword fight in the snow? — Check

Gets beaten by nemesis in sword fight? — Check

Witnesses destruction of Secret Villain Lair? — Check

Escapes said destruction to live another day? — Check

Just wants somebody to be with him so he’s not alone? — Check

Ultimately finds redemption whilst simultaneously being haunted by the memory of his past crimes? — Check

AWESOME SINGING VOICE?!? — Check

Now, I’m not saying that the Star Wars sequels essentially took the basic character of the Phantom of the Opera, removed the singing, and gave him a different mask… but you have to admit, the similarities are there!

Kylo Ren?

But can he sing?

If you have yet to witness Gerard Butler singing, I recommend you go watch the movie, which is based on the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber play.