Most movie plots always revolve around the protagonist's story in achieving something; winning a bet, proving one's worth, rebellion for revenge, or saving the world. Of course, they will face obstacles at some point in the story, to enrich the plot and make the story more entertaining to watch. Sometimes, the protagonist also serves as the villain of the story, as Amy Dunne in Gone Girl or Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street. Be it reaching a happy ending or stumbling into their downfall, the protagonist will always be faced with the antagonist.
A villain isn't automatically born into a villain by birth. There is always a story behind; a childhood trauma, rejection in society, seeking for validation, or the 'born different' factor that contributes to the epiphany of a villain. For instance, Cruella DeVil was a fashion designer with a peculiar taste named Estella, and Arthur Fleck was just a man suffering from a neurological disorder before turning into DC's most famous villain Joker.
A villain origin story helps us understand the character more and unfolds the reason why they act the way they've become. This resulted in the view how audiences are more drawn into the villains rather than the heroic figures, because most of the time protagonists are portrayed as perfect and have their own 'special' spirit in becoming a heroic icon. Studies have proven that it's possible to be attracted to our dark side. Thus, making villains more likable and relatable because we can resonate with them more.
Even in movies where it centers around a villain undergoing a mission that is supposedly not encouraged, we would also root for them. This can be seen on the Spanish Netflix series Money Heist or in 21, starring Jim Sturgess which tells a true story about MIT students cheating in gambling by using math. They're not good people, but we can't help but root for them to succeed in their journey. This may derive from the fact that we enjoy being drowned in the thrill of the main characters' adventure in achieving its objectives, even when it was a bad deed.
Modern movie productions have accentuated the depiction of these villains by incorporating their background stories into the plot, thus constructing our perspectives that they're not pure evil, but instead there is something that just won't let them be good, and we managed to find it fascinating. So worry not! You are not the only one who enjoys seeing the secret government project become a boomerang in Suicide Squad, or Loki messing up with the timeline of the universe.
(HAI/DIR)