Tom Hardy is one of the most talented and popular actors in the industry today. He has created an incredible legacy for himself already, having been involved in some amazing films in all manner of genres. From portraying real-life people to comic book characters and everything in between, he really has done it all.
Tom Hardy is one of those actors who has the believability to play someone that fans will gravitate towards and love in one role, yet in the next, he can play a crazed character that people are supposed to hate. Despite him being a genuinely nice person in real life, he is able to make the transition with ease thanks to his talent. This is something he has done throughout his career, playing some truly despicable characters, as well as some genuine heroes. In this list, we will rank 10 of his roles, from most heroic to the most villainous.
Farrier (Dunkirk)
You don't get a much more heroic role than playing a Royal Air Force pilot, do you? Tom Hardy took on that role as Farrier for Christopher Nolan's movie, Dunkirk, and it is certainly the most heroic part that he has played up to this point in his career.
Throughout the film, Farrier flies above Dunkirk, helping stranded soldiers as well as battling against other fighter planes and boats in the water. It's a crazy role that sees Tom Hardy involved in a lot of action, but it is certainly a noble and heroic role as well.
Max (Mad Max: Fury Road)
In a similar fashion to his role in Dunkirk, Tom Hardy doesn't have too many lines in Mad Max: Fury Road, and instead, he lets all of his action do the talking for him. It's a whirlwind of a movie that is kept at breakneck speed from start to finish, with amazing visual effects throughout.
Hardy takes on the role of Max, who is thrust into the position of being a hero, even if that's not intentionally how he acts. While he isn't out seeking to do good for others, he ends up doing so and is an incredible action hero, with this being one of his most memorable roles.
Tommy Conlon (Warrior)
Warrior is another of Tom Hardy's greatest performances as he takes on the role of Tommy Conlon. He is a former U.S. Marine who ends up in the world of MMA in this sports movie that is deeply about family, in particular, two brothers.
Tommy wins a random fight he enters incredibly quickly, and then enters a major tournament to earn a huge cash sum to help a widow of someone he fought alongside in the Marines. Tommy is hailed as a hero for saving someone's life in Iraq, but he actually ended up deserting. He's a complex character with a lot of deep issues, but one who is good deep down.
Eames (Inception)
Once again Tom Hardy teamed up with Christopher Nolan to be part of Inception's incredible ensemble cast. Despite the amazing talents in the movie, this really was a role that helped Tom Hardy standout, and a reason for that is that he was a good character.
Eames had a unique set of skills (no, it's not like Taken), that he could use in a dream. He had the ability to create images for people, making them think something was there when it wasn't, while also being able to work as a doppelganger, which is something he uses several times.
Alfie Solomons (Peaky Blinders)
Alfie Solomons is quite a tricky character to place on this list. Technically, he is a villain. He's a violent gang leader who's more than happy to hurt or kill someone if they cross him, which are traits you would associate with a bad guy in most television shows.
However, in Peaky Blinders, viewers are conditioned to follow along with the Shelby family, and while they are also criminals, people actually like them. Alfie is someone who works closely with Tommy Shelby, and even though he has betrayed him in the past, they have come back to work together again as there is a trust, making him somewhat of a good guy as well.
Venom (Venom)
Venom is one of the most well-known Spider-Man villains of all time and is a character fans have been desperate to see produced correctly on the big screen. Sadly, this film didn't tick that box off fully, as it did receive mixed reviews. However, Tom Hardy brings a fantastic performance to the character.
There are aspects of the character that some may class as an anti-hero, and with a sequel coming in the future, that avenue could be explored in a little more detail. However, there's no doubt that deep down, Venom is a true villain.
John Fitzgerald (The Revenant)
While the biggest villain in The Revenant is a huge grizzly bear, when it comes to the human characters, Tom Hardy's John Fitzgerald is the worst of the bunch. He is incredibly unlikeable, showing no real compassion for life as he happily abandons Hugh Glass at the first available opportunity.
He believes that Hugh is being left behind for dead, which doesn't end up happening. The fact that John Fitzgerald doesn't even consider trying to help Glass, suggesting to everyone that they should ditch him shows how despicable of a human he is, and Tom Hardy plays it excellently.
Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
Tom Hardy has stepped into the superhero/comic book world several times throughout his career, but the most famous moment came when he donned the mask to become Bane. Within this movie, Hardy played the nemesis for Batman to bring an end to Christopher Nolan's excellent trilogy of movies.
Bane is a truly evil character who just wants to see the world burn to ashes. He is able to match Batman for strength, which makes him a very interesting character. There's no doubt he is evil though, as he goes out of his way to kill plenty of Gotham's civilians, all who have done nothing wrong to him.
Charles Bronson (Bronson)
Bronson was a fantastic film that Tom Hardy was part of back in 2008, which was based on the life of Michael Peterson, who is better known as Charles Bronson. The fact that this movie is based on a true story makes it all slightly scarier, as he really was a crazy human.
Bronson was put in prison for robbery for seven years, but it is his behavior inside of the system that made him infamous. He is known as one of the most violent prisoners in English history, getting into serious issues with both fellow inmates and guards, making him one of the sickest and most vile humans to have ever lived.
The Kray Twins (Legend)
One of Tom Hardy's greatest movies is Legend, where he actually plays not just one, but two of the lead roles. Within this movie, Hardy portrays the infamous Kray twins, who were well-known for being two of the most violent and destructive gangsters in England's history.
The reason that these are his most villainous performances is that the Kray twins were real people, like Charles Bronson, but there are two of them. This isn't some comic character that has been thought up in a person's head. Reggie and Ron destroyed lives and caused pain and suffering throughout the 1950s and 60s, making them a dastardly duo.