The DCEU and MCU have taken over cinema in recent years. Before this, DC and Marvel dominated the animation space, with their respective animated universes. Both the DCAU and MAU started in the 90s. While DC's animated universe has been continuous, Marvel has had multiple versions of an animated universe from various studio companies.
Although the heroes were at the front of these shows, a lot of the time it was the villains that stole the spotlight. Some exceptional voice actors brought these iconic villains to life. They made an appearance by their character a must-see episode. Many of these actors were established voice actors. However, some were more commonly known for their live-action work. Yet, proved they could excel in this format too.
10 Ron Perlman Has Voiced The DC Villains Slade, Clayface, And Sinestro
Ron Perlman is no stranger to comic book properties. The actor has played numerous heroes and villains in live-action and animation. His deep and stoic voice ideal for brooding darker characters. This is evident in his work as DC and Marvel villains. Perlman has portrayed several iconic DC villains including Sinestro and Clayface. His most memorable though has to be his Slade in Teen Titans.
Interestingly enough Slade is never referred to as Deathstroke or The Terminator in the show. Despite this, he still retains the fear-inducing qualities of the character. Similar to characters like Darth Vader, he does not need to talk much as his presence is intimidating enough. When he does speak, Perlman's voice adds another level of terror. His role at Marvel is more obscure, as he voices Wizard in the Fantastic Four series. Despite playing a relatively unknown villain in a short-lived show, Perlman still brings something special to the role.
9 James Arnold Taylor Has Voiced The Leader, Harry Osborn, And Static Shock
James Arnold Taylor is commonly known for his heroic characters, most notable for his tenure as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the two Star Wars animated series. He played a huge part of The Clone Wars show and briefly appeared in Rebels. However, the actor has turned to the dark on a variety of occasions for Marvel and DC.
Aside from his performance as The Leader, a Hulk Villain, Taylor's villainous portrays are typically teenagers turn bad. For Marvel, he played Harry Osborn in Spectacular Spider-Man. Peter's best friend, who turns into Green Goblin. At DC he appeared in Static Shock as Eddie Felson/Speedwarp, a kid who was friends with Virgil and Daisy before he became an evil speedster.
8 Tara Strong Has Voiced Jinx, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Typhoid Mary, And Mary Jane's Carnage
Tara Strong's voice is truly versatile and still somehow recognizable in animation. She has a catalog of characters each harnessing a unique personality. None of these characters are too similar to one another and this is down to the little nuances she gives to the voice of each of these characters. Strong can go from adorable, to dark, to wild, all by changing her tone.
Strong's abilities are best showcased in her DC work. In Teen Titans she voices not one of the show's lead heroes in Raven, but one of the team's main villains in Jinx, the leader of the Fearsome Five. It is a talent to go up against yourself in battle. She has voiced some of Batman's most established foes as Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn (taking over from Arleen Sorkin as the main voice for the character.) Her Marvel villain resume is smaller, she voiced Typhoid Mary and there was a brief moment when her Mary Jane was taken over by Carnage.
7 Tom Kenny Has Voiced The Penguin, Doc Ock, And Vulture
Tom Kenny is famous for voicing the titular character in the SpongeBob SquarePants show, movies, and video games. This is not the only character in the show he portrays. He voices a variety of characters and appears in person as the pirate on the show. His work with the world-famous Sponge is just scratching the surface of his work with Nickelodeon and voice acting overall.
In the world of comics, he has voiced some of the villains of Batman and Spider-Man, as well as being a huge part of The Superhero Squad Show. In The 2004 Batman TV show, he gave his voice to the rude, selfish, and arrogant Oswald Cobblepot (The Penguin). On the Marvel side of things, he lends his voice to the two mad scientists Doc Ock and Vulture in Ultimate Spider-Man. These characters are on the upper tier of the two flagship characters respective rogue's gallery.
6 Kevin Michael Richardson Has Voiced The Joker, Black Manta, Lex Luthor, Baron Mordo, And Tombstone
Kevin Michael Richardson is renowned for his deep, booming, and smooth voice, which he has used for fearsome villains, for subversive comedy, and occasionally a combination of the two, such as the Trigon he brought to Teen Titans Go! His villainous work can be heard in Marvel, DC, and beyond. He made history by being the first black actor to portray The Joker.
Batman: The Brave and The Bold had Richardson play the part of several villains including Black Manta and Lex Luthor bringing his comedic talents to these roles. Contrarily with Marvel, he went in a serious direction with Baron Mordo and Tombstone. Especially the latter, where he implemented his deep and smooth style of voice to illustrate the character's intimidating nature.
5 Dee Bradley Baker Voiced Sandman, Carnage, Lizard, Blockbuster, Woof, Clock King, And Scarecrow
Dee Bradley Baker's body of work as a voice actor mostly consists of clones and creatures. In The Clone Wars, there were episodes where he was the only cast member needed to record. Baker's high-quality characters such as the immensely popular Perry The Platypus, are a credit to his process as an actor when voicing them. He has gone on record to say when recording words or sounds for an animal, creature, or human characters, he treats it all as dialogue.
Most of his animal and creatures roles are extremely valuable sidekicks, some are heroes in their own right, and then there are his villainous ones. He has voiced the best of the best of Spidey's rogue gallery, including Sandman, Carnage, and Curt Connor's Lizard, in both human and lizard form, all of which require a duality between their human and creature forms, which Baker masterfully brings. For DC he depicted big bruiser creatures like Blockbuster and Woof, as well as quirky Clock King and the twisted Scarecrow.
4 Clancy Brown Voiced Task Master, Red Hulk, And Lex Luthor
Clancy Brown is another actor known for his deep and intimidating voice. In his live-action works, this is backed-up by his impressive height. In animation, his chilling voice can be heard from villains from DC, Marvel, and other products.
With Marvel, he has been used his deep tone to be both chilling with Taskmaster and brash with Red Hulk. The villainous role he will most be associated with is Lex Luthor. When Brown took over as Superman's main foe in Superman: The Animated Series, he brought a new interpretation of Luthor. He opted to go for a smooth operator approach with the power-mad business magnate rather, which seems to of inspired future incarnations of Luthor.
3 Troy Baker Has Voiced Both The Joker And Loki
Although Tory Baker is most known for his voice acting in video games and dubbing popular anime, he has also played significant parts in both DC's and Marvel's animated universes. In some cases, his video game roles helped land the animation equivalent, and in other cases, it was vise versa. The prime example of the former is in his work as The Joker.
Baker has been established as one of the best Jokers in DC history. This is not the only cunning villain he has represented, as he has also voiced the God of Mischief, Loki in Marvel's current animated universe.
2 Phil LaMarr Voiced Baron Mordo, Dormammu, Black Manta, and Gorilla Grodd
Phil LaMarr has earned the right to be recognized as one of the greats of voice acting. His voice has been a part of the childhood of a whole generation or two. Whatever your favorite characters or shows were as a kid, chances are you heard his voice. He was either voicing those characters or their adversary.
In his illustrious career, LaMarr has worked with Marvel and DC. Most notably as heroes for both companies. However, he has been several villains as well. For Marvel, he has been two of Doctor Strange's recognizable rogues, Baron Mordo and Dormammu. With DC he has represented Black Manta and Gorilla Grodd on separate shows.
1 Mark Hamill Has Voiced The Joker, Hobgoblin, Klaw, Red Skull, And Arnim Zola
Mark Hamill made his name as the heroic Luke Skywalker, the poster child of the Star Wars franchise. Although Luke never did, Mark has turned to the dark side on multiple occasions, in movies and TV (both live-action and animated.) Hamill had fun with his various voiced personalities in a video he made with DC, where villains sharing Hamill's voice attempt to kidnap the actor.
He became the voice of the Clown Prince of Crime and has become closely associated with him, as well as regard as one of the best. Hamill would bring a similar vibe to other DC villains, and at Marvel with Hobgoblin, Klaw, Red Skull, and Arnim Zola.