THE INCREDIBLES (2004)
Edna Mode (Brad Bird)
Unless you’re Peter Parker and happen to be the universe’s most instantaneously gifted seamstress, most superheroes worth their salt need a world-class fashion designer to manufacture threads that will protect them in battle and look super cool. Enter the diminutive Edna Mode, who takes it upon herself (pretty much without being asked) to design outfits for Mr. Incredible and the rest of his gifted family. Modeled after Hollywood costume maven Edith Head (and possibly a little of actress Linda Hunt), director Brad Bird took it upon himself to deliver Mode’s vocal performance, and might we add that he makes a spectacular lady.
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY (2008)
Johann Krauss (Seth MacFarlane)
Another del Toro-directed comic book sequel delivers yet another impeccable side character, this time an anal-retentive German psychic whose spirit inhabits an old diving bell… or anything else mechanical for that matter. Even the moments when his German accent veers towards Colonel Klink OTT territory, “Family Guy”-creator MacFarlane’s exuberant vocal delivery perfectly juxtaposes with Krauss’s amorphous nature, being a floating cloud of ectoplasm and all. “Suck my ectoplasmic schwanzstucker!”
Head to page 4 to find two quippy guys who are always there to lend a hand to the heroes…
IRON MAN/IRON MAN 2/THOR/THE AVENGERS – THE MARVEL MOVIES (2008-2012)
Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg)
Arguably the glue which held together Marvel’s Phase 1 movies and helped hint at a larger world we finally glimpsed in The Avengers, Agent Coulson was our cinematic gateway to S.H.I.E.L.D. and beyond. Although he would eventually headline his own show (after being killed, natch), Coulson also provided the first olive branch to Asgard in Thor and seemed the only man capable of being two-steps ahead of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). As he told Tony in Iron Man 2, “If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will tase you and watch ‘Supernanny’ while you drool into the carpet. Kay?”
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (2010)
Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin)
Culkin doesn’t just have some of the best lines in this cult classic, he also acts as a kind of gay Greek chorus, constantly pointing out things that Scott (Michael Cera) is far too dense to realize. During the hero’s battles against the seven deadly exes of girlfriend Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Culkin’s Wallace is sardonic without falling into too many gay best friend clichés, although he does (justifiably) say he wants to have Chris Evans’ adopted babies.
Head to page 5 for characters that really broke out this past year…
