An Impact: The Antagonistic Quality of a Great Actor

For non-Marvel fans, Stevenson has also made a mark on plenty of other media. In the comedy realm, Stevenson joined Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg for The Other Guys as the villain of the duo detective comedy. In 2013, Stevenson joined the G.I. Joe franchise in Retaliation as the hardened Firefly where he gave an explosive performance as another classic villain. In the Divergent movie series, Stevenson played Tobias’ father, Marcus, for all three films where he had a mostly negative role in defining the secondary main character. Even in one of his most well-known roles, Stevenson gave a chilling performance as the famed Blackbeard in the series Black Sails. Despite playing mostly villains, Stevenson sunk his heart into intense characters that provided depth to the stories they joined. Just this past year, he even joined the cast of the new Indian film RRR as the antagonist Governor Scott Buxton which has received immense praise. He is quoted saying “Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking, ‘I’m a bad guy.’ They think they’re the right guy.” which derives proof of his understanding of his roles as villains that is hard to come by.

What Next: A Powerful Upcoming Final Hurrah

In 2016, Stevenson gave his voice to the beloved Star Wars franchise in the show Star Wars: Rebels for the character Gar Saxon. He earned immense praise from fans of the show for delivering a brilliant antagonist to showrunner Sabine Wren. In the arc where Sabine must reclaim her home planet of Mandalore, she faces off against Gar Saxon in an intense duel where he challenges her mind, body, and spirit. Stevenson gives the true spirit to that duel and arc with his presentation of dialogue. He would return for Clone Wars Season 7 as the same character earlier in time before ruling Mandalore. Similarly to Marvel, the Star Wars team must have been impressed because they cast him as an antagonist for the highly anticipated Ahsoka series. He joins a respected cast of live-action versions of formerly animated characters, himself portraying a new character known as Baylan Skoll. In the trailer, he dons a white beard and an intense crossguard red lightsaber, dueling the main character for one scene. As a final role for the actor, it is a fittingly intense and exciting villain in an important series that will cement Stevenson as a beloved actor for fans of all kinds. 

Catch Stevenson one final time on Disney Plus where Ahsoka will premiere on August 31st, 2023.