I feel like there's been quite the rise of sympathetic villains, with characters like Zuko, Thanos, 2019 Joker. Honestly it's not really that new nor unusual though, I can think of a trillion series that had a villain with some sort of eh backstory that turns into an ally to help defeat a bigger threat. And while I think it's nice and all to have characters that just show things aren't just Black & White, I don't necessarily think it makes any villain better? Slapping a semi-tragic backstory on a villain just to make them seem a bit more reasonable is kinda far-fetched and artificial sometimes.
Pure evil is kinda tricky because of what defines evil, but it certainly isn't boring. Most of the Joker iterations are pure evil and I find them truly fascinating. The masterminds in Danganronpa are pure evil and are entertaining. Disney villains are usually pure evil. Being pure evil doesn't mean bland, they can still have their own mindset and personality.
I actually find characters that act as supporting antagonists much more interesting and fascinating thanVillains fighting for their own goals, but I'm not sure if they can really be considered Villains. Is Komaeda a villain? lmao
Purely instinct antagonist like something like natural horror and stuff like zombies or the Alien that just goes around doing their stuff because that's who they are without any notion of good/evil is interesting too. I wonder if I can slap the very Earth as an antagonist in disaster movies?