John Oliver Attacks Elon Musk, Says Billionaire Could Be The Perfect Movie Villain: 'Truly, The Man Has Range'

Comedian and television host John Oliver used his last episode of 2023 to take on the world's richest person, investor and entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Here's a look at what Oliver had to say.

What Happened: Over the years, Musk has been featured in cameo appearances on film and television shows. Musk also served as the inspiration for the movie portrayal of Tony Stark by Robert Downey Jr.

During the Sunday, Dec. 17 episode of "Last Week Tonight," Oliver said Musk could "pull off any bad guy in a movie," suggesting the Tesla CEO as the perfect movie villain.

The episode, which aired on Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD)-owned HBO, saw Oliver suggest some potential roles for Musk using past movies, as shared by Deadline.

"There's Lex Luthor posing for the cover of Metropolis Maniacs monthly. There's ‘Why No Mr. Bond. I and my child bride expect you to die.' There's ‘I just bought your media company, I'm about to strip you for parts.' There's ‘First racist sheriff,'" Oliver said.

Oliver went on to also compare Musk to the Caledon Hockley role played by Billy Zane in the blockbuster movie "Titanic." Hockley was the fiancé to Rose (played by Kate Winslet) in the film. Zane was nominated for a "Best Villain" award for the role at the MTV Movie Awards.

"And finally, the less f***able reimagining of Billy Zane's character in Titanic. Truly, the man has range."

See Also: Could Elon Musk Really Be ‘The Simpsons’ Villain Hank Scorpio?

A good portion of Oliver's episode was dedicated to taking on Musk, including criticism of his recent call out of companies like the Walt Disney Company, which pulled advertising on Musk-owned social media platform X.  

Oliver also referenced the recently released Cybertruck and its unique design as "every child's first attempt at drawing a car."

The comedian had praise for Musk's accomplishments like electric vehicles and space exploration, but also concern over how he acts.

"The fact is, whether we like it or not — and the answer is absolutely not — a huge number of very important things going forward are going to depend on how Elon is feeling, which is a terrifying thing to say about anyone but especially this guy."

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Why It's Important: Along with serving as the inspiration for the film version of Iron Man, Musk was cited as helping create fictional characters for other movies.

The Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) movie "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" featured a character that might resemble Musk and be related to his acquisition of Twitter.

Miles Born is a technology billionaire played by Edward Norton in the film. Like Musk, Bron has an interest in space exploration and automobiles.

Movie director Rian Johnson shared previously with Wired that Musk might have been an inspiration for the character.

"There's a lot of general stuff about that sort of species of tech billionaire that went directly into it," Johnson said.

The Netflix hit movie "Don't Look Up" also took inspiration from Musk. The character Peter Isherwell, played by actor Mark Rylance, could be based on several billionaires including Musk.

Rylance said previously that he studies Musk, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos for the character.

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Photos: John Oliver, Elon Musk, Shutterstock