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Walter Wade Jr. is the main antagonist of the 2000 film Shaft.
He is portrayed by Christian Bale, who also played Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.
History
The son of one of the wealthiest men in Los Angeles, Wade is spoiled, narcissistic and cruel, and lashes out violently at anyone who refuses to give him his way or stands up to him. He is also a virulent racist, and thinks all African-Americans are inferior to him. One night, he goes to a club and drunkenly hurls racial slurs at Trey Howard, a young African-American man. Howard responds by making a Ku Klux Klan-like hood out of a napkin and dropping it on Wade's head. When the other club patrons laugh at him, Wade flies into a rage and bludgeons Howard to death with a lead pipe in the alley next to the club. When questioned by Detective John Shaft, Wade claims to have acted in self-defense, but mocks Howard as he dies; disgusted, Shaft punches Wade in the face, breaking his nose.
Wade jumps bail and flies to Switzerland, escaping justice for two years. Meanwhile, his father bribes the one witness to the murder, Diane Palmieri, to keep quiet. When the younger Wade tries to sneak back into the U.S., Shaft is waiting for him and put him under arrest. While in jail, Wade meets drug dealer Peoples Hernandez, and hires him to kill Shaft. Ultimately, however, Shaft kills Peoples and persuades Palmieri to testify against Wade. Before Palmieri has the chance, however, Howard's mother guns Wade down in front of the courthouse.