More often than not, superhero movies will find a way for the good guys to end up winning by the end of the film. The superheros will triumph in the face of adversity and take down the villain, saving everyone. Usually, the heroes save the day and all either go home happy or get ready to take down the next villain in line. However, not all superhero movies are all about triumph and winning for the good guys. In numerous cases, the heroes are dealt a hard blow or setback, and many times that setback is the death of a friend and fellow superhero.
While the superhero death is not the most common occurrence in the genre, it definitely happens more often than the average viewer would think, and it is definitely more common in certain franchises, such as the X-Men series of movies. Even the MCU has not shied away from killing off their heroes as their films have progressed over the years, as their universe gets more and more crowded with their seemingly endless cast of characters. Regardless of franchise, creating a superhero death that is both impactful for the viewers and the characters in the film can go a long way in developing a film’s narrative. Here are 15 movies where a superhero ends up dying in it.
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15 X-Men: Days of Future Past
20th Century Fox
Featured in the first three X-Men films until appearing in X-Men: Days of Future Past, Bobby Drake, otherwise known as Iceman, met his demise at the hands of the Sentinel robots that were hunting down and killing mutants in the dystopian future they were living in.
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Iceman actually dies on two separate occasions in the film, once being decapitated and secondly being cut down by multiple Sentinel lasers as Wolverine travels back in time to try and save the X-Men and Iceman from the terrible future that they are living in.
Iceman’s deaths were not in vain however, as he was able to buy time for the other X-Men to stay alive and complete their plan to change the future. He was then eventually brought back to life by Wolverine and the others after they saved the day, but Iceman’s sacrifices were still essential to protecting the lives of his fellow mutants.
14 X-Men: First Class
Armando Muñoz, known by his superhero name Darwin, had the ability to adapt to any situation, with the ability to grow gills while underwater or transform his body to iron to withstand tremendous amounts of heat. Being a character with such amazing versatility, it was saddening to see him die at the hands of Sebastian Shaw in X-Men: First Class. Shaw approached Darwin along with a group of other young mutants to recruit them in his plan for mutants to take over the world. When the mutants refused his offer, they attempted to take down Shaw, before Shaw filled Darwin with pure energy and his body combusted as he died.
This death is especially frustrating, as fans believe that Darwin’s powers should have allowed him to adapt to the energy put into his body and that he should have survived the attack. Fans also believe that Darwin could have been a centerpiece of the X-Men movies, especially with how versatile his powers could be. Maybe one day we will see the return of Darwin when the X-Men arrive in the MCU.
13 Deadpool 2
The main “death” that takes place in Deadpool 2 is that of Deadpool himself at the end of the film. After taking a bullet to save fellow mutant Russell, Wade Wilson slowly dies as his regenerative abilities are hindered by a power dampening collar around his neck. However, time traveler Cable goes back in time by just a few minutes to save Wade’s life from the bullet that he himself shot.
Some other hero deaths in the film that are intended just for comedic purposes was the death of the X-Force that Wade recruited. We see the characters all dive from a plane, but a windy day makes things go horribly wrong for the team. We see Bedlam get crushed by an oncoming bus, Shatterstar chopped up by helicopter blades, Zeitgeist landing into a woodchipper, and seemingly average Peter get dissolved by Zeitgeist’s acidic vomit. We also see the character Vanisher electrocuted to death by electrical cables, which was actually played by Brad Pitt in his first ever superhero role in the half-second that you can actually see him.
12 Watchmen
Paramount Pictures
Certainly more of an antihero than a straight-up superhero, Rorschach’s death in Watchmen was instrumental to keeping world peace and preventing World War III. By Ozymandias bombing multiple cities and placing the blame on the all-powerful Dr. Manhattan, the world would be able to unite against a common enemy. However, Rorschach’s uncompromising moral code was leading him to leak this information and expose the truth about Ozymandias. In order to prevent chaos from breaking out, Dr. Manhattan vaporized Rorschach, and he died for what he truly believed in.
11 X-Men: Apocalypse
Alex Summers, known by his mutant name Havok, meets his end in X-Men: Apocalypse after attempting to save Professor X from being abducted by the evil Apocalypse. While trying to stop Apocalypse, Alex uses his explosive powers but unintentionally causes a massive explosion inside of Xavier’s school, which ends up killing him. While Alex met his tragic end while trying to save the lives of others, Quicksilver was luckily able to save the lives of all the other students that were in the school at the time of the blast.
10 Avengers: Age of Ultron
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Even though he started off as a villain in Age of Ultron, Quicksilver’s transformation to a hero was made even sadder when he sacrificed his own life to save the life of Clint Barton, or Hawkeye. He also used his super speed to save countless lives that were on the floating city of Sokovia, as he did everything he possibly could to reduce Ultron’s death toll. While his time in the MCU was short-lived, his sacrifice as well as his connection to Wanda, his sister, will always be remembered.
9 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Warner Bros.
It’s hard to imagine the seemingly indestructible Superman dying, but that is exactly what happened in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. After using a kryptonite spear to defeat Doomsday, Superman was left weakened from the kryptonite exposure. In Doomsday’s dying moments, he stabs Superman, killing him. Even though this “death” did not last for long and Superman ended up returning to life, Supes still had viewers on the edge of their seats, thinking he might actually be gone.
8 Dark Phoenix
Mystique has had a long road in the X-Men movies, starting off as a villain before eventually becoming a hero and joining the X-Men. In Dark Phoenix, Mystique was trying to help Jean Grey overcome the issues of her powers that she was struggling, but she got too close and was eventually killed by one of Jean’s outbursts. Not only was Mystique’s death sad to watch, it also had a ripple effect that resulted in the breaking up of the X-Men as people were pointing fingers for who was really responsible for her death.
7 Guardians of the Galaxy
On first watch of Guardians of the Galaxy you wouldn’t expect a tree character that only says “I am Groot” to nearly make you tear up when he sacrifices himself to save the lives of his fellow Guardians. But for some reason, when he surrounds his friends in a protective ball and says the words “we are Groot”, you can’t help but get a little choked up.
Of course, Groot isn’t really dead, as at the end of the film he returns as just a baby sprout, but that doesn’t make Groot’s sacrifice any less meaningful or important. While it wasn’t the total death of Groot, that first viewing of Guardians of the Galaxy has you truly fearing for his life and thinking that he’s going to be gone forever.
6 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Walt Disney Studios
A death that was surprisingly poignant and saddening to watch, Yondu’s transformation from ruthless Ravager to a hero is not what most viewers would have expected. Viewers also would not have expected him to sacrifice himself for Peter Quill either, but the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 showed that Yondu had wanted the best for Peter all along, and that Yondu really was Peter’s true father all along. It’s an emotional scene in a series of movies that are mostly known for their comedic moments, and it is one of the absolute best scenes in either of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
5 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Marvel Studios
As quickly as we are introduced to the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, they are just as quickly killed off by the vengeful Scarlet Witch. Viewers were incredibly excited to see the likes of Patrick Stewart returning as Charles Xavier and John Krasinski debuting as Reed Richards, but their screen time was incredibly short-lived.
Even though they were touted as being one of the strongest groups of superheroes that were able to make quick work of Thanos in their universe, watching Black Bolt, Captain Carter, Captain Marvel, Professor X, and Mr. Fantastic go out with a whimper was just sad to watch. Hopefully, if any of these characters return from another universe in the MCU, they’ll have a little more time to be actual heroes rather than just be cannon fodder for another villain.
4 X-Men: The Last Stand
When Jean Grey’s evil side came out in this first adaptation of the Dark Phoenix storyline, X-Men: The Last Stand, she ended up taking a couple fan favorite heroes with her before meeting her own demise at the end of the film. First, she ended up disintegrating her former lover Cyclops at the very beginning of the film before later vaporizing Professor X while he was trying to stop her from her violent warpath. Finally, towards the end of the film, Jean snaps out of her evil side, and asks Wolverine to kill her before it is too late. He obliges, but regretfully kills the woman he loved in order to save the lives of the rest of the world. Even if she was the villain for most of the movie, Jean went out as a hero, sacrificing herself to save everyone from her other half.
3 Logan
Two of the most meaningful deaths that you will find in a comic book movie, the deaths of Professor X and Wolverine in Logan were both heartbreaking moments for any fan of the superhero genre. It seems like Charles Xavier just can’t escape death, as he has now died in three separate films, with Logan being the second time that he got the axe. His death in Logan is by far the most tragic of the three, with not only the actual scene of his death being hard to watch, but Logan later burying Charles is an even more emotional and heart-wrenching moment.
Logan’s death is also just as emotional to watch, as his seemingly indestructible has finally broken down and started failing him. You know that his death is coming, but it doesn’t make it and less hard to watch when a character that has been on the big screen for over 15 years takes his final breath.
2 Avengers: Infinity War
Probably one of the most notorious films when it comes to superhero deaths, Avengers: Infinity War features too many deaths to count on one hand. First, before the viewer even has time to really be introduced to the film, Thanos brutally kills the God of Mischief Loki while his brother Thor is forced to watch. Next, Thanos’s warpath continued by sacrificing his daughter Gamora in order to acquire the Soul Stone by dropping her off of the cliffs of Vormir. After that, we witness Vision die twice, first by Wanda Maximoff to try and prevent Thanos from getting the Mind Stone, and then secondly by Thanos after he reversed time and ripped the Mind Stone from his head.
And of course, with Thanos finally getting all six Infinity Stones and completing his plan of wiping half of existence out of the universe, we see Bucky Barnes, King T’Challa, Groot, Wanda Maximoff, Sam Wilson, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Mantis, Drax, Peter Quill, Doctor Strange, and Peter Parker all turn to dust. As we all know, those that were snapped away do come back to life in Avengers: Endgame, but Loki, Vision, and the present day version of Gamora were not so lucky.
1 Avengers: Endgame
Marvel StudiosDisney
While there aren’t nearly as many hero deaths in Endgame as there is in Infinity War, the deaths we do see are certainly much more impactful. First, we see Natasha Romanoff, or Black Widow, sacrifice herself in the same way that Gamora died in order for Hawkeye and the rest of the Avengers to obtain the Soul Stone. The fight between Black Widow and Hawkeye on Vormir as they both are trying to stop each other from sacrificing themselves was an emotional ride for two characters that had been around since the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But probably the most impactful superhero death in the entire superhero genre was Tony Stark sacrificing himself to defeat Thanos as well as to save the rest of the universe. A character that kick-started the biggest film franchise of all time and had been starring in the films for over 10 years, as well as a deeply flawed character that was still the heart and soul of the franchise despite those flaws, it’ll be hard for any superhero death to top the final moments of Iron Man.
