Death is a tragic, horrifying, and irreversible part of life. Once a person is gone, they are gone for good, at least in this life.
Of course, that is the way it is in real life, but in comic books things are a little different. Death is like getting an owie. If you get one, it hurts, but you will get over it sooner or later. Almost every character has died and been resurrected at some point in the comics, and this has started to trickle into the movies. However, resurrection is nowhere near as common in the movies as it is in the comics (at least not yet), so for the moment, death seems to be a little more permanent.
Considering how often resurrection takes place in the comics, I do not think that the temporariness of any death affects the greatness of said death. In fact, if the scene is good enough, it is included in this list, even if it turns out the character never actually died.
Keep in mind that this list is just my opinion, and you should feel free to disagree. You should also be warned that this list contains spoilers from multiple Marvel comic book movies over fifteen years, including two of the most recent movies, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and X-Men Days of Future Past. You should also be warned that some of the images included in this article are violent. All of them are from PG-13 rated movies, so there is no blood, just keep in mind that this article might not be approriate for children.
Now that the introduction is out of the way, let us begin with number twenty-five!
25. Captain Stacy
Played by: Denis Leary
Dies in: The Amazing Spider-Man
I will admit, Captain Stacy’s death in the movies is nowhere near as beautiful or poetic as his death in the comics. In the source material, he dies heroically saving children from falling rubble. With his dying breath, he tells Spider-Man to take care of Gwen- revealing for the first time that he knows that Peter Parker is Spidey’s alter ego. In the movie, with his dying breath, he tells Peter to stay away from Gwen. Considering he already knew Peter was Spider-Man, it does not seem nearly as poetic. Still, this death deserves to be on this list because of the sense of tragedy it adds to the story. If Peter had kept the promise he made to the elder Stacy, Gwen would never have perished. Plus, being impaled by the Lizard’s claws is a fairly awesome way to die.
24. John Wraith
Played by: Will.i.am
Dies in: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
This is one of the more gruesome deaths in X-Men: Origins Wolverine, which might be hard to believe, since this movie has plenty of death. Just think about it- Sabretooth reaches inside Wraith’s body, grabs his spine, taunts him for a few seconds, and then snaps it. It is completely bloodless, and we do not see any gore, but what is implied is fairly gross. You have to wonder what Wraith was thinking. Did he really think his punches would have any effect against a bloodthirsty mutant with a healing factor?
23. Professor X
Played by: Patrick Stewart
Dies in: X-Men: The Last Stand
This death would be visually impressive, if not for the fact that at least a dozen other characters in this movie die the exact same way. Nevertheless, this is still an emotionally satisfying death. In the comics, this battle has a much different outcome. The good professor is able to defeat Dark Phoenix, partially because Jean still had a presence in her mind, and helped the professor win. In the movie, Jean is completely absent, so Dark Phoenix is able to vaporize Xavier. His last words are “Don’t let it control you.” Admittedly, Patrick Stewart’s version of the character does not spend nearly enough time training mutants how to use their powers, at least for my taste. (James Mcavoy makes up for that in First Class.) However, he does spend a significant amount of time teaching the X-Men in matters of morality. Even moments before she kills him, Professor X is still trying to convince Jean to be a better person.
22. Iceman
Played by: Shawn Ashmore
Dies in X-Men: Days of Future Past
This is one of the most visually spectacular deaths in X-Men: Days of Future Past, and one of the most shocking, at least for me. The trailers teased Iceman finally icing up for more than ten seconds, plus, he was finally using his ice slides! After all that buildup, he dies in the very first scene. Thankfully, a bit of time travel was used to prevent his death. Of course, he dies again near the end of the movie, but his first death is my favorite- a Sentinel grabs his face, and rips his head off. The Sentinel then tosses the head to the ground, and stomps on it. This sounds really violent, and it would be, if this was done to a flesh-and-blood human. Since Bobby is made of ice, it just looks like a statue is being destroyed. In addition to looking really cool, this death offers some insight into Iceman’s powers. When the Sentinel crushes his head, it is clearly just ice, no blood or brains. This means that Bobby is not just covering himself with ice, as he did at the beginning of his career in the comics. He is actually changing his entire body into organic ice, similar to Colossus.
21. Colossus
Played by: Daniel Cudmore
Dies in: X-Men: Days of Future Past
Was Colossus upset when he was not able to defeat the Sentinels? He was torn to pieces! Speaking of the true man of steel, unfortunately, he does not have a lot of character development in this movie. The only improvement over his role in the previous movies is that he actually gets to take part in some fairly cool action scenes. Not only that, but his death is even more visually spectacular than his frozen teammate. The massive, nearly indestructible mountain of metal is grabbed by two Sentinels, and ripped in half. I am a little disappointed that he does not completely demolish a Sentinel, but at least we get to see two Sentinels completely demolish him.
20. Eric Savin
Played by: James Badge Dale
Dies in: Iron Man 3
Usually, I do not approve of superheroes using lethal force to subdue their enemies. However, there are some villains that are portrayed so despicably that I cannot wait to see them die. Savin is a perfect example. We see him murder almost everyone on Air Force One, and then kidnap the president of the United States. Fortunately, we do not have to wait long to see him die in a very violent, very satisfying way. Iron Man uses his unibeam to blast a hole through his chest. The majority of Iron Man 3 is fairly light-hearted, but this moment is appropriately dark. There are several more reasons why this death is awesome. Number one, Iron Man uses his unibeam- previously, we had seen shellhead use his unibeam on Iron Monger, Thor, and a watermelon (he was drunk), but this was the first time we saw it do lethal damage. The other reason this death is so cool is because it is an homage to the comic upon which Iron Man 3 is loosely based. In the original Extremis storyline, Iron Man finally defeats the Extremis soldier (there was only one in the comic) by blasting a hole through his chest with the unibeam. This is a fitting end to a despicable character.
19. Blink
Played by: Fan BinBing
Dies in: X-Men: Days of Future Past
Blink has the most dramatic death in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which is saying a lot, considering the movie was basically a mutant massacre. She is impaled by three Sentinels from three different directions, all at the same time. While this is happening, she does not cry out in pain, she only looks up towards the sky and the camera (it’s an overhead shot), an expression of near serenity on her face. Blink did not have a lot of character development- none of the future mutants did- but her powers were cool, and it was sad to see her go. Of course, her death was erased from existence, so she is probably still alive in the new future that Wolverine created. The question is where is she? She is not at the mansion, and neither are Bishop, Warpath or Sunspot for that matter. Why were they left out of the new future? Hopefully X-Men: Apocalypse will answer this question.
18. Gwen Stacy
Played by: Emma Stone
Dies in: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Perhaps this death deserves to be higher on this list. After all, Gwen Stacy’s demise is one of the most important deaths in comic book history. It is also one of the few that has stayed permanent (clones do not count). Not only that, the movie presents a fairly faithful visual retelling of her fate. However, there are several reasons why this death did not translate well to the screen. I have not actually read the issue in which Gwen Stacy perishes, but I believe that killing Gwen was part of a long term plan by the Green Goblin. At the very least, I know that the Goblin knew Spider-Man’s alter ego for quite some time. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the Green Goblin only discovers that Peter is Spider-Man at the end of the movie, and immediately decides to kill Gwen. It all feels very spur-of-the-moment on the Goblin’s part, and very tacked on by the filmmakers. Perhaps the real reason this death is not as effective onscreen is because it is not shocking- in fact, it was highly anticipated.
17. Doctor Abraham Erskine
Played by: Stanley Tucci
Dies in: Captain America: The First Avenger
I will admit that I do not have much experience with death in real life. However, I cannot help but wonder if it is entirely realistic that a character that has been mortally wounded is able to have a long, drawn out conversation. This is not the case when it comes to Dr. Abraham Erskine. He is shot by a Hydra spy, and collapses to the ground. He is unable to utter a single word. The only thing he is able to do is point at Steve Roger’s chest before he passes away. Doctor Erskine was the scientist who created the Super Soldier serum, but he was also a mentor to Steve. He recognized that Steve was a good man, and he did not want the serum to change him. Much like Professor X, Dr. Erskine was trying to convince his student to be a better person even as he was dying, and he did so without even saying a word.
16. Green Goblin
Played by: Willem Dafoe
Dies in: Spider-Man
Norman Osborn’s death is almost poetic, as he dies a victim of his own hatred. He attempts to trick Spider-Man into thinking that he had regained his sanity- he even asks Peter to think of him as a father. Of course, he was really planning on having his glider impale Spidey. Luckily, webhead’s Spidey-sense kicked in, and he was able to dodge it. The Green Goblin was not so lucky. He was impaled by his own glider. Ironically, if he really did reform his ways, it is possible that Peter might have kept Norman’s alter ego a secret, allowing him to avoid jail time. Instead, the Goblin decided that Spider-Man’s death was more important to him, and he paid the ultimate price for his villainy.
15. Bishop
Played by: Omar Sy
Dies in: X-Men: Days of Future Past
It is a shame Bishop has so little screen time in X-Men: Days of Future Past, because in the comics, he is awesome. Okay, in the past few years there have been a few questionable creative decisions made in regards to the character, but the point is he used to be awesome. In the movie, he has little character development, but he does have a visually spectacular death, even better than Colossus and Iceman’s. He is blasted with energy by three Sentinels at once. As much as I would have like to have seen Bishop absorb all of that energy and throw it back at the metallic monsters, what followed was still fairly cool. It proves to be too much energy for the poor guy, and he explodes, but before then, he shines brightly. Like Blink, he is conspicuously absent from the mansion at the end of the movie, perhaps because it would look weird if he was wearing normal clothes, and did not have an “M” on his face?
14. Lady Deathstrike
Played by: Kelly Hu
Dies in: X-2: X-Men United
This is one of the weirdest deaths in comic book movie history. It is debatable whether killing Deathstrike was immoral- after all, she was under mind control. Does killing a woman who had been forced to fight him make Wolverine no better than the man who had enslaved her? Or does Wolverine have every right to kill her, since it was in self defense? Does he even know she was under mind control? No matter what, Deathstrike’s death was incredibly strange, and fairly gross. Wolverine sticks a syringe filled with adamantium inside of her, and liquid adamantium drips out of her mouth, nose and eyes. Are we to imagine that her entire body became filled with adamantium? Considering her healing factor, how long did it take her to actually die? The more you think about, the more gruesome this death appears.
13. Jean Grey
Played by: Famke Janssen
Dies in: X-2: X-Men United
Much like Wolverine’s slaying of Deathstrike was debatable for its morality, Jean’s sacrifice is debatable for its utter stupidity. Somehow, Jean is able to hold back a massive wall of water, restart the X-Jet’s engines, close the ramp, and hold Nightcrawler in place, all at the same time, but she cannot do this while inside the plane. For some reason, she has to go outside. It does not completely make sense, but it is still one of the most heroic deaths in comic book movie history. Of course, she does not actually die, but that is another reason her death is so great, it sets up the Dark Phoenix saga. Of course, the Dark Phoenix saga we got was fairly lousy, but you did not know that from this set up. You might even argue that Jean truly did die that day- when she emerged from the water, she was no longer Jean Grey; she was completely and totally Dark Phoenix.
12. Yinsen
Played by: Shaun Toub
Dies in: Iron Man
You could argue that this death was even more heroic than Jean Grey’s, after all, she died protecting people that she knew and loved, Yinsen died saving a man he barely knew. You might say that this was because Yinsen was suicidal, as his family was already dead. I prefer to think that he saw great potential for good in Tony. Tony was one of the richest, most powerful men in the world, but he was made entirely powerless in that cave. If that is not a great time to completely change your worldview, then I do not know what is. Yinsen convinced Tony to live a life for others, and he did it the best way possible, by example. He gave his life so that Tony could be more selfless, and he convinced him not to waste it.
11. Silver Samurai
Played by: Hal Yamanouchi (older), Ken Yamamura (younger)
Dies in: The Wolverine
This death is extremely weird, but also extremely awesome. The Silver Samurai has already cut off Wolverine’s claws, which was already shocking. At some point during the fight, Wolverine is able to get his hands on one of the Silver Samurai’s swords, and cuts off his enemy’s head. It turns out the Silver Samurai is actually Yashida, the man who Wolverine saved during World War II, who had faked his own death earlier in the movie. He is also the grandfather of Mariko, Wolverine’s new girlfriend. Mariko shows up and sees Yashida sucking the life force out of Logan. She picks up Wolverine’s discarded claws, and throws them at her rapidly de-aging grandfather’s head. That last sentence is probably the greatest thing I have ever written. Anyway, the life force stealing process is reversed, and Wolverine is restored to normal. Logan gets up, pops his bone claws, stabs the Silver Samurai, and pushes him out of the building to his death. In this scene, we learn two things about Mariko: she is just as adept at throwing Wolverine’s claws as she was at throwing knives back in the day, and she is possibly the worst granddaughter ever.
10. Deadpool
Played by: Ryan Reynolds
Dies in: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
If they handed out awards for the most ridiculously over-the-top, spectacular death in a comic book movie, then this would definitely win. I know plenty of fans hated the film version of Deadpool, and I cannot blame them. However, even though he was not an accurate representation of the comic book character, he had an awesome set of superpowers, and a great fight with Wolverine and Sabretooth. Perhaps the best part of this fight was the ending. Wolverine leaps up, and decapitates Deadpool, while the merc-without-a-mouth is still firing optic blasts from his eyes. Deadpool’s head falls off, and continues to shoot these blasts, while spinning around the inside of a concrete tower and completely demolishing it. Normally, I would only congratulate the writers of X-Men Origins: Wolverine on making a really bad movie, but in this case, I would like to congratulate them on coming up with a great way to kill off a character (or at least, making it appear that he died).
9. Doctor Octopus
Played by: Alfred Molina
Dies in: Spider-Man 2
“I will not die a monster.” Once again, we have a very heroic death, as Doctor Octopus sacrifices himself to save New York City. What sets this one apart from the others is the fact that it is not a hero sacrificing himself, but a reformed villain. There are two reasons why Doc Ock chose to sacrifice himself. The first is fairly obvious, he created a sun-thingie that was going to destroy the city, and it needed to be drowned. Of course, Spider-Man offered to destroy it, but Doc Ock decided to do it himself, which leads to the second reason. Doc Ock realized that he could not control the tentacles, so he decided to die a hero, instead of a villain. Normally I do not condone suicide, but in this case, it is not only selfless, but heroic.
8. Senator Kelly
Played by: Bruce Davison
Dies in: X-Men
X-Men was made fifteen years ago, and in that time, I do not believe we have seen a death more visually spectacular than in this scene. There is a brief, but poignant, moment where Senator Kelly asks Storm if she hates humans. She tells him that she is merely afraid of them at times. This is a rare chunk of character development for Storm, as she is mostly just eye candy in this movie. Right in the middle of their conversation, Kelly turns into a freakish blob, and then into a liquid. Senator Kelly literally melts. It is disgusting, shocking, and strangely beautiful, all at the same time. The remaining seven entries on this list earn their rank mainly because of their dramatic value, but this death deserves to make this list purely due to its visual splendor.
7. Red Skull
Played by: Hugo Weaving
Dies in: Captain America: The First Avenger
This death is something of a placeholder. The Red Skull is defeated, and he appears to die. However, you could easily have him return, and claim that the Tesseract teleported him to another realm, another time, whatever the writers of future Marvel Studio's movies decide. Of course, a character not actually being dead does not prevent them from making this list, as evidenced by multiple entries. I prefer to think that the Red Skull actually did die, as this is the perfect way for this character to perish. The Tesseract is what killed him, but really, it is merely a symbol of his obsession with power and vanity. The Red Skull wanted to prove himself to be a god, and conquer the world. He was so consumed by this desire that he did many, many, terrible things. Finally, his mad quest for power led him to carelessly throw away his own life. A fitting end for a man who had lost his humanity.
6. Harry Osborn
Played by: James Franco
Dies in: Spider-Man 3
Much like Doctor Octopus, this is a former villain who heroically sacrifices himself. Venom is about to impale Spider-Man with Harry’s glider, but Harry steps in front of the blade. This death is made all the more powerful by the fact that he sacrifices himself saving the man he had tried to kill earlier in the movie. In fact, Harry’s demise is almost poetic, as he dies in almost the exact same way his father did, but for a completely different reason. Norman Osborn died because of his hatred for Spider-Man, and Harry Osborn died because of his love for Peter Parker. Earlier in the movie, Harry tried to live up to his father’s legacy by killing the man he believed to be responsible for his death. Ending the movie by sacrificing himself for that man is quite a change, and I kind of doubt Harry from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be doing that anytime soon.
5. Elektra
Played by: Jennifer Garner
Dies in: Daredevil
One of the saddest, most brutal and most visually faithful adaptations of a comic book death brought to the screen. Bullseye impales her with her own sai, ending her life and breaking Daredevil’s heart at the same time. I know that last sentence was super corny, but in the theatrical cut, the love story is extremely corny. Fortunately, their relationship seems far more realistic in the director’s cut. Speaking of that version of the movie, Elektra’s death is slightly different- as he stabs her, Bullseye kisses her. This is a pretty sick thing to do, but it is not exactly surprising for a man that murders an old lady because she talks too much. Of course, this makes the violence slightly sexualized, so it makes sense that it was left out of the PG-13 version. What really makes this death so tragic is the fact that it could have been so easily avoided. If she had not been chasing the wrong man, and had not eventually stabbed him, then Elektra and Daredevil could have taken on Bullseye together. Instead, Daredevil has to deal with the tragedy of losing the woman he loved, and we had to deal with the tragedy of her spinoff.
4. Sebastian Shaw
Played by: Kevin Bacon
Dies in: X-Men: First Class
Sebastian Shaw is probably the only character on this list whose death is not significant because he is dying. Rather, this death is important because of the man who is killing him- Magneto. This is the moment the entire movie had been building up to, the moment when Erik is finally able to enact his revenge. This is the moment when Erik finally cuts all ties with the X-Men and possible redemption, and fully becomes Magneto. Charles screams, “No!” as the coin slices through Shaw’s brain, and I know many in the audience share his sentiment. Throughout the movie, Magneto is the villain that you root for because he is killing people worse than himself. In this scene, he is still killing a terrible man, but he is also forcing his best friend to endure the exact same agony. When Professor X tried to convince him not to kill Shaw, he was trying to save his friend’s soul- but that is impossible. Erik would become just as evil as Shaw, and there was nothing Charles could do to prevent it.
3. Venom
Played by: Topher Grace
Dies in: Spider-Man 3
Much like the Red Skull, Eddie Brock died because his obsession with his Symbiote overcame his survival instincts. After pulling Eddie out of the Symbiote, Spider-Man threw a pumpkin bomb at the monstrous alien. Eddie leaps back into the symbiote right before it blows up, because he is addicted to the feeling of power that it gives him. Instead of living as plain old Eddie Brock, he chooses to die as Venom. Of course this is a terrible choice, but it can work well as a metaphor. The Symbiote could easily stand for drugs or any kind of addiction. What makes this death so great is the fact that Eddie could easily represent anyone else. Given a split second decision, how many people would choose death over living without the thing they love the most?
2. Agent Coulson
Played by: Clark Gregg
Dies in: The Avengers
Now we come to the most emotional death in any Marvel comic book movie. Coulson’s death is so effective because he was not only a lovable character, but his death made an impact with almost every character in the movie. Some would argue that his resurrection on Agents of SHIELD makes his death less powerful, but I disagree. The Avengers may have tied several franchises together, but it was still its own movie, with its own story. Within the confines of The Avengers’ story, Coulson’s death works extremely well, so it does not matter what happens on a TV show. Phil Coulson was the every man of the Marvel universe. When he stood up against Loki, he was not just standing up for SHIELD- he was standing up for the little guy. This is very much a Joss Whedon concept. Of course, the beloved character was killed right after standing up to Loki, which is also just like Joss Whedon. Bottom line, Coulson was willing to stand up and fight in a battle he could not possibly win, so that the Avengers could come together and win the battle that no one else could.
1. Darwin
Played by: Edi Gathegi
Dies in: X-Men: First Class
This is by far my favorite death in any comic book movie, mainly because I believe this is one of the most heroic deaths of any movie character ever. Some people complained that this movie conformed to the cliche of the black person dying first, and that Darwin has too little screen time to make a difference. I respectfully disagree, and I think the people who believe this are missing how powerful and beautiful this death is, both as an act of heroism and a metaphor. Darwin willing risks his life to save someone who has already betrayed him and the rest of the X-Men. After he dies, the woman who he died for does not seem upset, in fact, she never even references him afterwards. If you are a religious person, you might even see Darwin’s sacrifice as a metaphor for Jesus. Angel is like humanity, which has already betrayed Jesus by sinning. Despite this, Jesus died to save all of us- but many people do not care, just like Angel. Even if you are not a Christian, it is easy to see the true heroism displayed by Darwin. Even though he has very little screen time, Darwin is a character that can easily be used as a role model. His selfless, heroic sacrifice is something that few fictional characters can live up to, let alone real people. He willingly risked his life to save someone who did not care if he lived or died. That is the very definition of an X-Man, and also the very definition of a hero.
That’s my list! Do you agree with my picks? Disagree? Let me know in the comments! Just keep in mind that even if no one else likes this list, it does not matter, because I know that Thanos already loves it.