12 Marvel Film & TV Characters Who Have been Supposed To Die

Longtime readers of superhero comics will be capable of inform you that demise is little greater than an inconvenience. Well-known characters are often killed, solely to be resurrected a number of months later by means of no matter magical conceits the writers can invent. One would possibly discover {that a} superhero did not really die, however solely fell right into a Kryptonian coma. Or maybe a compatriot of the deceased has entry to black magic and may resurrect their useless pal with the assistance of some useful spells. Time journey can be helpful for retrieving a downed solider.

Now that the multiverse is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, audiences in every single place are studying that there are not any stakes in anyway. If there are infinite parallel variations of each character, any one in all them dying may be undone in a jiffy. One can merely jump over to a parallel universe, choose up a reproduction, and return with none penalties. This was finished with flippant snickers within the latest hit “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

Studying, then, {that a} Marvel character was to be killed off in one of many many MCU motion pictures or TV reveals does not have fairly the surprising influence it’d’ve had earlier than. Regardless, the various writers working inside the MCU have tried to shake issues up every so often by murdering a beloved character, maybe within the hopes that they’d keep useless and depart a long-lasting imprint on the MCU. Additionally, even when an viewers is aware of {that a} character may be resurrected, it might nonetheless be surprising to witness, say, Wong (Benedict Wong) be killed off, as a result of Wong is a superb character. Certainly, it was just lately revealed that Wong was purported to die in “Physician Unusual within the Multiverse of Insanity,” and that will have bummed folks out.

Beneath is a listing of different MCU characters that writers proposed must be led to the chopping block, solely to be rescued on the final minute by extra life-giving brainstorming classes.

Talking to ComicBook.com in 2023, author/director James Gunn confirmed that he’d absolutely supposed to kill Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), one of many key members of the titular group, throughout the occasions of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” Gunn stated there was going to be a scene whereby Gamora and her would-be lover Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) have been to be put in a decent spot, requiring Gamora to sacrifice herself to avoid wasting them. The concept was that Quill, beforehand infantile and immature, would develop up in that second, shaken into development by grief. Gunn’s plans, nonetheless, have been halted by Marvel executives Kevin Feige and Lou D’Esposito, who stated they wanted Gamora to be alive for the movie “Avengers: Infinity Struggle,” which was in manufacturing on the time. To cite Gunn instantly:

“I knew from the start Zoe solely needed to play the character for therefore a few years, and he or she’s been very trustworthy saying that she’s finished. And so I used to be going to have her die. I assumed she was the one which was going to sacrifice herself, and Quill was going to find out about himself versus within the second film, and I assumed completely different of it. I used to be form of talked out of it by Kevin and Lou, after which it simply did not work that effectively. It did not really feel proper.”

Maybe sarcastically, Feige and D’Esposito solely rescued Gamora to kill her in “Infinity Struggle,” whereby the villain Thanos (Josh Brolin) hucks her off a cliff in change for a magical Infinity Stone. However, as talked about earlier, demise is impermanent within the MCU, so an alternate model of Gamora was culled from one other timeline to take part in “Avengers: Endgame” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”

In Joss Whedon’s 2012 movie “The Avengers,” six characters, beforehand glimpsed in earlier motion pictures have been assembled on the massive display screen, mirroring a comic book e-book lineup first gathered within the Nineteen Sixties. The Avengers consisted of Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), the Unbelievable Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Captain America (Chris Evans). The success of the 2012 movie assured the MCU movie collection would proceed, though nobody might have guessed how bloated it might ultimately change into. The core six members would usually discover themselves in the identical room in all the next team-up motion pictures, and all six of them would survive the half-universe genocide enacted by Thanos in “Infinity Struggle.”

Nevertheless, when interviewed for the “Completely satisfied. Unhappy. Confused” podcast in 2022, “Infinity Struggle” and “Endgame” co-director Joe Russo revealed that there was an early thought – earlier than a script had been written — to assemble these core six characters round some kind of “fireplace” and power all of them to leap in, killing themselves but in addition stopping the fireplace and saving the universe in “Endgame.” Russo did not go into element past that, although, merely explaining:

“Kevin [Feige] early on had pitched this concept that it was like ‘Toy Story 3’ the place they need to all really leap into the fireplace so as to save the universe, and we thought you must step out storytelling on one thing of this scale, so we weren’t fairly certain how the mathematics would add as much as get to that.” 

That will have been a satisfying ending, after all, however Russo most popular a much less drastic homicide spree. As a substitute, solely Iron Man and Black Widow die in “Endgame,” with Captain America retiring within the closing scene. The opposite three Avengers have since returned in different movies or Disney+ reveals.

Samuel L. Jackson’s character Nick Fury served because the non-combatant coach for the Avengers, assembling all its members within the first place. On the finish of “Avengers: Infinity Struggle,” Fury was one of many many characters who was dissolved by Thanos’ magical half-the-universe-at-once killing spree. When the heroes rescued the Infinity Stones (through time journey), they restored everybody who had died, together with Fury. One would possibly suppose the Avengers might have used the Stones extra cleverly. Perhaps create a universe the place not solely was everybody alive, however that was additionally plentiful in pure sources, maybe? Additionally, they might remove conflict and starvation and illness? The heroes aren’t very intelligent.

After Fury was resurrected, he reported to the battlefield for a chronic struggle with Thanos and his minions. It appears there was going to be a second when Fury was to face off towards Thanos’ common Corvus Glaive (Michael James Shaw), and he was going to be stabbed by means of the again with a large, glowing sword.

This element was revealed in an idea drawing by Stephen Schirle, one of many many artists who labored on “Endgame.” The drawing of Fury was revealed on X, a.ok.a. Twitter, and it definitely seems to be just like the form of demise that even the stalwart Nick Fury could not get better from. MCU followers will recall that Fury was additionally seemingly killed in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” however got here again later within the movie, having faked his demise.

Loki (Tom Hiddleston) was launched in Kenneth Branagh’s 2011 movie “Thor,” however the character not often obtained his due. He was described as a liar and a trickster, however he was so poorly written that he by no means emerged as a real agent of chaos. His motivations modified from movie to movie, he did not appear to have a single knowable purpose, and his ranges of villainy fluctuated. It is a testomony to actor Hiddleston that Loki emerged as en partaking determine in any respect. Audiences merely needed to take as a right that he was a villain and that he wanted to be stopped.

Loki was the central villain in 2012’s “The Avengers” earlier than changing into Thor’s reluctant helper in “Thor: The Darkish World,” a movie that pitted Loki and Thor towards a darkish elf named Malekith (Christopher Eccleston). Loki is seemingly killed in battle, although, leaving Thor to cost into the movie’s climax all by his lonesome. In a twist ending, nonetheless, it is revealed that Loki not solely survived someway, however has additionally shapeshifted into his personal father, King Odin (Anthony Hopkins), and take his place on the throne of Asgard.

In a 2021 interview with Leisure Weekly, Hiddleston revealed that “Darkish World” was initially meant to be the tip of the road for the character. It appears, although, that take a look at audiences appreciated Loki an excessive amount of for him to die a everlasting demise, so he was resurrected in reshoots. Loki would later be killed once more in “Avengers: Infinity Struggle,” this time for good. In “Avengers: Endgame,” nonetheless, an alternate timeline model of Loki was capable of evade his darkish destiny, setting the stage for the character’s Disney+ collection. As of this writing, this iteration of Loki remains to be alive within the MCU.

Peyton Reed’s 2023 movie “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” revamped $463 million on the field workplace. Nevertheless, as a result of the movie carried a $200 million price range (and will have really value a lot, a lot greater than that), it was deemed a business bomb. What’s extra, critics weren’t type to the movie, and even many stalwart MCU followers discovered themselves a bit of tired of the film’s superhero shenanigans. Certainly, 2023 might very effectively be remembered because the yr the superhero style, as a dominant cultural power, lastly died out in earnest (the nostalgia orgy of 2024’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” however).

Talking of dying in earnest, it appears Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) practically met his maker in “Quantumania.” The movie follows the now-retired Ant-Man, whose work in particle physics allowed him to invent matter-shrinking know-how, together with the present Ant-Man, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), and some different characters on an journey within the Quantum Realm, a dimension that may solely be accessed by shrinking to sub-quark sizes. There, the heroes find yourself battling a dictator named Kang (Jonathan Majors), with the unique plan being for Hank to die within the fracas.

This element was shared in a video interview that screenwriter Jeff Loveness carried out with Backstory Journal. Loveness did not clarify how, however the thought was that Hank’s disembodied consciousness would, after his demise, someway combine with an ant colony. This is able to’ve meant that Hank wasn’t really useless, and that Michael Douglas might merely get replaced in future movies by a swarm of CGI bugs. This is able to have been a novel character shift, I suppose, though many might not share my enthusiasm. Maybe this demise would not have counted.

Shane Black’s “Iron Man 3” is handily probably the greatest movies within the MCU, that includes a hero stripped of his super-suit for the majority of the movie and having to depend on his wits to outlive. It additionally features a intelligent twist with its villain, revealing {that a} harmful terrorist known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is definitely a zany, upbeat British actor within the make use of of an much more insidious villain.

Though the Mandarin is faux, the harmful know-how utilized by the actual villain could be very actual, and, partway by means of the film, Iron Man’s assistant Completely satisfied Hogan (Jon Favreau) is injured in an explosion. Favreau carried out an interview on TikTok in 2021, handily transcribed by GeekTyrant, and the actor/director revealed that the explosion was initially meant to vaporize Completely satisfied and take away him from the MCU altogether. Later within the movie, nonetheless, Completely satisfied is seen recovering within the hospital, free to return for extra Avengers, Spider-Man, and Deadpool motion pictures.

Favreau revealed that he left a observe for Kevin Feige, asking that Completely satisfied survive. Favreau, after all, needed to make sure that he would be capable of come again for sequels, however Feige was prepared to accommodate. And since character crossovers are the central function of the MCU, conserving many characters alive can solely assist for future connections.