Top 10 Most Unexpected Brutal Deaths in Comic Book Movies

Top 10 Most Unexpected Brutal Deaths in Comic Book Movies

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Most Unexpected Brutal Deaths in Comic Book Movies.

For this list, we’ll be looking at some of the most violent and surprising times a character was fatally injured during adaptations set within this genre. Since we will be talking about death, beware of massive spoilers ahead.

Which character demise affected you the most? Let us know below!

#10: Daddy's Demise

“Kick-Ass” (2010)
Throughout “Kick-Ass” , several characters suffer horribly for trying to be superheroes in real life. But one moment that really sticks out is the fiery ending for Nicolas Cage’s Big Daddy. When he and Kick-Ass are held captive by villain Frank D'Amico’s minions, Hit-Girl comes to save the day and rescue her father. Unfortunately, she’s not fast enough to stop a henchman from setting her dad ablaze and forcing him to endure fire. Since Cage’s yelling was a bit over-the-top, we expected the character to pull through. But by the time Hit-Girl reaches Big Daddy, the damage is done and he passes away. There’s no way we could’ve seen Cage’s character death by flame coming when we started this offbeat adventure.

#9: Free Falling

“Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011)
When Red Skull takes to the skies to attack major cities, Captain America follows the sinister leader onto a plane. After getting into a kerfuffle with various Hydra soldiers, the hero finds himself fighting a goon on top of one of the smaller jets. As the plane moves around to shake them off, Cap stays on. But the other guy…isn’t so lucky. He falls into the propeller and leaves only a trail of red behind. Since the movie’s violence had been relatively tame, it was jarring to see this gruesome propeller ending. It isn’t the last time the MCU featured a surprising machine death. In “Avengers: Infinity War”, Scarlet Witch dispatches Proxima Midnight by sending the enemy into the path of a Thresher.

#8: Ruining Coulson’s Collector Cards

“The Avengers” (2012)
Since this 2012 film marked the Avengers' first big team up, we didn’t think any of the main superheroes would bite the bullet. That’s why Phil Coulson’s end was so unexpected. After Loki escapes his prison, agent Coulson threatens the villainous god with a pretty big weapon. However, it turns out that the good guy was aiming at an illusion. Loki proves he was actually behind Coulson by brutally impaling the agent with a weapon. The bloody stabbing looks absurdly painful and violent. And just to hammer in how much it hurt, we later see the collector cards Coulson carried are permanently stained. Fortunately, the agent got a second chance at life on “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

#7: Magneto’s Deadly Coin Trick

“X-Men: First Class” (2011)
It looked like the excruciating internal attack Shaw unleashed upon Darwin would be the X-men prequel’s most hardcore death. But the writers took things up a notch in the climax. At the beginning of the movie, Klaus Schmidt, AKA Sebastian Shaw, shoots Magneto’s mother because the magnetic mutant couldn’t move a coin fast enough. This beat comes back into play in the film’s climax. After Charles Xavier connects his mind to Shaw’s, the villain is frozen in place. Magneto decides to send the coin he struggled to move as a child right through his old enemy’s dome. While Shaw is unable to express emotion because he’s frozen, Xavier appears to feel every moment of this revenge kill.

#6: Asphyxiating an Asgardian

“Avengers: Infinity War” (2018)
After “Thor: Ragnarok” had Loki turn over a new leaf, we were set for him to help his heroic brother on many more missions. Their new partnership was cut short right after the start of “Infinity War” when Thanos and the Black Order attacked them. After the mad titan slays the Asgardian Heimdall without mercy, the god of mischief tries to stab the purple alien. But that was Loki’s fatal mistake. Thanos easily stops the surprise attack and chokes the life out of Loki. After seeing the god of mischief escape death so many times, we didn’t expect to see the Asgardian die in such agonizing fashion. But we were just as helpless as Thor was to stop it.

#5: Manhattan’s Explosive Choice

“Watchmen” (2009)
“Watchmen” immediately throws a huge curveball at the film’s opening by killing off Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Comedian in brutal fashion. At the end of “Watchmen”, we get another big reveal and major death. Former hero Ozymandias reveals that he was behind a plot to frame Dr. Manhattan for the deaths of millions of innocents. This move was meant to encourage the US and the Soviet Union to team up against a common enemy. However, the heroic Rorshach can’t bear to keep the truth to himself. When he threatens to expose the plan, Manhattan warns him that the secret must stay under wraps. After an emotional scene, the blue hero shockingly turns on his old ally and obliterates Rorsach’s body in an instant.

#4: A Deadly Punchline

“Joker” (2019)
A series of very bad days sends Arther Fleck’s life into a downward spiral. One of his lowest points came when his comedy routine was viciously mocked by his idol Murray Franklin. So, when Fleck was invited to appear on his hero’s television show, we had a feeling the Joker would lash out. As the conversation between the two becomes more intense, the music keeps building. The tension finally breaks when Joker graphically shoots Murray on camera. Even though we all had a feeling something bad was about to happen, we weren’t expecting Joker to do it live. Judging by his laughter after the incident, Fleck regrets nothing.

#3: Kiss of Death

“Batman Returns” (1992)
Max Shreck made his employee Selina Kyle his enemy once he threw her out of her window. Fortunately for her, she survives, hangs out with a few felines, and remakes herself as Catwoman. She eventually gets a shot at revenge when she confronts her old boss in the Penguin’s lair. Despite Shreck’s best efforts to shoot her, he doesn’t manage to burn through all of her nine lives fast enough. Once Catwoman gets close enough, she uses a taser and an electric cable to eliminate her old boss in a death scene that’s shocking in more ways than one. The attack leaves Shreck burned to a crisp. However, Catwoman lives another day to take down others in savage ways.

#2: Kryptonian Chiropractor

“Man of Steel” (2013)
When you think of Superman, you typically picture a character that doesn’t slay left, right, and center…unless he turned evil somehow. But we saw an entirely new side to the blue boy scout in 2013’s “Man of Steel.” When Zod threatens to obliterate a young family with his heat vision, Superman has to make a difficult decision. Does he do whatever it takes to save the family or save one of the last survivors of his planet and let the group perish? In the end, Superman chooses to break Zod with a brutal snap. Seeing such a noble hero lash out like made our jaws drop to the floor. The blue boy scout’s hands were stained red after this surprising turn.

#1: Decimating the Illuminati

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (2022)
During Scarlet Witch’s quest to reunite with versions of her children, she comes across a team of superheroes known as Illuminati. To start things off, Wanda removes the mouth of Black Bolt while he’s getting ready to release a vocal attack. This move causes the attack to be unleashed inside his body and ends him. Scarlet Witch follows up that tense moment by turning Reed Richards into spaghetti. Unable to stop, she fatally wounds Captain Carter with a shield and gets Captain Marvel crushed by a big statue. Wanda finishes her spree by twisting Xavier’s neck too far. No one could’ve predicted that a team of beloved heroes would all be slain in such a quick and horrifying sequence.