Top 10 Movie Hero Deaths That Came Out Of Nowhere

“Saving Private Ryan” (1998)
There are a lot of brilliant filmmaking techniques utilized in the death of Miller. The first is the bait and switch at the beginning and ending of the movie. In the beginning, the film transitions from the elderly man at the cemetery to young Tom Hanks, making it seem like the grave triggered a memory within Miller. However, Miller is killed in the climactic battle, and we learn that the older man is actually Ryan. The death scene itself is also wonderfully filmed, as we impassively watch the shooting from the German soldier’s point of view. For us, Miller is the hero and protagonist of the story. For the German soldier, he’s just another American to kill. It’s a horrific comment on the inhumanity of war.

“Burn After Reading” (2008)
This isn’t one of the better Coen brothers movies, but it contains the most unexpected death in a Coen original. We grow to love Chad throughout the first half of the movie. He’s funny, he’s personable, and he’s played by the always charismatic Brad Pitt. Surely this movie won’t contain anything too graphic or dramatic. Wrong. After breaking into the Cox household, Chad is surprised to see Harry return from a run and hides in the bedroom closet. And when Harry opens the closet, viewers get one of the most surprising, and graphic, shootings in recent movie memory. It serves as some major mood whiplash compared to the earlier half of the movie, and it proved that anything could happen moving forward.

“No Country for Old Men” (2007)
This Coen-directed story is arguably even more surprising than “Burn After Reading,” but it comes from the mind of author Cormac McCarthy. Just when things are looking up for Llewelyn Moss, he is killed completely off-screen - all we see is the immediate aftermath from Bell’s point of view, including the fleeing perpetrators and Moss’s dead body. “No Country for Old Men” is not only a brilliant subversion of the typical crime caper, but storytelling rules in general. What other story has the gall to kill its primary protagonist off screen? It speaks to the senselessness of violence and death (a common theme of McCarthy’s), and it proves that the world doesn’t care who the “good guy” is.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is often criticized for being relatively risk-free and vanilla in regards to its storytelling. Unlike “No Country for Old Men,” the good guys always win. But “Age of Ultron” proved the exception when it permanently disposed of Pietro Maximoff, AKA Quicksilver. Quicksilver suddenly perishes while protecting Hawkeye and an innocent child from Ultron’s gunfire, and his dying words to Hawkeye speak to us as well - we definitely didn’t see it coming. Not only is Quicksilver’s death surprising within the context of the scene, but it proved that the MCU wasn’t afraid of killing off superheroes. Yeah, we had only just met him, but still. We’re suckers for a good sacrifice.

“Avengers: Endgame” (2019)
As the title suggests, “Endgame” served as the culmination of 22 movies’ worth of story. Black Widow first appeared back in “Iron Man 2” and served as a major force within the Avengers throughout the following decade. Unfortunately, her story (and life) came to an end in Vormir, when the Red Skull demanded a personal sacrifice in return for the Soul Stone. Black Widow chooses to be that sacrifice, pushing herself off a cliff to her death. Perhaps even more surprising than the death itself is seeing Romanoff’s bloodied corpse at the base of the cliff! The movie had to prove that Romanoff was dead - without that horrific image, we may have never believed that the MCU had killed off a major component of the Avengers.

“Scream” (1996)
Casey isn’t a main character, but the movie made us believe that she was. Drew Barrymore was already an established actress at the time, and she was featured heavily in the movie’s promotional material. Without reading spoilers, audiences would think that she was the protagonist of the story. But then she’s brutally murdered about ten minutes into the movie. The opening scene was deemed an instant classic, and it helped give the impression that any character could die at any moment. It was a magnificent move by the movie’s marketing department, and it’s too bad that her death has become a well-known piece of pop culture. Now everyone knows the twist, and its impact is noticeably lessened.

“Serenity” (2005)
“Firefly” came back in 2005 in the form of “Serenity.” And it had the absolute nerve to kill off Wash! Not only did they kill him off, but they killed him off in the most out-of-nowhere fashion possible. Wash navigates the Serenity through some crossfire and ends up crashing it near the broadcast tower. We are led to believe that all is well. That is, until he’s suddenly impaled through the chest by a Reaver spear. The incident is so sudden and unexpected that it may even cause you to jump in surprise! And just like that, in a matter of literally one second, the fan favorite character was dead. It’s a really gutsy move, but what good is storytelling without some guts?

“Uncut Gems” (2019)
Deep down, we knew that things wouldn’t work out for obsessive gambler and risk-taker Howard Ratner. But his death still came as a complete surprise. The climax of “Uncut Gems” is pure filmmaking magic. It makes a simple basketball game more exciting and suspenseful than even the best sports movies! As the game goes on, the cheerful music rises, Howard gets more excited, and even Arno starts coming around. Meanwhile, Phil grows more incensed. And when Howard wins $1 million, we think - just maybe - that the movie will have a happy ending after all. And then Phil shoots Howard in the face simply for inconveniencing him. One look at Phil’s face told us all we needed to know. We just didn’t want to believe it.

“The Departed” (2006)
Throughout “The Departed,” Leonardo DiCaprio’s Billy Costigan goes undercover to infiltrate the Boston mob. Meanwhile, Matt Damon’s Colin Sullivan is groomed by mob boss Frank Costello and placed as a mole within the Massachusetts State Police. The movie serves as a giant rat race as each attempts to figure out the others’ identity. And just when Billy finally catches Colin, he is promptly shot in the head by another mole within the department. The perpetrator remains off-screen during the shooting, which of course makes Billy’s death even more unpredictable and utterly stunning as a result. Colin speaks for us all with his flabbergasted reaction.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Luke Glanton
”The Place Beyond the Pines” (2012)
Luke’s Death Completely Changes the Trajectory of the Story

Carolyn Fry
“Pitch Black” (2000)
At Least We Got More Riddick Out of Her Sacrifice!

Cyclops
“X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006)
Well, That’s One Way to Open Your Superhero Movie

Erin Mears
“Contagion” (2011)
She Was Supposed to Save the World from the Virus, Not Die from It!

Leslie Burke
“Bridge to Terabithia” (2007)
Talk About Proving the Senselessness of Death

“Psycho” (1960)
“Psycho” was released back in 1960, and yet Marion Crane’s unforeseeable death at the hands of Norman Bates has yet to be topped. Like “Scream,” “Psycho” manipulated audience expectations. By this point, Alfred Hitchcock was renowned for his grounded thrillers. “Psycho” didn’t seem any different, as Crane stole money from her boss and went on the lamb. Typical Hitchcock stuff. And then...that happens. None of the marketing hinted at this departure, and Hitchcock even enforced an unusual “no late admission” policy so Janet Leigh fans wouldn’t leave the theater feeling duped. The twist made movie history. People didn’t even know you could do something like that! And that’s why Hitchcock is the undisputed master of the unexpected.