Top 20 Times Superheroes Killed the Villain

“Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014)

If you want to rub even more salt into the wound of offing a villain, having a dance-off against them beforehand is up there. In 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Ronan the Accuser betrays Thanos by using the Power Stone for his own plans. The Guardians face off against Ronan on Xandar as he prepares to destroy the planet. Instead, Peter Quill whips out some rhythmic moves to distract the Kree warrior so Drax and Rocket can destroy Ronan’s hammer, releasing the stone. Quill manages to intercept the gem, but the power of it threatens to annihilate him. By the Guardians linking up and sharing the burden, they use the stone to obliterate Ronan in pretty purple light.

“Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1” (2009)

The Old Man Logan universe in the comics is one of the bleakest around. In it, the villains team up to destroy the heroes in the US, dividing the country amongst themselves. Logan was tricked by Mysterio into wiping out the X-Men, causing him to symbolic slay Wolverine. Bruce Banner, who had become a baddie seemingly due to radiation affecting his brain, created the inbred Hulk Gang. However, after Banner orders the slaying of Logan’s family, he has enough and tracks down the Hulk. After taking out his family, Banner and Logan battle it out brutally. By switching to the Green Machine, Hulk consumes Logan. However, several hours later, Logan’s healing factor repairs him and slices his way out, ending the Hulk’s reign.

“Green Lantern #50” (1994)

After the destruction of Coast City, the Green Lantern Hal Jordan was in a very dark place, especially as he later turned out to be infected by Parallax. He attempted to use his powers to rebuild his hometown, only for the Guardians to intervene. So, Jordan snaps. During the “Emerald Twilight” story, he arrives on Oa to enter the Central Battery and power himself up. However, the Guardians had one last card to play… they released the imprisoned Thaal Sinestro. The friends-turned-bitter-rivals viciously fight, exchanging constructs and resorting to their fists. Eventually, Jordan got the upper hand and broke Sinestro’s neck. Jordan followed this by obliterating Kilowog and most of the Guardians as he took his place as one of the biggest DC villains.

“Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3” (2005)

“The Other” is a contentious storyline for Spider-Man fans. Some aren’t keen on the strange supernatural spider shenanigans. After getting ferociously beaten by Morlun and losing an eye, it all looks over for Peter Parker. However, the cops step in, taking him to a hospital. Yet, as he recovers, Morlun visits. As MJ bravely battles the vastly overpowered baddie, her arm is broken by the Inheritor. Cue Peter waking up with a more monstrous side. He pounces on Morlun, producing stingers from his wrist that he jams into him. With sharp spider fangs, Parker bites down on Morlun, ending him and turning him to dust. Spider-Man also passes away. But only briefly, as he sheds his skin and goes into a cocoon.

“The Flash #324” (1983)

In Barry "The Flash" Allen's vast Rogues Gallery, Eobard Thawne is perhaps the biggest headache for the speedster. After all, it was discovered that Reverse-Flash-slash-Professor-Zoom was responsible for ending Iris Allen’s life. In 1983, Allen was set to marry Fiona Webb. Thawne wasn’t going to let that happen and forced the Flash to chase him all over before threatening Webb’s life. As Thawne rushed towards the bride outside the church, Allen, with memories of Iris in his mind, grabbed his neck. The speed both were running, and the sudden movement accidentally broke Reverse-Flash’s neck. Barry was later arrested and charged with manslaughter.

“Logan” (2017)

In what was seen as Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine send-off at the time, “Logan” was the perfect ending for the character. In a dystopian world, Logan’s healing factor was dwindling as his DNA was used to create folks, such as X-23. Then, we discover X-24, who’s basically Logan in his prime. Near the end, the former Wolverine and the clone battle it out, with the younger version getting the upper hand and impaling Logan on a tree. Before X-24 can finish the job, Laura pops up with a firearm containing Logan’s adamantium bullet and shoots him, ending him. Then, she was able to tearfully be with Logan as he passed away happily, leaving the audience broken.

“Final Crisis” (2009)

It took a team effort to slay Darkseid during the Final Crisis” event. When Darkseid’s forces looked to take over the Earth with the Anti-Life Equation, the Justice League answered. Batman managed to escape his capture by enemy forces and confronted DC’s biggest bad. The Caped Crusader then showed the trick up his sleeve, a firearm containing the Radion bullet that Darkseid used to slay Orion earlier. While the ruler of Apokolips managed to fire off his Omega Beams, Bats took the shot, mortally wounding Darkseid. Batman seemingly perished from the attack. In the wake of his death, multiple Flashes directed the Black Racer towards Darkseid’s vessel to destroy his physical presence. Superman ultimately finished the job by destroying the big bad’s essence.

“Black Panther” (2018)

With the fate of Wakanda and the Black Panther mantle hanging by a thin thread, Erik Killmonger fought the deposed T’Challa in the climax of the 2018 film. The mythical and tech-supported foes ended up in the Wakandan Maglev Train route. With T’Challa unable to vocally get through Killmonger’s desire for revenge, the two battled as the train raced around. The villain seemed to be on the cusp of winning as he brought in a blade. With Killmonger’s suit disrupted by the train, T’Challa managed to get the weapon and fatally wound him. Black Panther then took him to a cliff to see the sunset. After refusing to be healed, Killmonger pulled out the blade, peacefully perishing in beauty.

“Wonder Woman #33” (2009)

During the “Rise of the Olympian” comic story, Ares created Genocide, a corrupted being formed from the body of a future Wonder Woman and dark magic. Understandably, Wonder Woman wasn’t happy with this. After Diana beats Genocide and puts her in the ocean, the God of War is furious as he sends sea monsters to attack Themyscira and Thalarion. An injured Diana has an ax wrapped in her hand as she confronts Ares. Before he can say too much, she embeds the weapon through his head. Another time Wonder Woman crossed that lethal line in the comics was in 2005’s “Wonder Woman #219.” After battling a Maxwell Lord-controlled Superman, Diana snaps the villain’s neck to save Clark’s family.

“Jessica Jones” (2015-19)

In the heyday of Netflix producing Marvel shows, there was “Jessica Jones.” Armed with a terrifying, mind-controlling villain, Kilgrave was a destructive force for the private investigator protagonist. After all, he had forced Jones to take a life before she broke free of his control. With Kilgrave’s return into her life, by the end of Season 1, he’s taken Jones’s BFF and adopted sister Trish Walker hostage as he tries to leave on a yacht. However, seemingly, Jones was back under Kilgrave’s manipulation, making him very giddy with excitement. After ignoring his request to tell him she loves him by uttering it to Walker instead, Jones grabs Kilgrave’s face, tells him to smile, and then twists his neck.

“The Punisher” (2004)

In a scene which evokes Achilles’ desecration of Hector’s body in “The Iliad”, the ending of “The Punisher” was no less poetic. After systematically killing off Howard Saint’s loved ones as retribution for his own family’s massacre, Frank Castle gives his hated adversary a sporting chance in a Western-style standoff. Once he beats Saint to the draw and mortally wounds him, the Punisher ties the mob boss to a car and sends him to a fiery grave. Combining brutality with sheer humiliation, the Punisher’s revenge on his mortal enemy is a dramatic kill befitting a Shakespearean tragedy.

“The Dark Knight” (2008)

Batman didn’t just break his sacred rule in the comics. Before he was taking no prisoners in the Snyderverse, he inadvertently killed a friend in the Dark Knight Trilogy. This bleak event occurred after Harvey Dent and his beloved were used in a fatal hide-and-seek game.. The sick ruse resulted in Dent’s face being burned and Rachel’s sudden death. Spurred on by the Joker and mentally broken from the experience, Dent went on a killing spree against anyone remotely responsible. He eventually kidnapped Jim Gordon’s family and faced off with Bats. While Dent was flipping a coin, the Caped Crusader tackles Dent, causing him to fall to his demise. To protect the DA”s legacy, Batman takes the blame for his and Harvey’s kills.

“Darkman” (1990)

Who could have imagined that a slimy corporate crook would be so good at boxing? Battling atop a skyscraper construction site, Darkman and murderous billionaire Louis Strack fight it out over Darkman’s captive girlfriend Julie. Strack initially has the upper hand when it comes to fisticuffs, but once he refers to Darkman as a freak he triggers the hideous hero’s volatile temper and receives a rage-fuelled beatdown. Strack then attempts to finish the fight with a nailgun but before long is kicked off the scaffold and left dangling over the edge by Darkman. Instead of admitting defeat, however, Strack makes the critical error of underestimating his opponent’s ruthlessness and plunges to his death.

“Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” (2000)

This was as dark as animated Batman stories dared to get. Taking place within the first Batman Beyond film, this scene is actually a flashback to the earlier days of when Bruce Wayne was still Batman and was working alongside Batgirl and Robin. After being kidnapped, tortured and brainwashed by the Joker, Tim Drake reveals Batman’s true identity to the Clown Prince of Crime inside Arkham Asylum. After Joker gets the upper hand on Batman by stabbing him in the leg, he hands a gun to Tim and tells the former Robin to murder his mentor. Luckily for the Dark Knight, Tim is able to break his conditioning and shoots the Joker instead in a truly disturbing scene.

“Blade” (1998)

Although one could refer to Blade as a superhero, a more accurate description of him would be a vampire exterminator. Needless to say then that he is quite at ease when it comes to killing his enemies. In the first installment of the Blade trilogy, the titular daywalker crosses swords with Deacon Frost, the vampire who infected Blade’s mother while she was pregnant with him. While Blade manages to deal out several devastating strikes, Frost’s god-like powers allow him to regenerate instantly. Blade then takes a different approach and injects Frost with an overdose of the weaponized anticoagulant which causes Frost to erupt in an explosion of gore.

“Injustice: Gods Among Us” (2013)

While the Joker may have been safe in the assumption that Batman would never kill him, he definitely made an error in assuming the same about Superman. Drugging Superman into thinking a pregnant Lois Lane was Doomsday, the Joker intentionally caused the Man of Steel to murder his beloved wife. Grief-stricken and consumed by an unforgiving bloodlust, not even Batman can reason with Superman before he kills the Joker in a fit of rage by tearing out his heart. Although shocking at the time, in a way Superman’s actions were poetic justice given that the Joker figuratively did the same to him by murdering his family.

“Superman” #75 (1993)

While a lot of comic book fans may not be comfortable with Superman killing his enemies, there’s little debate when it comes to Doomsday. An adversary so destructive that he defeated the Justice League before going toe-to-toe with the Man of Steel, Doomsday is a virtually unstoppable killing machine who cannot be contained or reformed. Realizing this, Superman fights Doomsday with all of his resolve and the ensuing slugfest decimates much of Metropolis, culminating with the two titans delivering simultaneous deathblows to each other. Although Doomsday often gets the credit for killing Superman, it's also important to note that Superman returned the favor.

“Deadpool” (2016)

Francis definitely had this one coming. After putting Wade Wilson through hell to transform him into a mutant, Ajax makes the second mistake of kidnapping his beloved Vanessa. While Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead deal with Angel Dust, Deadpool and Ajax have their own personal battle which concludes after the cargo ship they are fighting on overturns. The Merc with a Mouth then beats Ajax to a bloody pulp and before learning that Ajax can’t in fact cure him of his deformity. With no further reason to let him live, Deadpool prepares to blow Francis’ brains out before Colossus gives an impassioned speech for mercy. Needless to say, he ends up wasting his breath and his breakfast.

“Avengers: Endgame” (2019)

At the end of 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” the audience held their breath wheN Thor thrust Stormbreaker into Thanos’ chest to stop the Mad Titan. Sadly, since he didn’t go for the head, Thanos snapped his fingers and wiped out half of life in the universe. In 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” the remaining heroes tracked down Thanos after weeks of searching. In a quick flurry, the Thunder God sliced off his Infinity Gauntlet-wearing hand. But when they discovered Thanos had used the stones to destroy themselves, thus remaking those lost in The Blip seemingly impossible, Thor lost it with his guilt. He went for the head this time, getting hollow revenge for everyone Thanos killed.

“Man of Steel” (2013)

Although the final fight between Superman and General Zod in the first installment of the DCEU generated a ton of controversy, their fight’s conclusion demonstrated that Superman takes no joy in killing. With General Zod intent on using his heat vision to slaughter some innocent civilians, Superman is forced to make a judgment call and emphatically snaps the genocidal villain’s neck. Although killing Zod saved the lives of his intended victims, Superman lets out a cry of anguish and remorse over having to resort to such brutal methods to save lives.


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