20 Movie Deaths That Made People Really Mad

Films are visual narratives meant to challenge our perceptions or designed to explore the human mind. The inherent nature of humanity is reflected in the choices made by the characters put on the screen. Heroes are elevated by society or sink to the bottom in shame. Villains get demonized or stand triumphant. It may look like a set of binary options, but the nuances behind every story ignite multiple feelings in the audience.

Sometimes we cheer for the underdog; more than often, we can’t wait for villains to get what’s coming to them. Then, of course, the unexpected plot twist kills a character we are rooting for. It doesn’t take a film anthology to get there. Sometimes a single character taking a few minutes of screen time does enough to have people rallying behind them, just for the story to let the proverbial axe fall on top of them and turn off audiences for a lifetime.

The following is a ranking with several movie deaths that came out of the blue really made audiences angry. Many of them are still discussed to this day, speaking volumes about their enduring legacy.

20 John Connor – Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Expectations were really high when yet another reboot of the Terminator Franchise was announced by James Cameron. He was not directing this time around, but he was leaving everything in the capable hands of Tim Miller. People got excited with the casting call as Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Edward Furlong were asked to return for Dark Fate.

However, in premiere day people didn’t get a chance to enjoy the long-awaited reunion, as another T-800 kills John Connor in the film’s first five minutes. The absolute bait and switch and bad word of mouth killed any momentum for the movie, which was deemed a box office flop that didn’t even manage to recoup its budget.

19 Tony Stark – Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Some would say Iron Man’s final fate in the MCU was inevitable. The character was built up from the ground with plenty of failings to become a driving force for good eventually. Avengers: Endgame was set to be the last chapter in the Infinity saga, directed by the Russo Brothers, with a solid script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeel. Robert Downey Jr. returns to the role that helped him build back his career for one last ride.

In the film’s final act, the whole team is fighting a time-displaced Thanos who is seeking to use the Infinity Stones to wipe out all life on Earth as they dared to undo his work. Tony uses the unique feature of his Mark 85 suit to swipe the gems into his and wish Thanos out of existence. It was a poignant moment in the MCU that left a sour taste in fans’ mouths, as the cinematic universe has never been the same since he left.

18 Mako Mori – Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)

Mako Mori was the best part of the first Pacific Rim. Rinko Kikuchi did an excellent job as the co-pilot of Gipsy Danger (even more so than co-star Charlie Hunnam). In Pacific Rim: Uprising, we see she’s been doing great now, playing a high-ranking official government official for the Japanese Government.

Mako is the one to seek out his adoptive half-brother Jake Pentecost, the son of Stacker Pentecost from the first film, and recruit him for the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps as a pilot for the Jaeger initiative. Her character meets her demise after a rogue Jaeger invades Australia. It certainly was a poor way to go, considering her significant role in the story.

17 Yondu – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

We should always expect James Gunn to play with our feelings in any superhero film he directs. People are looking forward to what he has to offer with Superman as he knows how to craft a story balancing dark and light. He took us for a ride with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, as most audiences were unfamiliar with his style.

The whole cast reunites for a story taking place right after the first film’s events, as the team gathers to fight Ego the Living Planet, who is revealed to be Peter Quill’s dad. After thwarting the villain’s plans, Quill falls to his knees, thinking his last moments are about to come, only to be rescued by Yondu Udonta, played by Michael Rooker. As Quill’s respirator fail, Yondu gives up his own before saying goodbye. That was cruel, but it was a show of great depth for the character.

16 Luke Skywalker – Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

The Last Jedi is already six years old, and people are still talking about it. Ryan Johnson did a number on Star Wars fans and broke the fandom forever to a point that seems beyond repair to this day. The writer and director somehow saw fit to pull a deconstructive narrative for Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill, by making him a grumpy hermit negating the ways of the force and admitting to trying to kill his own pupil, Ben Solo, for sensing great darkness in him.

Luke resurfaces on planet Crait to help the resistance escape as Kylo Ren is getting ready to wipe them out; during their final duel is revealed Luke was sending a force projection of his being, which drains him, eventually killing him in the process. The unfitting ending to a beloved legacy character still feels like a slap in the face, as no one can talk about this without getting riled up online.

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15 Elizabeth Shaw – Alien: Covenant (2017)

Ridley Scott is a man with many hits to his name but also a fair share of misfires. Alien Covenant was one of those. After Prometheus failed to garner critical acclaim, Scott got to work with a sequel to the story with Alien: Covenant. The story was supposed to follow the events of the first film, but given the criticism received, the director went for a more appealing narrative by introducing the Xenomorph in this story.

One of the highlights of Prometheus was the character of Elizabeth Shaw, played by Noomi Rapace. The resourceful and brave woman was impregnated by his infected husband; she took care of the issue and extracted the creature using a medical capsule while also fighting the menace of the Engineers. In the next film, we only get a glimpse of her as Elizabeth has been unceremoniously killed off-screen by David and body sectioned for study.

14 Han Solo – Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

If there was any clear sign that Star Wars under Disney was being retooled to subvert the audience’s expectations, it was this particular moment in The Force Awakens. The film, directed by J.J. Abrams and written by Lawrence Kasdan, was a rehash of many elements of A New Hope but introduced many new characters while portraying legacy characters as old, lost souls lacking purpose.

Han Solo fortuitously finds the Millennium Falco drifting in space and helps Rey and Finn without much question. After the revelation that Kylo Ren is his son, Han is asked by Leia to bring him back to the light. Han confronts his son, only to be speared through the stomach with a lightsaber and have his body dumped into a reactor. As expected, this move sparked the collective rage of Star Wars fans everywhere.

13 Gwen Stacy – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Comic fans are always in for heartache when someone gets the role of Gwen Stacy in any Spider-Man media. She’s always been Peter Parker’s true love, and her death was a milestone in the comics, maturing the character and transitioning from a boy into a young adult. Peter is defined by her death as much as his Uncle Ben, as he feels responsible for both events.

The relaunch of Spider-Man by Marc Webb chose Emma Stone to play Gwen Stacy. Casual fans were shocked at the character’s death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, even more so after Peter genuinely tried to save her. Gwen meets her demise in comic-accurate fashion. We would learn years later in No Way Home that this version of Peter is still affected by this event as he’s stopped showing restraint when stopping criminals in his world.

12 General Zod – Man of Steel (2013)

We are including General Zod from Man of Steel in this ranking for one single reason: nobody was sorry to see this character die. At all. The militaristic megalomaniac, played by Michael Shannon, was an outright bastard seeking humanity’s extinction so that Krypton would live again. However, Zod forced Superman to do the unthinkable: he made Superman kill him to save someone else.

Even if the events are comic accurate (read 1988’s Superman #22 by John Byrne), fans didn’t lack reasons to dislike this event as Zack Snyder didn’t seem to mind how many casualties happened in each fight between Kryptonian forces, matter of fact an ungodly amount of people die in this film as it is, but seeing Superman take a life willingly wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card when it came to this movie.

11 Dumbledore – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Every fan of the books knew this one was coming, yet somehow many people got riled up when it happened. The death of Albus Dumbledore, played by Michael Gambon, is one of the most crucial moments in the film anthology, as the wise and enigmatic headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry devised the plan with Professor Snape to help him regain Voldemort’s trust.

Having Snape kill him made it easier for him to devise a plan to kill the Dark Lord finally. As Dumbledore was cornered, he was supposed to be killed by Draco Malfoy, but the quick thinking of Snape saved the boy’s soul. The scene was a total tear-jerker for fans of the franchise, with some expressing hope for a last-minute change in the plot that allowed the wizard to live.

Related: 20 Movie Character Deaths That Happened in the Last Scene

10 Billy Costigan – The Departed (2006)

In most of his movies, Martin Scorsese is used to shock audiences with big reveals, sudden deaths, or unexpected twists, and The Departed was no exception. The movie features the talents of Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy Costigan, an undercover cop infiltrating a crime syndicate led by Frank Costello (played by Jack Nicholson). After Billy finds out who is Costello’s informant in the force, he hunts down and arrests Colin Sullivan.

However, after the arrest, Costigan is killed off with a headshot by another cop on Costello’s payroll. The character’s death was not only shocking but also unexpected and out of the blue, as it seemed the bad guy was posed to win if it wasn’t for the unexpected intervention of Staff Sergeant Dignam, who was more than fed up with police corruption.

9 Cyclops – X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Want to talk about unceremonious deaths in comic book films? Let’s talk about Cyclops, the X-Men’s leader and the quintessential lead character representing everything the team stands for. He was well cast, with James Marsden taking over the role for the first trilogy, yet he was relegated to a background character in favor of Wolverine.

Scott Summers plays the sick love puppy of Jean in the first film, a mindless drone in the second, and he gets killed off in the first ten minutes in X-Men: The Last Stand. By JEAN GREY, his lover, partner, and soulmate. The disrespect was absolute with this one. Sadly, the character never had his time to shine under Fox. Here’s hoping Marvel Studios can do him some justice in the future.

8 Hoban Washburne – Serenity (2005)

Every space drama has an outstanding character who resonates with audiences more than the rest of the crew. After Firefly was canceled before even finishing the first season, Joss Whedon was given a chance to send off the crew in a final adventure in the film Serenity. Alan Tudyk stood out as Hoban “Wash” Washburne, the ship’s pilot. Everyone, and we mean everyone, loved this character.

Alan Tudyk is a great actor who Hollywood has done dirty, as the man deserves to be more famous than he already is, and that’s exactly why everyone was shocked by his death scene in the movie. Wash dies a hero by manning the ship through the crossfire of the Alliance and the Reavers so that Mr. Universe can accomplish his mission. It still hurts to see him go like that.

7 Whistler – Blade: Trinity (2004)

Kris Kristofferson plays Whistler with a great demeanor and imposing presence. The mentor of Blade is a tough-as-nail grisly old man with a no-nonsense attitude and very little patience. They tried to kill him in the trilogy’s first entry, but Blade managed to get him back and exorcise the vampire virus out of him in the second film. Of course, this would all prove pointless as the FBI, of all people, kills Whistler at the beginning of Blade: Trinity.

Let’s say it wasn’t only the audiences the ones to be less than thrilled with these events. Wesley Snipe made life a living hell for everyone involved in the production as he felt the movie was a vehicle to promote the career of then-up-and-coming superstar Ryan Reynolds, which didn’t sit well with him one bit.

6 Laurie Strode – Halloween Resurrection (2002)

A wild idea for anyone reading this ranking: anyone could make an entire documentary chronicling the times Jamie Lee Curtis quit and returned to the Halloween franchise. This IP has four different continuities to date, each telling a different story. After Halloween 3 proved to be a failed experiment, Dimension Films sought to bring back Laurie Strode for the 4th entry, but Curtis wasn’t interested, so they killed off her character in a random car crash off-screen.

When New Line Cinema rebooted the property with H20, they dumped a truckload of money to have Curtis back, which she did, as long as the character was sent off after the film. After H20 proved successful, they asked her back again for Halloween Resurrection. Curtis asked for more money on the condition she was killed off, which they did in the film’s first half, to the disappointment of franchise fans. The good news is that Curtis would return for a final bout with Michael Meyers in a new trilogy that disregarded the events of the H20 continuity.

Related: 20 Classic Movies About Controversial Historical Figures

5 Coffey – The Green Mile (1999)

Now here’s one death no one wanted to happen, and yet it happened as scheduled. The Green Mile is one of the many film adaptations of Stephen King’s novel. In this magnificent movie directed by Frank Darabont, we have Michael Clarke Duncan as Coffey, a gentle giant with supernatural healing powers on death row for supposedly killing two white girls in Louisiana.

Coffey is already condemned to die but manages to do plenty of great deeds before being executed in the electric chair. His memory is survived by prison guard Paul Edgecomb, played by Tom Hanks, who would be cured of bladder infection by Coffey while also obtaining a long lifespan.

4 Jack – Titanic (1997)

The debate sparked by the death of Jack in Titanic still rages on. You can find multiple studies and video essays explaining how Jack and Rose would have fit in the wooden plank, which is pretty amusing, to say the least. The magnificent film by James Cameron is the film that launched the career of Leonardo DiCaprio as a major movie star.

Leo plays the role of Jack, a young artist who falls in love with a socialite named Rose, played by Kate Winslet, in the ill-fated RMS Titanic. The selfless act of Jack to ensure Rose’s survival has sparked endless debates, with many people claiming the character could have survived and James Cameron finally caving in, saying it would have been possible, but it would have killed the dramatic input of the story as he envisioned it.

3 James T. Kirk – Star Trek Generations (1994)

The seventh film in the Star Trek franchise was meant to bridge the gap between the classic series and the cast of The New Generation. The film, directed by David Carson, begins with James T. Kirk, as played by William Shatner. During the maiden voyage of the USS Enterprise-B, the ship has to undertake a rescue mission that goes wrong. Kirk is considered dead by the crew.

Eighty years later, Piccard and his crew are facing Soran in The Nexus. The captain of the new generation finds Kirk living in an imagined reality. After being convinced to depart the Nexus, Kirk dies a hero after traveling back in time with Picard and having Soran fail to launch the probe in the Nexus wave. Fans still consider it an underwhelming death for such a beloved character.

2 Vincent Vega – Pulp Fiction (1994)

Pulp Fiction did wonders for everyone involved in the production of the film. It elevated Quentin Tarantino to Hollywood royalty, revived the career of John Travolta, and made Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson into superstars. Vincent Vega is the role of a lifetime for Travolta, who is still fond of the character.

Image the audience’s shock as the film comes out when they find out Vincent is unceremoniously killed off by Dutch, played by Bruce Willis, right after coming out of the can. The non-linear narrative of the story also made things confusing as Vincent is present in the last act of the film, but it’s pretty clear his death takes place after the events of the dinner, right after Jules left on account of his moment of enlightenment.

1 Thomas – My Girl (1991)

After Home Alone became a worldwide hit, Macaulay Culkin was a massive star and was included in multiple projects. My Girl is one the sweetest coming-of-age stories told back in the 90s. The movie, directed by Howard Zieff and written by Laurice Elehwany, features Culking as Thomas, a sickly young boy that comes out of his shell thanks to a girl named Vada, played by Anna Chlumsky.

Thomas’s bond with Vada reaches intimacy levels when they share their first kiss. After that, Thomas goes looking for Vada’s mood ring, only to find it close to a bee hive. Since Thomas is highly allergic, he dies after multiple bee stings. The death of the boy was not only shocking but also unexpected. The funeral scene is even sadder when Vada loses her mind after seeing his friend in a casket.