X-Men: Ranking Every Hero Death In The Movies

Being a superhero is not an easy job which is why so many of them often meet early ends while trying to protect others. This is something that is frequently shown in the Fox X-Men franchise to varying degrees of success.

Character deaths, especially ones in which the protagonists are the ones dying, are supposed to deeply affect the other characters and the viewers as well as change the story in a meaningful way. While some hero deaths were emotional and resonated with audiences, others ranged from nonsensical to comical in how they were handled.

8 Darwin

Darwin was a mutant with the ability to adapt to any situation in order to survive that was chosen by Charles and Erik to be one of the members of the original X-Men team in X-Men: First Class. Despite his unique powerset, Darwin was soon killed by Sebastian Shaw when he attempted to stop him from leaving with Angel, another original member of the team. Shaw murdered him by using the energy he absorbed from Havok’s energy blast moments prior and placing it in his mouth, causing his body to harden before exploding.

7 Cyclops

Scott Summers was always handled pretty badly in the X-Men series and was often pushed to the side in favor of other characters like Magneto and Wolverine. The moment that really solidified the fact that the writers didn’t know what to do with him came in X-Men: The Last Stand when he’s unceremoniously killed offscreen by Jean Grey who had the Phoenix force after she removed his glasses and kisses him while holding back the power of his optic blast. It’s not exactly clear what she does to him to result in his death but that’s just another reason why the scene ends up having no impact.

6 Alex Summers

Alex Summers was a member of the original X-Men who brought his younger brother, Scott, to Xavier’s School in X-Men: Apocalypse once he developed his mutant abilities. While there, the mansion was attacked by Apocalypse and his four Horsemen who came to kidnap Xavier.

In an attempt to stop them, Alex sends a blast of energy at them but they teleport away before it can reach them, resulting in it hitting a generator and causing the building to explode. Fortunately for the others in the building, Quicksilver was nearby and was able to get almost every out of the building but, unfortunately for Alex, he was too close to the blast to be saved.

5 Xavier

Charles Xavier was the original founder of the X-Men and was a major character in both timelines which is why he has died twice in the series. The first time he died was in X-Men: The Last Stand when he was killed by a Phoenix-possessed Jean Grey who caused him to explode. However, he was then brought back at the end of the film where it was revealed that he conveniently transferred his consciousness into the body of his comatose twin brother. The second time he was killed was in Logan when he, Laura, and Wolverine were hiding out with a family and they were found by X-24, a clone of Wolverine, who stabbed him in the chest while he was in bed.

4 Jean

Another character who died twice in the franchise is Jean Grey and both times were during movies that featured elements from the Dark Phoenix storyline. The first time she died was in X-Men: The Last Stand when she was stabbed and killed by Wolverine using his claws in order to bring about an end to the destruction she was causing as the Phoenix.

Her second death happened offscreen but was referenced in Logan when it’s stated that she was one of the many victims of Charles Xavier’s psychic seizure, which was known as the “Westchester Incident”, along with 6 other mutants and 593 other humans

3 Mystique

In many ways, Jean Grey was a villain in X-Men: Dark Phoenix just as much as she was a victim. She began to fully lose her grip on her powers after visiting her childhood home and learning the truth about her parent’s deaths and learning that her father was still alive. When the X-Men traveled to Red Hook to try and bring her home, Mystique attempts to reason with her but Jean ultimately loses control, sending her former friend and mentor flying into debris from her recently-destroyed house, impaling on a piece of wood. Mystique’s death deeply affected the team and leads to Beast switching sides, joining Magneto in his goal of killing Jean.

2 Deadpool

Wade Wilson has come close to dying multiple times such as when he was ripped in two by Juggernaut, threw himself in front of a truck, or even the countless times he’s been shot but has constantly recovered due to the extreme healing factor he got from his participation in the Weapon X program. The one time he actually did die was in Deadpool 2 when he jumped in front of a bullet to save Russel while wearing a mutant power suppression collar before being saved by Cable using his time travel device. Although Deadpool is usually a comedic character, the genuine action of him sacrificing himself was still pretty moving.

1 Logan

Like Deadpool, Wolverine is a hard character to kill due to his incredibly powerful healing factor, which is a large reason why he was able to outlive all the members of the X-Men. However, the character finally met his end at 197 years old after being impaled on a log by X-24 while attempting to get Laura and the other children to safety. Laura manages to kill X-24 and Logan dies in her arms after telling her not to be the weapon she was created to be. She later buries him and is last shown changing the cross on his grave into the shape of an X. It was an amazing sendoff to one of the series’ most popular characters and was considered by many to be the unofficial end of the franchise even though 2 movies would follow it.

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