History Main / SuperheroMovieVillainsDie

** PlayedWith in regards to He Who Remains from ''Series/Loki2021''. While he ended up dying, alternate universe versions of him ended up appearing [[MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning because of his death]], meaning that series will not be the last appearance of any version of him - and indeed, [[ComicBook/KangTheConqueror a hostile version of him]] has apparently taken over the TVA when Loki gets back there.[[note]]Actor Creator/JonathanMajors, who plays He Who Remains, had been previously announced as playing ComicBook/KangTheConqueror in 2023's ''Film/AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania''.[[/note]] Aside from that, [[TheHeavy Judge Renslayer]] undergoes a HeelFaceTurn and leaves the TVA in search of free will.

* ''VideoGame/MarvelsSpiderMan2'': Both main antagonists, Kraven and Venom, are killed over the course of the story (the former by the latter no less). Scorpion, Vulture, and Shocker are [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome also quickly killed off]] by Kraven (the latter two offscreen no less) to establish him as a threat. However, secondary antagonists Sandman, Lizard, Cletus Kasady (yet to turn into Carnage), Mr. Negative (who pulls a HeelFaceTurn), and Mysterio (revealed to have pulled a HeelFaceTurn offscreen and was being framed) survive the events of the game. Harry Osborn also ''technically'' survives, but is rendered indefinitely comatose.

-->-- ''WebVideo/CinemaSins'' on ''Film/DragonballEvolution''

* Marvel Studios' ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf'' features several of these across the different universes that are visited.

* Being a Multiversal anthology series, Marvel Studios' ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf'' features many examples of this.

** In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', Hela is destroyed along with Asgard by Surtur. Although, as with Red Skull and Ultron, a possibility of her survival is left open since we don't actually see her die, but for now she is not seen following Asgard's total destruction by one more powerful than her. Skurge is also killed by Hela [[RedemptionEqualsDeath after his]] HeelFaceTurn.

** ''Film/AntMan1'' has the villain Darren Cross/Yellowjacket apparently dying at the end of his movie. It's left more or less ambiguous, but his "death" was [[BodyHorror incredibly graphic]] and he ended up at the very least in a FateWorseThanDeath (best case scenario, he's shrinking piece by piece, uncontrollably and painfully, ''forever''). ''Film/AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania'' reveals that [[spoiler:he did survive, but is massively deformed and has become the MCU version of [[Characters/{{AIM}} M.O.D.O.K.]]]]. Cross' ally Mitchell Carson also manages to escape alive.

* Superman:
** ComicBook/LexLuthor survives ''all'' the ''Film/{{Superman}}'' movies. Killing him would be awkward since Superman is so powerful that he'd have to [[MurderByInaction intentionally refuse to save him]] without a contrived reason why he couldn't. However, it's debatable as to whether he survived being stranded on a desert island in ''Film/SupermanReturns'' with very little food, as this ends the original film series.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', the Injustice universe Joker dies before the start of the story, having successfully managed to drive Superman to murderous rage. However, the main universe Joker remains alive and well. Stranger is ''VideoGame/Injustice2''; despite taking place entirely in the Injustice universe, the Joker is a character in the roster. In Story Mode, he appears only as [[spoiler:a fear gas hallucination]], while in his fight banter in non-story matches, [[MultipleChoicePast he is gleefully inconsistent]] in explaining [[UnexplainedRecovery his return]].

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3'', [[spoiler: the High Evolutionary is defeated and injured by Guardians of the Galxy; while he was spared by Rocket, the ship was exploding and there is absolutely nothing to indicate High Evolutionary escaped; everything implies the opposite. Like Hela, there is a slight chance of his surival but for now, nothing indicates that he did. And before him, Ayesha the High Priestess of the Sovereign, dies as well.]]

** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'', Ayesha and the Sovereign are able to get away cleanly since they don't dirty their hands with combat personally in the first place.

** The "major villain dies, minor villain lives" sub-clause is inverted in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' when Batman captures the Joker alive but, to save Gordon’s son, kills Harvey Dent/Two-Face by pushing him off the edge of a building, falling to his death. Sadly, Nolan did this because he had plans to use Joker in future installments (he thought the original Batman movie should have let Joker live) but Creator/HeathLedger died after the movie was completed, leaving no chance for him to appear in the sequels. [[https://comicsalliance.com/dark-knight-rises-novelization-joker-heath-ledger/ The novelization]] for ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' reveals that the Joker was incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, but nobody outside of Arkham knows if he’s truly still there or escaped.

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3'', [[spoiler: the High Evolutionary is almost certainly dead; while he was spared by Rocket, the ship was exploding and there is absolutely nothing to indicate High Evolutionary escaped; everything implies the opposite. And before him, Ayesha the High Priestess of the Sovereign, dies as well.]]

** In the [[Film/Batman1989 1989 film]], ComicBook/TheJoker himself is killed by [[VisualPun having his leg tied to]] a gargoyle while trying to escape via helicopter, before [[DisneyVillainDeath slowly being dragged off the ladder and falling to his death]].
** Penguin dies of several injuries and being poisoned by the toxic waters of his own base, and is given a funeral by his penguin minions at the end of ''Film/BatmanReturns''. ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} seems to die, but they NeverFoundTheBody (though they found the corpse of the guy she was [[TakingYouWithMe Taking with Her]]), and evidence shown later suggests she's still alive.

** In ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', Jason Woodrue is killed by transformed Pamela Isley. Poison Ivy is heavily implied to be set for death (they leave her in the same cell with Mr. Freeze, after having realized that she was the one who attempted to kill his wife). Bane's fate is a little more ambiguous than that (he's alive but severely weakened by venom withdrawal when we last see him, and the building around him is collapsing -- although nothing else is actually shown happening to him afterward, but we see some rubble laying on top of the pool of venom around him when he was devenomized, indicating he was crushed). Mr. Freeze is alive and condems a HeelFaceTurn when he gives Batman a cure for MacGregor's Syndrome so the latter can help Alfred. In exchange, Batman promises to have Nora moved to Arkham so Victor can continue his research legitimately.

* In the first ''Film/{{Blade}}'' film, Deacon Frost dies. In ''Film/BladeTrinity'', Dracula (aka Drake) dies, although {{Dracula}} is a PublicDomainCharacter. As it is, Drake had little in common with Creator/MarvelComics' [[ComicBook/TheTombOfDracula Dracula]]. The other villains whom Blade killed were created for the films; although there was a team of vampires called the Blood Pack, they had different members from their ''Film/BladeII'' counterparts.

* In ''Film/{{Deadpool 2016}}'', Colossus attempts to talk Deadpool out of killing Ajax. He's having none of it and shoots the villain in the head. Ajax's enforcer Angel Dust is KO'd by Nega Sonic Teenage Warhead but survives.

* In ''Film/GhostRider'', Blackheart is able to be killed (or given a FateWorseThanDeath) by Ghost Rider's Penance Stare after Blackheart absorbs the souls of San Venganza.

** In ''Film/SpiderMan1'', the [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] is killed by his glider impaling him. This happened to him in the comic books as well, though he came back from that decades later. The mugger who killed Uncle Ben ([[{{Retcon}} but not really]]) also dies earlier in the film after tripping and falling out of the building where Peter Parker was confronting him.
** In ''Film/SpiderMan2'', ComicBook/DoctorOctopus is killed by either drowning or the heat when he tears apart the base of the fusion reactor, sending the miniature sun (along with himself) into the river in a RedemptionEqualsDeath moment.
** In ''Film/SpiderMan3'', the post-HeelFaceTurn New Goblin is killed by ComicBook/{{Venom}}, and Eddie Brock and the symbiote both die when Brock tries to get back to the symbiote after Spidey has thrown a pumpkin bomb at it. Sandman survives, however, and Peter is able to forgive him for killing Uncle Ben. It should be noted that Harry, like his father, also died under similar circumstances in the comics and was brought back.

** In ''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}'' both Enchantress and her brother Incubus are killed by the Squad.
** In ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'', General Ludendorff dies impaled by Diana's Godkiller sword (the real life Ludendorff died 19 years after World War I ended) and Ares is vaporized by concentrated/[[HoistByHisOwnPetard reflected]] lightning.

* While ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, Pyro and Mystique have JokerImmunity on full force in the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'', plenty of bad guys bite the dust.

** Comicbook/{{Apocalypse}} is disintegrated by Jean at the climax of ''Film/XMenApocalypse''. Angel may or may not have been killed.

* Film/SonysSpiderManUniverse:

** In ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'', Ulysses Klaue, who first appeared in and survived ''Age of Ultron'', serves as an antagonist for the first act, but is killed by [[DragonAscendant Erik Killmonger]] so that he can enter Wakanda. Erik himself dies from a wound inflicted by Black Panther, choosing to let himself bleed out rather than face life imprisonment.

** ''Film/AntMan1'' has the villain Darren Cross/Yellowjacket apparently dying at the end of his movie. It's left more or less ambiguous, but considering his "death" was [[BodyHorror incredibly graphic]] and he ended up at the very least in a FateWorseThanDeath (best case scenario, he's shrinking piece by piece, uncontrollably and painfully, ''forever''), it's unlikely we'll see more of him. Cross' ally Mitchell Carson also manages to escape alive.

* ''Series/WandaVision'': None of the villains die in the finale.
** After taking away all of Agatha Harkness' powers, Wanda [[AndIMustScream traps her as Agnes]] to harmlessly live out the rest of her life as the quirky, upbeat NosyNeighbor she was [[KarmicTransformation pretending to be]]. Based her reaction, Agatha definitely sees this as a FateWorseThanDeath. Her fate is set to be explored further in ''Agatha: House of Harkness''.
** Director Hayward is incapacitated in a car crash, but survives and is taken away by the FBI.
** Project Cataract is last seen flying away from Westview [[SequelHook after having his memories as The Vision restored]].
* ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'': The villains that form the direct threat are all killed off but of the other antagonistic forces:
** Walker redeems himself, finally letting go of the Captain America mantle.
** Baron Zemo is back in prison having been able to achieve his goals without ever directly betraying the heroes.
** The GreaterScopeVillain, the Power Broker is still at large, and is revealed to be [[BigBadFriend Sharon Carter]], now using the pardon promised by Sam to expand her operations.
* PlayedWith in regards to He Who Remains from ''Series/Loki2021''. While he ended up dying, alternate universe versions of He Who Remains ended up appearing [[MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning because of his death]], meaning that series will not be the last appearance of any version of him - and indeed, [[ComicBook/KangTheConqueror a hostile version of him]] has apparently taken over the TVA when Loki gets back there[[note]]actor Creator/JonathanMajors, who plays He Who Remains, had been previously announced as playing Kang the Conqueror in 2023's ''Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania''[[/note]]. Aside from that, [[TheHeavy Judge Renslayer]] undergoes a HeelFaceTurn and leaves the TVA in search of free will.
* ''Series/Hawkeye2021'':
** Maya survives, having discovered that her father's murder was set up by [[BigBadFriend Kazi]] and [[TheManBehindTheMan Kingpin]]. She ends the series begining her HeelFaceTurn to setup for her own spinoff show.
** Zig-zagged for both of the aforementioned villains, who are implied to be killed but it's left ambiguous enough that they could come back. Kazi is seemingly fatally injured by Maya, but doesn't die on screen. Likewise, Kingpin is shot by her, but the camera doesn't show where he was hit.[[note]]The scene is also almost beat-for-beat identical to a similar scene from the comics where Kingpin did survive, but was blinded.[[/note]] Given her upcoming series, it would make sense to bring those characters back.
** Clint manages to convince Yelena that Natasha sacrificed her life to save the world, and that he had nothing to do with her death. The two leave each other on relatively friendly terms.

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': Ronan the Accuser is spectacularly destroyed by the Guardians of the Galaxy using the Infinity Stone of Power. He also kills Thanos's servant the Other in the middle of the film, and his henchman Korath is killed by Drax.

** Comicbook/{{Thanos}} not only manages to survive the events of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' (after previous cameos in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', and ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''), he actually manages to defeat the heroes, though he pays a heavy price for his victory, as the remaining Children of Thanos all die painful deaths: Ebony Maw is sucked into space by Iron Man and Spider-Man, to save Doctor Strange. Cull Obsidian is dragged across Wakanda's force field by a Hulkbuster-wearing Bruce Banner. Proxima Midnight is ripped to shreds by being thrown into spinning wheels by Scarlet Witch. Corvus Glaive is impaled by The Vision to protect Captain America.

** In ''Film/BatmanForever'', Two-Face is killed. The Riddler survives but has his brain fried and is interred to Arkham Asylum.
** In ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', Jason Woodrue dies. Poison Ivy is heavily implied to be set for death (they leave her in the same cell with Mr. Freeze, after having realized that she was the one who attempted to kill his wife). Bane's fate is a little more ambiguous than that (he's alive but severely weakened by venom withdrawal when we last see him, and the building around him is collapsing -- although nothing else is actually shown happening to him afterward, but we see some rubble laying on top of the pool of venom around him when he was devenomized, indicating he was crushed). Mr. Freeze is definitely alive.

** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': The titular [[ComicBook/BuckyBarnes Winter Soldier]] finally regains his senses, if not his memories, and saves Captain America from drowning before leaving. Batroc, the StarterVillain, is captured after the beginning fight, allowing him to return in ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier''.

** The Grandmaster survives the events of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', but his planet is still in the middle of a coup, so things aren't looking good for him. Surtur also presumably survives his own attack on Asgard.

** ''Film/BlackWidow2021'': While General Dreykov is a straight example, [[TheDragon Taskmaster]] survives and is cured of her mind control, before being taken with the newly-liberated Widows, possibly setting up future appearances. Melina, Alexei, and Yelena, despite all being antagonists in the comics, receive heavy doses of AdaptationalHeroism which remove them from this trope entirely (although TheStinger hints that Yelena is heading down a more antagonistic path, courtsey of [[AmbiguouslyEvil Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine]]'s influence).

** ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' has an ambiguous case; [[FallenHero Wanda]], after having her HeelRealization, collapses the tomb of the Darkhold [[DrivenToSuicide with herself inside it]], but [[NeverFoundTheBody her body is never seen]], keeping a door open for her to return.

* While based on a video game, Koopa from ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' is [[LaserGuidedKarma reduced to a pile of goo]].

** In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', Hela is destroyed along with Asgard by Surtur. Although, as with Red Skull and Ultron, a possibility of her survival is left open since we don't actually see her die, but for now she is not seen following Asgard's total destruction by one more powerful than her. Skurge is also killed by Hela [[RedemptionEqualsDeath after his]] HeelFaceTurn. The Grandmaster survives, but his planet is still in the middle of a coup, so things aren't looking good for him.
** Ulysses Klaue, who first appeared in and survived ''Age of Ultron'', serves as an antagonist for part of ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', but he is killed by Erik Killmonger so that he can enter Wakanda. Erik himself dies from a wound inflicted by Black Panther, choosing to let himself bleed out rather than face life imprisonment.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse]] television shows:

** ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'': Gor the God Butcher dies after having a RedemptionEqualsDeath moment after being freed from the Necrosword's influence and choosing to resurrect his daughter.

* In ''Film/{{Deadpool 2016}}'' Colossus attempts to talk Deadpool out of killing Ajax. He's having none of it and shoots the villain in the head. Ajax's enforcer Angel Dust is KO'd by Nega Sonic Teenage Warhead but survives.

** In ''Film/SpiderMan3'', the post-HeelFaceTurn New Goblin is killed by ComicBook/{{Venom}}, and Eddie Brock and the symbiote both die when Brock tries to get back to the symbiote after Spidey has thrown a Goblin Grenade at it. Sandman survives, however, and Peter is able to forgive him for killing Uncle Ben. It should be noted that Harry, like his father, also died under similar circumstances in the comics and was brought back.

** The MCU also [[AvertedTroped averts]] this trope in some cases. To date [[spoiler:Baron Zemo, Ava Starr (Ghost), Abomination, Adrian Toomes (Vulture), Loki [[HeelFaceTurn (who is now a full-fledged hero)]], Agatha Harkness, Justin Hammer, Benjamin Poindexter (Bullseye), Maya Lopez (Echo) and [[AmbiguousSituation possibly]] Wilson Fisk (Kingpin) and Scarlet Witch (as listed above)]] are still alive and expected to make more appearances in the movies and shows.