Axing a fan favorite character is a great way for writers to raise dramatic stakes,
and audiences will generally let them get away with it.
But sometimes a character will be headed for the chopping block... only to get a last-minute
reprieve.
These are the times when writers almost broke our hearts, but then chose not to and fan
favorites who were originally supposed to die got to live on.
Daryl Dixon
Walking Dead creator Frank Darabont wrote the part of Daryl Dixon especially for Norman
Reedus the character never appears in the comics the show is based on.
Daryl was originally supposed to make a few appearances, and then exit the way most Walking
Dead guests do as zombie food.
But a funny thing happened: fans loved the character, even though he was initially totally
unlikable.
Darabont gave Reedus a chance to develop the role into something special, and over many
seasons the character has become so popular that Robert Kirkman, creator of the still-ongoing
comic series, has implied he'll eventually write Daryl into the comics as well.
"What, no pictures?"
Jesse Pinkman
Breaking Bad began with a likable protagonist and, over the course of five seasons, turned
him into a strangely likeable villain.
While the show was mostly focused on Walter White, it also dealt with moral situations
faced by Walter's family, and especially young partner in crime Jesse Pinkman, played by
Aaron Paul.
Originally, Jesse was supposed to meet the reaper at the end of season one, thereby accelerating
Walter White's transformation into a ruthless drug lord.
Legend has it that the 2007-2008 writers' strike, which shortened Breaking Bad's first
season and forced plot changes, saved Jesse.
But the strike really just gave creator Vince Gilligan time to reconsider.
Aaron Paul was just too great to let go.
"It became pretty clear early on that it would be a huge, colossal mistake to kill off Jesse."
Jack Shephard
Perhaps nobody benefited more from the narrative aimlessness of Lost than its star, Matthew
Fox, who played primary protagonist Jack Shephard.
Executive producer J.J. Abrams originally planned to introduce the clear, obvious lead
in the first episode only to sacrifice him by episode's end.
Abrams thought this would keep audiences on their toes, and even cast Michael Keaton in
the role, who was thrilled with the idea of getting a network TV role without having to
commit to the entire series.
Keaton eventually backed out when showrunners decided that the character would be kept alive.
As Keaton explained to Access Hollywood,
"An hour show every week…
I've got stuff to do, I've got a life to lead.
When would I fish?"
Han Solo
Harrison Ford has long seemed ambivalent toward his most famous role, Star Wars' iconic Han
Solo.
It seems like a minor miracle that Solo survived as long as he did, with Ford ruthlessly pushing
for his own character's demise during the original series.
Solo was left ambiguously frozen at the end of The Empire Strikes Back specifically because
nobody knew whether Ford would come back for a third installment.
When he was coaxed to return, he lobbied George Lucas unsuccessfully for Solo's "noble sacrifice"
in Return of the Jedi.
"George didn't think there was any future in dead Han toys"
Of course, spoiler alert, the character finally did meet his end in The Force Awakens and
if any of the many fan theories are correct, it may have been just the noble sacrifice
that Ford always wanted.
Ellen Ripley
1979's Alien was one of the first genre films to feature a strong female lead, but in production,
Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley wasn't necessarily central to the film.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, director Ridley Scott revealed his brutal alternate
ending for Alien:
"The alien holds onto the door she harpoons it it makes no difference and it slams through
her mask and rips her head off."
Then, the creature would have called the ground crew, saying, "I'm signing off" in the captain's
voice.
Fortunately, Scott thought better of this silly idea, allowing Ripley to live on to
become an even more badass character in an even better film.
"This is Ripley last survivor of the Nostromo… signing off"
Nebula
In Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Nebula, played by Karen Gillan, revealed herself to
be a more complex character than the jealousy-driven villain she first appeared to be.
But she almost didn't get to stay in the MCU, having been written out at the end of the
first Guardians film.
Speaking with ScreenCrush, Gillan said Nebula was saved by rewrites.
She revealed that her final scene was never actually shot, saying,
"We never got to that point.
As soon as we would get near to it there would be a new script."
Gillan also appeared in Avengers: Infinity War and will definitely be in its untitled
sequel, for which she can thank Guardians writer/director James Gunn and his indecisiveness.
"Anyways, happy trails"
Mr. Spock
Leonard Nimoy had a famously complicated relationship with his most famous character, Mr. Spock.
He told the producers of 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture that he was only going
to play Spock one last time, so the character wasn't even included in the first draft of
the screenplay for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
But then, screenwriter Jack B. Sowards had an idea: why not give Spock an epic final
scene?
"Live long and prosper"
Nimoy liked the idea, but subsequent rewrites pushed Spock's final scene farther and farther
back, until it was at the end of the movie.
Nimoy approved each draft, and loved Sowards' writing so much that it made him want to keep
playing Spock which he did, for another 27 years.