Even the happiest superhero stories involve a few losses sometimes, but which ones hit us the
hardest this year? Let's take a look back at some of the most devastating superhero deaths of 2021.
Since Paul Bettany's Vision suffered a brutal death at Thanos' hands in 2018's "Avengers:
Infinity War," there were — as with just about everything in "WandaVision" – plenty
of theories about how Marvel's favorite synthetic superhero was alive in the show.
In the series' penultimate episode, it's finally confirmed that, shortly after viewing her lover's
disassembled body at SWORD headquarters, Wanda used abilities she didn't even know she had to
create a dream Vision, along with transforming the town of Westview and its inhabitants.
The Vision within the Hex Wanda created is born out of their shared connection with the
Mind Stone, and over the course of the series he slowly discovers that his wife essentially created
him out of pure power. Wanda finally admits this to him in the series finale, moments before she
brings down her mystical Hex, along with all the illusions within it ...including Vision.
"Oh, I read somewhere that it's bad luck to say goodbye in the dark.”
Her lover seems hopeful that he will find some way to return to her before he fades
into nonexistence, and who knows? SWORD's reassembled White Vision
is still out there somewhere, and he could be the key to such a return.
Along with Vision, he and Wanda's twin sons Billy and Tommy also presumably fade away,
but this isn't quite as certain as the dream Vision's death. In a post-credits scene,
as Scarlet Witch communes with the Darkhold, we hear the boys calling out to her for help, perhaps
pointing towards the twins' return in the upcoming "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."
One of the impressive highlights of "Zack Snyder's Justice League" is the opportunity to
watch an expanded and beautifully epic version of Darkseid's first effort to conquer Earth.
In this flashback, we see a lot more of all the combatants, and in particular,
we see a lot more of the Green Lantern who dies fighting the supervillain.
Considering who the Green Lantern is, it's fitting he should live and die in
only a single flashback scene. The alien Lantern is Yalan Gur, whose counterpart in
the source material is introduced in 1991's "Green Lantern" #19, likewise in a flashback
that ends in his death. In the comics, Gur's story is a cautionary tale about a Lantern
who's gifted with a ring with no weaknesses, and he's killed by his own overconfidence.
You could argue the movie Yalan Gur dies from the same thing, since he falls going one-on-one with
Darkseid, but then again heading straight for the big bad is kind of a Green Lantern's job.
Gur is knocked out of the sky by parademons, and Darkseid takes the opportunity to dominate
his foe, killing him brutally. Gur's ring leaves his dead finger, and Darkseid reaches
out to claim it, but he's interrupted by the arrows of the Greek goddess Artemis.
Presumably, the ring flies away to find a new worthy Green Lantern to succeed Gur.
"The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" has been decidedly ambiguous regarding the fate of
Steve Rogers. We still don't know if he's dead, retired in secret, or somewhere else entirely.
But we know of at least one hero who doesn't survive the series. In Episode 4, Lemar Hoskins,
aka Battlestar, sacrifices himself to save John Walker from the Flag-Smashers.
In the episode, the head of the Flag-Smashers, Karli Morgenthau,
is finding Sam's offer of assistance tempting, but she can't decide whether or not to trust him.
She sets up a meeting with Sam Wilson, assuming that Sam won't hold up his part of the deal to
come alone. John Walker, the new Captain America, crashes the party, and in the ensuing battle,
one of Karli's men gets hold of him while Karli charges him with a knife drawn.
Lemar intercepts Karli, tackling her to the floor. Enraged, the Flag-Smasher leader hits Lemar with
all of her enhanced strength, sending him flying backward into a pillar and killing him instantly.
Battlestar was John Walker's best friend and his biggest cheerleader.
His death pushes the already unstable Walker over the edge, and at the end of the episode,
the new Captain America murders one of the Flag-Smashers in a very public and brutal fashion.
Episode 5 opens with Sam and Bucky clashing with Walker to take back his bloody shield,
and before long, Walker has returned to the States, where the title of Captain America
is stripped from him. But, of course, he gets a new identity before the show ends.
"We're not gonna need another Captain America. We're gonna need a U.S.Agent."
Amazon Prime unveiled its new original animated series,
"Invincible," at the end of March, and the premiere ends in a way that lets you know
that while this isn't "The Boys," it also definitely isn't "Superfriends."
Early in the first episode, we meet the Guardians of the Globe — the series'
version of DC's Justice League, comprised of obvious stand-ins.
Instead of Aquaman, there's the fish-headed Aquarus. Instead of the Flash, there's Red Rush,
there's Darkwing instead of Batman, and so on and so on. We meet them as they're battling
the formidable Mauler Twins in Washington D.C., who they defeat only with the timely arrival of
Omni-Man — the show's answer to Superman and the father of the series' title character.
In spite of what at first appears to be a strong friendship between Omni-Man and the Guardians,
the episode ends with Omni-Man luring the other heroes into a secret meeting and brutally
murdering them all, one by one. Aquarus, Red Rush, Darkwing, the Immortal, Martian Man, Green Ghost,
and War Woman are all dead before the scene ends, with Omni-Man not even bothering to give his
victims any explanation. In the Season 1 finale, Omni-Man finally admits to his son, Invincible,
that he murdered the Guardians because, as it turns out, he's not on Earth to protect it.
Instead, he's here to prepare the planet to be conquered by the interstellar Viltrumite Empire.
In a post-credits scene for "The Nexus Event" — Episode 4 of "Loki" — we meet a quartet of Loki
variants, including the figure dubbed Classic Loki. Played by Richard E. Grant, this Loki's
outfit is the most comic book accurate we've seen so far in terms of the god's old-school look.
Sadly, the older Loki doesn't survive to see the credits of the following episode.
When Sylvie devises a plan to enchant the cloud beast Alioth in order to reach the
mystery villain behind the Time Variance Authority, Classic Loki initially seems
to want no part of it. But once the plan is hatched and seems to be falling apart,
Classic Loki appears to pitch in. Having spent years perfecting his magic, Classic
Loki is able to create the massive illusion of a fully formed Asgard.
Classic Loki's illusion does its job and distracts Alioth long enough for Sylvie and
the younger Loki to regroup and eventually enchant Alioth. But before that happens,
Classic Loki falls. Alioth figures out the deception and turns on the
creator of the false Asgard. Just before he's devoured, Classic Loki screams at the beast:
"Glorious purpose!"
His horned helmet crashes to the ground where he stood only moments before.
One of the first Squad member to fall in "The Suicide Squad" — and the first who also appears in
the 2016 predecessor — is Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang. Along with Harley Quinn, Boomerang is
one of the first to fight back against a platoon of Corto Maltese soldiers after they open fire.
We see one of his glowing boomerangs kill a number of the troops, but unfortunately,
it's another squad member's bungle that means the end for the projectile-slinging Aussie.
When Mongal tries to take down the enemy helicopter on her own, it ultimately works,
but it does more harm to Task Force X than good. As the chopper struggles to right itself,
the blades rip through the nearby jungle. Captain Boomerang is impaled by multiple
large splinters from the devastated trees and falls to his knees. Seeing he's in trouble,
Harley calls out to her comrade from cover. In his final moments, Captain Boomerang smiles
at Harley ... until the fiery helicopter races toward him and rips him to pieces.
Whether it's intentional or not, it seems like when it comes to veterans of 2016's
"Suicide Squad," their violent ends tend to come — directly or otherwise — at the
hands of their teammates. Though he doesn't seem to enjoy it very much,
Peacemaker is responsible for the death of the Squad's original movie field leader, Rick Flag.
When the Thinker proves to Rick Flag that the United States government not only already knew
about Starro but is actually responsible for bringing the creature to Earth and funding
experiments on it, Flag vows to expose the conspiracy with a computer drive containing all
the relevant data. But after retrieving the drive, Flag finds himself threatened by Peacemaker,
who we learn was secretly tasked by Amanda Waller to make sure the records don't leave Jotunheim.
A brutal fight ensues between Flag and Peacemaker, and Flag doesn't survive.
Throughout the battle, while Peacemaker refuses to relent,
it's clear he's conflicted about what he's doing. Flag temporarily gains the upper hand,
pinning Peacemaker to the ground and choking him, but Peacemaker grabs a nearby broken shard
of porcelain and drives it through Flag's chest and into his heart. The colonel's last words are,
"Peacemaker. What a joke."
If Mongal is the most nerfed DC Comics character in "The Suicide Squad," David Dastmalchian's
Polka-Dot Man — superpower-wise at least, if not in terms of mental stability — gets perhaps one
of the biggest boosts. Unlike his comic book counterpart, whose dot projectiles spring
from a high-tech suit, this version of Abner Krill suffers an interdimensional virus that will
eat him alive if he doesn't release the deadly polka dots from his body at least twice per day.
And while, yes, he looks like a walking Twister mat, his dots are quite deadly,
and he manages to cripple the massive Starro all on his own in the final climactic battle.
Sadly, Polka-Dot Man doesn't hurt the alien beast quite enough to survive. Bloodsport
lures Polka-Dot Man out of hiding by telling him Starro is his mother.
When he takes a look, Abner sees — as he usually does — his mother in place of the giant alien.
He lets loose his polka dots, damaging one of Starro's limbs enough that all of the alien's
thralls scream out in unison. But right after Polka-Dot Man triumphantly yells
out that he's a superhero, his celebration is cut short as one of Starro's limbs crushes him.
The 2021 DC Comics maxi-series "Infinite Frontier" packed plenty of big developments into its pages,
including the grisly deaths of some of the most
powerful characters to ever appear in the DC Universe.
Throughout 2021's "Infinite Frontier" #0, interspersed with moments from across the
DC Universe, we get scenes of the beings known as the Quintessence speaking with Wonder Woman
and attempting to recruit her to their ranks. The Quintessence is a reality-manipulating
council of what can only be described as gods. There's Highfather of the New Gods,
Ganthet of Oa's Guardians of the Universe, the Phantom Stranger,
the Spectre, the goddess Hera, and the wizard Shazam. Thankfully, Wonder Woman ultimately
turns down their offer of membership because, otherwise, she'd probably be dead right now.
Toward the end of the issue, the terrifying supervillain Darkseid emerges. Reconstituted
from other versions of himself from across the multiverse, Darkseid is more powerful than ever,
and he easily murders all six members of the Quintessence,
impaling them with dark energy and stomping on their corpses.
At the end of 2021's "Green Lantern" #2, the central power battery on Oa explodes.
Along with all the people killed in the explosion, the destruction of the battery
leaves most of the Green Lantern Corps defenseless. Almost every single Green
Lantern ring loses its power after the death of the battery, leaving many Lanterns missing,
others caught in the void of space without their ring to protect them,
and still more as prey for enemies of Oa who've long been waiting for such an opportunity.
In "Green Lantern" #4, we begin to get a more complete list of living Lanterns, dead ones,
and the missing. While a few names of the dead are of Corps members never before seen in the comics,
more than you might expect are familiar characters. In particular, on Oa, Jo Mullein
receives word that Arisia Rrab and Isamot Kol — who we saw floating in space in the previous
issue — are confirmed dead. Meanwhile, Lantern John Stewart learns that a group of slavers has
killed and collected bounties on 300 members of the Corps. He has the slavers' computers read
the names of dead Lanterns, and there are at least five who've appeared in previous comics:
the stony-skinned Ash-Pak-Glif, Morro, Palaqua, Vath Sarn of Rann, and the aquatic Naut Ke Loi.
The heroes of "Titans" lost Donna Troy in the Season 2 finale, but it doesn't take
them quite as long to lose another one of their members in Season 3. In the third episode of the
third season, "Hank & Dove," Hawk becomes a victim of Jason Todd, aka the Red Hood.
Hawk allows Jason to lure him into a trap ... where he's knocked out and
wakes up with an explosive device surgically implanted in his chest.
Jason comes up with a cruel ruse for the Titans — he tells them the only way he'll
deactivate the explosive is if they steal a shipment of gold bars for him.
While Superboy tries to use the combination of his super speed and the intellect gifted to him
by Lex Luthor to stop the bomb, Dove — not willing to lose Hawk — does Jason's bidding.
After Dove delivers the gold to Jason, the villain has one more trick up his sleeve.
He gives Dove a gun and tells her the explosive's deactivator has a dead man's switch. If she kills
Jason, Hawk will be saved. Nightwing arrives and tries to stop Dove, but she pulls the trigger.
Unfortunately, the gun's trigger proves to be the explosive's detonator. Moments
before Superboy would've been able to safely disarm the bomb, it detonates, killing Hawk.
As soon as it was revealed that Disney+'s "What If...?" would include an episode inspired by the
"Marvel Zombies" comics stories, it became one of the most highly anticipated moments of the series.
While "What If... Zombies?!" doesn't prove nearly as graphic as the comic book that inspired it,
the episode still has a pretty high body count.
We find out that in this reality, when he went into the Quantum Realm
in search of his long-lost love, Hank Pym brings back a deadly zombie virus.
Soon after, heroes like Iron Man, Wong, Captain America, Wanda Maximoff, Hawkeye,
and Falcon are turned into zombies. By the time Bruce Banner arrives on Earth,
as far as the heroes are concerned, there's only a small band of them left alive and uninfected.
By the end of the episode, most of the surviving heroes are survivors no longer.
Sharon Carter is killed by the Zombie Captain America, the Wasp is infected
during combat and sacrifices herself, Bucky and Okoye are killed by the Zombie Wanda,
and Vision destroys himself by removing the Mind Stone from his body. The Hulk finally
emerges from Bruce Banner to go toe-to-toe with the Zombie Wanda, and it's implied that
he makes a last stand against Maximoff and the zombie hordes, though we never see him
fall. The only Avengers on Earth confirmed to survive are Spider-Man, Black Panther,
Ant-Man's preserved head, and — if you can count it — Doctor Strange's Cloak of Levitation.
In "Avengers" #46, the Russian super team the Winter Guard — with the help of the traitorous
Gorilla-Man — invades Avengers Mountain and kidnaps She-Hulk. Their justification
for the assault is the battle She-Hulk wages with Namor in Moscow in "Avengers"
#43 and 44 and the resulting damage it causes. In truth, though, they want to
bring Jennifer Walters back to Russia in order to brainwash and transform her into their puppet.
Ursa Major — a mutant with the ability to transform himself into the form of a super
strong bear — doesn't survive the incursion, though it isn't an Avenger who kills him.
Having made a deal with Dracula and the Winter Guard, Gorilla-Man sabotages the defenses of
Avengers Mountain and makes it easier for the Russian team to isolate She-Hulk and fight her on
their own. While She-Hulk almost manages to escape them, the artificial humanoid Vostok ultimately
subdues her. As the team is on their way out of the mountain, Ursa Major whispers to Gorilla-Man,
indicating the mutant apparently turned on his team and tried to help the Avengers in secret.
When Vostok yells to Ursa Major that the team is leaving, Red Widow responds by noting that
the bear is a traitor, and stabs Ursa Major through the neck, killing him.
On the series premiere of the HBO original "The Nevers" — set in London at the end of the 19th
century — we learn a mysterious object flew over the city four years before the events of the show.
The object scattered a glowing substance over the populace, granting some of them superhuman
abilities. Those with abilities soon become known as the Touched. Feared by other Londoners,
some of the Touched take shelter in St. Romaulda's Orphanage run by Amalia True,
forming a kind of superhero team in the process.
One of the Touched is Mary Brighton, whose ability is especially interesting. Brighton's
seemingly alien singing can only be heard by other Touched, and upon hearing it,
they're soothed. In an effort to bring hope and union to the Touched, inventor Penance creates an
amplifier she hopes will allow Brighton's song to reach every Touched in London. Hesitant at first,
Brighton eventually agrees to Penance's plan, but mid-song, she's abruptly riddled with bullets
by Kroos — a criminal Touched with a Gatling gun-like prosthetic arm and the ability to fire
bullets from his body. Brighton dies almost instantly, robbing the Touched of her gift.
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