While it's possible to see a character's death coming from a mile away, sometimes it comes
out of nowhere and leaves audiences shocked.
Other times, there are real-life factors behind the scenes that end a character's life.
With that in mind, here's a look at the real reasons these onscreen lives were ended.
Han Solo
Long before the release of 1983's Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Harrison Ford began arguing
that his character, Han Solo, should be killed off.
Whether it was from boredom with the famous space opera or a desire to punch up the narrative,
Ford has had a death wish for Han Solo for decades.
While talking to Conan O'Brien, Ford reiterated that he wanted Solo to:
"Sacrifice himself to a high ideal, and give a little bottom, a little gravitas to the
enterprise."
After decades of waiting, Ford finally got his wish: Han not only died in Star Wars:
The Force Awakens, but he was killed by his son, Ben Solo, a.k.a. Kylo Ren.
According to Abrams, they needed a big moment in order to have Kylo Ren step out from Darth
Vader's shadow.
In a Q&A with Entertainment Weekly, Abrams said:
"We knew we needed to do something f---ing bold.
The only reason why Kylo Ren has any hope of being a worthy successor is because we
lose one of the most beloved characters."
Well, beloved to everyone except for Harrison Ford apparently.
"I argued for thirty years for this to happen, and finally I wore them down."
Agent Zed
Loosely based on the comic series of the same name, Men in Black follows Will Smith and
Tommy Lee Jones as they monitor aliens on Earth and protect the planet from extraterrestrial
attack.
Legendary actor Rip Torn appeared in the movie as Agent Zed, the head of the Men in Black
organization and reprised his role for the 2002 sequel.
Unfortunately, his character was killed off between the second and third installments
off-screen, and replaced by Emma Thompson as Agent O.
"That's just so Zed.
Thank you."
Director Barry Sonnenfeld told Io9 that the reason for Torn's absence was to keep the
movie from feeling too similar to previous Men in Black films.
According to Sonnenfeld,
"We didn't want to go back to every single same character.
[...] We didn't keep Rip Torn as Zed, but I think we have a new, wonderful leader with
Emma Thompson."
While that may be true, there could be more to the story.
Around the time Men in Black 3 started principal photography, Torn was serving a two-year suspended
sentence for breaking into a bank while heavily intoxicated.
Torn's legal troubles might have made it just too complicated to bring the actor back for
the sequel.
Boba Fett
Boba Fett made his big-screen debut in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back where he cut
an imposing silhouette as one of Darth Vader's hired bounty hunters.
Although he barely spoke a word, he quickly became a fan favorite, so it was a real surprise
when he was suddenly killed off at the beginning of Return of the Jedi.
According to Craig Miller, the former head of fan relations for LucasFilm, Boba Fett
was originally going to be a much bigger villain.
Talking to Inverse, Miller said that
"Boba was gonna be the main villain [in the next film].
That was the set up, why he was taking Han Solo away, why there was a thing with him
in the Christmas special."
According to Miller, Lucas decided to end the story with the third movie.
So, instead of setting up a future fight between Solo and Fett, Lucas opted just to kill off
the bounty hunter.
Col. Steven Hiller
In the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day, Will Smith played Colonel Steven Hiller, who
ends up giving a very memorable welcome to an invading alien.
"Welcome to earth!"
Almost two decades later, Smith is still one of the biggest movie stars in the world, with
an almost guaranteed box office draw.
However, in 2013, when the studio was gearing up to enter pre-production on the Independence
Day sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, director Roland Emmerich told the New York
Daily News that he didn't expect Smith to return, saying he was simply "too expensive"
to hire.
"But I ain't mad.
It's alright, it's alright."
To explain Smith's non-involvement in the movie, 20th Century Fox launched an interactive
website that explained that Colonel Hiller died during a military test flight in 2007.
Quicksilver
Despite enormous success, Marvel Studio's early movies don't seem to hold much fatal
danger for our favorite superpowered heroes.
However, the Marvel Cinematic Universe finally suffered a casualty in Avengers: Age of Ultron
when the speedy superhero Quicksilver died saving Hawkeye and a child from Ultron's attacks.
"You didn't see that coming."
At the time, audiences wondered why Quicksilver was the unlucky Avenger to get killed off.
As it turns out, there were a couple reasons, according to Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin
Feige while talking to MTV News.
"To add stakes to the ending of the film [...] To solidify Scarlet Witch's character and Wanda's
arc in the movie."
Although the fact that 20th Century Fox had its own very popular version of Quicksilver
in the X-Men movies might have been a factor as well.
Looks like there's only room for one Quicksilver in Hollywood.