It’s one of the most annoying tropes in movies: when a sequel immediately kills off the main character.
Let’s be honest. There’s only one reason why they’re doing this, and it’s because the star of the previous movie didn’t want to come back. Studios are far too content to milk a franchise dry when the people who made it successful are ready to move on.
It got us, along with other moviegoers, thinking about which sequels killed off their main characters.
Independence Day: Resurgence
Pictured: Will Smith in Independence Day
Will Smith was ahead of the curve on this one. He didn’t return to the sequel to Independence Day, and I don’t blame him. The movie was pretty bad.
As a result, his character, Steve Hiller, was killed off-screen.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
I swear that Channing Tatum’s Duke was more prominent in the film’s marketing campaign than he was in the actual movie.
Duke dies in the opening moments of the film, but given how Tatum expressed his displeasure with the movie, that wasn’t too much of a surprise. He even asked to be killed off himself.
Men in Black II
Pictured: Linda Fiorentino in Men in Black
Remember how, at the end of Men in Black, Linda Fiorentino was now working alongside Will Smith?
Yeah, she wasn’t in the sequel. All she got was a throwaway line from Will Smith, and it was like she never existed.
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X-Men: The Last Stand
There are a lot of problems with X-Men: The Last Stand, and we don’t have enough time to go over all of them.
One of the bigger ones, though, is how James Marsden’s Cyclops was killed off so quickly with little to no impact on the overall story. Thankfully, he’ll be back for Avengers: Doomsday.
Halloween: Resurrection
There is no final girl more iconic than Laurie Strode. She’s such an important part of the Halloween lore and the perfect counter to Michael Myers.
So tell me why she was brought back for 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection only to be killed in the opening scene?
Friday the 13th Part 2
Speaking of final girls, Alice Hardy survived the entirety of the original Friday the 13th movie.
Her reward? Opening the fridge, discovering the head of Pamela Voorhees, and taking an ice pick to the head.
Scream 3
I’m convinced that horror sequels tend to rely too heavily on killing off established characters for shock value.
Yes, even Wes Craven is guilty of this when he killed Cotton Mather in the opening scene of Scream 3.
Alien: Covenant
One of the redeeming qualities of Prometheus was that it did an excellent job of setting up the future story for the Elizabeth Shaw character.
Alien: Covenant didn’t care about that as it was perfectly content to kill her off. Then again, that feels par for the course for that era of Alien films.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Guy Ritchie’s first Sherlock Holmes film was surprisingly fun, buoyed by the chemistry between its main cast, featuring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams.
In the far inferior sequel, McAdams was quickly killed off, and the rest of the film undoubtedly suffered for it.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
1995’s Mortal Kombat is a fantastic movie that has rightfully undergone a critical reassessment over the years.
One of its strongest characters is Johnny Cage, who, as a Hollywood movie star, was made for a Mortal Kombat movie.
So then, tell me why he was killed off in the sequel? His inclusion is a major selling point for the upcoming Mortal Kombat 2! Why would you kill him off?!
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