10 Biggest Superhero Fake-Out Deaths in Comics

If there’s one thing that has remained constant throughout comic book history, whether it be DC, Marvel, or Image, it’s that almost no one stays dead. For decades, superheroes have been killed in the line of duty and then were resurrected shortly thereafter. Just as often, though, comics will make it look like a hero died only to reveal that it was all a ruse. Whether it be through doppelgängers, mind-swaps, or a good-old-fashioned cover-up, there have been countless examples of superheroes having seemingly been killed only to reveal that their demises never occurred in the first place. Whether it was the original writer’s intention or a retcon created decades later, these are the most impactful fake-out deaths in comics.

Numerous comics deceive their readers into believing that a character has kicked the bucket when they’re alive and well. Sometimes, such fake-outs can successfully add to a narrative in compelling ways. Other times, they feel like cheap cop-outs that diminish the impact of the original stories.

10) Dupli-Kate

The Invincible series is no stranger to fake-out deaths, and Dupli-Kate’s is one of the most notorious. When Invincible and most of the Guardians of the Globe are off-world on a mission, the Earth-bound members Rex-Splode, Dupli-Kate, and Shrinking Ray find themselves attacked by the Lizard League. Although she fights valiantly, Dupli-Kate seemingly meets her demise when the villain Komodo Dragon kills all her clones. Shrinking Ray is then promptly killed by Komodo Dragon when he tries to avenge his fallen teammate. However, it turns out just a few issues later that Shrinking Ray’s avenging death was for nothing because Dupli-Kate was not in fact dead; she all along had a spare clone far away from the battle as a contingency.

9) Atom

The third Atom, Ryan Choi, learned to use his shrinking powers to cheat death. To shrink his size and weight, Ryan uses his Bio-Belt to transfer his extra mass to another dimension called the Mass Zone. This ability came in handy when Ryan was stabbed by Deathstroke and seemingly killed. Through sheer willpower, Ryan transferred his mind to the Mass Zone, allowing him to survive the impalement. After five years of being presumed dead, Ryan’s survival was discovered by the second Atom, Ray Palmer. With his scientific genius, Ray is able to restore Ryan’s body, and DC now has its two size-altering heroes working side by side once again.

8) Justice League

In the lead-up to the Dark Crisis event, DC Comics made it seem like almost the entire Justice League’s roster was murdered. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Hawkgirl, Zatanna, and Green Arrow were all apparently wiped out by the villain Pariah, with only a battered Black Adam returning to Earth to warn of the coming crisis. The remaining heroes of Earth do everything they can to protect the world in the Justice League’s absence. Yet the Justice Leaguers weren’t dead; they were separated and placed in individual worlds tailored to each member’s dreams and desires. Luckily, the Justice Leaguers would break free of their prisons and return to thwart Pariah’s attack on Earth.

7) Captain America

After Civil War, Captain America surrendered and was arrested for rebelling against the Human Registration Act. America’s hero was then shot and seemingly killed by a sniper. Everyone grieved the loss of the First Avenger. Two years later, it was revealed that the Red Skull planned everything and that Captain America didn’t die from the sniper shot. Instead, the special bullet put Captain America’s mind into a fixed point in time, leaving him trapped and disconnected from his body. With the hero’s mind gone, Red Skull placed his own mind in the now vacant Captain America body. However, the mind of Captain America eventually broke free from his temporal prison and wrestled back control of his body from Red Skull. Now, Captain America is back as good as new.

6) Superman

Superman during the Silver Age was notorious for constantly faking his death to catch his enemies off guard. He’s pretended to become a ghost, die in an explosion, and be absorbed by Parasite. Even outside of Silver Age comics, the Man of Steel has had plenty of fake-out deaths. One of the most critically acclaimed Superman stories, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, has Superman lose his powers by purposefully exposing himself to Gold Kryptonite. He then walks out into the Arctic and is seemingly frozen to death. While the world mourns his “death,” Superman takes on the new identity of Jonathan Elliot and retires with Lois Lane.

5) Spider-Man

In one of the Wall-Crawler’s most shocking stories, Superior Spider-Man, Peter swaps minds with Doctor Octopus. When Doc Ock takes over the hero’s body, Spider-Man is left helpless as he dies in his nemesis’s old dying body. To honor Peter’s death, Doc Ock becomes the new Spider-Man. However, it was eventually revealed that the Spider-Man who died in Doc Ock’s old body was, in fact, just a piece of the original Peter’s mind. The other piece is still inside his original body, suppressed in Doc Ock’s subconscious. Eventually, Doc Dock revokes his ownership of the hero’s body, restoring Spider-Man to his old self, body and mind.

4) Batman

During Final Crisis, Darkseid uses his Omega-Beams to reduce Batman to a skeleton. The loss of the Dark Knight leads to many events, including various characters fighting for the opportunity to take over the hero’s mantle. However, it is revealed that Darkseid had switched Batman with a clone. The real Batman is launched thousands of years into the past, landing in the Stone Age. What follows is The Return of Bruce Wayne, where the amnesiac Dark Knight travels through time, fighting as a caveman, witch-hunter, and pirate until he can make it to the present. Darkseid wanted to use the time-travelling Batman as a doomsday weapon to destroy the present, but he ultimately fails, and the Dark Knight returns after two years of absence.

3) Professor X

The morally questionable Professor X has faked his death several times over the years, much to the distress of his X-Men. The most significant instance is when Professor X announced he was dying and went into space to find a cure. While Professor X indeed was very sick and needed to travel to space to find a cure, he takes things a step too far. Using a mental block, Professor X makes it so that Jean could no longer sense him, making her and the rest of the X-Men believe that he had failed to find a cure during his travels. It is this fake-out that motivates Magneto’s first joining of the X-Men, and it takes several years for the X-Men’s founder to return and reveal the ruse.

2) Jean Grey

Ever since Jean Grey first encountered the primordial Phoenix Force on a space mission, her life has been a cycle of death and rebirth. Her “death” during the Dark Phoenix saga is one of the most impactful moments in Marvel Comics’ history. However, it is eventually revealed that during the initial space mission, Jean didn’t become the Phoenix but was instead put into a healing coma underwater. The “Jean” that readers followed up to her corruption and untimely death was the Phoenix Force itself, having swapped places with Jean and taken on her appearance and memories. The real Jean eventually returns five years later and merges with the Phoenix Force. Making such an iconic and tragic death a fake-out is nothing short of mind-boggling.

1) Bucky Barnes

One of the biggest twists in comic book history was that Bucky Barnes, who was believed to have been dead for 40 years, was still alive and had become the Soviet Union’s brainwashed assassin, the Winter Soldier. Once Bucky breaks free of his brainwashing, he becomes a fascinating anti-hero. This wouldn’t even be the only time Bucky is the subject of a fake-out death. When Bucky took on the Captain America mantle, he is thought to have been killed by the villain Sin, but he is replaced at the last second by a robot replica. This plot is carried out so that Bucky could work on covert missions while everyone believes he is dead. No character has had as impactful fake-out deaths as Bucky Barnes.

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