7 “Immortal” Superheroes Who Died Anyway

Marvel and DC Comics have created numerous types of superheroes over the years. One of the more interesting types of heroes are the “immortal” ones. For the most part, as long as a character is popular and profitable, they are all immortal, but readers like to pretend that the characters are in danger, giving the stories stakes. However, the so-called “immortal” characters are characters who are meant to survive anything, and have been portrayed as having very long lives, one that can reach back or forward thousands of years. However, immortality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and even those who had the potential to live forever can die.

These heroes are more than happy to risk what would be an unending life on saving others, so sometimes, they have to bite the dust to show that there are stakes for even the immortals. For the more well-known immortal characters, this is a pretty big deal but it still means something even when the character is a D-lister. These so-called immortal characters felt death’s cold embrace, sacrificing their lives for the world.

7) Orion

Orion is a New God, traded to the planet New Genesis by his father, the God of Evil Darkseid. He is prophesied to be the one who finally kills his father for good, and the Dog of War is often shown as one of the most powerful New Gods out there. However, anyone who has read comics knows that even the gods can die, and the son of Darkseid is no different. Orion has died several times over the years, but one of the best comes from “Rock of Ages”, one of the greatest Justice League stories ever. In a future where Darkseid had taken over the world, the New God was in hiding, and used a modified piece of Apokoliptian technology to burn away the entire universe. The Black Racer, the New Gods embodiment of death, took him and the rest of the universe.

6) Immortal Man

Immortal Man was born back in the caveman days, and was a member of the Bear Tribe. One day, a meteor fell to Earth, and Klarn Arg was one of the people who went to see what it was. The radiation from the meteor gave him and Vandal Savage immortality, beginning a rivalry that would last for millennia. Savage became a monster, but Arg used his abilities to help people across the years. The two of them used the meteor to create weapons that could kill the other in case they fought, and clashed numerous times. He’s always been something of a D-lister, and this has meant that the character has died, often sacrificing himself so that others could live, creating a new identity and taking back up the life of heroism.

5) Superman

Superman hasn’t technically ever been called immortal, with some versions of the character actually aging over the years, However he’s been shown to exist in the far future numerous times, so it’s safe to assume that immortality is just another of his potential powers. Readers have seen the Man of Steel die a whole bunch of times over the years. While his most well-known death story is “Death of Superman”, this is just one of many stories that showed the death of Earth’s greatest hero. He used to die in the old Silver Age “imaginary stories” (which were non-canon stories) a lot, and there have been numerous times that he’s died in alternate universes or dark futures.

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4) Hulk

The Hulk is Marvel’s greatest monster, and is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, humans beings on Earth. Empowered by the One Below All, the Green Goliath has gotten a massive power upgrade over the years, to the extent that he’s an unstoppable force of nature who will potentially continue to exist until the end of all time. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t be killed. The Hulk has been killed a couple of times, mostly in alternate realities or futures, like Hulk: The End or Hulk: Future Imperfect, with his most important death on Earth-616 coming in Civil War II, which led to the excellent The Immortal Hulk series.

3) Thor

Thor is the God of Thunder, the most powerful champion of Asgard. Now, the Asgardian gods aren’t technically immortal in the way other gods are. While they can conceivably live forever, they can die in battle, which makes sense for gods of a martial people like the Vikings. On top of that, there’s also Ragnarok, which will kill all of them. Over the years, readers have seen Thor die many times, both in alternate realities and futures and on Earth-616. In fact, his most recent death came in Immortal Thor #24 and has led to a very interesting resurrection, with the character’s history somehow completely erased from the annals of the universe and him not remembering his past life at all.

2) Resurrection Man

Resurrection Man first appeared in the late ’90s, in his own series, and became a favorite to fans of great comics. Mitch Shelley’s body was home to tektites, special nanites that would resurrect him every time he was killed, giving him new powers for this new life. Death was a huge part of his powers, and he died numerous times in the series he’s starred in. However, readers did get to see his perma-death in Resurrection Man #1,000,000. He was battling Vandal Savage in the 853rd century and died during the fight with the villain, who finally figured out how to kill him after millennia of trying.

1) Wolverine

Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and what he does is die. The ol’Canucklehead’s healing factor and adamantium skeleton allow him to survive just about any attack, and some versions of the character barely age at all, making him functionally immortal. However, Logan’s been dying for years, starting with “Days of Future Past”. His popularity meant that he’s been “jobbed” out numerous times to build up a threat; the idea is that if this villain, hero, or threat is enough to take him, it’s very dangerous. In 2014, Wolverine was killed off in Death of Wolverine and stayed dead for five years. During that period, Old Man Logan returned and then died as well, giving readers a Wolverine death two-fer.

What immortal characters that died did I forget? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!