Marvel was sold on the idea that it was the “world outside of your window”, a more grounded type of superhero universe than their distinguished competition. Of course, this is still superhero comics, so calling Marvel “grounded” is definitely a misnomer. The best example of this is death in the Marvel Universe. While there have definitely been plenty of deaths that weren’t undone, there are also a plethora of resurrections. Death and resurrection have become even bigger than ever as more event based storytelling uses these moments for shock. It’s gotten to the point that any time a character of a certain stature is killed, readers know that they’re going back sooner rather than later.
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It’s just become a fact of superhero comic life that most deaths will be undone at some point. This can be a cause of celebration for fans, but it doesn’t always shake out in the long run. Often times, readers will get a great resurrection story, but as time goes on, they realize that Marvel didn’t actually have any good plans for the character, they just wanted the cheap pop of a resurrection. It’s a disappointing aspect of these kinds of stories. These seven Marvel heroes should have stayed dead, as their lives after their return have been much worse than they were before their death.
7) Professor X
Professor X has died and been thought dead many times over the years. One of his more well-known deaths came in Avengers vs. X-Men, when Dark Phoenix Cyclops killed him. It was a pretty good death, marking something of a turning point in the story of the X-Men. Professor X stayed dead for years, and it honestly helped the X-Men grow as a team in a lot of ways. He was eventually brought back in Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 4), and since then, it’s kind of been all downhill for Charles Xavier. Marvel started making Xavier more pragmatic in the ’00s, and they went all in on this after his return. Since then, Xavier has lost even more esteem among the X-Men and the fanbase. This came to a head in the Krakoa Era, as Xavier’s lies and mistakes played a big role in the downfall of the mutant nation. When Professor X died, he became a symbol of hope and peace for humans and mutants, his dream something that everyone could get behind. However, since then, Xavier has been dragged more and more through the mud. If the character would have stayed dead, Marvel creators wouldn’t have been able to make Xavier look like an even worse character with every new revelation.
6) Colossus
Colossus is one of the X-Men’s most beloved members, but it can’t be denied that he’s become something of an afterthought in the years since 2004 resurrection. Colossus was one of the more interesting juxtapositions of the X-Men — a man of supreme physical power with the soul of an artist. The loss of his sister Illyana in the early ’90s was a major turning point in his life, leading him away from the X-Men for a time as he joined Magneto’s Acolytes, eventually joining Excalibur, and then coming back to the X-Men. His relationship with Marrow was one of the most interesting aspects of his life in the late ’90s, the two of them bonding over the insanity of Colossus’s brother Mikhail. Colossus died curing the Legacy Virus, and it was the perfect death for the character. He sacrificed himself so people wouldn’t suffer anymore. He won without throwing a punch, devoting his death to his sister. This was honestly the most Colossus death ever, but it wouldn’t last. Colossus’s resurrection was something of a bait and switch — fans thought they were getting Jean Grey back at first — but everyone liked it. However, since then, what has Colossus done that have made his return worth it? Sure, he became Juggernaut and a Phoenix host, but the only thing that was done with his character in that time was making him sadder and angrier. Colossus’s death was a cool moment, and it fit the character completely. His time since returning has been something of a waste, and it takes away a lot of the impact of his death.
5) Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier
There was a time when Bucky was one of those characters that fans thought would never get resurrected. All of this changed in the mid ’00s, when Bucky Barnes was returned to life in the classic “Winter Soldier” story. This was one of the greatest resurrections in the history of comics. However, there was another “resurrection” of Bucky that was never needed. Bucky Barnes, during his time as Captain America, was “killed” in Fear Itself. It was eventually established that this wasn’t Bucky, but an LMD. This was a terrible idea. Bucky should have actually been killed in that story, since Marvel has never been able to do anything interesting with the character after his time as Captain America. It was the perfect arc for the character — return as a villain, get redemption, become Captain America, and then sacrifice himself to make up for the sins he committed as the Winter Soldier. Instead, Marvel faked readers out with a major death, and then revealed that it didn’t happen the way readers thought it did. Since he came back, Bucky has mostly been adrift, as Marvel has started to focus more on Sam Wilson as Cap’s greatest sidekick and successor. Bucky would have been better actually dying in Fear Itself and staying dead, because it’s all been downhill from there.
4) Captain America
So, this one is going to be controversial, but I’m going for it. Steve Rogers’s death in Captain America (Vol. 5) #25 was the perfect ending for the character and nothing that’s been done since with the character has honestly been worth it. Captain America (Vol. 5) is the home of Ed Brubaker’s amazing run. One of the best parts about Brubaker’s run was the feelings of realism it had. Sure, it revolved around a guy in a skull mask taking over the body of a Russian general and then having a Nazi psychologist brainwash Cap’s girlfriend into killing him, but there was something grounded about the way the story portrayed Captain America. Cap’s death seemed pretty bulletproof, honestly; he was shot as he was taken to trial for his actions in Civil War. It honestly looked like Marvel actually meant to keep Cap dead, with Bucky earning the mantle of Captain America. However, it was later revealed that Red Skull had dropped Cap into some kind of time prison, where he somehow survived multiple gunshots wounds to the stomach. It honestly kind of felt like Brubaker actually planned on keeping Steve dead, and when Marvel told him to bring the character back, he decided to do it in the most insane, nonsensical way possible. Since then, there really haven’t been many Steve Rogers story in the 616 Marvel Universe that can stand with Brubaker’s run. We all love Steve Rogers as Captain America, but let’s be real for a second — his death was perfect for him as a character, and nothing done with Steve since his return was worth ruining that.
3) Daken
Wolverine’s son Daken was a very interesting addition to Wolverine’s story. Daken was raised as a weapon against Wolverine by Romulus, and his hatred for his father saw him go to some pretty violent extremes to try to kill Wolverine. As Daken got more popular, Marvel hit the redemption button, and he became a member of the little family composed of Wolverine, Laura Kinney, and Gabby in the Krakoa Era. It was nice to see Wolverine make up for the years of not being in Daken’s life, and the character became better than ever. And then he was brutally murdered by Sabretooth in “Sabretooth War”. It set the stakes of that story extremely high, and gave Wolverine a whole new reason to want to kill Sabretooth. However, Marvel can never enough Wolverines and Wolverine adjacent characters, so he was resurrected as Hellverine, a fusion of Wolverine and Ghost Rider. Hellverine looks cool, but there’s really no reason for Daken to come back. Marvel is almost certainly going to drop him in the cycle of hating his father and redemption over and over again, and his death at Sabretooth’s hands was the best thing that could happen to him.
2) Jean Grey
Jean Grey is one of the most important X-Men. Jean was the first female member of the team, and her possession by the Phoenix Force gave Marvel its greatest story ever, “The Dark Phoenix Saga”. Her death was a huge moment in the history of the X-Men, but was undone years later. Since then, Jean Grey has died multiple times, with her latest major death coming at the hands of Xorneto in “Planet X”. In this case, it’s really about taking your pick about which time that Jean Grey should have stayed dead. Her death in “The Dark Phoenix Saga” was a watershed moment not only for Jean, but for the entire team. Bringing her back takes away a lot of the narrative heft of that classic story. Her death in “Planet X” brought even more change to the X-Men, especially Cyclops. Cyclops became a much better character after Jean’s death, and a big reason why was Emma Frost becoming his girlfriend. This never could have happened with Jean Grey still alive. Since her resurrection in 2018, nothing interesting has been done with the character. Sure, it was cool to see her again, but she’s back to being one of Marvel’s most overpowered heroes as Phoenix, and other than X-Men Red (Vol. 1), nothing has been with the character that warranted bringing her back. This is hard to say as an X-Men fan, but Jean Grey was definitely better off dead several times.
1) Peter Parker
Spider-Man has been a mess since “One More Day”, but Marvel gave us an out. Doctor Octopus was able to take over Peter’s body, becoming the Superior Spider-Man. This was one of the few actually beloved Spider-Man stories since “One More Day” dropped, and it honestly would have been better for everyone if Peter had stayed dead. Let’s be real for a second — other than the latest volume of The Ultimate Spider-Man, Peter Parker’s stories haven’t been all that great; quite the opposite honestly. Doc Ock as Spider-Man was awesome, and while I wouldn’t say that they should have kept Ock as Spider-Man forever, it was a cool change. Marvel could have had Miles take Peter’s place as Spider-Man after Secret Wars (2015), or even earlier honestly, and it would have been better for everyone, especially the Spider-Man fandom.
What Marvel heroes do you think should have stayed dead? Sound off in the comments below.
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