As the X-Men are among Marvel’s most iconic characters, it’s unsurprising that their stories have been adapted many times onto the screen. After the massive popularity of X-Men: The Animated Series in the 1990s, Fox created a live-action movie franchise featuring Marvel’s mutants, with several other animated TV shows also following. The full timeline of X-Men movies and TV shows has seen many beloved characters adapted, with some even going through multiple on-screen incarnations over the years. Naturally, these adaptations have made use of the wealth of source material from the comics, bringing several different narrative arcs to life in both live-action and animation.
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Much like the comics have had some shocking X-Men deaths, the movies adapted from them have featured heroes meeting their end. Often, this makes for incredibly sad viewing, especially when it serves as the emotional endpoint to a beloved character’s narrative arc. While many of the following are sad for incredibly different reasons, each of them gave us reason to feel an immense sense of loss upon viewing.
10) Cyclops – X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Although Cyclops had some great X-Men movie moments, they were relatively few and far between. The original trilogy of X-Men movies introduced James Marsden’s iteration of the iconic X-Man, but he was always missing a few of his most important attributes. This ultimately led to his underwhelming death in X-Men: The Last Stand feeling especially sad, not just because of the nature of the scene but because it marked a sense of finality in how poorly the movie franchise had handled one of the best X-Men characters.
9) Morph – X-Men: The Animated Series
For the most part, the characters of X-Men: The Animated Series became truly iconic due to the show’s popularity. The same can’t be said of Morph, though he is remembered for his abrupt and unexpected death in the show. Considering he had been billed as a main character in the show and that the series was aimed at a younger audience, Morph’s death hit incredibly hard. It was a dark moment that established X-Men: The Animated Series as a bold adaptation of the Marvel Comics characters, and even decades later, Morph’s death in the show stands as an especially shocking and upsetting X-Men moment.
8) Jean Grey – X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
It’s common knowledge that Fox’s X-Men movies mishandled the Dark Phoenix saga, and in doing so, wasted a great Marvel story. Even so, Jean Grey’s death in X-Men: The Last Stand carries some real emotional heft, as it was an incredibly intense payoff to a story that had been built across a trilogy of movies. The scene sees Wolverine realise he’s the only one capable of killing Jean, forcing him to battle his way toward her in order to kill the woman he loves. The pair’s final moments together are touching, and the painful moment of sacrifice still stands out as one of the most powerful Wolverine scenes in any X-Men movie.
7) Charles Xavier – X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Although Professor X has died many times in Marvel movies, his first big-screen death remains one of the most memorable. The founder of the X-Men first died on-screen in X-Men: The Last Stand, when a confrontation with a Phoenix Force-infused Jean Grey went awry. Seeing Xavier blasted into dust by his powerful former student was a pretty shocking moment, especially considering the ways in which he was attempting to help her acclimate to her new abilities. As such, it’s a very sad scene, even if it proved not to be a permanent death.
6) Darwin – X-Men: First Class (2011)
Another X-Men movie death that stands out as sad for all the wrong reasons came in 2011’s X-Men: First Class. Darwin was introduced as one of Xavier’s first students and a member of his first team of heroes. The supposedly invincible Darwin was described as being able to instantly evolve to survive any threat, but the movie sees him meet his match in the form of Sebastian Shaw. Shortly after meeting Darwin, Shaw manages to short-circuit his power with a huge blast of energy, shockingly killing the mutant in front of his friends. It’s a moment that’s sad from the perspective of Darwin’s own confidence leading up to his death, but it’s even sadder considering how unearned and pointless the character’s death really was.
5) Jean Grey – X2 (2003)
Jean Grey is one of the most overpowered characters in the X-Men movies, as evidenced by the huge power upgrade she gets when imbued with the Phoenix Force. The powerful telepath first died on the big screen in 2003’s X2, with the movie’s thrilling final moments seeing her sacrifice herself to save her fellow X-Men. The moment of realization from Cyclops that Jean didn’t intend to survive is a powerful one, and it makes Jean’s first movie death an emotional gut-punch that we still haven’t gotten over.
4) Mystique – Dark Phoenix (2019)
2019’s Dark Phoenix was intended to deliver a better adaptation of the Marvel Comics story of the same name, and while it ultimately failed at that task, it did give us one of the most tragic moments in the entire X-Men movie franchise. After having proved to be one of the best X-Men from the Marvel movies, Mystique was shockingly killed in a confrontation with the Phoenix. Her death was a moment of genuine tragedy that fed into an interesting subtext of Charles Xavier’s exploitation of his team, making it an emotional and unexpected farewell to a great character.
3) Gambit – X-Men ‘97
When it comes to the X-Men’s TV history, Gambit’s death in X-Men ’97 is one of the most shocking and tragic moments of all time. The beloved X-Man sacrificing himself in battle against the Sentinels to protect his fellow mutants was poignant and deeply emotional. One of the most shocking moments in X-Men ’97‘s first season by far, Gambit’s death was an upsetting development that saw a fan-favorite character make his seemingly permanent exit in the most heroic and touching way imaginable.
2) Wolverine – Logan (2017)
Logan is known as the Marvel movie that gave a perfect ending to one of the most iconic movie superheroes in the modern era. The 2017 movie saw the titular X-Man finally meet his end after a long and hard-fought life, engaging in one final battle to protect the daughter he didn’t know he had. It’s Logan’s final moments that make the death such an incredibly moving scene, as he embraces his end with grace and resignation. Though the death was later undone, it remains one of the best examples in the history of X-Men movies.
1) Charles Xavier – Logan (2017)
In terms of narrative weight, Charles Xavier’s death in Logan doesn’t come anywhere close to Wolverine’s. However, in terms of how upsetting and tragic it is, it takes the top spot, particularly due to the nature of Xavier’s death. Believing he was talking to Logan, Xavier voices his final thoughts of regret, remorse, and gratitude, only to realise that it was in fact X-24 standing over him. The scene is punctuated with X-24 sinking his claws into Xavier, giving the former Professor X an ending that robbed Logan of any closure regarding his one-time mentor.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics -
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