7 Movie Sequels That Killed an Important Character Too Early

There are quite a few examples of third movies in long-running franchises that, in one of their earliest scenes, killed off a character who was important in one or both of the movies that preceded it. Sometimes, this is done well – e.g., in a certain Avengers movie. But, more often than not, this occurs in the final entry of a trilogy. And, when it does, it’s a sign that this trilogy-capper is going to be far worse than the movies that preceded it. It’s an easy way of telling the audience that this third film has higher stakes than movies one and two, but also to lower their expectations. What follows is a list of movies that fit in both categories. Some work, some don’t, but they’re all major character deaths that occur early on in a third movie.

Avengers: Infinity War

A massive box office success and one of the best MCU films to date, the ultra-ambitious Avengers: Infinity War kicks off with a gut-punch. Thanos’ snapping of Loki’s neck (and subsequent dispatching of Heimdall) tells the audience that this is going to be a grimmer adventure for the Avengers, one that, by film’s end, will kill quite a few of the viewer’s favorite heroes.

Of course, Loki ended up coming back. Not only did he get his own TV series, but he’s also scheduled to appear in Avengers: Doomsday. Granted, it’s not the exact same Loki that Thanos killed, but even still, this was a pair of early deaths that really shook viewers up.

Beverly Hills Cop III

Before the good (but not great) Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F rolled around it sure looked like the bland and watered-down Beverly Hills Cop III was the end for Axel Foley. John Landis is known for helming some of the ’80s’ best comedies, from The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London to Trading Places and Coming to America, but one would never know it watching the third Beverly Hills Cop. It’s odd that Beverly Hills Cop III is such a slog, given how Landis and Eddie Murphy collaborated on those latter two comedy classics, but that’s exactly the case.

While the action-focused second film had a script that was inferior to the first film’s energetic screenplay, it still wasn’t as much as a drop as the one seen between the second and third films. Murphy looks bored out of his mind, clearly aware that he’s making a lesser film. He’s not even playing the same Axel Foley from the previous two movies: this Foley is serious, driven. And, in the beginning, the superior officer who chewed him out at every opportunity in the previous two movies, Inspector Todd, is murdered by the main villain. So, the already too-serious Foley becomes even more of a generic, revenge-seeking movie cop, which doesn’t at all gel with the film’s theme park locale.

Blade: Trinity

In order to make room for Whistler’s daughter, those behind Blade: Trinity apparently had to knock off Whistler himself. The dynamic between Kris Kristofferson’s Abraham Whistler and Wesley Snipes’ Blade was a solid element of the first two films, and Blade: Trinity tried to get more butts in seats by adding Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds to the poster. It didn’t work out. In fact, it led to Trinity having one of the more difficult superhero movie productions to date.

The late Kirstofferson was a multi-hyphenate with terrific onscreen presence, and he was put to good use in the first two movies. But, in Trinity, he’s killed off almost immediately. Blade is framed for murdering a human familiar, at which point FBI agents raid Whistler and Blade’s hideout. As far as narrative structure it is, of course, there to spark Blade into action and give him a personal reason to take down Dracula. But it just plays as an attempt to up the stakes in the hollowest way possible. Admittedly, there wasn’t much Whistler could do in a third film he hadn’t already done in the first two, but it all reeks of clearing the way so Biel’s character could get involved and so she and Reynolds could have as much screentime as possible.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

Yes, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is the sixth installment of the Halloween franchise, but it’s always been an IP with a tricky timeline. Danielle Harris’ little Jamie Lloyd is, as mentioned, the protagonist of both Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. Then, in Curse, she’s about a decade older, recast, gives birth, and is immediately impaled against a wall. It’s an extremely anticlimactic end for the character, and the rest of the movie never recovers, even with a young Paul Rudd as the lead.

[RELATED: This 1980s Alien Horror Movie Will Probably Scar You for Life (And It’s Almost Impossible to Watch)]

RoboCop 3

Even factoring in the utter disappointment of a remake, most fans consider RoboCop 3 to be the nadir of the franchise. Some bad third movies have their merits here and there, but RoboCop 3 isn’t one of them – save for the presence of actress CCH Pounder, even if she doesn’t last long.

Pounder’s character lasts longer than Karen Allen’s Officer Anne Lewis, though. An integral part of Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop and its 1990 sequel, Officer Lewis was a character who deserved far better than she received in the third film. She was a part of both the action sequences and the only person who was there for (and with) Alex Murphy from the beginning. She’s knocked off by Paul McDaggett as she’s trying to prevent him and his brutal security force from attacking low-income civilians. Like the vast majority of the other entries on this list, it’s a death solely there within the narrative to incentivize the protagonist to go after a particular antagonist. In other words, an unsatisfying end to what was before an interesting if secondary character arc.

Scream 3

Liev Schreiber’s Cotton Weary was only seen on a television in the original Scream, but his presence was heavily felt. He was the man accused of killing the protagonist’s mother when, in fact, it was the duo currently running around in Ghostface masks. His real time to shine was in Scream 2, when he repeatedly attempts to get Sidney Prescott to go on Diane Sawyer’s show with him (thus setting him up as a wronged, rightly angry potential suspect).

But Weary never wore the Ghostface mask. He was, overall, a decent man. He did, however, meet his end by someone wearing a Ghostface mask right at the beginning of Scream 3. This is an example of a trilogy-capper that is weaker than the two movies before it, but in all honesty Weary’s death works as a way to kickstart the narrative.

X-Men: The Last Stand

James Marsden’s Cyclops was the most underutilized primary character of the original X-Men Trilogy. He had a fun, contentious thing going with Wolverine in the first film, but went the ‘hypnotized by the villain’ route in the second film. Then, in Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand, he’s killed off within the first half hour – worse yet, it’s at the hands of Jean Grey, the center of his love triangle with Wolverine. She stands there, resurrected from Alkali Lake with glowing eyes and new red hair, he talks to her for a few moments, they kiss, and the life is sucked out of him. That’s Cyclops’ entire role in The Last Stand; he’s gloomy about Jean, he gets on his motorcycle to go to Jean’s site of death, meets the resurrected Jean, and is killed by resurrected Jean. It’s as if they just needed a character to first discover she was alive, and he was the one with whom she had the closest personal connection.

Audiences haven’t gotten much of an opportunity to get closure with Cyclops since his unceremonious departure, either. He did have a brief cameo in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which helped, but here’s hoping that hole will be filled now that he’s set to appear in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.