25 most shocking, brutal, and memorable comic book death scenes

Ben Affleck (Batman / Bruce Wayne) in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Photograph by Courtesy of HBO Max
Ben Affleck (Batman / Bruce Wayne) in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Photograph by Courtesy of HBO Max /
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22. Cyclops kills Charles Xavier

Comic book: Avengers vs X-Men

When the Phoenix Force inhabits a being, they shouldn’t be held responsible for the things they do. Not completely at least. The entity brings out the worst in its host. In this case, Scott Summers (Cyclops) killed Charles Xavier.

This might be the most shocking X-Men death of all time. Not because it was Xavier. Having someone who considered Charles a father was. Adding Cyclops standing over Cyclops’ dead body added more emotion to the moment.

21. Nova Kills Annihilus

Comic book: Annihilation

Marvel Comics. Annihilation was a great and terrible representation of war. It wasn’t just the battles. There was a ton of collateral damage. This included innocent beings, planets that were taken over, and the destruction of the Nova Corps.

The Annihilation Wave was led by Annihilus and wreaked havoc across the universe.  Eventually, Nova (Richard Rider) got a chance to end Annihilus. He shoved his arm down Annihilus’ throat and pulled what appeared to be his heart. Or whatever beings from the negative zone have.

Nova isn’t normally this ruthless. After spending a ton of time fighting a war and seeing people he cared about die, taking out Annihilus the way he did could be justified.