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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Marvel, MCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thanos
Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy..Thanos (voiced by Josh Brolin)..Ph: Film Frame..©Marvel 2014

20. Drax Kills Thanos

Comic book: Annihilation

A fun fact about Drax, he wasn’t always a green guy who doesn’t wear a shirt. Drax the Destroyer was reintroduced as a different character leading up to Annihilation. This is where readers discover that he was reengineered to kill Thanos. During Annihilation, he was able to complete his mission. Once Drax catches up to Thanos, he punches the Mad Titan’s heart through his chest.

Drax may not have been this dominant since. Nevertheless, neither Thor nor the Hulk can say they dominated Thanos like this.

19. Daken kills Punisher

Comic book: Dark Reign: The List – Punisher

The Punisher’s war against the worst criminals is a duty he takes pride in, but even Frank Castle has his breaking point. At the beginning of Dark Reign: The List – Punisher, Frank thought about his wife and meeting her in Heaven. He called it a beautiful lie.

As he’s thinking, Norman Osborn sends H.AM.M.E.R. after him. With them is Wolverine’s son, Akihiro(who was posing as Wolverine for Norman Osborn). Their encounter ends with Akihiro decapitating Frank, removing his limbs, and kicking him.

Frank’s death was shocking. No one who read this thought that Punisher would actually be killed. Definitely not like this. Unfortunately, this didn’t lead to anything good. The next time Punisher was seen he was Franken-Castle. This was not Marvel’s proudest moment.