10 Most Tragic Deaths In The History Of Comic Book Movies

10. General Zod (Man Of Steel)

Arguably the single most controversial death scene in superhero movie history, General Zod's surprisingly violent demise helped Man Of Steel pack an emotional third-act punch that many other, more breezy comic-book adaptations just plain lack. Of course, he's a villain, so his death was to be expected to a certain degree, but the ramifications this scene has not just for one man, but for an entire species, help elevate it above most.

After destroying the Kryptonian's terraforming world engine, Superman and Zod end up fighting in a downtrodden subway station. Superman quickly grabs Zod in a chokehold, and before the villain's laser-eyes can incinerate an unfortunate trio of innocent civilians, Supes snaps his neck, saving the humans but murdering the only other surviving member of his race. And you thought you'd had some bad days at the office.

Superman knows he has to stop Zod, but deep down, he doesn't want to - would you kill the last human on Earth to save a couple of innocent animals? As a result, we feel his internal struggle; we know that if Zod dies, Krypton is essentially lost, but at the same time, we don't want to see any innocent bystanders get blown away. This scene personified the largely divisive reaction to Zack Snyder's superhero reboot, and whether you enjoyed the movie or hated it, the fact that Zod's death caused such a stir means that it did something right.

And there's another, slightly more meta reason why this death is tragic too - Zod's corpse led to the creation of the widely-panned, ninja-turtle-lookalike Doomsday in Batman v Superman's third-act. Thanks, Superman.