9 Actors Who Begged For Their Movie Characters To Die

By Simon Gallagher / June 3, 2022

7. James Marsden - X-Men: The Last Stand

Why He Wanted To Die

When Bryan Singer left X-Men: The Last Stand to go and make Superman Returns, it didn't matter to James Marsden that Matthew Vaughn had been hired to replace him (though he'd eventually drop out too for Brett Ratner), he wasn't interested.

He asked for his character to be killed off and the studio were more than happy, particularly when Marsden's availability dropped thanks to his schedule working with Singer on Superman Returns.

How It Happened

Given the context, we might have a little more explanation for why Cyclops - the former leader of the group who ends up being cuckolded by Wolverine and sidelined entirely - is literally just exploded off-screen by his former girlfriend. You don't do that to people you like.