9 Movie Characters That Deserved Better
9. Saruman - Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
It's a testament to Peter Jackson's near-immaculate Lord of the Rings trilogy, that you don't actively realise Saruman's death was TERRIBLY handled, until you start thinking about it.
Despite being a major force of evil and conjurer of expensive set-pieces in Fellowship of the Ring, alongside commanding an Uruk-Hai army in Two Towers to the battle of Helm's Deep, Return of the King's theatrical cut just... doesn't feature him.
Outside of a line from Gandalf that exclaims his power is "no more", you actually have to journey back to Two Towers to realise his "final scene" is the one where he's left sitting inside the tower of Orthanc.
Heading into Return of the King's deleted scenes reveals Peter Jackson did shoot a death scene for Saruman where the white wizard falls from the tower after being stabbed by Grima Wormtongue, only to be buried at the bottom of a nearby body of water.
Peter Jackson noted that originally this was supposed to go at the close of Two Towers, only to hold it back for the opening of Return of the King, and then decide that it didn't "work" in terms of pacing for that movie overall.
The result is the fate of one of Hollywood's most iconic villains almost being left open to interpretation.