10 Horror Movie Characters Who Died Off-Screen In The Sequel

Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) certainly made for a likeable and sympathetic lead in the original Final Destination - a young man seeing his friends die horrific deaths before his very eyes, all while coming to terms with the fact that Death is coming for him.

The original movie climaxes with Alex and the few other remaining survivors seemingly triumphing over Death, only for Alex's pal Carter (Kerr Smith) to be suddenly crushed by a sign in Paris.

This sequel-baiting ending implies that Alex and fellow survivor Clear (Ali Larter) will return to battle Death in Final Destination 2, but ultimately it's only Clear who returns. Instead, the sequel reveals that Alex was killed by a falling brick after the first movie, making Clear the sole survivor of Flight 180 - at least until she too dies, albeit on-screen, in Final Destination 2's third act.

As for why Devon Sawa didn't return for the sequel? According to the first film's writer Jeffrey Reddick, it was primarily down to scheduling issues. Though Reddick, who developed the sequel's story but didn't write the script, wasn't a fan of the decision to kill Alex, calling it "a big F you."

Reddick's original version of Final Destination 2 would've had Alex return and survive the movie's events while Clear still dies, establishing him as the series' unambiguous protagonist. Shame.

All the same, with a sixth movie currently in the works, would it surprise anyone if Alex was revealed to have somehow survived, with Devon Sawa even making a return?