10 Movies That Weren’t Brave Enough To Kill The Main Character

10. Kirk - Star Trek Into Darkness

As much as Captain Kirk's death in the reboo-quel was an homage to Spock's similar fate in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, it positively reeks of a missed opportunity. Not least because it turned out the last thing fans wanted was an inferior rehash of a franchise high. When Kirk dies saving the Enterprise, enduring a fatal dose of radiation whilst reigniting its warp core, he is literally brought back to life within the span of about fifteen minutes thanks to a dose of John Harrison's special blood (that's not Khan; don't make me call him Khan). For comparison, Spock's resurrection in the The Search For Spock took an entire film's plot.

It could have instead been a bold move on the part of Abrams and Paramount to leave the cocky Captain dead; the stakes in the film's story would have become a lot more immediate and real, and a precedent for the rest of the series would have been set - the implication that none of your favourite characters are ever truly safe. It's not exactly as if the franchise hinged on Chris Pine's involvement either, as he's never had the kind of star power to draw in millions more viewers from his face and name alone, so they were probably safe in giving him the axe. The third entry would have marched on regardless. Instead, we got a last-minute resurrection that everyone expected anyway because we've seen these revivals before and if audiences are used to the idea of death not being the end, what's the point in showing Kirk dying here? Why go through the rigmarole of it all in the first place? Had they left Kirk dead, we could've entered a new, uncertain phase in Hollywood blockbusters not seen since Terminator 2: Judgement Day, where we can never be sure that our heroes aren't going to bite the bullet.