10 Marvel Movie Characters We All Thought Were Dead

8. Pepper Potts

In Iron Man 3, Aldrich Killian kidnaps Pepper Potts and subjects her to the Extremis procedure in order to gain Tony Stark's help in fixing its flaws (i.e. Pepper would likely die without Stark helping Killian to fix the problems with Extremis). During the final battle of the movie, when Stark and Rhodey head to the abandoned rig to save the President and Pepper, he discovers that Pepper has survived the Extremis procedure. However, before Stark can get her to safety, the rig collapses beneath her and she falls a hell of a long way in to a fiery abyss. She is assumed dead and Stark is devastated. Angered, Stark fights Killian and traps him in one of his suits before making it self destruct. This doesn't kill Killian and, when the villain re-emerges and is about to finish Stark off, Pepper appears out of nowhere - her Extremis abilities having allowed her to survive the fall - and kills Killian once and for all.