13 Iconic Movie Characters Who Were Supposed To Die (But Didn't)

3. Riggs - Lethal Weapon 2

The Original Plan

Back well before he was trying to kill off Happy Hogan, Shane Black was just a Hollywood writer making a name for himself with confident, entertaining scripts. He was originally given the job of following up the hugely popular Lethal Weapon, and wrote a treatment - titled Play Dirty - which was sadly rejected by the studio for being too dark and broody.

It's worst crime, apparently, was killing off Mel Gibson's Martin Riggs and having him die in Sergeant Roger Murtaugh's (Danny Glover) arms in a poetic, but also devastating moment.

What Happened Instead?

Unfortunately, despite people loving the script, the studio wanted to make more sequels, and killing off Riggs was a pretty big obstacle to that agenda. They also wanted more comedy, rather than the heroic act of Riggs dying to save Murtaugh and his family, which would probably have barely raised a chuckle.

Black refused to rewrite it, feeling he'd failed the producers and offered to return his pay (which his agent talked him out of eventually), but a completely different rewrite was put together with more comedy and major changes to Riggs as a character.