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

12. Rambo - First Blood

The Original Plan

In the novel that First Blood is based on, John Rambo crowns his bloody last stand, by initially deciding to commit suicide with a stick of dynamite. He changes his mind, deciding for a more honourable "suicide by cop", only to accidentally mortally wound his target and discover he is too weak to light the fuse and carry out his original plan. To his satisfaction, he's killed anyway by a special forces captain.

It was the right way to do it, and a fitting end to a broken character's arc, and the film was originally going to go a similar way, with Rambo begging Colonel Trautman (a different version of his killer in the book) to kill him. The death scene was even filmed...

What Happened Instead?

Luckily for fans of the increasingly terrible sequels (aside from 2008's Rambo, which is actually pretty good), Stallone recognised the potential for a franchise, so he changed the ending and Rambo lived on to be sprung from prison in the second film for a special mission.

The character has grown into such a brand that the next step will see a reboot without any involvement from Stallone.