15 Greatest Heroic Sacrifices In Comic Book Movies

6. Superman - Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice

If you were taking bets for the end of Batman v Superman - particularly after the reveal of Zack Snyder's version of Doomsday in the film's marketing - you wouldn't have offered particularly long odds on Superman biting the big one. The sombre tone and the attack on his mythology (as a danger to humanity) meant that he had to die for his symbolism to be restored.

And yet still, the sight of a bona-fide comic book icon laying down his life to save a planet that had castigated him as an invading alien threat and the key to Earth's future spiral into a dystopian wasteland was still incredibly memorable. His fight with Doomsday might not have quite lived up to the huge billing expected by comic book fans, but his messianic death and the emotional burial scenes stick packed an almighty punch.

Quite how it ends up playing out in Justice League remains to be seen, but the Doomsday story - no matter how poorly transformed - needed to end with Superman dying for the good of the Earth. And it genuinely did land with the right blend of emotion and occasion.