8 Sequels That Killed Off Heroes In Minutes

Imagine fighting tooth and nail to survive in a film. People are dying left and right, the stakes have simply never been higher, but somehow it happens. Everyone looks to be in the clear but then it happens; a sequel comes along and all bets are off.

Tinsel town has a long and illustrious history of killing beloved characters off. On a fundamental level, it is what makes audiences care about characters in the first place. They are endearing specifically because they could be gone at any moment, without stakes, cinema would be little more than images of light on a blank canvas. So to give movies that necessary sense of danger and properly invest the audiences, characters must die.

When this works best is generally when a character is given a fond farewell. Think Spock in The Wrath of Khan, in which that character is present for the full film and then gets to have a hero's send-off as he gives his own life to save countless others.

But sometimes, a character doesn't get a full movie of action before receiving their send-off. Sometimes, a primary protagonist from a prior film dies within minutes of showing up. Whether it be for scheduling conflicts with the actor, 'creative differences', or the sequel simply not having any use for the character, this has become Tinsel Town's go-to way to shock. Sometimes it's done well and respectfully and sometimes, it just isn't.

The first two Thor films focus a lot on the shiny, medieval-ish landscape and politics of Asgard. they chronicle Thor's life there, before and after his journeys to Midgard, but one of the constants are the Warriors Three. Comprised of three god warriors (Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun, for all five of you out there who care enough to know), the group traveled into battle alongside Thor and were some of his best friends, alongside Lady Sif.

They never had huge roles in the films but Thor: Ragnarok took things to a whole 'nother level. Taika Waititi's take on the franchise looked to completely revamp Thor by forcing him through all kinds of conflict. This included destroying his hammer and sending him off to a corner of the galaxy which did not recognize him as a god at all.

So naturally, when Hela shows up in Asgard and takes over, the Warriors Three stand against her. Two of them are immediately sliced down, with nary a line between them, as soon as she shows up. The third, Hogun(if you still care), gets to play a bit part in a later action sequence and does get to share some dialogue with Hela, but he too is quickly struck down.

All total, the characters appear on screen for less than three minutes of the film.