10 TV Characters Killed Right In Their Prime
3. Cottonmouth - Luke Cage
Considering their current run, it is tough to say that Marvel have made many mistakes with their properties recently but the death of Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes in Luke Cage certainly feels like one of their biggest mis-steps. Not least because it stripped the show of standout talent, and multiple Oscar winner, Mahershala Ali; but also because he was a deeply intriguing and original villain.
One of the strangest elements of this one comes in the fact that the episode before he's so pointlessly tossed through a window, we are actual given an episode dedicated almost entirely to Cottonmouth's backstory. We're given a glimpse into what makes and motivates the man and we're all the more intrigued by him for it. It feels a deeply wasted opportunity not least of all considering the drastic drop in quality the rest of the show suffered after.
The opening half of Luke Cage was as strong as anything Marvel had done, and it owed so much of that to a well-written, believable villain acted by a man at the peak of his powers. There can be no doubt the show would have thrived with his continued presence.