Summary
- Fakeout deaths in pop culture can be predictable, but unexpected returns create shock value.
- Surprise character revivals work best when the storyline hasn’t been overwhelmed by resurrections.
- Resurrections or death fakeouts in movie franchises can intrigue viewers and make plot twists more engaging.
Fakeout deaths have become mildly predictable in pop culture, but some recent as well as older movies have managed to pull off shocking returns for characters the audience believed to be dead. Fantasy and sci-fi movie franchises feature characters who keep dying and coming back across many sequels, which usually results in the predictability element. If a series has established that resurrection and fakeout deaths are possible, the audience will expect it to happen again, so the writers don’t have to let go of a fan-favorite.
Unexpected deaths in movies provoke shock, but if the audience fully buys the character’s death, their subsequent return will be even better. However, the shock value may be due to the franchise having not yet become overwhelmed with resurrections. It is always possible that missing or dead characters will return in Fast 11 or the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie because of these franchises’ reputations for resurrections. Yet movies can still (rarely) create an effective fakeout death through unconventional storytelling.
Related 10 Horror Movie Characters Who Survived Certain-Death Situations
Horror movies tend to feature surprise survivals, but there are some characters who seem to live through situations that should’ve ended in death.
10 Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich)
Scream (1996)
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Billy puts on a good show of being a protective boyfriend throughout Scream. There is also no indication that more than one person is involved in the charade of Ghostface. Therefore, when Ghostface crashes into the bedroom and stabs Billy, his death is pretty convincing. No one else has survived being attacked by Ghostface, and Sidney runs for her life.
Billy surprisingly reappears shortly after, pretending to only be wounded, before leading into one of the most iconic villain twists in movie history. He reveals that he killed Sidney’s mother in revenge for breaking up his parents’ marriage and that Stu is his accomplice, allowing for a lot of misdirection and for Billy to fake his own death. This has become a soft tradition for the Scream franchise, as Ghostface has faked their death three times total in all the movies — but none are as shocking as the first time.
Scream RCrimeHorrorMystery Where to Watch
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Wes Craven flips the horror-slasher genre on its head with the 1996 release of Scream, the first in the long-running franchise. The residents of Woodsboro discover a series of murders are being committed by a dangerous ghost mask-wearing killer with an obsession for classic horror movies. To survive, a group of high school students, a reporter, and a town deputy will have to subvert horror expectations and stay one step ahead of the killer.
Director Wes Craven Release Date December 20, 1996 Writers Kevin Williamson Cast Drew Barrymore , Kevin Patrick Walls , David Booth , Carla Hatley , Neve Campbell , Skeet Ulrich Runtime 111 minutes
9 Baymax (Scott Adsit)
Big Hero 6 (2014)
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A lot of Big Hero 6 is about Hiro coming to terms with his brother’s death, which is why it would make sense for the story to end with him losing Baymax as well. Baymax is Hiro’s brother’s creation — another part of him Hiro doesn’t want to let go of — and his death would underscore how Hiro has learned to rely on his friends while cherishing the memory of Baymax. It’s not completely unbelievable that Disney would sacrifice Baymax in the final act of the movie and then end with Hiro continuing to pursue an education in robotics.
The moment the viewer sees the chip in Hiro’s hand, they know that the movie is redirecting to this assured happy ending.
Then it is revealed that Baymax managed to slip Hiro his chip, so Hiro can just build him again, and he will be exactly the same. The moment the viewer sees the chip in Hiro’s hand, they know that the movie is redirecting to this assured happy ending. However, it is still a nice surprise that Hiro gets to keep his new friend after all, as Baymax is too lovable for anyone to want him to stay dead.
Big Hero 6 PGAnimationActionAdventureComedyFamily Where to Watch
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In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Big Hero 6, the child genius Hiro Hamada works with his brother Tadashi’s inflatable robot, Baymax, to assemble a superhero team in the fictional city of San Fransokyo. The titular group of geeky heroes, composed of Honey Lemon, Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, and Fred, help Hiro and Baymax take down a masked villain powered by nanobots.
Director Don Hall , Chris Williams Release Date October 24, 2014 Writers Don Hall , Jordan Roberts , Robert L. Baird , Daniel Gerson , Duncan Rouleau , Steven T. Seagle Cast Ryan Potter , Scott Adsit , Jamie Chung , T.J. Miller , Daniel Henney , Damon Wayans Jr. , Genesis Rodriguez , James Cromwell , Alan Tudyk , Maya Rudolph Runtime 1h 42m
8 Helen Brand (Janelle Monáe)
Glass Onion (2022)
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Knives Out is a franchise that is too realistic to delve into explicit resurrection, but at the time of Glass Onion, it hadn’t yet established what people have come to recognize as its formula. Given Janelle Monáe’s prominence in the advertising, it stands to reason that their character would be important, but she didn’t absolutely have to survive. The most suspicious part of Helen’s “death” is that the movie is only halfway over, but this is solved by restarting the timeline to give Monáe a lot more screen time.
Some keen-eyed audience members might have also noticed moments in the trailers featuring Helen that hadn’t happened yet. However, for the most part, Helen’s death is convincing: She shouldn’t survive a bullet to the chest and there is plenty of “blood” to sell the bit. Yet after the buildup back to her death in the second half of the movie, she just as quickly sits up and reveals her lucky survival.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery PG-13ComedyDramaCrimeMystery Where to Watch
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery follows Detective Benoit Blanc’s continuing detective work in Greece. When tech billionaire Miles Bron invites his friends to his private island, Benoit Blanc must step in to solve the case when one of them is killed.
Director Rian Johnson Release Date December 23, 2022 Writers Rian Johnson Cast Dave Bautista , Daniel Craig , Edward Norton , Janelle Monae , Kathryn Hahn , Leslie Odom Jr. , Jessica Henwick , Madelyn Cline , Kate Hudson , Ethan Hawke Runtime 139 minutes
7 Darth Maul (Ray Park/Sam Witwer)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
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Before all of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Darth Maul’s death was a done deal. Being cut in half and thrown down a shaft should be a guarantee of death. If the viewer had no knowledge of the animated TV show that happened in between Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Solo: A Star Wars Story, Maul’s cameo/return in the latter would have been a completely wild, uncontextualized shock.
Even knowing that Maul was still alive in the Star Wars universe, his appearance in this movie is a surprise. However, Maul also gets his dramatic return in The Clone Wars. Obi-Wan has several duels with Maul across Star Wars, creating a more classic rivalry for one of the original Star Wars characters. Maul becomes embroiled in the various complex storylines of The Clone Wars, including the ultimate lead-up to Order 66.
Solo: A Star Wars Story pg-13 Sci-FiAdventure Where to Watch
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Solo: A Star Wars Story is a spin-off of the Star Wars franchise that focuses on the early years of Han Solo, with Alden Ehrenreich replacing Harrison Ford as the iconic smuggler. The movie explores how Han met Chewbacca, acquired the Millennium Falcon, and became the roguish smuggler fans know and love. Donald Glover brings back Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson plays Tobias Beckett, Emilia Clarke portrays Qi’ra, and Paul Bettany embodies the crime lord Dryden Vos.
Director Ron Howard Release Date May 10, 2018 Writers Jonathan Kasdan , Lawrence Kasdan Cast Alden Ehrenreich , Emilia Clarke , Donald Glover , Woody Harrelson , Phoebe Waller-Bridge , Thandiwe Newton Runtime 135minutes
6 Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
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40 years later, A Nightmare on Elm Street’s ending still doesn’t make complete sense. If one takes what is seen on screen as literal, Nancy does “kill” Freddy Krueger by turning her back on him. Nancy theorizes that if she were able to pull Krueger out of her dream and into the real world, they would be able to kill him. After lighting Krueger on fire and still failing to kill him, Nancy reclaims his power over her, and he evaporates, making it seem like he is dead — for a moment.
Then Krueger reappears in the ending scene, which may just mean Nancy is still stuck in a dream world. The ending to A Nightmare on Elm Street is famously ambiguous, but Krueger being a part of it is necessary to make it so chilling. The hero asserting their own power is a way villains are defeated in other movies, but A Nightmare on Elm Street shocks its audience multiple times with Krueger always returning.
A Nightmare On Elm Street RHorror
Created by legendary horror director Wes Craven, A Nightmare on Elm Street is the first film in the horror-slasher franchise to see Freddy Kruger’s arrival. When a group of teenagers begins having shared nightmares about a mysterious man, they begin dying under supernatural circumstances. The teens seek to identify the murderous and seemingly vengeful man to find a way to stop him before he claims their lives – not knowing that their parents may hold the answers they seek.
Director Wes Craven Release Date November 16, 1984 Writers Wes Craven Cast Heather Langenkamp , Robert Englund , Amanda Wyss , John Saxon , Johnny Depp , Ronee Blakley , Jsu Garcia , Lin Shaye Runtime 91 minutes
Related 13 Most Brutal Deaths In Recent Horror Movies & TV Shows
Horror movies are full of deaths, shocks, and tense moments, but some recent movies and TV shows have upped the brutality in their death scenes.
5 Alex Forrest (Glenn Close)
Fatal Attraction (1987)
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Fatal Attraction is a harrowing psychological thriller, largely due to Glenn Close’s performance of Alex, a married man’s one-night stand who turns out to be a dangerous stalker. Alex latches on to Dan and his family, only becoming more disturbing as the movie goes on. Things culminate in a brutal fight between Alex and Dan, ended by Dan’s wife Beth. However, before this, Dan seems to have succeeded in killing Alex himself.
All Fatal Attraction gets out of this is the jump scare — which is worth it.
Dan holds Alex underwater in a bathtub until she seemingly drowns, and the movie’s constant tension is over. However, there is an electrifying jump scare when Alex quickly sits up and tries to stab Dan again but is shot by Beth. Unlike some horror movies, the fight doesn’t even carry on after the character fakeout death because Alex is immediately killed. All Fatal Attraction gets out of this is the jump scare — which is worth it.
Fatal Attraction RDramaThriller Where to Watch
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Dan Gallagher, a successful lawyer with a seemingly perfect family life, faces unimaginable turmoil after a brief affair with Alex Forrest. Initially, their fling appears to be a momentary lapse in judgment, but Alex’s intense and unstable behavior soon reveals her deep obsession. As Alex’s fixation on Dan grows, she begins to infiltrate his life, threatening his marriage, career, and even his family’s safety.
Director Adrian Lyne Release Date September 18, 1987 Writers James Dearden Cast Michael Douglas , Glenn Close , Anne Archer , Ellen Hamilton Latzen , Stuart Pankin , Ellen Foley Runtime 119 Minutes
4 Regina George (Rachel McAdams)
Mean Girls (2004)
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“And that’s how Regina George died.” Mean Girls’ death fakeout admittedly only lasts a few seconds, but that is why it works. This is not the genre of movie that anyone would expect would include a character’s death and the beat doesn’t last long enough for anyone to process it and call Cady out. Regina getting hit by a bus is brutal, and Cady’s response provokes momentary, horrified shock. She then quickly admits she’s kidding.
With all the over-the-top drama, briefly trying to convince the audience that Regina is dead is the ultimate way to pile on to the chaos. Cady watches the tensions among the girls at her school boil over in a way she didn’t think was possible, where the lines between “girl world” and “animal world” begin to blur. It comes down to her and Regina shouting at each other, the face-off the movie was always leading to before a well-timed bus shatters it all.
Mean Girls (2004) PG-13Comedy
Mean Girls tells the story of Cady (Lindsay Lohan), a teen girl who falls in with the wrong crowd. After returning to the USA after spending her childhood in Africa, Cady infiltrates her school’s group of mean girls, befriending the conniving Regina George (Rachel McAdams) and her cronies. However, Cady finds the high school hierarchy to be far more complicated than she had imagined, drawing her into a game of manipulation and deceit that threatens her reputation.
Director Mark Waters Release Date April 30, 2004 Writers Tina Fey Cast Amy Poehler , Lacey Chabert , Tina Fey , Rachel McAdams , Amanda Seyfried , Lindsay Lohan Runtime 97 minutes
3 Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (2011)
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If moviegoers began Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows with a certain knowledge of Sherlock Holmes history, they might have realized that a death fakeout was coming. However, as the scene plays out in the movie, it highlights exactly how complicated Sherlock Holmes’ “death” is in pop culture because of how convincing it is. Holmes and Moriarty famously fall to their deaths together over Reichenbach Falls, which is faithfully adapted in Game of Shadows.
When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first wrote this, it provoked maybe the first instance of fan outrage, eventually leading Doyle to retcon the event with the reveal that Holmes had faked his death in another story (via BBC). After Game of Shadows shows Holmes falling to a certain death, the movie concludes with a few crazy minutes. Watson is writing the end of Holmes’ story before he begins to suspect the truth, and it is revealed that Holmes did not only survive — he is in the very same room.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows PG-13ActionAdventureMystery Where to Watch
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The second installment in the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movie series, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows stars Robert Downey Jr. as the titular detective, this time battling against his classic nemesis, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris). In the film, Holmes drags a reluctantly Dr. Watson (Jude Law) on a hair-rasing adventure across Europe in hopes of preventing Moriarty’s plans to bring about a world-war-level conflict.
Director Guy Ritchie Release Date December 16, 2011 Writers Kieran Mulroney , Michele Mulroney Cast Robert Downey Jr. , Jude Law , Stephen Fry , Noomi Rapace , Jared Harris , Eddie Marsan , Rachel McAdams , Kelly Reilly Runtime 129 Minutes
2 Han Lue (Sung Kang)
F9 (2021)
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Han is an interesting case because his return was known before the official premiere of F9. However, the saga of the lead-up to his “death” and return and audience engagement with this storyline is also fascinating. Han first appears in the spinoff The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, where he dies in a crash — no strings attached. His role in subsequent Fast & Furious installments prompted a sense of dread among fans, who knew that these movies were acting as prequels in Han’s story and that he eventually would die.
This apparently comes to pass in Furious 7, with the “reveal” that Han’s death was orchestrated by Deckard Shaw. Then, after all this, Han’s death turned out to be another fakeout for Fast & Furious that still hasn’t been completely explained. Like with Letty, Han’s return was advertised ahead of time. However, it probably made for a frustrating surprise when he started turning up in coverage of F9.
F9: The Fast Saga PG-13ActionAdventureCrime Where to Watch
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The Fast family reunites again for the ninth installment in the franchise, F9: The Fast Saga. Dominic Toretto must lead the team against the dangerous Cipher once more, as she has joined forces with an equally dangerous foe named Otto. This covert operative went rogue upon discovering a powerful weapon, Project Aries. Unfortunately for Dom, not all families are as loving and caring, as he’ll soon discover his estranged brother has returned, joining forces with the opposition.
Director Justin Lin Release Date June 25, 2021 Writers Daniel Casey , Justin Lin , Alfredo Botello Cast Vin Diesel , Michelle Rodriguez , Jordana Brewster , Tyrese Gibson , Ludacris , Nathalie Emmanuel , Charlize Theron , John Cena , Sung Kang , Helen Mirren , Lucas Black , Kurt Russell Runtime 143 Minutes
Related 10 Predictable Movie Twists That Everyone Saw Coming
There’s nothing quite like a surprising twist in the final moments of a movie, but sometimes the reveal is clearly evident right from the beginning.
1 Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush)
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
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Captain Barbossa is the classic villain in the classic swashbuckling adventure of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. In service of this, he gets a perfectly executed death in the final battle against the heroes. This was the point in the franchise where it wasn’t yet a running joke that death is always temporary. There was no reason to believe that Barbossa wasn’t the one-off villain of Curse of the Black Pearl who had served his purpose and wouldn’t be coming back.
A lot happens in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest that has absolutely nothing to do with Barbossa, making his return in the final moments of the movie a complete wild card. However, his presence is one of the better parts of the subsequent movies, allowing his dynamics with the other characters to become more nuanced than straightforward animosity. Barbossa gets a great shocking return at the end of Dead Man’s Chest and some valuable scenes afterward, making it one of cinema’s better fakeout deaths.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest PG-13ActionAdventureFantasy Where to Watch
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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is the second installment in the swashbuckling franchise directed by Gore Verbinski. Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow, who must settle a blood debt with the legendary Davy Jones, portrayed by Bill Nighy. As Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) are drawn into Jack’s perilous quest, they face new dangers on the high seas and encounter the fearsome Kraken.
Director Gore Verbinski Release Date July 6, 2006 Writers Ted Elliott , Terry Rossio , Stuart Beattie , Jay Wolpert Cast Johnny Depp , Orlando Bloom , Keira Knightley , Jack Davenport , Bill Nighy , Jonathan Pryce Runtime 151 Minutes
Source: BBC