4 Dead Marvel Characters That Can Never Come Back (Even Though They’ve Tried)

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As a lifelong comic book and movie fan, I’ve always been fascinated by how Marvel changed the game with death in their stories. Before them, it felt like heroes rarely stayed dead. There’d be a lot of dramatic ‘is he or isn’t he?’ moments, but they’d almost always pull a last-minute save. Side characters were generally safe, and major players were practically immortal. Marvel took a risk by actually letting significant heroes, villains, and supporting characters die, and showing the real impact those deaths had on everyone else. It made the stakes feel so much higher. Of course, once death became a real possibility, bringing characters back to life became a pretty common plot device too!

Bringing characters back from the dead can be exciting, but it doesn’t always work out. Sometimes a character’s death has too much meaning, or they simply weren’t compelling enough to begin with, no matter how important they seemed. Occasionally, replacements end up being stronger. Marvel recently tried to revive four heroes, but in hindsight, it was a mistake – each return failed for different reasons.

4) Human Torch I

Many Marvel heroes aren’t famous, but one of the most significant is the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond. He was an android who could turn into a powerful being that controlled fire. As one of Marvel’s earliest characters, he fought alongside Captain America and even teamed up with his old foe, Namor, against the Nazis. Remarkably, Jim Hammond was the one who defeated Hitler, making him a truly important superhero. Marvel has repeatedly tried to revive Jim in the main comic universe (known as 616), but these attempts haven’t really succeeded. A major reason is that he’s quite old – 86 years old, to be exact – and his most memorable adventures happened a long time ago. While it’s fun to see him in flashbacks or, like in his recent appearance in The Ultimates (Vol. 3), be reminded of how awesome he is, Marvel hasn’t been able to bring the original Human Torch back to the forefront in modern stories.

3) Silver Fox

The 1990s were a significant period for the Wolverine character. In 1991, the story “Weapon X” revealed the origins of his adamantium skeleton and the program that created it. The Wolverine comic series (Vol. 2) then explored how the program used manipulation – even creating elaborate sets and scenarios – to implant false memories. A key moment in issue #50 showed Wolverine revisiting a bar with his girlfriend, Silver Fox, a Cherokee woman he’d known in the late 1800s/early 1900s, after she was killed by Sabretooth. The issue shockingly revealed she was still alive, somehow enhanced like a Weapon X subject. This plotline proved to be a misstep. It was later revealed she was either a clone or an impostor, and she died again. The story felt forced and was ultimately abandoned, serving only as a momentary shock and having no lasting impact.

2) Thunderbird I

The comic Giant-Size X-Men #1 launched a completely fresh lineup of X-Men heroes, including Thunderbird. John Proudstar was an Apache mutant with incredible strength, speed, stamina, and heightened senses. However, his abilities were somewhat similar to those already possessed by teammates like Colossus and Wolverine, and he had a fiery temper. Soon after Chris Claremont began writing X-Men, he made the controversial decision to kill off Thunderbird, aiming to demonstrate the real dangers the X-Men faced. The character remained deceased for many years.

James, John’s brother, later appeared with similar abilities and became known as Warpath. He surpassed John in many ways and was given the opportunity to develop as a character, eventually joining the X-Men. John, originally Thunderbird, was brought back to life during the Krakoa Era thanks to Scarlet Witch’s creation of Elysium Fields, which allowed for the resurrection of mutants who died before Xavier began backing up their minds. However, Marvel hasn’t really done much with him since his return, and it hasn’t quite worked out. Warpath has essentially become the character John should have been, making John’s resurrection feel unnecessary. Though, the Giant-Size X-Men: Thunderbird story, written by Native wrestler Nyla Rose, was excellent, and perhaps a series led by her could have improved the character’s trajectory.

1) Captain Marvel I/Mar-Vell

The original Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, was Marvel’s first cosmic superhero. Equipped with incredible powers – super strength, speed, invulnerability, flight, and energy manipulation – thanks to special bands called the Nega-Bands, he was closely linked to the classic Marvel sidekick, Rick Jones. Many consider him Marvel’s version of Superman: an alien who came to Earth, became its protector, and genuinely cared for humanity. He was incredibly popular with readers in the late 60s and 70s, and even served as Thanos’s initial arch-enemy. Writer and artist Jim Starlin significantly developed the character, but Marvel and Starlin made the surprising decision to let him die. The story, told in Marvel Graphic Novel: The Death of Captain Marvel, revealed Mar-Vell was battling a form of cancer contracted during a fight with the villain Nitro. His death was deeply moving and remains one of the most powerful and memorable death stories in comic book history.

Marvel has repeatedly attempted to revive Mar-Vell over the years, with varying degrees of success. These attempts have ranged from ghostly apparitions and a Skrull impersonator who genuinely believed he was Mar-Vell, to time-lost versions forced to repeat his death. While the Earth X trilogy featured a future resurrection (and was generally well-received), most of these revivals haven’t worked because Mar-Vell’s original death was so powerful and meaningful that bringing him back diminishes his legacy.

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2025-11-10 22:15