10 Movie Characters Fans Thought Were Gone for Good but Came Back Anyway

You can’t keep a good character down. Well, a memorable one, at least. After all, dollars must be made and some characters have shown more ability to do so than the vast majority of their contemporaries. But, narratives being what they are, sometimes a big character, whether they’re a hero or villain, has to die.

And, of course, that’s when some extra creativity has to be injected into the narrative. Why? Those pesky dollars. The following films all killed off or in some way did away with a very well-known film character. The question is, when (and how) do they come back?

10 Spock - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is the best of the original run of Star Trek films. And, in fact, it may be the best as a whole. And a big part of that is the villain. But, equally important is the film’s focus on its characters’ emotions. Especially once Spock goes bye-bye.

Spock Returned in the Next Film

It didn’t take long. After all, the subtitle of the following film was The Search for Spock. But, even still, Spock’s death in Wrath of Khan packs a punch all these years later. And it’s such a well-constructed scene that even those with no love for Star Trek have been moved by it. Stream Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on Max.

9 Emperor Palpatine - Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

By this point, it’s hard to fathom that, at one point, there were just three Star Wars films. Two of them were perfect and one of them, while a solid film on its own, was a major disappointment. But, it’s also a darker film (at least in the first half and some of the second) with a few seeming deaths that are important to the IP. That disappointment was Return of the Jedi. But, what’s lost doesn’t always stay that way, and both Palpatine and Boba Fett found their way back into viewers’ hearts and Disney’s wallets.

Somehow, Palpatine Returned in The Rise of Skywalker

Not until Disney got hold of the franchise. On Palpatine’s end, he was awkwardly shoehorned into the utterly forgettable Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As for Boba, things worked out a bit better, but not amazingly. The Book of Boba Fett looks to be a one-off for Disney+, but at least it was entertaining for the most part, and gave the ever-wonderful Temuera Morrison the spotlight for once. Stream Return of the Jedi on Disney+.

8 Jake - Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

Oh, Jaws: The Revenge. It truly is incredible that a franchise film, produced by a major studio with a major studio’s budget, could turn out like this. There isn’t one thing about The Revenge that’s objectively good (though, with the right mindset at 1 AM, it’s all good). There isn’t even one thing about it that makes sense. So the shark swims from Amity Island to the Bahamas…in one night?

How is it capable of doing that at all, regardless of time? Wait, there’s a psychic connection? Wait. No, wait, so the bow of that ship, which is wooden like the remainder, pierces the shark and it…explodes? And, also wait, wasn’t Mario Van Peebles’ character just straight up ripped off that bow in a geyser of blood? And now he’s…fine?

Different Endings for Jake’s Character

Peebles’ Jake is a major part of the film, and that includes the climax when they flash a Radio Shack flashlight at the somehow roaring shark. It also has something to do with soundwaves that irritate the shark…either way, it truly doesn’t matter with Jaws: The Revenge.

So, when does Jake come back? Depends on which version of the film you watch. He either comes up to the surface shortly after being eaten (after the shark’s dead) or not at all. But, the most widely-available version is the one with an inexplicably alive Jake and an inexplicably exploding shark. If only Universal’s relatively recent Blu-ray release had included both versions. Major oversight. Stream Jaws: The Revenge on DIRECTV.

7 Ellen Ripley - Alien³ (1992)

It may not be David Fincher’s best movie, but Alien³ is an underrated entry in the IP’s canon nonetheless. In fact, it’s outright well-aged. This is particularly true when one realizes it killed the character of Ellen Ripley in the most memorable, iconic way possible: self-sacrifice.

She Returns as a Clone in the Fourth Film

Whatever faults one has with the film as a whole, the third Alien is as important for Ripley’s arc as the first and second. She went from survivor, to mother, to grief-consumed, while acting as a hero throughout. And her finale in the third film feels well-earned, whereas her weird, cloned replacement in Alien: Resurrection feels significantly less so, and more like a total cash grab. Stream Alien³ on Hulu.

6 Michael Myers - Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

LL Cool J always got a bad rap as an actor. His range is solid, his likability is to the moon, and he’s humble enough to poke fun at his own image (just see his cameo in 30 Rock for proof). But, his aspiring novelist character in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later is just one aspect of the ’90s Michael Myers reboot that works like a charm. There’s also the smooth pacing, the Joseph Gordon-Levitt meets an ice skate opening, and a game performance from Jamie Lee Curtis. And, by the end of this film, Curtis gets her most satisfying elimination of Michael to date.

Halloween Resurrection Explains it All

Curtis’ Laurie Strode kills Michael more definitively in Halloween Ends, but it also really seems like they were truly intending to kill Michael here. For one, Curtis’ reprisal of her role in Halloween: Resurrection was both negligible at best and a disgrace to the character. It reeks of last-minute writing. Two, her swinging the axe as Michael is pinned against a car by a felled tree is one of the entire IP’s more satisfying moments, and Resurrection‘s explanation of how it wasn’t Michael, but actually a paramedic with his mouth duct taped shut isn’t exactly convincing. Stream Halloween H20: 20 Years Later on Amazon Prime Video.

5 Darth Maul - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Samuel L. Jackson may believe the prequel trilogy’s Mace Windu is alive, but he’s not the iconic character from those three divisive films to return. That would be Darth Maul, who won over even Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace‘s most ardent detractors. They just still didn’t like anything else about it.

Those Who Didn’t Watch the Cartoons Are Lost

The prequel trilogy has aged quite well, though it remains to be seen if that applies to the film which featured Maul’s long-awaited return. That would be Solo: A Star Wars Story, and it was blatantly positioning him to be a major part of the IP’s future. But, Solo tanked, so Maul’s return just feels like a promise for nothing more than a missed opportunity. Stream Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace on Disney+.

4 Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

While the Nazi-sympathizing Red Skull’s best screen time was the first time out the gate, he did return. But, to return, one has to leave, and Red Skull leaves the Earthly plain when he grabs onto the Tesseract. And it takes a while for him to come back… not that he comes back to Earth.

He Returns in the Avengers Movies Played by a Different Actor

Besides Captain America: The First Avenger, Red Skull has only appeared in a minor capacity in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avenger: Endgame. When he touched the Tesseract, it didn’t kill him, it transported him. Specifically to Vormir, where he’s tasked with guarding the Soul Stone. Stream Captain America: The First Avenger on Disney+.

3 Steve Trevor - Wonder Woman (2017)

The chemistry between Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince and Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor is just one thing that makes Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman such a special treat. Both actors are perfectly cast and are clearly having the time of their lives, and that makes the sacrifice of the latter so much more devastating. But, just because his plane went down doesn’t mean the DCEU was fully done with either Trevor or Pine.

A Reincarnated Return

Trevor comes back in the second, and final, Gadot-fronted Wonder Woman solo venture. Unfortunately, it’s not a fully convincing return. Trevor reunites with Diana Prince in the ’80s, when he’s reincarnated in the body of an average citizen, and only Prince can see that she’s speaking and listening to Trevor, not a stranger. Stream Wonder Woman on Max.

2 Loki - Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Loki isn’t above faking his death, and one would be logical to assume that’s what he did at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War. But, nope, Thanos actually kills him. In that moment, Loki himself never thinks he’ll return in an MCU entry.

Loki from Another Time Returns

But, the MCU likes to play with time, and a younger (circa 2012) version of Loki makes his way into Avengers: Endgame. Did the exact Loki in Infinity War find himself resurrected? No. But the MCU was not yet done with the God of Mischief. Stream Avengers: Infinity War on Disney+.

1 Chad Meeks-Martin - Scream VI (2023)

Two Ghostfaces, one target. And that target is Chad Meeks-Martin, who already barely survived the 2022 reboot. But, considering his wounds weren’t absolutely fatal (in reality) the way they are in one Scream VI scene, his fake-out death doesn’t count as much there as it does here.

He Unbelievably Survived

Time will tell if the Core Four ever return to the IP. But, given Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega’s exits, it seems extremely unlikely. So, at the very least, Chad Meeks-Martin films won’t have to watch him take one blade too many in Scream VII… because that was pretty darn likely to happen. Stream Scream VI on Paramount+.