Superheroes We Lost In 2021

We had a lot fewer superhero stories to enjoy in 2020. COVID-related delays in TV production, movie releases, and even comic book shipping forced superhero fans to be a lot more patient than usual. Thankfully, 2021 brought comic book champions back with a vengeance, due in large part to long-awaited original content from streaming services like Disney+ and HBO Max. With series like "WandaVision" and "Invincible," new films like "Thunder Force" and "Zack Snyder's Justice League," the resumption of CW's DC hero line-up along with the new series "Superman & Lois," and more comic books back on the stands, 2021 is shaping up to be one of the busiest years for the superhero world yet.

Sadly, more superhero stories means more costumed do-gooders meeting their ultimate fate, and 2021 has already wracked up an impressive butcher's bill of heroes. Whether they've been wiped from existence, beaten to a pulp by a treacherous ally, or forced to sacrifice themselves on the whim of cruel and ungrateful taskmasters, a good number of superheroes are sure to be dead by the end of the year. 

Updated on December 14, 2021: We're making sure to keep a complete list of the super-dead so you don't have to, and as a result, we've updated this list to pay homage to our fallen fictional heroes. Whether they met their demise on a streaming site or inside the pages of a comic book, here are all the superheroes we lost in 2021. And be warned — there are major spoilers below.

One of the impressive highlights of "Zack Snyder's Justice League" is the opportunity to watch an expanded and beautifully epic version of Darkseid's first effort to conquer Earth. In this flashback, we see a lot more of all the combatants, and in particular, we see a lot more of the Green Lantern who dies fighting the enemy general.

Considering who the Green Lantern is, it's fitting he should live and die in only a single flashback scene. The alien Lantern is Yalan Gur, whose counterpart in the source material is introduced in 1991's "Green Lantern" #19, likewise in a flashback that ends in his death. In the comics, Gur's story is a cautionary tale about a Lantern who's gifted with a ring with no weaknesses, and he's killed by his own overconfidence. 

You could argue the movie Yalan Gur dies from the same thing since he falls going one-on-one with Darkseid, but heading straight for the big bad is kind of a Green Lantern's job. Gur is knocked out of the sky by parademons, and Darkseid takes the opportunity to dominate his foe. He chops off Gur's hand and then impales him, killing him. Gur's ring leaves his dead finger, and Darkseid reaches out to claim it, but he's interrupted by the arrows of the Greek goddess Artemis. Presumably, the ring flies away to find a new member of the Corps to succeed Gur.

Amazon Prime unveiled its new original animated series, "Invincible," at the end of March, and the premiere ends in a way that lets you know that while this isn't "The Boys," it also definitely isn't "Superfriends." 

Early in the first episode, we meet the Guardians of the Globe — the series' version of DC's Justice League, comprised of obvious stand-ins. Instead of Aquaman, there's the fish-headed Aquarus. Instead of the Flash, there's Red Rush, and there's Darkwing instead of Batman, and so on and so on. We meet them as they're battling the formidable Mauler Twins in Washington D.C., who they defeat only with the timely arrival of Omni-Man — the show's answer to Superman and the father of the series' titular protagonist. 

In spite of what at first appears to be a strong friendship between Omni-Man and the Guardians, the episode ends with Omni-Man luring the other heroes into a secret meeting and brutally murdering them all, one by one. Aquarus, Red Rush, Darkwing, the Immortal, Martian Man, Green Ghost, and War Woman are all dead before the scene ends, with Omni-Man not bothering to give his victims any explanation. But in the Season 1 finale, Omni-Man admits to his son, Invincible, that he murdered the Guardians because, as it turns out, he's not on Earth to protect it. Instead, he's here to prepare the planet to be conquered by the interstellar Viltrumite Empire.

We also learn that at least one of the original Guardians might actually return. In Season 1's penultimate episode, the Mauler Twins resurrect the Immortal with the intention of using him for their own plans. Instead, the Immortal finds and attacks Omni-Man, who kills the Immortal once more. However, in the Season 1 finale, we get a brief shot of the Global Defense Agency working on the Immortal's corpse, suggesting at some point in the near future, the dead hero may get another shot at his killer.

In spite of "Suicide Squad's" premise being that no one is safe, certain eras have filled the line-up with far too many too-big-to-die characters. For example, the volume of "Suicide Squad" that premiered in 2011 as part of DC's New 52 reboot regularly included characters like Harley Quinn and Deadshot, each of whom you could safely predict would survive to the next issue. But if you like your "Suicide Squad" body count to be a bit higher, the volume that premiered this year is for you. Four members of Task Force X break into Arkham Asylum in 2021's "Suicide Squad" #1, and all but one of them are dead by the issue's end.

The first to fall is Bolt, and ironically, he's killed by the guy he's there to free. The Suicide Squad's mission is to rescue William Cobb — the Court of Owls' most infamous Talon — but when the Squad gets into his cell, it's clear the guy is in a psychiatric facility for good reasons. Cobb is huddled in a corner, seemingly unaware of them, and the word "who" is carved into just about every inch of his cell's walls. When Bolt puts his hand on Cobb's shoulder, the latter strikes, ripping Bolt's throat open with one of his homemade shivs. 

The Bolt who dies in "Suicide Squad" #1 is actually the son of the original DC villain who bore the name. The younger Bolt killed his own father at the orders of the Clock King in 2009's "Terror Titans" #3. 

The last Squad member to fall in "Suicide Squad" #1 — but not the last Squad member to fall in this story — is Shrike. A student of the notorious League of Assassins, Shrike existed primarily as an antagonist for Batman's first partner — Dick Grayson, better known as Nightwing and also as the first Robin of Gotham City. And as for his ultimate fate, depending on how you look at it, Shrike dies either because of his only surviving teammate's betrayal or because he's simply a low priority. 

After Film Freak dies, Peacemaker and Shrike continue to try to subdue William Cobb, forcing him toward a nearby exit in the hopes of escaping the Joker gas. As they reach the exit, they find two guards blocking their escape, and Peacemaker tells Shrike to take care of the guards while he grabs Cobb and charges with him through the exit. In spite of Shrike calling for him to wait, Peacemaker keeps going, allowing the exit door to close behind him and leaving Shrike to die in the encroaching gas. 

Though he hasn't been seen before in DC Comics and presumably won't be seen again (at least not for a while), the most sympathetic of Task Force X's members to fall in the first two issues of "Suicide Squad" is Jason Phillips, aka Exit. Peacemaker's narration calls him a thief with "delusions of redemption." If Peacemaker is right and Exit's hope for redemption is a delusion, then it's a delusion he dies feeding. 

Shortly before the squad leaves Arkham, Superboy argues with Amanda Waller when she orders him to leave without helping any of the facility's survivors. He argues they "just need time," and likewise, Exit tries to save one of the Arkham guards by letting him use his own gas mask. Sadly, that act of kindness seals Exit's fate. On the following page, the gas overtakes Exit. Before dying, he opens a portal so the rest of the squad can escape. 

On the series premiere of the HBO original "The Nevers" — set in London at the end of the 19th century — we learn a mysterious object flew over the city four years before the events of the show, scattering a glowing substance over the populace, granting some of them superhuman abilities. Those with abilities soon become known as the Touched. Feared by other Londoners, some of the Touched take shelter in St. Romaulda's Orphanage run by Amalia True.

One of the Touched is Mary Brighton, whose ability is unique. Brighton's singing can only be heard by other Touched, and upon hearing it, they're soothed. In an effort to bring hope and union to the Touched, inventor Penance Adair creates an amplifier she hopes will allow Brighton's song to reach every Touched in London. Hesitant at first, Brighton eventually agrees to Penance's plan, but mid-song, she's abruptly riddled with bullets by Winemar Kroos — a criminal Touched with a Gatling gun-like prosthetic arm and the ability to fire bullets from his body. Brighton dies almost instantly. 

Kroos is killed by Inspector Frank Mundi moments later, but later in the series, we learn it's the powerful Lord Gilbert Massen who arranged for Brighton's murder.

Flaming Fist isn't the only victim of Blackstar's clone in the premiere episode of "Jupiter's Legacy." Two more heroes fall victim to the supervillain — Phaseout and Tectonic. 

Not long after Flaming Fist's death, Brainwave's psychic assault briefly gives the Union the upper the upper hand against the Blackstar clone. Urged on by the Utopian's son, Paragon, Tectonic uses his earth-controlling powers to stun the bad guy, and Phaseout moves in to finish him off. Unfortunately, her choice has tragic consequences, as the Blackstar clone quickly overpowers Phaseout and decapitates her with a single blast from his anti-matter heart. And that same anti-matter beam instantly kills Tectonic.

Of the two heroes, we only get a chance to know Tectonic before his death, and we don't get to know him very well. He appears earlier in a nightclub, where it's clear he's Paragon's close friend and confidant. His death helps push Paragon over the edge, convincing him to end the Blackstar clone's rampage by killing him — thereby breaking his father's code of superhero conduct and setting up one of the series' major thematic conflicts. 

"If Bureaucracy Be... Thy Death!" — Episode 5 of the Hulu series "Marvel's MODOK" — has a lot of fun messing with the audience. In a flashback, we learn Monica Rappaccini murdered an Avenger right after she was recruited into AIM, and in the aftermath, MODOK took credit for the kill. It's one of the main reasons present-day Monica despises the big-headed supervillain she once idolized. 

But we never find out exactly who Monica kills. Arriving at the scene, MODOK tells Monica, "I wanted to kill an Avenger, but you took down one of the main ones!" He goes on to call the hero a "huge character" and an "incredibly essential Avenger." The only real hint is the shot of their smoking skull, which shows that — whoever they were — they wore a red mask.

Proving once again that speculation is at least half the fun of any Marvel TV series, fans quickly started guessing the ID of the snuffed hero. Some put in a bid for Daredevil, while others went with Giant Man. Giant Man fits more with the description of "one of the main ones." Daredevil's comic book stints as an Avenger have been brief. Meanwhile, the Hank Pym version of Giant Man is one of the team's founders in the comics, and Scott Lang is one of the most popular heroes in the movies. Then again, MODOK is prone to exaggerate his accomplishments — or, in this case, the accomplishments he's poaching — so who knows? 

In a post-credits scene for "The Nexus Event" — Episode 4 of "Loki" — we meet a quartet of Loki variants, including Classic Loki. Played by Richard E. Grant, this Loki's outfit is the most comic book accurate we've seen so far in terms of the god's old-school look. Sadly, the older Loki doesn't survive to see the credits of the following episode.

When Sylvie devises a plan to enchant the cloud beast Alioth in order to reach the mystery villain behind the Time Variance Authority, Classic Loki initially seems to want no part of it. But once the plan is hatched and seems to be falling apart, Classic Loki appears. Having used his years perfecting his magic — as opposed to splitting his time with martial combat like the younger Lokis — Classic Loki is able to create the massive illusion of a fully formed Asgard. 

Classic Loki's illusion does its job and distracts Alioth long enough for Sylvie and the younger Loki to regroup and eventually enchant Alioth. But before that happens, Classic Loki falls. Alioth figures out the deception and turns on the creator of the false Asgard. Classic Loki screams "glorious purpose!" defiantly at the beast, cackles madly, and is devoured. His horned helmet crashes to the ground where he stood only moments before.

The second Squad member to fall in "The Suicide Squad" — and the first who also appears in the 2016 predecessor — is Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang. Along with Harley Quinn, Boomer is one of the first to fight back against the Corto Maltesean soldiers after they open fire. We see one of his glowing boomerangs kill a number of the troops, but unfortunately, it's another squad member's bungle that means the end for the projectile-slinging Aussie.

When Mongal tries to take down the enemy helicopter on her own, it ultimately works, but it does more harm to Task Force X than good. As the chopper struggles to right itself, the blades rip through the nearby jungle. Captain Boomerang is impaled by multiple large splinters from the devastated trees and falls to his knees. Seeing he's in trouble, Harley calls out to her comrade from cover. In his final moments, Captain Boomerang smiles at Harley ... until the fiery helicopter races toward him and rips him to pieces. Later, we see his severed arm sticking up out of the ground, still gripping one of his glowing boomerangs. 

Savant is the first Squad member we meet in "The Suicide Squad," and initially, the direction leads us to believe he may very well be the most hardcore, formidable warrior of the bunch. In the beginning of the film, he's enjoying what's apparently a regular past-time for the criminal — bouncing a rubber ball off walls and predicting exactly where it'll strike. Cruelly, he uses this ability to kill a small bird just before Waller arrives to collect him. When he's introduced to the rest of his team, he acts thoroughly unimpressed, coming off like Batman if he was forced to work with the Muppets.

But when push comes to shove, Savant makes the same mistake Slipknot did in 2016's "Suicide Squad" — he runs. During the beachhead battle, Savant only leaves the cover of the beach wall to see how the rest of the team is getting cut to pieces. Screaming in fear, he then turns tail and runs back into the ocean. In spite of multiple warnings from Waller over the comms, Savant's fear pushes him farther away from the island. Waller detonates the bomb in the back of his neck, killing him. Later, James Gunn treats us to a bit of poetic justice, as we see the same kind of bird Savant killed earlier snacking on his floating remains.

Whether it's intentional or not, it seems like when it comes to veterans of 2016's "Suicide Squad," their violent ends tend to come — directly or otherwise — at the hands of their teammates. While Mongal's actions unintentionally lead to the death of Captain Boomerang, it is very much Peacemaker's intent to kill Rick Flag toward the end of "The Suicide Squad," though he clearly doesn't enjoy doing it. 

When the Thinker proves to Rick Flag that the United States government not only already knew about Starro but is actually responsible for bringing the creature to Earth and funding experiments on the creature, Flag vows to expose the conspiracy via a computer drive with all the relevant data. But after retrieving the drive, Flag finds himself threatened by Peacemaker, who we learn was secretly tasked by Amanda Waller to make sure the records don't leave Jotunheim. 

A brutal fight ensues between Flag and Peacemaker, and Flag doesn't survive. Throughout the battle, while Peacemaker refuses to relent, it's clear he's conflicted about what he's doing. Flag temporarily gains the upper hand, pinning Peacemaker to the ground and choking him, but Peacemaker grabs a nearby broken shard of porcelain and drives it through Flag's chest and into his heart. The colonel's last words are, "Peacemaker. What a joke."

As a part of DC Comics' 2021 "Infinite Frontier" relaunch comes the mini-series of the same name, and it starts off with the grisly deaths of some of the most powerful characters to ever appear in the mythos. 

Throughout 2021's "Infinite Frontier" #0, interspersed with moments from across the DC Universe, we get scenes of the Quintessence speaking with Wonder Woman and attempting to recruit her to their ranks. The Quintessence is a reality-manipulating council of what can only be described as gods. There's Highfather of the New Gods, Ganthet of Oa's Guardians of the Universe, the Phantom Stranger, the Spectre, the goddess Hera, and the wizard Shazam. Thankfully, Wonder Woman ultimately turns down their offer of membership because, otherwise, she'd probably be dead right now.

Toward the end of the issue — ironically right after the wizard says, "There is nothing we cannot control or defeat" — Darkseid emerges. Reconstituted from other versions of himself from across the multiverse, Darkseid is more powerful than ever, and he easily murders all six members of the Quintessence, impaling them with dark energy and stomping on their corpses.

Captain Atom — famous for, among other things, being the inspiration for Doctor Manhattan of "Watchmen" — died during last year's line-wide DC Comics event "Dark Nights: Death Metal." The hero — or, at least, a version of him — returns in "Infinite Frontier" #2, but he isn't alive for long. 

The issue opens with DEO Agent Cameron Chase at the Hall of Justice to talk to Superman and Batman about the reborn multiverse that's now common knowledge on the prime DC Earth, Earth-0. However, the Justice League members are called off on an emergency, and Director Bones sends Chase to Metropolis Air Force Base to recruit Captain Atom to their cause. 

When Chase arrives, Captain Atom seems uninterested and says he's retiring. Sensing something is off, Chase mentions a mission in Markovia that never actually happened. When Captain Atom takes the bait, Chase pulls out her gun and reveals her deception, believing this Captain Atom to be from another Earth. He tells Chase he doesn't know where his Earth-0 counterpart is, and when Chase asks him which world he's from, he answers, "Does it matter?" He tells her he knows too much and cannot allow himself to be taken in. He then rips open his containment suit as he says the dreaded words spoken by the servants of Darkseid, "Darkseid is." Opening the suit causes a nuclear explosion, killing himself and almost everyone on the base, but Chase is teleported away at the last moment.

On Earth-3, what you know about the prime DC Comics continuity is in many ways turned on its head. Heroes are villains, and villains are heroes. Instead of the Justice League, for example, the premiere super team on Earth-3 is the Crime Syndicate, with the brutal Ultraman replacing Superman, the nihilistic Owlman replacing Batman, the ring-enslaved Emerald Knight replacing Green Lantern, and so on. In the miniseries "Crime Syndicate," the only heroes with any hope of defeating the Syndicate are a part of the Legion of Justice. With the help of Thaal Sinestro, at the end of "Crime Syndicate" #4 , they recruit John Stewart (the Emerald Knight) to their cause. 

In "Crime Syndicate" #6, Thaal fights to keep Emerald Knight on his side while Superwoman – Earth-3's dark answer to Wonder Woman — hopes to bring him into the Syndicate. After John goes wild, slaughtering many of the warriors of Demon's Island, Superwoman uses her lasso to rip Stewart's ring finger off. Thaal uses his own ring to restrain her while he tries to talk Stewart down, telling him he's a victim of his superpowered jewelry and that Thaal plans to help him recover. Responding that he doesn't need Thaal's pity, Stewart summons his ring, making sure it rips through Thaal's chest on its way back to him. Thaal falls to his knees, gasps that he and John were supposed to change the world, and dies.

Usually, when a new member of Task Force X is recruited and has never appeared in DC Comics before, you can pretty much bet they won't live to see another issue. So the vegetative recruit Branch — introduced in "Suicide Squad" #3 — should actually feel proud he lives three issues and change before meeting his end.

In "Suicide Squad" #5, Bloodsport is sent to Earth-3 to recruit Black Siren, that world's version of Black Canary. And in "Suicide Squad" #6, Amanda Waller sends a squad led by Superboy to Earth-3 to retrieve both Bloodsport and Black Siren. Shortly after they materialize on a Metropolis rooftop in Earth-3, Ultraman attacks and knocks Nocturna off the roof. Branch rushes to the edge of the rooftop and extends his arms as branches to grab Nocturna and save her. As he lowers her to the ground, he yells, "I've got you!" Standing behind Branch, Ultraman says, "And I've got you."

Before anyone can respond, Ultraman rips Branch's body in half and burns his remains with his heat vision, leaving nothing but smoke and ash.

Based on the 1992-93 miniseries "Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect," which introduces the Maestro — an evil version of Hulk ruling in a post-apocalyptic future — the 2020 miniseries "Maestro" begins the tale of how Hulk evolves into the titular villain, and the prequel continues with 2021's "Maestro: War and Pax." In the mini, the future Hulk is reunited with his old friends in the Pantheon — a paramilitary group of super-powered demigods mostly named after figures from Greco-Roman myth.

In "Maestro: War and Pax" #2, urged by Doctor Doom, the Pantheon reaches out to Maestro, hoping to fool him into thinking they're going along with his world-conquering plans. He eventually discovers their duplicity, but they manage to capture him anyway. In the penultimate issue, Maestro holds the Pantheon leader, Atlanta, captive and orders Ulysses to fire the group's bunker-busting missiles at A.I.M.'s underground facility where an elderly M.O.D.O.K. rules over the group's survivors. Knowing Maestro will kill Atlanta anyway, Ulysses does what he asks but sends another set of missiles at their own base. Maestro kills Atlanta by breaking her back and escapes the base while the remaining Pantheon members — Ulysses, Hector, Paris, Delphi, and Ajax — huddle together with Atlanta's corpse and are killed when the missiles arrive destroy the base. 

Meanwhile, we find out in a back-up story in the second issue that the Pantheon member Prometheus dies before the events of the series — infected with a deadly plague by a cult called the Black Scythe. 

In the third episode of "What If...?" we see an alternate reality where most of the Avengers don't survive to face Loki. In "What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?" the first would-be Avenger to fall is Tony Stark, who dies shortly after Black Widow injects him with what should be the substance that helps counteract the palladium poisoning he suffers from in "Iron Man 2." But here, it kills him. One of Hawkeye's arrows kills the powerless Thor even though the archer swears he didn't fire, Hawkeye's dead not long after that, and the Hulk literally explodes. Eventually, Black Widow figures out what's going on, but just as she does, she's murdered by an unseen assailant.

We eventually learn the killer is a vengeful Hank Pym. In this timeline, his daughter, Hope, became a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and was killed in the field. It's his shrinking formula that allows him to murder the Avengers undetected. But in a final confrontation between Hank and someone who appears at first to be Nick Fury, Pym is defeated when it's revealed his opponent is, in fact, Loki. So what's the trickster god doing here? Well, with Thor dead, Loki's place on the Asgardian throne is secure. At first, he shows up in a display of force, claiming to be delivering justice for the death of Thor, but Fury manages to get him to agree to wait until the real killer can be found. Once the spymaster figures out what's going on, Loki helps him spring the trap.

In "Avengers" #46, the Winter Guard kidnaps She-Hulk from Avengers Mountain, and in the following issue, we see part of what the Russian superheroes have planned for her. Using techniques similar to what turned Natasha Romanoff into the Black Widow — but much more enhanced — the team seeks to brainwash She-Hulk, turn her to their side, and change her powers. At the end of the issue, she becomes the Winter Hulk — a kind of fusion of She-Hulk, Black Widow, and the mutant villain Omega Red.

But in her new, changed form, the Winter Hulk is no passive servant waiting for Red Widow's orders. On her way out of the team's headquarters, she kills the enigmatic synthetic hero Vostok. Originally appearing in 1989's "Captain America" #352, Vostok's origins are somewhat mysterious. While initially appearing to be the Russian answer to the Vision, unlike the synthezoid Avenger, Vostok was once a human scientist. An accident that's never been clearly defined involving alien technology transformed him into a synthetic lifeform.

And here, he'd been using his liquid metal abilities to infiltrate She-Hulk's mind and bring down her mental defenses. But she not only breaks free from his control but blasts him with what appears to be gamma energy from her mouth, destroying him. 

In "Dark Ages" #1, the Watcher informs the Earth's heroes that their world is being destroyed by the Unmaker — a corrupted, millennia-old construct imprisoned in the center of the planet eons ago by the Living Tribunal. The Unmaker has awoken and is attempting to break free, and a strike team of superheroes travels to the Earth's core to take it out. Of the team — comprised of Doctor Strange, Invisible Woman, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and the Thing — only Invisible Woman survives. To defeat the Unmaker, Strange unleashes a powerful electromagnetic pulse from another dimension. Unfortunately, the same pulse eradicates all electrical power in the world and causes untold chaos. 

It's suggested other heroes die in the resulting bedlam, though by the end of "Dark Ages" #1, only the heroes killed by the Unmaker are confirmed to be dead. However, we get another confirmed victim in the beginning of "Dark Ages" #2. The issue's beginning shows chaos erupting all across the globe, including an urban battle in which both the Clint Barton and Kate Bishop versions of Hawkeye, as well as Black Widow, battle Taskmaster and a cadre of mercenary soldiers. At the end of the battle, we see Barton's lifeless body impaled by Taskmaster's sword and Taskmaster's corpse riddled with arrows. The fates of Black Widow and Kate Bishop aren't revealed.

Introduced in 2014's "The Multiversity" #1, Machinehead was originally a part of the Retaliators — heroes from Earth-8 clearly based on Marvel's Avengers. Machinehead, Earth-8's version of Iron Man, went on to join President Superman of Earth-23 in Justice Incarnate — a collection of heroes from across the multiverse. However, in "Infinite Frontier" #5, it's revealed he'd been working behind his team's back with Darkseid ... though he doesn't survive the alliance. 

While battling President Superman, Machinehead reveals he's been helping Darkseid to get revenge on the Flash of Earth-0. Every major crisis in the multiverse, Machinehead argues, begins in Earth-0, including the 2011 event "Flashpoint," which was directly caused by Flash's actions. Earth-8 was invaded by an alternate reality as a result of "Flashpoint," which, Machinehead says, made his home "harder" and "darker." 

Ultimately, Darkseid's plans are foiled, and his Injustice Incarnate team defeated in "Infinite Frontier" #6. Machinehead pleads with Darkseid to move forward, saying they can still win, but Darkseid instead blasts Machinehead with his Omega beams, killing him instantly.

Out of the 10 alien heroes introduced in "Eternals," there are a handful who don't survive. The first to fall is Ajak, though it isn't until later in the film that we learn the truth about what happens to her. 

Shortly after the attack by Kro in London, Sersi, Sprite, and Ikaris decide to find the other Eternals, starting with their leader, Ajak. The trio discovers Ajak dead in her home, with a Deviant corpse not far from her house. Naturally, Sersi and Sprite assume with the evidence given that Ajak was murdered by a Deviant, but later, we learn that her death is largely the result of Ikaris. 

In a flashback, we learn that Ajak had come to believe the birth of a new Celestial wasn't worth the destruction of Earth. She tells the zealous Ikaris this, and he fools her into traveling north with him to the lair of the recently emerged Deviants. Not willing to go against the design of Arishem and hoping to usurp Ajak as the Eternals' leader, Ikaris pushes Ajak into the Deviants' lair. Ajak is able to briefly fight off her attackers, but she's ultimately killed by Kro, who absorbs her healing abilities and her memories. Ikaris then retrieves her corpse and stages the morbid scene in her home.

While Ikaris proves as least as much — if not more — of a villain as a hero in "Eternals," he does eventually achieve at least a bit of redemption when he lends his power to Sersi to stop the Emergence. Plus, we've got to mention the thousands of years he spends before the Emergence saving humans from Deviants. 

But whatever redemption Ikaris achieves by the end of "Eternals," it's not enough for him. In his mind, he's twice a traitor — first betraying the other Eternals by murdering Ajak and trying to kill the rest and later betraying the Celestials by helping Sersi stop the Emergence. The agony is too much for Ikaris, and before the film ends, he leaves the Earth and kills himself by flying into the sun. 

Ikaris' fate is in part a mirror of what happens to his mythical namesake, Icarus. In Greek myth, Icarus is the son of the genius craftsman Daedalus, who creates artificial wings for himself and his son to escape the island Crete. In spite of being warned by his father to not fly too close to the sun, Icarus soars higher than he should, and the sun melts his wings. He plummets into the ocean and drowns.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.