Major Character Deaths That Hardly Impacted The Movie
Usually, the death of a main character has a huge impact on a movie's story. These deaths either drive the plot and the other characters' motivations for the rest of the movie, or they provide some sort of closure. Sometimes, though, movies just kill off a major character for the shock value of that moment. These kinds of deaths don't really have any impact on the rest of the story, even though they really should.
Boba Fett - Return of the Jedi
There's never been a character with more build-up and so little payoff than Boba Fett. Technically, he first appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special, but he made his cinematic debut in The Empire Strikes Back. He was a mysterious figure, hired by Darth Vader himself to capture Han Solo and his allies. Then, the impossible happened, and Boba Fett actually succeeded in his mission. He reappears in the beginning of The Return of the Jedi, and then is killed off in the most slapstick manner ever. A blinded Han bumps into Fett accidentally, sending the bounty hunter into the deadly Sarlacc pit, and then nobody even mentions it. You'd think that Han or Chewie would at least be like "oh, that was lucky!" Nope, they might not even be aware that it happened. Why did they even bother having him show up in the movie? If Boba Fett's scenes were cut out of Return of the Jedi, you wouldn't even notice.
Jazz - Transformers
When it was first announced that a live action Transformers movie was in the works, fans of the franchise rejoiced. Then it was announced that it was being directed by Michael Bay, and all of those fans gave up hope. Bay's movies might be super successful, but they're also just loud and dumb. A perfect example of how little the actual characters matter in these movies is Jazz's death in the first Transformers film. During the final fight with the villainous Decepticons, Jazz is ripped in half by Megatron. It's not a very big moment, though. It happens quickly, and the movie keeps moving. Autobot leader Optimus Prime briefly mentions Jazz at the end of the movie, but other than that, nobody seems to care. Even when Optimus mentions it, he doesn't even sound that sad. Based on how annoying some of the other Autobots turned out to be, Optimus should be way more upset about the loss of one of the least obnoxious characters.
Johnny Cage - Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Video games don't typically make great movies, but the first Mortal Kombat adaptation came about as close as possible. Sure, it's not a masterpiece, but it's a fun hour and a half. It captured the essence of the game, and included all of the major characters. The sequel, on the other hand, was more of a typical video game adaptation, which is to say that it was terrible. One of its biggest sins is that Shao Kahn kills Johnny Cage in the opening scene. Cage was one of the three main heroes of the first movie, and the guy that defeated Goro in one of the most memorable scenes. But he barely makes it past the sequel's opening credits. Even worse, everyone gets over it super quickly. Sonya screams out his name, and then essentially moves on entirely. It seems like the filmmakers are trying to show that Shao Kahn is a huge threat by having him kill off a major character. You'd think his successful invasion of the entire planet in a matter of minutes would've accomplished that, but maybe the screenwriters just wanted to really drive the point home.
Cyclops - X-Men 3: The Last Stand
In the comics, Cyclops is one of the main members of the X-Men. He's one of Professor X's first students, and is usually the team's leader. In the movies, Cyclops never really gets his time to shine, especially in X2, where he gets kidnapped and disappears for half the movie. Fans assumed that he'd play a bigger part in the third movie, especially when it was announced that the plot would revolve around Jean Grey's resurrection as the Phoenix. Cyclops played a major part in that story in the comic books. Then, X-Men 3 came out and Cyclops dies offscreen during the beginning of the movie. It also has basically no impact on the plot, considering the fact that no one really reacts to it. Apparently, one of their oldest and closest friends disappears and the X-Men are just like "he's probably dead, oh well. We've got things to do."
Dr. King Schultz - Django Unchained
Unlike other entries on this list, the death of Dr. King Schultz is a very big moment of Django Unchained. When it goes down, he and Django have almost successfully freed Broomhilda from Calvin Candie, a brutal slave owner. Unfortunately, they're caught trying to scam Candie, who then tries to extort a huge sum of money out of Schultz and Django. He would've gotten away with it, but Candie pushes his luck too far when he demands that Schulz shake his hand to seal the deal. Insulted, Schultz shoots Candie and starts one of the most brutal gun fights in the movie, during which Schultz is immediately killed. The thing is, after his death, Django gets much more accomplished than before. When Django returns to the plantation, he easily shoots his way through all of Calvin Candie's men. The fact that he's one man down doesn't hold him back at all. It's like Schultz was just there to give speeches in a German accent.
Duke - G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Like Transformers, G.I. Joe was a huge cartoon and toy line in the 1980s. Paramount tried to bring the franchise to the big screen with The Rise of Cobra, and while the movie didn't flop, it also wasn't that big of a success. Paramount tried a second with a sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and pretty much cut the entire cast from the first movie. The only returning actor was Channing Tatum, reprising his role as Duke, the main character of the first movie. So it was a little shocking when he's killed off within the first 20 minutes of the sequel. He really only appears in the movie to acknowledge that first movie exists, but also to demonstrate that the sequel is nothing like the first one. After his death, Duke's name is mentioned maybe once or twice. He's replaced by the Rock, who's playing Roadblock, but is also really just playing the Rock. It's an understandable switch out, but Duke still deserved more than he got.