Warning! Spoilers ahead including for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
There are always big movie moments that stand out in any year, but often the most impactful are the death scenes. Like most years in movies, 2021 featured a lot of death scenes that spanned across all genres. And some of the stand-out movie deaths of the year were memorable for a variety of reasons.
There are certain deaths that were gory and horrific to stick in audiences’ minds. Some were heartbreaking farewells to beloved characters. And there was even the occasionally darkly comedic death that made fans laugh. Whatever the reaction they elicited, these death scenes made an impression in 2021.
Gary – Wrong Turn
The Wrong Turn series was always filled with scenes of brutality and over-the-top gore in their stories of backwoods cannibals. The reboot goes for a more grounded approach, both with the story and the kills. But that doesn’t make the first death of the movie any less impactful.
As a group of teens go off-trail deep in the woods, a fallen tree comes rolling down the hill towards them. The scene turns into chaos as the teens attempt to run downhill out of the log’s path only for Gary to be crushed between the log and a tree in a shocking moment.
President Orlean – Don’t Look Up
The comedy Don’t Look Up actually racks up likely the highest body count of the year as it ends with the complete destruction of planet Earth from a comet. In fact, only the very rich are able to escape, including President Orlean who spent the entire movie ignoring the science of the incoming comet.
Thankfully, some justice is restored once the rich survivors make it to their new planet. As the ignorant president explores the strange bird species, she is immediately attacked and eaten, just as it was predicted earlier in the movie.
Steppenwolf – Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Among the many improvements fans found with Zack Snyder’s Justice League was the villain Steppenwolf. While he was seen as a dull lackey to Darkseid in the theatrical cut, he was made much more interesting in Snyder’s vision and gets a more suitable end as well.
As Steppenwolf attempts to bring Darkseid to Earth, the entire Justice League team assembles against him. After a vicious beating, he is decapitated, and his head is sent through the portal as a warning to Darkseid.
Blackguard – The Suicide Squad
One of the things that separated James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad from the first movie was how heavily it leaned into its R-rating. This was made very clear in the darkly comedic opening sequence in which the first team is sent in as cannon fodder to distract from the second team’s arrival.
The mayhem kicks off with Blackguard, played by Pete Davidson, attempting to talk to the army. Having a big name like Davidson in the role made it all the more shocking and funny when he immediately has his face blown off.
Detective Boswick – Spiral: From The Book Of Saw
The return to the Saw franchise in Spiral: From the Book Of Saw allows for some new approaches to the franchise, but it also maintained the expectation for gory and sadistic traps. This is established immediately in the opening scene as Detective Boswick is put in an uncomfortable situation.
Boswick finds himself strung up by his tongue above a subway track with a train soon to be arriving. He is faced with the decision to drop down and sever his tongue to escape or meet the oncoming train. The result is a grisly welcome back to the series for fans.
Kate – Fear Street Part 1: 1994
Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy was a fun surprise for the year as it told one continuing horror story spanned over three separate eras with the first being set in 1994. While the first entry leans into the 90s horror tropes of quips and meta-humor, it doesn’t shy from the gore.
The goriest and most shocking moment comes with the demise of Kate. Though she was a strong character who seemed like she could fight her way to the end, she ends up being overpowered by the killer during a fight in a grocery store and her head is pushed through a bread-slicing machine.
Warning! Major spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home are featured in this article.
Nitara – Mortal Kombat
Much like The Suicide Squad, Mortal Kombat was able to be a more enjoyable adaptation of its beloved source material thanks to its appropriate R-rating. This leads to some very memorable deaths, including a great fan service moment.
As the flying villain attempts to attack Kung Loa, he drives her into his spinning bladed hat, cutting her right down the middle. It is a shockingly quick death that leads to Kung Loa delivering the iconic line, “flawless victory.”
Aunt May – Spider-Man: No Way Home
Tragedy has always followed the character of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man but few expected him to lose his beloved Aunt May in Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, as she attempted to help Peter cure the multiverse villains, she ended up another victim of Green Goblin.
The death scene takes a slow-burn approach which makes it even more emotional. May has enough time to remind Peter that helping people is what heroes do and even gets to deliver the iconic line “With great power comes great responsibility” before dying in Peter’s arms.
James Bond – No Time To Die
It had long been known that No Time to Die would be Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond giving him the rare opportunity to plan an exit from the iconic role. But even with that in mind, the decision to kill Bond was a shocking one.
The movie allowed Bond to grow in ways no other 007 movies have allowed, giving him a family and a true love. It made it bittersweet as Bond had to make the decision to stay behind and face death while his loved ones were able to continue on with their memory of him.
