Doubling down on the thought bubble last week, I decided to look at the topic from a different angle. For us mortals, death is almost always the worst possible thing to happen to us. I'm sure many would agree. Well, except for those Generation Z kids who feel like having no internet or damaging their rep is the worst thing ever. Ugh. Anyways... something, something, something, Thought Bubble Thursdays!

For characters that are virtuality immortal, death is but as passé as, let's say, the common cold. Just don't tell that to the Martians (see War of the Worlds). For beings that constantly get the opportunity to be resurrected, death is but a passing thing. There are virtually no stakes, no consequence of dying. Perhaps they would lose some time, or maybe have to go to the civil registry and have their "Deceased" status reversed (I mean, what a legal nightmare that is, huh?) but other than that, it really costs them nothing when they die. Or, is there?

Let's examine the different fates... worse than death. Dun dun dunnnnn!!!

Collateral Damage

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Unless a character was a recluse or anti-social, it would inevitably have friends or peers that aren't invulnerable to death. By invulnerable, what I mean is that even though comic book characters could die, they don't usually stay dead. Well, at least such is the case for most major characters. Most minor characters don't have the luxury of having droves of adoring fans clamoring for their revival. If anything, most minor characters who fall out of the mass' favor almost always usually find themselves on the end of a campaign that calls for their demise. Ouch!

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While minor characters have the displeasure of grieving for the same major characters multiple times, major characters usually only grieve for minor characters once, because the latter usually doesn't get resurrected. Readers would just flip a page and call it a day, but if we put ourselves in the mindset of the characters, that's a major thing. It's the closest thing they have to what we feel in real life. Sure, the minor characters don't have a 100% assurance that the deceased major characters would return years from now, there's still hope. But, when minor characters are the ones that bite the dust, you can bet your sweet ass that they're done for good. For a world so used with miraculous returns, a one-way ticket to the afterlife is something that's hard to stomach.

Some characters may be immortal, but they still have feelings. And when everyone that they care for is long gone, they'll remain carrying on, living their life for the entertainment of a brand new generation of audience.

Retcons

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Short for retroactive continuity, it's a literary device that's used to change established history. This is done for many number of reasons, and it usually involves adjusting a character's history, ignoring past deeds or straight up changing backstories. For characters going through different generations, a change in history is almost always inevitable. Some backstories involve events that wouldn't be relatable to the current generation, rendering the character itself as unrelatable to the reader. To remedy it, a character's history is tweaked to make it connect better with the reader.

When done right, some retcons can be amazing. But, if not handled properly, these could easily muddle up stories and character histories. Once all of these little mistakes compound, a whole universe would end up like a patchwork mess that only an extinction-level crisis could fix. Just ask DC.

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Turning Heel

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Since one of the reasons comic book characters are killed off is popularity, it's been a common practice to flip a character's alignment to see if the fresh scenery would be able to boost the reception. Villains have turned to the side of the angels, and heroes have broke bad. There's a line in the movie The Dark Knight that went, "you either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." For characters that are essentially immortal, there are no truer words.

Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Scott Summers (Cyclops), Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man) and even Ultimate Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) are just some of the noteworthy heroes that have turned to the dark side. Although, I still do think that Cyclops was right, and Captain America has been evil for years. In the name of fresh stories, these boy scouts ripped off their snazzy cardigans and put of spiked leather jackets. Not literally, of course.

As with real life, once you go bad, forget years of good deeds, because any stain would be the things people fixate on. It's a shame that heroes build up years of good will only to be shattered by a sudden heel turn. Somehow, it not only betrays their legacy, but also the things they once stood for.

Fading into Obscurity

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Of all the worse things that could happen, this is arguably the worst. Harrison Ford signed up for The Force Awakens hoping to give Han Solo a memorable send-off, Hugh Jackman essentially retired Wolverine in Logan and Henry Cavill hung up his tights in... hmm... well, I guess for a hot minute, before Superman was revived. That's because Superman never dies.

The best thing that can be done to a character is give them a proper send-off, other than that they'll just linger until the general public forgets about them. In real life, a person only truly ever dies when his or her memory fades from people's minds. One would argue that it's even more true for fictional characters. Their legacy is the mark that they leave on the world. There's nothing worse than a character overstaying his welcome and just fading out of existence. This is what the writers are risking for characters that they constantly bring back.

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Will these problems linger on to the big screen? Constant revivals of Batman, Spider-Man and Superman seems to suggest so. The characters that the actors play are just roles that could be constantly recycled for the benefit of new stories. But, the connections that the audience forms in terms of associating actors with iconic roles they defined isn't something that could easily be rebuilt.

How will audiences react to someone other than Robert Downey Jr. playing the genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist? Can anyone really capture the same Wolverine magic that Hugh Jackman did? Will someone else other than Ryan Reynolds exude the essence of X-Men Origins: Wolverine's Wade Wilson Green Lantern Deadpool? It worked for Professor X and Magneto, why can't it work for other characters?

But, enough about them. Let's talk about you. What are your thoughts on this? Should characters be recast or should they just create new characters to replace the departing ones? Did you leave the stove on?

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