DC’s movies have their own unique tone, which is often defined by hope, and the contradicting sense of despair. Before the DCU
brings hope back with Superman’s arrival on the big screen in 2025, it’s worth looking back at some of the most tragic and tense endings for characters based on the DC Comics. And with such a rich history of films from the DCEU and earlier, there are plenty to choose from.
With the DC universe populated by god like heroes and monsters, the landscape of these films is often epic in its capacity to deliver highs and lows. Incredible heroes who defy all to save the day, and terrible rivals who will stop at nothing to recreate the world as they see fit. These stories are rich, vast, and powerful. But for some characters, their fates are worse than death, with narrative arcs that conclude in endless suffering, loss, and pain.
9
Silas Stone Blast Himself With A Mother Box
Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Silas Stone is the father of Victor Stone, aka Cyborg. However, before Victor became the powerful computer-enhanced hero that joins the Justice League, he was just an ordinary boy. His father, a scientist and researcher at S.T.A.R. Labs, was directly responsible for saving his son’s life after a tragic car accident that killed his wife and almost took his son, but this came at great cost.
Silas used the Mother Box to save his son, but he was forever transformed into a Cyborg. But later, when Steppenwolf arrived to collect the Box of Man, Silas sought to protect his son and the Earth from the monstrous alien dictator. So, in an effort to make up for his wrongdoings, and to help the Justice League, Silas makes the ultimate sacrifice and gives his life to destroy the Mother Box.
8
Starro Is Tortured For Years & Then Eaten By Rats
The Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad features a lot of tense and grotesque violence. It’s a signature of James Gunn’s work, and it helps to add color and tension to his work. However, the ultimate monster that the group of misfit anti-heroes is forced to face is a giant alien creature called Starro. While eliminating this target is their ultimate goal, and they do succeed in their mission, Starro’s suffering and murder were cruel and needless.
The alien did not intend to fight with humans, and it was content flying through space, but when human astronauts stumbled upon its existence, they imprisoned the creature and tortured it for decades. Then, when the American government was done with the creature, they ᴀssigned the Suicide Squad to kill it. With its final moments being swarmed by rats, before they ate the alien, Starro’s life was endlessly tragic.
7
New York Is Decimated By A Nuclear Explosion
Watchmen
While most superhero stories end on a hopeful note, Watchmen is not in any way a typical hero movie. This alternate superhero world sees those with powers abuse their gifts and behave in ways that are flawed and human at their core. And when one “hero” decides life needs to find a new way, he makes plans to eliminate everyone in the city of New York with a nuclear bomb in the hopes of setting himself up as Earth’s ultimate hero.
Of course, Ozymandias doesn’t succeed in his plan to take the credit and glory for helping people, with his involvement exposed, but it’s all too late to save New York City. In this timeline, the entire city is decimated, and the world mourns its loss.
6
Steve Trevor Dies Tragically Twice
Wonder Woman & Wonder Woman 1984
Steve Trevor was a WWI Air Service Officer who formed a romantic connection with Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman. Trevor may not have had powers like his partner, but his bravery and courage were unmatched. While fighting alongside his beloved Diana, he sacrificed his life to save the world. However, his story didn’t end there.
In 1984, many years after Steve Trevor’s death, he was resurrected thanks to a magical wishing stone that allowed Diana to bring back her long-lost beloved. Together, the pair enjoyed a brief romance, before a new threat arose, and Steve once again laid down his life to save everyone else. Convincing Diana to renounce her wish and restore her power, Steve once again played a major role in saving the world.
5
Selina Kyle Died Time After Time
Batman Returns
In Batman Returns, Michelle Pfeiffer delivers one of the most extravagant and emotive depictions of Selina Kyle ever to appear on-screen. As a flustered secretary to Max Schreck, Selina was constantly put down and ridiculed. And ultimately, her boss killed her in order to avoid his own shady dealings being discovered. But thanks to some friendly cats she previously connected with, Selina appears to have gained nine lives.
As a reinvigorated figure, and taking on the name of Catwoman, Selina becomes an extraordinary thief, who no longer submits to anyone else’s rules. However, as she explores Gotham, she repeatedly encounters different obstacles that appear to chip away at her lives. Selina was already unstable to start with, but with her life fractured and broken, things only got weirder and worse for the poor woman.
4
Harvey Dent Became Everything He Hated Most
The Dark Knight
Harvey Dent appeared in The Dark Knight as the opposite to Batman. The city referred to him as The White Knight, thanks to his hard line on crime and his ability to legally and effectively take criminals off the streets. However, when the Joker captured him and his fiancée, Rachel Dawes, Dent was saved just before a brutal death.
Unfortunately, with his partner ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, and his face deformed, Dent descended into madness similar to the Joker. He decided to adopt the rulebook of the criminals, and began to commit murders based on fate and chance. Dent became everything he despised about Gotham, and it wasn’t long before his reign of terror ended.
3
Arthur Fleck Is Stabbed By A Joker Disciple
Joker 2
While Arthur Fleck was set up to be the original Joker in the first movie, the sequel flips the script drastically. Fleck is out on trial, and his defense largely relies on whether the Joker was a split personality that took control, or if Arthur was always in control. But despite exploring this complication, the film then complicates matters further when Fleck is ruthlessly killed inside Arkham.
A mysterious prisoner approaches, tells a joke, and then stabs Arthur in the stomach, leaving him to bleed out and die. Evidently, this figure felt some sort of resonance with Fleck’s Joker persona, and he scars himself to resemble the figure. But for Fleck, his pitiful life ends in a puddle of blood, with nothing to show for everything that came before.
2
Barbara Gordon Is Abused And Paralyzed By The Joker
Batman: The Killing Joke
Barbara Gordon is a long-standing ally of Batman in the comics and the animated films. Barbara Gordon also plays a pivotal role in Batman: The Killing Joke, where the young hero retires from crime fighting after almost going too far. Unfortunately, despite stepping away from vigilante justice, she is later targeted by the Joker, who shoots her in the spine, leaving her permanently paralyzed and takes Sєxually explicit pictures of Barbara to further torment her and her loved ones.
This despicable act is vile and detestable, but Barabara is tough. She eventually goes on to become Oracle, a wheelchair-bound hero that aids the Bat Family, but her life is forever changed by the cruelty and violence of the Joker.
1
Batman Lost All His Hope
Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice
In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, much of the subtext of the movie relies on knowledge of the comic books. For instance, there is a scene where Ben Affleck’s Batman looks at a damaged and vandalized suit that belonged to his sidekick, Robin. The suit has the Joker’s trademark graffiti on it, implying that he was killed by Batman’s greatest foe.
But this death does more than simply upset Batman; it robs him of his hope. After seeing what can happen when threats are left to grow and get out of hand, Batman decides to kill Earth’s greatest hero, Superman, because of the threat he presents to the world. This is a devastating version of the hero that becomes much more violent and dangerous than others seen in DC movies.
Upcoming DC Movie Releases
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Superman
- Release Date
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July 11, 2025
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Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
- Release Date
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June 26, 2026
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The Batman Part II
- Release Date
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October 1, 2027
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