The greatest films to come out of Japan
In the original 'Final Destination' movie, characters Alex Browning and Clear Rivers form a pretty formidable couple. And yet in the second movie they meet a nondescript end.
As the only female driver in a group of macho guys who drive too fast, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is a great addition to the 'Fast & Furious' gang. She is not in all the movies, however.
Cyclops, otherwise known as Scott Summers, dies off-screen after he embraces the Dark Phoenix thinking she is the late Jean Grey. Fans were outraged by Cyclops's disappointing end.
In the first two 'American Pie' movies, Oz (Chris Klein) is a pretty major character. He has a role at least as big as the other friends in the group, and yet he doesn't return for the third film.
For many people it was Meryl Streep who stole the show in the 2008 musical comedy, 'Mamma Mia!' She played the fierce but fun-loving mother of protagonist, Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried).
The leader of the X-Men pack, Cyclops (James Marsden) meets his end during the third instalment in the X-Men series. His death comes after that of his lover, Jean Grey.
Sadly for many, Streep doesn't appear in the movie's sequel. The plot takes place after Donna's death, but not much is given away about how she passed.
In 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows' (2011) Irene Adler was poisoned early on by Professor Moriarty. Fans suspect that she didn't actually die, however, and that she will return in a later movie.
In 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' (2011), James Franco's character, Will Rodman, is the protagonist. He is a chemist trying to discover a cure for his father's Alzheimer's disease.
And yet Rodman doesn't appear at all in the film's sequel, 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' (2014). We don't even get an explanation for why he doesn't appear.
He doesn't stay away for long though: he returns just a year later in 'Avengers: Endgame' (2019), albeit as a different version of himself.
The 2012 comedy 'Magic Mike' tells the story of a group of male strippers. Alex Pettyfer's character, The Kid, is, unsurprisingly, the new kid on the block.
She is killed off in the fourth movie during a flashback, only to return to the franchise in the sixth instalment. Somehow she survived her own murder...
Tom Hiddleston's loveable character Loki is removed from the story at the beginning of 'Avengers: Infinity War' (2018), after Thanos intercepts a ship carrying Ragnarok survivors.
The Kid doesn't return for the sequel, however, and sources suggest it's because Alex Pettyfer just couldn't get along with his co-star, Channing Tatum.
In Guy Ritchie's 2009 adaptation of 'Sherlock Holmes,' Rachel McAdams plays Irene Adler, Sherlock's intellectual match and love interest. She unfortunately didn't last long in the sequel.
She is killed by a sniper during the movie's opening, in a clear example of "fridging": the narrative device that calls for a female love interest to die so that the male's character can become more complex.
Sources: (Ranker) (IMDb)
Throughout 'The Bourne Identity' (2002), Marie (Franka Potente) is by Jason Bourne's side. She doesn't get the chance to do the same in the movie's sequel, however.
In the first 'Hellboy' movie, Rupert Evans played FBI special agent John Myers, the most prominent of the few human characters in an otherwise fantastical movie.
In the first two 'Blade' movies Kris Kristofferson plays the character of Whistler, the pivotal father figure to the half-man, half-vampire Blade (Wesley Snipes).
During the first few minutes of 'Annihilation,' Cage is killed in an altercation with the evil Outworld emperor, Shao Kahn. The part is so small that Ashby didn't return for the role.
John Myers didn't feature in the sequel to 'Hellboy' (2004), apparently because Rupert Evans had a scheduling conflict. Myers was simply "transferred to Antarctica" by order of Hellboy.
Whistler is killed off at the beginning of the third movie when, surrounded by the FBI, he gives them the middle finger and gets himself blown up. The writing has been described as "lazy."
Fans of 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' were excited to hear that the hit 1986 film was getting a sequel from Paramount Pictures, but there is a catch: Ferris (Matthew Broderick) and Cameron (Alan Ruck) won't be in it. Instead, the spin-off flick 'Sam and Victor's Day Off' will center on the valets, originally played by late actors Richard Edson and Larry "Flash" Jenkins, who took Cameron's father's Ferrari for a joy ride through the streets of Chicago and racked up a ton of mileage on the prized car. 'Cobra Kai' producers Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald, will be taking on the story of the unnamed valets, Deadline reports.
Linden Ashby's character in 'Mortal Kombat,' Johnny Cage, has been described as "the one character the audience really gels with." And yet he barely lasts five minutes in the follow-up.
Strangely, he does not feature at all during the film and there is no mention of why he wasn't invited to the wedding. He does return for the fourth movie, however.
In 'Final Destination 2' it's simply announced that Alex died after a brick fell on his head, and Clear dies in a fire. The film has been criticized for the unceremonious end these characters meet.
When it comes to making a sequel to a successful film, directors most often go with the same characters and (if they can) actors. After all, why fix something that's not broken?
On rare occasions, however, a decision is made to cut a main character from the body of a film's sequel. In some cases those characters are offed early on in the sequel, and in other cases they simply don't feature in the follow-up at all.
Check out this gallery to find out which movie sequels cut out main characters.
Movie sequels that cut out main characters
Follow-ups famous for offing their protagonists
MOVIES Film
When it comes to making a sequel to a successful film, directors most often go with the same characters and (if they can) actors. After all, why fix something that's not broken?
On rare occasions, however, a decision is made to cut a main character from the body of a film's sequel. In some cases those characters are offed early on in the sequel, and in other cases they simply don't feature in the follow-up at all.
Check out this gallery to find out which movie sequels cut out main characters.