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From cloning to reincarnation, there are many tried and true methods of resurrection of these beloved heroes. However, when the restoration of a character back to life becomes so available, it also means that writers are willing to experiment with more ways that they can kill these heroes.
7) Jean Grey
It’s a long-running joke among fans that Jean Grey is constantly getting killed off. However, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Jean is always reborn. Despite her many apparent deaths, the exact number of times Jean has actually died is hard to pin down. There have been many instances of Jean having fake-out deaths in the comics. Still, Jean has had numerous confirmed deaths over the years in a variety of ways. She’s been incinerated, torn apart by Sentinels, had a stroke, and has been stabbed by Wolverine at least seven times. As of now, Jean has died at least 13 times. However, given her propensity for dying and for reincarnation, it probably won’t be long before she dies yet again.
6) Spider-Man
Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, is infamous for his “Parker Luck,” where he constantly finds himself the victim of great misfortune. This pattern of bad luck has caused Peter to die over a dozen times at the hands of a variety of sadistic supervillains, including Doctor Doom, Terraxia, Morlun, Kindred, and Cytorrak. There have been not one, but two story arcs where Peter experiences death and rebirth in rapid succession: “Last Remains” and “Eight Deaths of Spider-Man.” In “Last Remains,” the villain Kindred uses his necromancy powers to kill and resurrect Peter six times in rapid succession. And in “Eight Deaths of Spider-Man,” the wallcrawler is given a magical suit that gives him eight extra lives, which he quickly blows through when fighting the eldritch entity Cytorrak. Adding in his deaths alongside those of Doctor Doom, Terraxia, and Morlun, Peter has died at least 17 times to date.
5) Batman
Since Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, is just a regular human, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that he’s died in the line of duty. For the most part, Bruce has done a good job of avoiding death, but there have been times when he couldn’t outpace the reaper. One of the most infamous examples is when the Joker obtained the god-like power of the 5th-dimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlk. With the power to bend reality to his will, the Joker turns the universe and Bruce into his personal playthings. The Joker tortured and murdered Bruce by feeding him to a flock of ravenous vultures, before resurrecting him the next day. Bruce went through this torturous cycle dozens of times before Superman eventually managed to defeat the Joker and make the villain lose his god-like power.
4) Scarlet Spider
Ben Reilly, aka the Scarlet Spider, is a clone of Spider-Man, created by the villain known as the Jackal. During his introductory story arc, the “Clone Saga,” Ben believed himself to be the original Peter Parker. However, that belief was proven false when, after the Green Goblin’s glider impaled him, the hero rapidly decomposed, thus proving that he was always the clone. Since then, Ben has been cloned back to life over 30 times thanks to the Jackal. The constant cycle of death and resurrection eventually broke Ben’s mind, and he became the villain Chasm. Death even told Ben that he held the record for most resurrections in the universe. However, there is one Marvel character that actually beats Ben’s record.
