Warning! Spoilers for this week's Marvel Comics releases below.
Marvel Comics can't stop killing off some of their greatest Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes in the comics. After previously announcing a series killing Doctor Strange and one heavily teasing the death of Spider-Man, two more heroes with upcoming MCU projects coming soon were killed. In X-Factor #10, Scarlet Witch met her end at the Hellfire Gala, while in Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade, Dane Whitman might have as well.
The next year is packed with MCU projects, including heavy hitters such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as well as Spider-Man: No Way Home. In an effort to align the comics side more with movies, characters such as America Chavez, Ms. Marvel, and Kang on the Conqueror were all given new series, softly reintroducing their adventures for new audiences. While less familiar faces are getting new origins or stories, some of the biggest heroes in both the comics and the MCU are mysteriously being killed off.
This week's releases from Marvel Comics featured the deaths of two heroes set to play important roles in the future of the MCU. In X-Factor #10 by Leah Williams, David Baldeon, Lucas Werneck, David Messina, and Israel Silva, Scarlet Witch was found dead as the Hellfire Gala event came to a close. Her death will lead into The Trial of Magneto arc, where her father, one of the last people to see her alive, will seemingly be put on trial for murdering his daughter. As for Scarlet Witch's upcoming MCU co-star Doctor Strange? Marvel revealed plans to kill him off as well in The Death of Doctor Strange.
The deaths don't end there. Marvel Comics heavily teased Peter Parker's death in the upcoming Spider-Man: Beyond arc, with images showing Mary Jane Watson holding his lifeless body. Meanwhile, in Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #4 by Si Spurrier, Sergio Davila, Sean Parsons, Arif Prianto and VC's Cory Petit, the Black Knight, who will debut in the upcoming Eternals film, seemingly meets his end after being stabbed by his own sword, as a new hero is set to wield the Ebony Blade.
Staying dead in the comics is pretty much impossible these days, as many of the killed heroes already being teased for future projects. However, killing off Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch, as well as the potential deaths of Black Knight and Spider-Man, right before their next MCU projects, seems more than a simple coincidence. It's likely Marvel Comics is taking a strange approach to injecting new life into characters by killing them off in order to relaunch them ahead of their films (hello mutant Scarlet Witch?). But, still, seeing such popular heroes fall all at the same time is certainly curious.