Every entry in the Jaws franchise featured a new great white terrorizing the movie's heroes, and here's how each one met its demise. The success of Steven Spielberg's Jaws made a sequel inevitable, and the series would somewhat legitimize the idea of producing sequels in Hollywood. Before Jaws, outside of occasional franchises like the James Bond series or Airport, follow-ups were rare. Jaws 2 was another major hit, even if it didn't receive the praise that greeted the original.
Spielberg passed on Jaws 2 partly out of fear of going back on the water - following the torturous production of the first entry - and because he felt sequels were “a cheap carny trick.” He also passed on Jaws 3D, and while he's polite enough not to openly bash the sequels, he's reportedly made it clear he never wants his original film packaged in a boxset with the Jaws follow-ups. The shark featured in the first movie - nicknamed "Bruce," after Spielberg's lawyer - was very, very dead by the end credits, necessitating a new great white for Jaws 2.
Unlike slasher franchises like Halloween, where Michael Myers is seemingly unkillable, the sharks in the Jaws saga are very mortal. Each outing had to get a little creative with how the heroes dispatched them too, so here's every shark death in the Jaws movie series.
Every Shark Death In The Jaws Franchise
Jaws (1975) - Pressurized Air Tank Explosion
By the finale of Jaws, "Bruce" has destroyed Hooper's (Richard Dreyfuss) shark cage - and nearly eaten its occupant - wrecked the Orca and eaten Robert Shaw's Quint. Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) is the last man swimming and manages to toss a pressurized oxygen tank into the shark's gawping mouth. As the boat sinks and Bruce starts charging at Brody one final time, the desperate Chief fires his rifle at the beast, hoping to hit the tank. At the last moment, he strikes gold, and the shark explodes into gory pieces.
Jaws 2 (1978) - Electoricuted By Power Cable
In contrast to the original, Brody and Jaws 2's great white don't run into each until the finale. By this point, a group of stranded teens are trying to reach a small island on their wrecked boats. Brody's son Sean is among the youngsters, but the shark attacks again and hope seems lost when Brody - who didn't return for Jaws 3D - also crashes his vessel. After hooking onto an underwater cable and recalling an earlier story about sharks being attracted to noise, the Chief bangs on the cable to lure the hungry predator. It charges towards Brody as he holds up the cable, with the Chief leaping back as the shark bites down and is gruesomely fried by the electricity.
Jaws 3D (1982) - Grenade Explosion
The shark in Jaws 3D is the largest in the series at 35 feet long. After becoming trapped in SeaWorld with her baby - who is captured by staff but dies in captivity - she emerges and starts eating the tourists. Oceongraphyer FitzRoyce (Simon MacCorkindale) is swallowed alive by the beast and crushed in its mouth while trying to pull a pin on his grenade.
Later in Jaws 3D's - whose canon status is complicated - hero Mike Brody (Dennis Quaid) spots FitzRoyce's body and the grenade still lodged in the shark's mouth as it attacks an underwater control room. After some frantic jabbing with a hook, Mike unpins the grenade and the resulting implosion makes the shark disappear in a cloud of blood and viscera.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987) - Impaled / Explosion
How the shark dies in Jaws: The Revenge depends on the version viewers watch. In the original U.S. theatrical release, the heroes - consisting of Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary) and her son Mike (Lance Guest) - shock the creature with a homemade device. This causes it to raise from the water before Ellen rams the boat's broken prow into its side. This causes the shark to bleed out and die, destroying the Neptune's Folly boat with its death throes.
The critical reception to Jaws: The Revenge - whose original plan featured a megalodon - was notoriously poor, so Universal swiftly reshot the ending to ensure that audience favorite character Jake (Mario Van Peebles) survived for overseas viewers. They also reshot the shark's demise, where it inexplicably explodes after being hit by the boat.