Comic book adaptations explore a lot of different themes and emotions in the various stories that have been brought from the pages to the big screen over the years. Though a common feeling that many heroes and villains deal with in these adaptations is grief, which has led to the creation of a number of heroes in order to deal with tragedy and loss.
Recently, series like WandaVision on Disney+ have further explored grief and mourning, though as it is far from the only comic book adaptation to touch on the dark feelings and stages everyone must go through. But it's not the only comic book adaptation that explores grief as one of its main themes.
10 WandaVision Explored Scarlet Witch's Grief Over The Death Of The Vision
As previously mentioned, WandaVision explored the main character Wanda Maximoff and her stages of grief after the death of her love Vision in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War at the hands of the incredibly powerful Thanos.
Driven slightly mad by her grief, Wanda used her growing magical abilities to rewrite reality in a small town so she could rebuild Vision and start a new life with him, though as she soon learned, avoiding the grief can be as problematic as moving through the necessary stages of mourning.
9 Batman Is Bruce Wayne's Method Of Dealing With The Loss Of His Parents
DC Comics' Bruce Wayne's entire life has been built around dealing with the loss of his parents at a young age, which sent him on a dedicated mission to become a crimefighter so that no one else would have to suffer the same grief he did.
Almost every adaptation of Batman to the big screen has explored this crucial moment in Bruce Wayne's life, though it was Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins that managed to truly capture the extreme mourning and grief that led Bruce Wayne to his eventual trip around the world to train his body and mind to become the Batman.
8 The Amazing Spider-Man Explored The Loss Of Peter Parker's Parents
Peter Parker's transformation into the Marvel hero known as Spider-Man has had a few different moments on the big screen, though it was Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man franchise that best captured the grief felt by Parker over the losses in his life.
While most adaptations focus on the death of his Uncle Ben which The Amazing Spider-Man also featured, it also heavily dived into Peter's questions about his parents, who disappeared and died when he was only a small child. The sequel then further explored Peter Parker's grief after the death of Gwen Stacy, which lasted with the comic character for years.
7 The Pym Family Struggled With The Loss Of Jan Van Dyne In Ant-Man
2015's Ant-Man from director Peyton Reed followed reformed thief Scott Lang as he was chosen by Hank Pym to become the new size-changing hero Ant-Man, though he also found himself in the middle of some heavy family drama.
Following the loss of Janet van Dyne during a wartime mission and Hank Pym's inability to deal with his grief, the relationship with his daughter Hope suffered greatly. It was only through Hank's revelation that he was only trying to keep his daughter safe from the same grief he was feeling that allowed them to come back together and find Jan.
6 Bloodshot Used The Main Character's Grief To Manipulate Him As A Weapon
2020's Bloodshot adapted the Valiant Entertainment comic series of the same name that followed Ray Garrison as he and his wife Gina were kidnapped and murdered while on vacation, though Ray is brought back with a regenerative nanite program.
His memories of the attack on Gina and his grief over her loss were altered and manipulated by his corporate handlers so that his revenge could be tactfully aimed at their targets, effectively weaponizing his mourning period.
5 Big Hero 6 Explored Hiro's Grief And Recovery After The Death Of His Brother
Walt Disney Animation Studios released Big Hero 6 in 2014 based on the comic book team of the same name, though the animated movie took a few liberties with the story that refocused on the character of Hiro and the loss of his older brother.
Hiro's movement through the stages of grief is assisted by his older brother's robot invention known as Bayomax, an automated health care provider who takes it upon himself to cure Hiro's grief while also taking down the masked man responsible for his creator's death.
4 The Punisher Launched Frank Castle's Mission After The Death Of His Family
Frank Castle is one of Marvel's most popular anti-heroes though he also has one of the most tragic origin stories, as he was driven to become The Punisher after the vicious gangland slayings of his wife and two children.
This moment was best captured on the big screen in 2004's The Punisher from director Jonathan Hensleigh, which saw Castle's entire family gunned down at a reunion which further increased his drive to begin his one-man war on crime that caused him to live in his grief for years.
3 Zack Snyder's Justice League Featured A World Mourning Superman
2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice featured the climactic death of Superman in battle with Doomsday that completely changed the world of the DC Extended Universe, which was best showcased in the recent 2021 release of Zack Snyder's Justice League on HBO Max.
While the world mourned the loss of its greatest hero that also saw it become a target for Steppenwolf, the movie also focused on the grief felt by both Martha Kent and Lois Lane as they dealt with the loss of Clark Kent/Superman.
2 Avengers: Endgame Takes Place Five Years After The MCU Decimation
Avengers: Infinity War featured the epic showdown between MCU's Avengers and the Mad Titan known as Thanos as he assembled the Infinity Gauntlet and then snapped his fingers, decimating half the population of the universe in his bid to save it.
2019's Avengers: Endgame explored the world five years after the Decimation or "Blip" as it also became known, and society was forced to restructure in order to survive, while almost everyone dealt with their own grief. Captain America led a survivors support group to help while Hawkeye became a Punisher-like figure to deal with the loss of his family.
1 The Crow Brought Eric Draven Back To Life To Take Revenge For His Fallen Love
Alex Proyas directed 1994's adaptation of James O'Barr's The Crow, which explored the deceased Eric Draven's grief over the loss of his fiance that also took his life, though he was resurrected by a mystical crow to become a supernatural force of revenge.
Draven's transformation into The Crow and his path of vengeance against the people who murdered his lost love are explored alongside his mourning while those closest to them also deal with their grief and his sudden resurrection.