Which characters die in Brad Pitt’s Bullet Train?

Lucy-Jo Finnighan
bullet train cast on the poster

Bullet Train is a violent, action packed romp of a film, but which of these crazy characters actually kick the bucket?

Bullet Train, Brad Pitt’s newest action film, has been opening to some mixed reviews – you can read ours here – but one thing that people seem to agree on is how fun the action.

That being said, the action isn’t super light-hearted. there’s some real bloody deaths in this film, in between all the zany martial arts and explosions.

So if you want to know beforehand who doesn’t make it out of the film alive, here are all the characters who die in Bullet Train, along with exactly how they died.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR BULLET TRAIN AHEAD…

In Bullet Train, there are too many deaths to count

As can be seen from the trailer, Bullet Train is a massive action movie with a train’s worth of people, so naturally there are a ton of side character deaths.

If we were to list all of them in detail, this article would never end, so here’s a quick list of all the smaller deaths in the film:

The White Death’s wife:

The wife of the Russian Kingpin dies in a car crash that was actually orchestrated by a hit man. Many poor twists of fate led to her not being able to receive protective or surgical help, and this event is ultimately what kicks off the plot of the film.

The Elder’s Wife:

As is often the case with media about mobs, there’s a lot of dead wives. In a flashback, the White Death orchestrates a fiery attack on the Elderly mob member’s home and family. While the Elder was able to save his son, his wife wasn’t so lucky, and the Elder carries that regret with him for the rest of his life.

The Wolf’s entire family:

In a red wedding-esque scene, the Wolf’s entire family, including his bride, are gruesomely poisoned by the Hornet at his wedding. The Wolf is able to avoid this by sheer luck, and he then seeks revenge aboard the Bullet Train.

Prince’s Hitman:

Prince, the daughter of the White Death, blackmails one of our main characters by pushing his son off a roof, and then has a hitman sent to kill that same son in the hospital. However, the Elder was able to predict this plot, and hired an assassin of his own to take care of the former hitman.

Many, many, MANY mob members:

Throughout the film, faceless goons are as disposable as they come. We see the drug lords holding The White Death’s son hostage get shot down by the twins Lemon and Tangerine, along with seeing the White Death cut down the Elder’s mob family in flashbacks. The final battle of the film is a massacre of the White Death’s men, which sees them get shot, stabbed, crushed by the train, split in half by railway stands, and blown up by explosive briefcases. It’s certainly a gory site to behold.

Which major characters die in Bullet Train?

Now, onto the big deaths in the film. The danger is real for every main character in this film, but while some manage to limp away, others aren’t so lucky.

The Wolf (Bad Bunny)

Bad Bunny and Brad Pitt as the Wolf and Ladybug

The Wolf’s death is rather sudden and surprising, as you’d expect such a deadly hitman with such a tragic backstory to be in the film for longer. The Wolf enters the Bullet Train to kill the Hornet, who poisoned his family at his wedding. However, he runs into Ladybug (Brad Pitt) and the pair begin to fight.

Ladybug, who doesn’t wish to fight anyone, has a bad habit of people always dying around him on missions. This fate befalls the wolf, as when the Wolf tries to stab Ladybug through the briefcase that he’s carrying, the blade bounces back and stabs him in the chest. Not only that, but he falls backwards onto the case, breaking his neck.

The Son (Logan Lerman)

Logan Lerman as the Son in Bullet Train

The White Death’s son is also someone that kicks the bucket relatively early. Logan Lerman’s character proves to be a liability from the get go, and hitmen twins Lemon and Tangerine must rescue him from being held ransom by another mob.

However, they can’t keep him safe for long, as during the one moment they leave him unattended on the Bullet Train, the Hornet manages to poison him with deadly snake venom, causing blood to seep out of every hole in his body. Though why he was assassinated is a mystery we won’t spoil.

The Hornet (Zazie Beetz)

Brad Pitt and Zazie Beetz as Ladybug and the Hornet in Bullet Train

The Hornet, who has a habit of poisoning her victims with snake venom, remains hidden for most of the movie, dressing up at the train’s anime mascot in order to remain undetected. But eventually she has a skirmish with Ladybug, and things don’t end well for her.

The Hornet manages to jab him with the venomous needle, however he is able to stab her back. There is only one vial of antidote, and through sheer luck Ladybug is able to get it first. This leaves the Hornet to die in the same way her victims do, in pain from the poison and choking on her own blood, while Ladybug tried in vain to offer her some water.

Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson)

Aaron Taylor Johnson as Tangerine in Bullet Train

While it initially appears that his “twin” Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) is the brother destined to die after being shot by Prince, turns out Tangerine is the one who never makes it off the train. After spending the majority of his journey looking for a briefcase full of money, hunting the Son’s killer, and fighting Ladybug, Tangerine meets his end at the hands of the other assassin.

After Lemon’s supposed death, Tangerine realises that Prince is the one who killed him. But just before he can shoot her, Prince is able to manipulate Ladybug into protecting her, which leads to the men wrestling over a gun, The gun goes off, shooting Tangerine in the neck, and he dies while desperately trying to warn Ladybug about Prince.

The White Death (Michael Shannon)

Michael Shannon as the White Death in Bullet Train

The film’s big bad, an imposing Russian mob boss, is surprisingly easy to get rid of, and he dies at the hands of his own blood. To clarify, the White Death has the habit of killing anyone who tries to assassinate him with their own weapon. Prince knows this, and thus fashions a gun that will explode should anyone pull the trigger.

And explode it does, when the White Death attempts to shoot Ladybug. The moment is rather comical, as it turns out that Ladybug isn’t actually the person that the White Death is after. Ladybug attempts to calm down the villain by calling him dude, to which the White Death yells, “Do not call me dude!” He then fires the gun, which naturally explodes in his face, killing him.

Prince (Joey King)

Joey King as Prince in Bullet Train

Prince is the final death of the film, and she goes out similarly to her father, the White Death, in that her death is rather sudden and comical. Prince doesn’t partake in much of the film’s action, preferring to manipulate others into doing her dirty work, but she isn’t afraid of grabbing a gun, with which she attempts to shoot Lemon to death.

However, while she later holds a machine gun up at Ladybug and our other heroes, claiming that she is more important than all of them, Lemon gets his revenge by suddenly running a tangerine truck over her, seemingly killing her.

Bullet Train is currently playing in cinemas.

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About The Author

Lucy-Jo is a Movies and TV Writer at Dexerto, and has previously written for Screen Rant and Girls on Tops. After earning a Master's Degree in Film and Literature, Lucy-Jo now loves covering films, TV shows, and anime, especially if it's something by Mike Flanagan, or anything drenched in camp. You can contact her at lucyjo.finnighan@dexerto.com