10. Lethal Weapon 2 – Riggs Was To Be Gunned Down In The Climatic Firefight
Before all of his personal life overshadowed his work, Mel Gibson was probably most famous for playing the volatile and reckless Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon series. Despite his tendency to rush head first into any situation and getting more injuries than Jackie Chan, Riggs is somehow still alive after four movies. However, Riggs wasn’t meant to survive past Lethal Weapon 2 had Shane Black, the screenwriter for the movie, gotten his way.
During the final shoot out, Riggs gets shot in the back and he eventually dies in Murtaugh’s arms. Seeing as how Riggs was characterized as a suicidal mess, Black thought that killing off Riggs would be a bittersweet finish to the character’s story. However, the producers thought that the cash cow still had more milk to give, so they decided that Riggs would survive in the end.
Unhappy at how his script was tampered with, Black walked away from any future Lethal Weapon movies, which probably explains why Lethal Weapon 3 and 4 were average at best.
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