Professor X - the Marvel comic book character who formed and led the superhero mutant team known as X-Men - has been killed off.
The latest issue of comic book "Avengers VS. X-Men", out today, saw the wheelchair-bound and telepathic character, whose full name is Charles Xavier, get killed by Cyclops, a member of his very own X-Men team.
"When we first crafted 'Avengers VS. X-Men', we didn't set out to kill any characters," said Marvel Entertainment editor-in-chief Axel Alonso. "But as the story progressed, it became obvious that this had to be the last stand of Charles Xavier.
"Rest assured his death will reverberate across the Marvel Universe, leading into major launches like Uncanny Avengers and All-New X-Men this fall," Alonso added.
The storyline's dramatic conclusion will occur in the follow-up issue, due out October 3.
The X-Men characters have been brought to the big screen in a series of films, starring Patrick Stewart as Professor X and James Marsden as Cyclops.
Last year, a prequel to those films - "X-Men First Class" - had British actor James McAvoy as the professor.