Does Ladybug Survive ‘Bullet Train’ (and Live to See a Sequel)?

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Bullet Train.

The action film Bullet Train zoomed into theaters in August, and now the Brad Pitt vehicle has arrived at its final destination: streaming on Netflix. Based on the 2010 novel Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train has Brad playing Ladybug, an operative trying to get over a recent spate of bad luck and accidental kills.

Through events that are not-so-coincidental, Ladybug and several other assassins — played by Joey King, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Bad Bunny, and Zazie Beetz — board the same bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. But does Ladybug’s luck run out during the film’s 126-minute runtime? Does Ladybug die in Bullet Train?

Rest easy, Brad Pitt fans — Ladybug doesn’t die in Bullet Train.

“The first thing that was evident about this script … was that it was so damn funny and all these characters had their own thing going on, so I knew we were going to draw an all-star cast,” Brad told Complex in August 2022. “Well, mostly all-star cast.”

At the end of Bullet Train, Ladybug finally comes face-to-face with the White Death (Michael Shannon), a Russian crime boss who lured the killers he blamed for his wife’s death on the train.

Ladybug, however, wasn’t part of the White Death’s plan. He was filling in for another operative, Carver (Ryan Reynolds), who had “a stomach thing.” The White Death tries to shoot Ladybug, but the gun — which had been rigged by the Prince, Joey’s character — backfires and kills him. The Prince then confronts Ladybug with a machine gun, but she gets run over by a fruit truck before she pulls the trigger.

So, yes, Ladybug survives his run-ins with so many memorable assassins during the movie. Talking to Forbes in August 2022, director David Leitch said that one of Brad’s talents as an actor is letting his co-stars steal the scene. “He creates these bold and original characters with such confidence, knowing they don’t need to occupy the screen to have an impact,” David explained. “I think that comes from his experience but also as an artist. He’s really giving; it suits him and these crazy characters.”

In the closing scene of Bullet Train, Ladybug is rescued by his handler, Maria (Sandra Bullock), and the two walk into the proverbial sunset — or sunrise, as the case may be.

And on the topic of a potential Bullet Train franchise, Leitch said he sees the story as a whole universe. “I know that’s the buzzword that everybody uses, and they’re like, ‘We want to build a universe and all the spinoffs,’ but organically, on the page already, you had that.”

The filmmaker elaborated: “Not everybody’s left at the end of this, but that doesn’t mean we can’t explore different times and places when these fun characters existed. All of us had such a wonderful time making it … and I think we all want to come back. It was a joy to make with such beautiful people, and it is definitely on my bucket list to revisit this Bullet Train world.”

Bullet Train is now available on Netflix.