Heads of State (2025) ending explained: Does Marty survive the gunshot?

Heads of State is an action comedy movie that premiered on Prime Video on July 2, 2025. Directed by Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry, Nobody), the movie sees John Cena and Idris Elba team up for a second time after James Gunn's 2021 film The Suicide Squad.

Cena and Elba's dynamic in Heads of State is quite similar to the one they had in The Suicide Squad, as they consider each other rivals. However, this time around, they are not savages, which gives them no choice other than becoming reluctant allies despite their constant bickering.

Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for Heads of State. Reader's discretion is advised.

John Cena's US President Will Derringer and Idris Elba's UK Prime Minister Sam Clarke meet Jack Quaid's (Novocaine) field agent, Marky, at the Warsaw safehouse. However, it soon turns out that the safehouse is not as safe as it seemed, as the antagonist has sent his goons there to take down the two political leaders.

Luckily for them, Marky, who had been craving some action, takes on the goons single-handedly. This gives Sam and Will a chance to escape. During the intense fighting scene, Marky gets shot in the head and seemingly dies.

However, that changes after the credits start rolling. In a mid-credit scene, Marky brags to some disgruntled women that he has a metallic plate in his brain. The bullet ricocheted off the plate, thus saving his life and landing him a position in Noel's team.

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Does Viktor Gradov die in Heads of State?

Viktor Gradov in 'Heads of State' (Image via Prime Video)

MobLand star Paddy Considine's Viktor Gradov is the main antagonist in Heads of State. His goal is to kill the two world leaders and bring down the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as revenge for the death of his son.

Viktor's son was a scientific visionary working on a technology that would stop nuclear reactors from melting. However, NATO got the wrong tip, decided that the boy was a threat, and bombed the research center, killing the boy. Viktor wants revenge.

Toward the end of the movie, a fight ensues in which Noel takes on Gradov's henchmen, while Sam and Will run after Gradov himself. In an unexpected turn, Sam takes inspiration from one of Will's blockbuster movies and lets Gradov shoot him. This gives Will enough time to throw a stone figure at the blades of the helicopter in which Gradov was trying to escape.

Fortunately, the stone figure hits the helicopter's blades, and it goes down along with Gradov. It appears that Gradov is dead, but there is no confirmation about it because viewers witnessed Sam and Marty cheat death in the movie.

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Do Will and Sam resolve their differences in Heads of State?

Will was a global superstar before he ventured into politics and became the President of the US, while Sam is an ex-soldier. Will doubts that Sam does not respect him because the latter once dined with Will's political opponent, and they had fish and chips. Will is unable to move past this incident, which drives a wedge between the two.

Will's secretary, Simone Bradshaw (Sarah Niles), and Sam's secretary, Quincy Harrington (Richard Coyle), suggest that their bosses travel together on Air Force One for the upcoming NATO summit in Italy. Despite the initial reluctance, they agree. However, things go quickly downhill when Gradoc intervenes with plans to kill both of them.

When Sam and Will apparently kill Gradov and save NATO from becoming dysfunctional at the end of Heads of State, it is obvious that they make a good team. Subsequently, Sam even offers to make peace with Will by taking him on a fish and chips lunch.

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Heads of State is available to stream on Prime Video.