Death Rules:
Nobody Lasts Forever.
But Death rarely has the last word on superheroes.
(by David Edward Martin)
Let's think about the unthinkable---namely, death and its effects on your hero's career in the MARVEL SUPER HEROESTM game. Death doesn't usually change people physically. Oh, they don't breathe, are no fun at parties, and have hygiene problems, but on the whole, not much else occurs to the recently departed. Super-beings are a different case. Because of the powers that some super-beings (or their super-equipment) possess, death may cause unforeseen events with the loss of the deceased's conscious control.
You aren't likely to know what's going to happen to your character if he dies. Even if you do, you'll only have to deal with the after-effects once. NPCs are a different case; they can drop like flies in tough campaigns. Judges should determine post-mortem effects beforehand, especially if the current adventure has a high risk of PC or NPC fatalities. The information should be kept secret unless later events enable someone to puzzle it out.
Since most PCs are unique individuals, post-mortem effects can be specifically selected or randomly determined for each super-powered hero as appropriate. Simply roll on the post-mortem effects table for random results. If the character's powers are species abilities or are the results of processes used on a number of beings, 1 post-mortem effect should be sufficient for everyone in that group. The Judge should be prepared to decide how technologically produced superpowers are affected if the deceased equipment still operates after the death of its user or if such equipment is damaged at the time of the user's death.