'Batman' Kills Comic-Book Fan: 'Uppercut from Batman' - Obituary

A comic-book fan who died without his family knowing the real cause turned out to have been killed by "an uppercut from Batman."

Stephen Merrill, 31, from Winter Haven, Florida, suddenly died, with the cause of death unknown to everyone, CNET reported. Merrill, however, was known to be suffering from cancer.

Formalities including leasing a funeral home and having an obituary written for the departed, however, required notification of a cause of death.

Since Merrill was a man of humor and a lover of comic books, his family decided to put the cause of his death as a punch from Batman. But will their local paper print his obituary?

"The funeral director didn't think it would fly," Merrill's friend Brandon Moxam told WFTS-TV. Moxam was the one who came up with the idea of blaming Batman's fist for his buddy's death.

At first the local Ledger newspaper refused to print the obituary blaming Batman for Merill's death. But after the paper's editors met the Merrill family and realized it would be a fitting tribute, they agreed to print the obituary.

Part of Merill's obituary reads: "Stephen Merrill, 31, passes away February 12, 2015, due to an uppercut from Batman."

"He would have been honored to have died by an uppercut from Batman," Stephen's fiancée, Stephanie Vella, told ABC.

Someone posing as Captain America sent a shield made out of flowers during the celebration of Merrill's life. A quote from "The Avengers" also adorned the program.

Moxam told WFTS-TV that the only thing that can be controlled in such a sad event is "how you honor their memory."

"Hopeful that D.C. Comics will hear about his story. It would be great if they could do something nice for his family," he added.

Through Batman's supposed role in the young man's death, Merrill will hopefully be remembered "not just as another departed person or another sad statistic," wrote CNET. "He'll always be remembered as having been taken from this life by a superhero."