If Michael is cold and calculating, then Sonny Corleone is pure fire.
Hot-tempered, fearless, and dangerously impulsive, Sonny rules the Corleone family during his father’s recovery after the assassination attempt.
And he rules it with violence.
Enemies are beaten. Traitors disappear. Rival families quickly learn that Sonny reacts first and thinks later.
For a time, his ferocity keeps the Corleone empire alive.
But Sonny’s greatest strength becomes his fatal weakness.
When he learns that his sister has been brutally abused by her husband, Sonny explodes in rage and races across the city to confront him.
What he doesn’t know is that it’s a trap.
At a lonely toll booth, Sonny’s car is suddenly surrounded. Dozens of bullets tear through the vehicle in one of the most shocking ambush scenes in movie history.
The fearless prince of the Corleone empire falls in a storm of gunfire.
His death sends shockwaves through the family and forces Michael to step into a role no one expected.
And just like that, the wild heir is gone—leaving the throne open for a far colder successor.