Do we know for sure that they are killing him off or is that just a rumor based on "Leaks" because it would be damn dumb to do that, unless they do the fake out. He's not really dead, Soap Opera plot line where everyone thinks he's dead and it turns out he's not and he's been off dealing with things (Kind of like Bruce was "dead" but was really off dealing with things)? I mean...killing him off seems straight up dumb, namely because the Actor is not the character. That would be like if no one did Superman After George Reeves got killed or something like that.
Then again Wakada did accept others into their ranks. I honestly think they're going to do a "He's presumed dead" and in reality he's off dealing with something.