EXCLUSIVE: How Tragic Val Kilmer Went to His Grave in Agony – Blaming His Life-Saving Cancer Treatments for Slowly Killing Him

Devout Christian Scientist Val Kilmer went to his grave in agony on April 1 believing the treatments that extended his life for nearly a decade following a devastating throat cancer diagnosis ultimately doomed him, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Top Gun's cocky Iceman was finally grounded by pneumonia at age 65 – and one doctor consulted by RadarOnline.com agrees with the assessment that the cancer-fighting efforts likely did him in.

"The treatments for cancer often suppress your immune system and make a cancer survivor more susceptible to contracting pneumonia," noted longevity expert Dr. Gabe Mirkin, who did not treat Kilmer. "Your body just doesn't have a great ability to fight back. It's ironic that we can cure cancer – but we may also kill people by curing it."

RadarOnline.com previously revealed the Batman Forever hero's health woes in 2015 when we published shocking photos of the frail former hunk shuffling through the streets of Los Angeles with a large scarf covering his neck and face.

Sources estimated the Juilliard-trained thespian had dropped 50 pounds and shrunk to a skeletal 120.

At the time, The Saint stud denied being ill and said he'd lost weight to play lanky humorist Mark Twain in a production he wrote and directed – but after our shocking reports, he confessed to having had a "healing of cancer."

The Citizen Twain creator initially shunned standard treatments because of his faith – which emphasizes spiritual healing rather than conventional medical methods – and hoped to be totally cured by prayer alone.

The very same year, Kilmer's mother Gladys confirmed he had a throat tumor, but insisted: "He was miraculously healed through Christian Science treatments."

But when the condition persisted, Kilmer relented under pressure from daughter Mercedes, 33, and son Jack, 29 – his children with ex-wife actress Joanne Whalley and underwent a tracheal procedure that damaged his vocal cords and made speaking difficult.

"I just didn't want to experience their fear, which was profound," Kilmer said of agreeing to traditional medical care. "I would've had to go away, and I just didn't want to be without them."

The Doors star later underwent chemotherapy and two MORE tracheotomies to fight off the disease.

But his weakened state – and inability to perform as he had in the past because of his raspy voice – led him to complain: "That treatment CAUSED my suffering."

An insider told us: "Val never wanted to give in to the medical treatment that gave him nearly 10 years of life. But he relented to the pressure his friends and loved ones put on him because they believed the treatment would keep him with them."

Sources added Kilmer raged during his tragic final days over his sad fate, which he was convinced was caused by the remedies he never truly wanted.

"Val insisted until his last breath that he beat back cancer through prayer and positive thinking – and that the radiation and chemo he received was what ruined his health," recalled a friend of the doomed Tombstone gunslinger.

"He received the gift of years of life because of the work of doctors, but he was still convinced that would get him in the end – and he may well have been right."

Fans were shocked when compromised Kilmer again appeared onscreen as Iceman in 2022's blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, with a voice replicated by artificial intelligence.

During Kilmer's waning days, he also posted a video online in which he playfully donned a Batman mask next to a painting he had made of the superhero he portrayed in 1995, quipping: "It's been a while."

While the sickly actor appeared to be in good spirits, sources said behind the scenes, he remained bitter about the very regimens that had kept him alive.