After 32 movies and nearly as many TV shows, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced us to countless characters over the course of the past 15 years. Though the likes of Thor, Hulk, and Captain America are still all among the living, many of their fellow heroes, and O.G. Avengers, have since bitten the dust (this is not a reference to everyone lost in the Snap) and are no longer with us.
With so many movies and shows having come out since Iron Man kicked off the massive franchise a decade-and-a-half ago, keeping track of all the major MCU heroes who have died is no easy task. That being said, we’ve put together a quick yet comprehensive guide of all of Earth’s, and the universe’s, mightiest heroes who have either sacrificed themselves for the greater good, died of old age, or somewhere in between.
Iron Man
The MCU’s first superhero (in terms of order of release), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a.k.a., Iron Man, was the heart, soul, and sarcastic voice of the Avengers in the first three phases of the franchise. The hero’s journey would come to an end when he snapped his fingers while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet to kill Thanos once and for all during the emotional and shocking Avengers: Endgame ending.
Black Widow
Another one of the MCU’s earliest heroes, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johannson), a.k.a., Black Widow also met her fate in Avengers: Endgame. Though her death didn’t come in the epic battle, and she never got to hear Cap yell his famous line, Black Widow’s act of self-sacrifice to secure the Soul Stone was a pivotal moment in the movie and franchise moving forward.
Black Panther
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler had a tough decision to make when it came to the death of T’Challa in the 2022 MCU movie, considering Chadwick Boseman, the actor who brought the character to life, died of cancer two years earlier. In the movie, it is revealed that Black Panther died of an illness he couldn’t overcome without the heart-shaped herb.
Vision
Vision (Paul Bettany), who was introduced after the Mind Stone was implanted into the body of the android meant to be used by Ultron in the second Avengers movie, suffered one of the most heartbreaking deaths in the MCU. You may recall that Vision died after Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) destroyed the stone that brought him life in Avengers: Infinity War, only to be brought back by Thanos (Josh Brolin), who ripped the reconstructed gem from his head.
Loki
Before a variant of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) branched off in a new timeline in Avengers: Endgame (leading to a Disney+ series which has its second season on the way), the character died at the hands of Thanos in the opening scene of Infinity War after he tried to kill the Mad Titan and prevent his master plan from coming to fruition.
Gamora
Though an alternate version of the character now runs with the Ravagers in the MCU, the Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) fans and Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) feel fell for back in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy became one of the first major casualties in Avengers: Infinity War when her adoptive father, Thanos, threw her off a cliff to procure the Soul Stone. The death, which brought an end to Gamora and Star-Lord’s relationship, was still a major aspect of the franchise in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Groot
Groot (Vin Diesel) is another Guardian of the Galaxy who died performing an act of self-sacrifice during the Guardians of the Galaxy ending. Though the character came back as a baby and grew into an adult once more, James Gunn has since cleared the air and said he is the son of the O.G. Groot.
Maria Hill
The Disney+ series Secret Invasion started out with a shocking death when Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) died at the conclusion of the show’s premiere. Hill died when she and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) were trying to prevent a terrorist attack in Russia only for a Skrull, who was impersonating her longtime friend, to shoot her point blank.
Phil Coulson
Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) was one of the most beloved characters in the early days of the MCU, which is what made his death in The Avengers all the more shocking and emotional. Though the character hasn’t returned to the film side after being stabbed by Loki, Coulson was resurrected for the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series not long after.
Talos
The hits just kept coming for Nick Fury during Secret Invasion, with one of the most upsetting being the death of longtime friend and Skrull, Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), a character first introduced as the fake-out villain in Captain Marvel. Fury’s buddy was killed by Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) in a pivotal scene in the later part of the Disney+ original series’ first season.
Peggy Carter
One of the few MCU characters to die at an old age (if you don’t count Captain Carter’s demise in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) passed away in her sleep in the early goings of Captain America: Civil War.
Ramonda
Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) was one the fiercest leaders in all of the MCU, especially after she became the ruler of Wakanda following the death of her son in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. But, the mother of T’Challa and Suri wouldn’t be on the throne long, as she drowned during Namor’s attack on the kingdom.
Quicksilver
Though he was kind of a secondary antagonist upon being introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a.k.a., Quicksilver, went out as a hero. Not long after turning on Ultron and siding with the Avengers, Quicksilver sacrificed himself to save Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and a young child during the Sokovia Incident.
May Parker
Spider-Man fans are used to seeing Uncle Ben die as part of Peter Parker’s hero’s journey, but not Aunt May! Moviegoers were in for a devastating surprise in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home when Marisa Tomei’s character was murdered by Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) after his big reveal.
Jane Foster
Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) was another MCU character who died from an illness instead of at the hands of a villain or from sacrificing herself to save someone, though she didn’t listen to doctor or anyone else’s advice in Thor: Love and Thunder. Death wasn’t the end for the Mighty Thor, as she was welcomed into the gates of Valhalla in one the movie’s end credits sequences.
Odin
Who knew that the death of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) would lead to one of the bloodiest and most destructive periods in the MCU, but that was the case when the king of Asgard died and turned into a flash of glittery light in Thor: Ragnarok. Tired and fulfilled after living a long life of good times and bad, Odin vanished in the presence of his sons just before his secret daughter, Hela (Cate Blanchett), made her return.
The Ancient One
Though an earlier version of the character shows up and explains the dangers of messing with time in Avengers: Endgame, the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) would die at the hands of Kaecilius (Mads MIkkelsen) in the first Doctor Strange movie.
Yondu
Over the course of the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Yondu (Michael Rooker) went from being a villain you love to hate to one of the best characters in the entire MCU. His death, which is a franchise-best, is still impactful more than a half-decade later, and no one should ever forget how he sacrificed his own life to save that of his “son,” Peter Quill.
Heimdall
First introduced in Thor back in 2011, Heimdall (Idris Elba) served as the God of Thunder’s longtime best friend, Gatekeeper of Asgard, and guardian of the Bifrost throughout the next two movies in the trilogy. His time came to an end at the hands of Thanos in the opening minutes of Avengers: Infinity War, but it wasn’t in vain, as Heimdall sent the Hulk back to Earth to warn the Avengers about the Mad Titan’s plan. However, we did get to see Heimdall in Valhalla at the end of Thor: Love and Thunder.
T’Chaka
Though he would show up in the Ancestral Plane in Black Panther, King T’Chaka (John Koni), the king of Wakanda and the former Black Panther died pretty much right after we met him in Captain America: Civil War. One of the two major deaths in the movie (more on the other shortly), T’Chaka’s passing would put T’Challa not only in the movie’s epic airport showdown, but also make him his father’s successor.
The Warriors Three (Fandel, Hogun, Volstagg)
The Warriors Three – Fandral (Joshua Dallas/Zachary Levi), Hogun (Tadanobu Asano), and Volstagg (Ray Stevenson) – were three of Asgard’s fiercest fighters and Thor’s closest friends throughout the God of Thunder’s movies, but they would all fall to Hela when the daughter of Odin took over Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok.
Ajak
One of the central figures in Eternals, Ajak (Salma Hayek) was also one of the first of the group of immortal warriors to die as its story unfolded. Later in the movie, it is revealed that Ikaris (Richard Madden) was the reason for her death, after she revealed to her longtime ally that she planed to save humanity from the Emergence.
Howard Stark
And then there is Howard Stark (John Slattery/Dominic Cooper), whose death in Captain America: Civil War is a major part of that 2016 movie as well as the next few years of the MCU, as revelations about the nature of Tony Stark’s parents' deaths leads to a major rift in the Avengers.
With a great number of upcoming Marvel movies and Marvel TV shows in the works, expect this list to get a whole lot longer, especially as we work our way toward the highly anticipated next two Avengers titles.
