The Saddest Moments In The MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe spans the emotional gamut. Films like Thor: Ragnarok and the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise can keep you rolling out of your chair, laughing all day long. Epics like the four Avengers films or Captain America: Civil War are about as dramatic as they get. Captain Marvel is the perfect prescription for a '90s nostalgia fix. Basically, if you're looking for a particular emotional experience, the MCU has got you covered one way or another — including if you're feeling a little melancholy.

It doesn't matter if you're talking about Thor losing his mother, Steve Rogers at Peggy Carter's funeral, Stephen Strange breaking down after his accident, or a slew of other scenes, there's no doubt that Marvel Studios knows how to hit the audience where it hurts. Naturally, some of these scenes are more distressing than others, which is why we decided to comb through the archives in search of the absolute best tearjerkers in the entire MCU canon.

While a subject like this is always open to speculation, we've tried to dig deep and find the sadder moments that are dripping with deeper meaning and tragic implications. So, without further ado, here's our official list of the saddest moments in the MCU thus far, presented for your lugubrious consideration.

(There are major spoilers below.)

Avengers: Infinity War is a heck of a roller coaster ride that slowly leads to Thanos gaining the upper gauntleted-hand. But while obviously sad, it isn't necessarily the universe-shaking Snap at the end of the film that initially caught our attention. There's actually quite a bit of tragedy that takes place throughout the narrative, as well. As the movie progresses, we witness Loki and Heimdall meet their demise in the opening act of the film. And as the sun sets over Wakanda, we also see Thanos torture Wanda and Vision alike as he plucks the Mind Stone from the latter's animatronic skull.

However, the death that really pulls the hardest on the viewers' collective heartstrings has to be Gamora's. In the film, the rehabilitated heroine finds herself in the clutches of her villainous former boss and adoptive father. Even in captivity, she valiantly resists her parent-turned-captor with every ounce of her strength, but of course, the effort proves fruitless. It's Gamora who's ultimately sacrificed by Thanos in order to claim the Soul Stone during a scene that has to be among the saddest in all of the MCU. The desperation of the required sacrifice, the panic in her efforts to resist, the pain in the Mad Titan's eyes — it's too much to bear. The distress of the scene is perfectly summed up in their later exchange in the final moments of the film, in which child Gamora asks of the Snap, "What did it cost?" and Thanos replies, "Everything."

"WandaVision," Marvel Studios' first series for Disney+, successfully pulled off the feat of taking a minor underdeveloped romance between two secondary Avengers characters and elevating it into epic tragedy. Even if you didn't care much about Scarlet Witch and Vision's relationship before, the show made you invested with its surreal, sitcom-flavored exploration of the stages of grief.

The eighth and penultimate episode, "Previously On," is what truly elevates "WandaVision" above just an entertaining intellectual exercise, making audiences feel all the feels. It confronts the painful memories of all the loved ones Wanda Maximoff has lost: her parents, her brother Pietro/Quicksilver, and of course Vision himself. It's a memory of Vision comforting Wanda in the aftermath of Pietro's death that truly makes you understand why she loved him so deeply. Vision's line, "What is grief if not love persevering?" might be memed to death by now, but it really is a brilliantly-put piece of emotional insight.

Not surprisingly, Endgame and Infinity War show up a lot on this list. After all, the films represent the culmination of a ton of different storylines, and as such, they provide quite a few heavy moments. For example, take Black Widow. The Red Room trainee has a dark past, which she's in the process of leaving behind when she first appears on the scene all the way back in Iron Man 2. Putting her past behind her, Nat first puts in time as a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative and then pivots into a career as a full-time, bona fide super.

Throughout this journey, a persistent theme continues to resurface of her trying to wipe out the red in her ledger. While an argument could pretty easily be made that she manages to compensate for her debts pretty well before Thanos ever arrives on the scene, her eventual Gamora-style sacrifice in Endgame certainly puts her firmly in the black.

And yet, it isn't her death scene that we chose as the "saddest" moment. It's actually when we see her in the Avengers HQ right after the five-year time jump. Everything from the half-eaten peanut butter sandwich and her overly protective commands to her perpetually tear-filled eyes screams out "in pain" as we see the Avenger trying to recover from losing her superhero family. The desperately wistful scene leaves everyone with an empathetic pit in their stomachs, to say the least.

Natasha Romanoff's whole life story is perhaps the saddest of any of the Avengers, and the "Black Widow" movie further emphasizes the horror and tragedy she experienced, while also revealing she had a family outside of the one she made herself with Earth's mightiest heroes. This family of Russian spies stationed in America forced Natasha and her sister Yelena into becoming Black Widow assassins, and processing how adoptive parents could do such terrible things to their children is at the center of the film's most emotional conversation.

Confronting her father Alexei and mother Melina at dinner, Natasha insists that they were never a "real" family. The parents' defenses of themselves are humorous, but Yelena's response is heartbreaking. Whether or not their family was "real," Yelena says, "It was real to me." She can't bear to handle the idea that "the best part of my life was fake." Florence Pugh's incredible acting really sells the anguish.

Killmonger is regularly listed among the most popular of the MCU's long list of villains and with good reason. Excellently portrayed by Michael B. Jordan, the antagonist has a moving backstory that sets him up for one of the greatest final moments in all of MCU history — a moment that's so moving, it makes the cut for the list of the saddest moments of them all.

After an epic duel that sees T'Challa and his cousin brawl deep into the heart of the vibranium mines of Wakanda, the son of T'Chaka eventually gains the upper hand, stabbing Killmonger in his chest in the process. In a show of respect for his fallen enemy, T'Challa brings Killmonger out to witness the beauty of the sun setting over Wakanda. He then informs his relative that they can probably save him from the icy grip of death. Unmoved, Killmonger decides that he would rather bleed out than face captivity. His only request? "Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from the ships because they knew death was better than bondage." The spine-tingling scene, laced with deeper meaning, is enough to move anyone to tears.

Hulk is generally associated with smashing and destruction. Everyone wants to see the big green guy take on any enemy that comes his way (and even an occasional ally) in order to see if anything can actually stop him in his tracks. Occasionally, though, we get a glimpse of Hulk when he's not smashing, and it turns out that the character actually has some pretty intense feelings besides rage and anger.

In Ragnarok, we see the Jade Giant matured enough to speak in full sentences as he debates with Thor about what should be done. Eventually, Hulk even allows himself to become part of the combined "Professor Hulk" persona. When it comes to sad moments, though, Hulk has one that highlights the alienated hero's loneliness and desperation. In the final moments of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Hulk uses the Quinjet to head out into space all by his lonesome. He even sees an incoming video message from Nat, which causes him to pause. However, before Banner has a chance to get back on top, Hulk turns off the feed and curls up in a sorrowful, kid-like ball as he drifts off into space, leaving Romanoff — and the rest of us — depressed in spite of the movie's happy ending.

No matter what, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" was inevitably going to be one of the biggest tearjerkers in the MCU due to the real-life circumstances of the death of Chadwick Boseman, the original "Black Panther" star. Fortunately, the movie handles the death of King T'Challa appropriately, building its most powerful moments around the actors' real grief.

T'Challa dies off-screen in the opening scene of the sequel. Shuri is racing against the clock to try and synthetically recreate the heart-shaped herb to cure the unnamed illness that's killing her older brother. Her failure to save him hurts deeply. The whole nation of Wakanda gathers to mourn their king in a funeral that might make you cry from the sheer visual beauty alone — never mind those all-too-real tears from actress Letitia Wright as Shuri touches T'Challa's coffin before the airships elevate it up to the sky. And if that wasn't enough, the Marvel Studios logo plays in complete silence, with all of its typical movie clips replaced with images of Boseman.

Most of the saddest moments in the MCU involve a villain and a hero. However, this one actually consists of two dearly beloved heroes at each other's throats. During the climax of Captain America: Civil War, Tony, Steve, and Bucky, egged on by Zemo, come to blows. The knockdown, drag-out fight eventually boils down to the two leaders of the Avengers, desperately fighting in hand-to-hand combat.

While Captain America eventually walks away technically the victor, the truth is that no one wins in Civil War, and the grudge match between two of its greatest members only serves to drag everyone down into the depths of despair. In fact, the sad scene ends up being the kickoff to one of the darkest periods of time in the entire history of the MCU, as the pair fail to reconnect for nearly the entire remainder of Phase Three, only reunited in Endgame after the Snap has taken place.

Even if Boseman had lived long enough to star in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," it seems likely that the movie would have had at least one of the MCU's saddest scenes anyway. T'Challa is not the only character who dies in the film — it's Queen Ramonda who gets the most dramatic on-screen death sequence. Having this on top of T'Challa's death makes for an even more overwhelming emotional experience, for both the characters and the audience.

Ramonda's death is a heroic one, as she saves the young tech genius Riri Williams from drowning after Namor floods the Wakandan throne room. Okoye, who has already been stripped of her rank and struggling with feelings of failure, desperately tries to resuscitate her queen, but to no avail. It's devastating enough to hear Shuri cry for her mother; that Okoye also calls Ramonda "mother" in this scene shows just how powerful an impact this woman has made.

Even with the series' typical sense of humor and a well-earned happy ending, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" may very well be the darkest movie in the MCU thus far. The threequel's more downbeat tone is on display right from its opening sequence. The opening credits of the first two "Guardians" movies had light dance sequences set to Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love" and ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky," respectively. The third movie, in contrast, opens with Rocket slowly walking around Knowhere while mumbling along to the acoustic version of "Creep" by Radiohead.

The lyrics to this classic rock bummer are particularly fitting to Rocket's personal angst, and the sequence lets the audience get wrapped up in his emotions. The saddest part of the scene comes when we see Peter Quill completely passed out drunk in his depression over losing Gamora — a bit of a surprise given there were no hints of him having a drinking problem in "Thor: Love and Thunder" or "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special," but in the context of the trilogy's story, it makes tragic sense.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

The beginning of Avengers: Endgame is filled with heartbreaking scenes. Clint Barton loses his family, we hear and see the roll call of everyone who was lost in the Snappening, and Stark flips out on Steve Rogers in his frustration. However, there's one quick-fire moment that takes the cake as far as the sad stuff goes. When Captain Marvel discovers Stark and Nebula drifting through space, she brings them back to the Avengers compound as quickly as possible. Upon their arrival, all eyes are fixed on the Avengers themselves as they reunite, discuss their losses, and begin to head inside.

However, in the midst of the focus on Earth's Mightiest Heroes, we get a quick glimpse of Rocket and Nebula — the two remaining Guardians of the Galaxy — as they sit next to each other on the steps of the Benatar. Neither one utters a word, but as they sit in silence, realizing that they're all that's left of their galaxy-saving family, the two heroes go way out of character by holding hands in quiet solidarity. The emotional scene, depicting two of the coldest, most calculating heroes in the entire MCU, is enough to melt the hardest heart. Can someone pass the tissues, please?

Just as the opening scene of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" illustrates the sudden shock of death, the closing scene and end credits sequence beautifully capture the complex emotions of having to simultaneously remember those we've lost while still moving forward in life. At the end of the film, Shuri is finally able to observe the customary burning of her funeral garments to end her time of mourning.

As she burns the clothes, the film cuts to flashbacks of scenes from the first film — by far the most tasteful way including Boseman in the film could be handled. To give the whole audience time to process this all, the burning continues into the closing credits, as Rihanna's Oscar-nominated song "Lift Me Up" plays in the background. And then the mid-credits scene offers the audience one last bit of hope for the future, as we're introduced to T'Challa and Nakia's secret child — whose Haitian name is Toussaint, and whose Wakandan name is also T'Challa.