Avengers: Endgame Character Endings Ranked From Worst To Best

Let's start with the Children of Thanos. If you're ranking Avengers: Infinity War endings, the Black Order would end up pretty high on the list. It doesn't matter if you're talking about Ebony Maw being sucked out into space, Proxima Midnight going down in a grudge match with a trio of female heroes, or Cull Obsidian exploding over Wakanda — all of these guys face some pretty epic endings in the third Avengers installment.

That said, once you get to Endgame, the group stumbles a bit. As their 2014 selves come hurtling into Upstate New York, each of them goes out not with a bang but with a whimper. The Maw attempts to reclaim Iron Man's Infinity Gauntlet but fails, Corvus Glaive is quickly stabbed and tossed aside by Okoye, and Obsidian is unceremoniously crushed to death by a giant Ant-Man. Regardless of the specifics of each lackluster ending, all of them end up piles of dust by the time the credits roll. Their endings are inconsequential, to say the least.

Wakanda, as a whole, plays an epic part in the third act of Avengers: Endgame. The fearless armies of the Black Panther march, en masse, from the plains of their mother country right onto the turf of Upstate New York. While practically every hero in the galaxy is present at the final fight, it's the sturdy Wakandan soldiery — along with the Asgardians and the Masters of the Mystic Arts — that end up filling in the rank and file, providing a sea of muscle to back up the Avengers and their allies.

Standing tall at the head of the well-trained African army are two characters who deserve a shoutout — Okoye and Shuri (we'll get to the king himself in a bit). The former, in particular, makes her mark on the proceedings by literally taking out Corvus Glaive single-handedly. She even makes the process look easy. Needless to say, the Wakandans make a splashy entrance and carry their own weight throughout the fight with Thanos. Nevertheless, they leave enough of their forces behind on the battlefield to make their collective "ending" a bit less desirable than might've been hoped.

There's one other major character in Iron Man's storyline, and he gets a slot all to himself in the rankings. War Machine faithfully remains by Tony Stark's side throughout the entire MCU, providing an alternating mix of wisdom and muscle, depending on the situation. The character stays busy throughout Endgame, and his story once again wraps up on the lakeside where he's front and center as he attends Stark's funeral.

However, it's a moment that takes place just a few minutes earlier in the movie that bumps Rhodey's character a tad higher on the list than the rest of the Iron Man crew. In the seconds after Tony Stark snaps away Thanos and his army, it's none other than the Iron Patriot who's the first one to find his best friend as he breathes his last. Upon his arrival, Rhodey quickly takes in the worrisome situation. As he realizes what's taking place, his expression shifts from alarm to acceptance. He puts his hand to Stark's head, and the two brothers in arms share a quiet moment together. The scene is deeply moving, especially considering what the pair of friends have gone through up to that point in time, and it ranks amongst their best scenes together.

Of all the characters in Endgame, only one of them gets to end their story by making an abrupt shift into royalty. After doing her part in the final battle against Thanos, Valkyrie finds herself back in New Asgard, where she's seen standing next to her then-king, Thor. Valkyrie is surprised to find that Thor is leaving and likely won't return. When she reminds him that his people need a king, Thor informs her that they already have one.

The next thing she knows, Valkyrie has been handed the leadership of Asgard. The happy ending to her "rags to riches" story seems like the kind of thing that would give her the number one best spot on a list like this. However, it's important to remember the current state of the "kingdom" that she's just been tasked to rule. New Asgard is populated by a tiny population that's lost their home planet and was further killed off by Thanos' forces — twice. The handful of survivors hardly make up a town, let alone a world at this point, and it makes Thor look a little bit like a jerk to ditch out and leave all his kingly responsibilities to his second-in-command — especially on the heels of five years spent neglecting his duties, anyway. Nevertheless, Valkyrie's promotion to top dog is certainly one of the better endings in the film, even if it simply means she doesn't have to take orders from a lackadaisical monarch anymore.

Hulk and Bruce Banner's combined storyline takes a big step forward in Endgame. Well, really, it takes a big step forward between Infinity War and Endgame when the two manage to join forces and create the gentle giant, Professor Hulk.

At first glance, when we first meet the unlikely combo earlier in the film, it seems like a great new start to an exciting storyline for the character. But then, in the general hubbub of the movie, the Professor Hulk narrative just kind of stalls out. Oh, he's around and pretty heavily involved in the goings-on — gratuitous or not — but his character arc just kind of falls off a cliff. The most we're given is the simple fact that the Hulk/Banner combo is strong enough to reverse the Snap, even though it comes at the expense of possibly permanent damage to his arm.

The problem here is that Endgame was supposed to be Hulk's chance to shine. Banner and the Big Green Guy were at odds throughout Infinity War, especially after the latter was beaten up in a tangle with Thanos. The fact that Hulk lost the fight left the expectation that he'd find some redemption in Endgame. He didn't get it. 

Seemingly an unlikely pair to couple up in a listing like this, Hawkeye and Wanda make very different contributions in the third act of Endgame. On the one hand, Hawkeye focuses on recovering and getting the Infinity Gauntlet to safety. On the other hand, Wanda literally takes on Thanos mano a mano, earning the moniker "strongest Marvel hero" from none other than Kevin Feige himself.

Interestingly, though, the two share a very important connection — they both lost a loved one throughout the course of events. Hawkeye watched Black Widow sacrifice herself instead of letting him do so, and Scarlet Witch had to literally kill Vision ... and then watch Thanos kill him again.

When the pair are shown at Stark's funeral in the fading moments of Endgame, it's natural that they'd reminisce and comfort each other in their sorrowful victory. The scene in which they reassure one another as they stand side by side is touching — a heartwarming moment in midst of everyone's shared pain.

Next up, we have a character that, for all intents and purposes, shouldn't have had an ending in Endgame in the first place because, you know, she was already killed in Infinity War. In the lead-up to the film's release, Gamora actress Zoe Saldana electrified the MCU fanbase when she revealed that she was engaged in reshoots for the film, indicating that her character would be making some form of a return. That return ended up manifesting as the 2014 version of the heroine, who comes through the time machine with Thanos' 2014 forces and ultimately becomes the new, slightly dated replacement for her deceased 2018 self.

Sure, the entire situation is a bit sticky, but the point is, Gamora comes back in Endgame and gets a second crack at an Avengers film ending. She turns on her adoptive father during the final battle, and she's present for Stark's death. In a deleted Endgame scene, it was revealed that, rather than kneeling in respect along with everyone else, the confused 2014 version of the character opts to walk off into the blue, likely hoping to figure out what she should do now that her entire life has literally fallen to ashes. This open-ended finale is a fun one, especially considering the fact that, for a while there, everyone thought she wouldn't have a shot at Endgame finality in the first place.

While Gamora's final moments in Endgame are a bit bewildering, the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy have happier endings. Rocket and Groot finally reunite after five years apart, Star-Lord finds new hope in the fact that Gamora is, in some sense, still alive, and Drax and Mantis, well, they just keep on finding humor in everything around them.

The best part of the Guardians of the Galaxy's Endgame ending, though? The simple fact that it turned out not to be the last time we'd see this particular iteration of the team working together. Just months before Endgame hit theaters, the long-derailed third Guardians installment got back on track, with none other than James Gunn at the helm, allowing the powers that be to weave the future of the Guardians right into the Endgame story. This leads to the scene in which the posse is preparing to leave Earth, with Thor by their side, to head off and find their missing member, Gamora. The excitement of the reunion, as well as the humor of their departure with Peter Quill and Thor jockeying for command, ranks as one of the better multi-character endings in the entire film.

There's still one Guardian of the Galaxy that hasn't made the list until now — Nebula. The conflicted daughter of Thanos manages to land such a high spot partly because Endgame literally features two different iterations of the character throughout the film, both of whom have solid endings.

The primary Nebula — i.e., 2023 Nebula — wraps up her Endgame journey by helping in the climactic battle, attending Tony Stark's funeral, and then joining the Guardians of the Galaxy in their search for her adopted sister. Her redemptive journey is full of promise, as her dark past has literally gone to ashes on the battlefield.

However, 2014 Nebula's ending is less positive, though more moving. She spends the majority of the movie tragically tethered to father's every whim. She helps bring the Sanctuary II through the time machine and nearly kills Hawkeye as she attempts to reclaim the Infinity Gauntlet. At that moment, 2014 Gamora and 2023 Nebula arrive and attempt to talk her out of the deed. Unable to change, she's eventually shot and killed by her older self. A tear runs down her cheek as her life ebbs away, bringing a heartbreaking ending to a deeply conflicted character.

While most of the best endings in Endgame come on the hero side of things, there's one baddie who absolutely earns a high spot on the list. We're talking about Thanos himself. Who else could keep audiences trembling in their seats for a year between Infinity War and Endgame, only to calmly sit and accept his dusty fate when it finally catches up to him?

Like Nebula, Thanos actually double dips a bit when it comes to the whole "character ending" concept. The 2018 version of the villain meets his end early on in the film. After using the Infinity Stones to destroy themselves, the Mad Titan is hunted down by the Avengers and decapitated when Thor finally goes for the head. In a sense, this is the ultimate victory and the greatest ending for the character, since he not only wipes out half of the universe, but he permanently prevents his victory from being undone — as far as he can reasonably expect, at least.

Nevertheless, when the Avengers go back in time to undo the past, 2014 Thanos steps up to the plate once again. This leads to his more devastating, though equally epic, ending, in which he and his soldiers are snapped away into the wind. No matter which way you slice it, this guy's ending is about as insane as they get.

Finally, we have the man himself. Tony Stark is the central hero of the Infinity Saga. The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe kicks off with his initial pivot from a narcissistic billionaire playboy into a bona fide superhero. Early in that journey, Tony proves that he's willing to make the sacrifice play when he flies a nuke into space and hurls it at a Chitauri ship. While that's a good start, though, the next several years see an anxious Stark doing his best to prepare for the inevitable approach of some unknown existential threat. When that mystery is finally revealed to be Thanos, Tony's initial attempt to bring the fight to the enemy goes up in smoke on the alien landscape of Titan.

Then, in Endgame, he finally gets a chance to redeem himself, and folks, he comes through with flying colors. When Stark realizes that the one version of the story where they win is through his own sacrifice, he doesn't hesitate to snap away every last one of Thanos' soldiers, even if it means he'll never see his family again. The heroic act leaves the World's Greatest Hero mangled and dying, yet he's finally able to rest — making it the greatest character ending in the entire film.