MCU: 25 most heartbreaking Marvel Cinematic Universe character deaths
Marvel Studios’ Captain America: The First Avengers.. Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans).. ©Marvel Studios 2011 in association with Paramount Pictures
16. Captain America
Movie it happened in: Captain America: The First Avenger
Why it was so heartbreaking: So technically, Cap didn’t die. And it’s because of this that he’s not in the Top 15. However, in a way, he did.
The life he knew was gone. For all intents and purposes, the 1940s Captain America died when he sunk the ship into the icy waters. And he went down believing that he was going to sacrifice himself. He never assumed that he would return and he was shocked to find out that he was later saved.
As he went down, he delivered a heartbreaking message to Peggy Carter. He made it clear that he was sorry for breaking his promise. It was a message of loss and regret. While he knew he was doing the right thing to protect the Earth, part of him was angry that it would have to be him, that he was the one that wouldn’t get to have the life with the woman of his dreams.
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That last dance wasn’t going to happen. And for that Peggy Carter it never did.
With the rules of time travel, Steve never returned to that Peggy Carter in Avengers: Endgame. He ended up in a different timeline strand, one where he was able to return from the dead. He and Peggy got to have their life together without affecting the timeline that Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson found themselves in after everything with Thanos.
Watch Cap crash and seeing the look on Peggy’s face remains heartbreaking. Cap may have returned, but it was decades too late to recover what they had lost.