MCU: 25 most heartbreaking Marvel Cinematic Universe character deaths

Credit: Marvel Studios for Avengers: Endgame (2019) — Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)

2. Tony Stark

Movie it happened in: Avengers: Endgame

Why it was so heartbreaking: After 10 years and 22 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, it ended with the one to kick-start it all. Iron Man was the Avenger to permanently put his life on the line for his fellow heroes and the world. It was a fitting end for Tony Stark, but that didn’t stop it from being heartbreaking.

You just couldn’t help but think of everything that he was leaving behind. You couldn’t help but feel for the daughter that would grow up without a father – and it was all because of Thanos and his inability to just accept that he would be defeated.

What made this scene all the more heartbreaking was the way that both Peter Parker and Pepper Potts were there. He was surrounded by the people who mattered. While they were sad, they didn’t shout at him to hold on. They knew there was nothing that could be done.

Pepper could have allowed grief to take hold of her, but she was just there for him when he needed her the most. She was the last thing he saw.

Then finally, we got to see the final message he recorded on his helmet. He knew that the war against Thanos was likely to kill someone. There were sacrifices that would need to be made and that sacrifice was his. He was ready for it. There were no regrets and we shouldn’t have them either.

For many, I know that Tony’s death will be the number one most heartbreaking, but there’s one from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that affected me more.