MCU: 25 most heartbreaking Marvel Cinematic Universe character deaths

Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron..L to R: James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth)..Ph: Film Frame..©Marvel 2015

22. Odin

Movie it happened in: Thor: Ragnarok

Why it was so heartbreaking: When you think of the death of someone like Odin, you’d expect plenty of fire, fighting, and shouting. You’d expect a huge war and him to die in battle. That’s not what happened.

Not getting that ending you’d have likely imagined is why this death has made this list. Going out in fire and with fighting would have been easy. It wouldn’t have meant as much as it did with the way that Odin did die. After being under Loki’s spell, he’d finally broken free but it wasn’t for long.

He had messages for his sons. Some of the messages were ones of love and pride, but others were messages of what would come next. And there was an important message about Asgard: it’s a “people, not a place.”

Instead of dying in war, Odin went out as a slightly frail and old man. There was a humanity to the death, as well as a dignity. He was loved and he clearly loved his sons, wishing that some things could have been different. And while many others have been alone or had just one or two people around them, Odin had the two people who meant the world to him by his side as he said goodbye.

His death did bring on the end of Asgard. You know you sat and screamed at him to tell them the full truth. I wished he’d said something sooner about Hela. However, that was never meant to be. At least he went out with a mention of her.