Brace yourself for a grim journey through the Marvel Cinematic Universe! We're counting down the most shocking, gruesome, and over-the-top character deaths that left audiences stunned. From heroes to villains, no one is safe from these brutal demises.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most extreme ways characters
00:09in the MCU have died.
00:11We'll be getting into spoilers, so consider this your warning.
00:2330.
00:24Frank, Ant-Man
00:26If you're going to raise concerns about your company's dangerous product, make sure there
00:30are witnesses.
00:31Just look at what happened to poor old Frank.
00:34The Pym Technologies executive questioned Darren Cross about his Yellowjacket technology.
00:46And what did he get for his troubles?
00:48Getting completely goopified.
00:50You know, it's one thing to have an employee who lacks faith in your product, but it's
00:53another thing to use said product to then kill your employee.
00:57R.I.P.
00:58Frank, you were right to be concerned about the dangers of the suit, and for that, you
01:02will not be forgotten.
01:0529.
01:07Jasper Sitwell, Captain America The Winter Soldier
01:20Funnily enough, Jasper Sitwell's death does not sit very well with us.
01:24Or maybe it's not so funny since, you know, he died.
01:28Very painfully too.
01:30As Jasper, Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon travel down a highway, they're intercepted
01:35by the Winter Soldier.
01:36The assassin makes an appearance in quite a big bad way by tossing Jasper into oncoming
01:41traffic.
01:42He basically ripped him from his seat and yeeted him to his demise.
01:45It's safe to say that he became instant roadkill.
01:48Because unless Quicksilver swooped in or Dr. Strand got up to some time stone shenanigans,
01:53he was a complete goner.
01:5628.
01:57Unnamed Hydra Agent, Captain America The First Avenger
02:15World War II has always been known for being a bloody war, but a grisly death like this
02:29really puts things into perspective.
02:31When Captain America battles a Hydra Agent while aboard an aircraft, the unnamed henchman
02:35meets an unfortunate end.
02:37The attacker loses his balance, is sent away from Captain America, and promptly pulled
02:42into one of the plane's propellers.
02:43It's a short moment, yet needless to say, it's an incredibly brutal way to go out.
02:48You can even briefly see some blood as he's practically eviscerated immediately.
02:53We'd feel bad for the guy, but then again, he was working for the Nazis.
03:0427.
03:07Docs Loki The Loki TV show is known for its great stories,
03:12scenes, and ability to make us terrified of cubes.
03:15Following changes in leadership within the TVA, the agency began to suffer from infighting.
03:20Docs, a higher up within the organization, then caused a lot of trouble by trying to
03:25continue to prune branching timelines.
03:27Eventually, she came into contact with the rogue Ms. Minutes in Renslayer while imprisoned.
03:37Instead of joining them, she refuses, and is soon crushed to death by a time cube alongside
03:48her followers.
03:49The thought of what this contraption is capable of is horrifying.
03:52This glowy death trap can turn your insides into outsides, and that's enough to make
03:57anyone suddenly very claustrophobic.
04:0226.
04:08Ivan Vanko – Iron Man 2 This vengeful tech-based villain pretty much
04:31knew that he was beat after taking a gigantic blast of energy from Iron Man and War Machine
04:36straight to the face.
04:37But instead of accepting his loss like a normal supervillain, Whiplash instead decided to
04:41go out on his own terms.
04:43That meant causing every single one of his armored suits to detonate, even the one he
04:48was wearing.
05:00This resulted in several explosions across New York, and showed the chilling lengths
05:04that he would go to in order to get revenge.
05:07It might have been a quick death, but it was definitely explosive.
05:1125.
05:12Brock Rumlow – Captain America Civil War After a mission in Lagos where he unsuccessfully
05:17tried to get a biological weapon, Brock Rumlow decided to take things to a drastic new level.
05:23Wearing a vest littered with bombs, Crossbones chose to detonate himself, and he still technically
05:42did that, but Wanda Maximoff delayed the explosion, causing him to slowly burn up.
05:47This death pretty much caused much of the Avengers' inner friction.
05:51His somewhat suppressed explosion still led to civilian casualties due to an error on
05:56the Scarlet Witch's part, and that in turn led the government to want to put superheroes
06:00through more rigorous checks and balances.
06:03So not only was his death brutal, but so were the consequences of it.
06:1824.
06:24Proxima Midnight – Avengers Infinity War Proxima might be a skilled warrior who's
06:39part of Thanos' Black Order, yet all of her expertise did little to prevent her untimely
06:44demise.
06:45She was never in when Scarlet Witch pulled her away from Black Widow and into the direction
06:48of a Thresher machine.
06:50There's just nothing quite like being crushed by a gigantic mechanized wheel to really hammer
06:55home the bizarreness that is life.
06:57She might have been a talented combatant, sure, but now all anyone is ever going to
07:01know her as is that alien lady that got shredded apart by a big wheel.
07:06Talk about an unforgettable legacy.
07:1023.
07:13Najma – Ms. Marvel In her final moments, the villainous Najma
07:22redeemed herself by closing an extremely dangerous rift in the Nor Dimension.
07:27This thing had the power to disintegrate anyone who tried to get too close to it, so this
07:31was no laughing matter.
07:32Her sacrifice was noble, but it definitely came at a cost, as closing the rift caused
07:37her to disintegrate too.
07:39Her skin broke all the way down to bare bone before she essentially turned into dust.
07:43Though the CGI involved in this death could have been better, don't let that distract
07:47you from the horrific way that this character died.
07:50At least this death wasn't for nothing, as it allowed her to save everyone, including
07:54her son Cameron.
07:5522.
07:56Cassandra Nova – Deadpool and Wolverine Professor X's deranged twin sister made quite
08:14the monumental debut in the third Deadpool movie.
08:18Having been exiled to the void by the TVA, Cassandra grew to like the inhospitable wasteland.
08:23In fact, she wanted to use a device called a Time Ripper to wipe out every reality in
08:43the multiverse, leaving only the void intact.
08:46But through the combined power of Deadpool, Wolverine, and a Madonna song, Cassandra is
08:51defeated.
08:52In fact, she is completely atomized out of existence.
08:55Do you know what it's like to have every single molecule of your body be erased?
09:00Cassandra sure does.
09:01Hopefully, we never do.
09:0621.
09:09Thanos – What If?
09:10What if Thanos went out like a complete chump?
09:13That's an interesting hypothetical situation that the MCU entertains in this animated series.
09:18As a variant composed of both Vision and Ultron, who we'll just call Ultron Vision,
09:23attempts to exert his dominance, he comes across Thanos.
09:26It's not the main Thanos though, but you'd likely figure that out since this variant
09:31gets sliced apart immediately.
09:45Like within a matter of seconds, he's just mercilessly bisected and then that's it.
09:49Sorry, no Infinity War or Endgame level boss battles here, just some good ol' slicing
09:54and dicing.
09:55It's shocking to see the Mad Titan end up as a complete jobber, but it also shows just
10:00how dangerous Ultron Vision is.
10:02He'll quite literally tear you apart.
10:0520.
10:07Obadiah Stane – Iron Man The demise of the MCU's first villain is
10:17delectably ironic.
10:19Obadiah Stane cemented his villain status when he pulled the miniature arc reactor keeping
10:23Tony alive out of the billionaire's chest.
10:26So it was only fitting that the same tech led to the villain's downfall.
10:30While Tony and Stane were engaged in a deadly battle, they found themselves standing above
10:34a giant arc reactor.
10:36Iron Man then asked Pepper Potts to overload the device.
10:47This caused Stane to get electrocuted before he fell a few stories and perished in a giant
10:51explosion.
10:52Honestly, S.H.I.E.L.D. might have lied about the villain's cause of death solely because
10:56it was so excessive.
11:0619.
11:07Shocker – Spider-Man Homecoming This minor villain's name is pretty apt
11:10considering his death came as a surprise to both audiences and the person who killed him.
11:15The first Shocker worked to spread alien tech on the black market under his boss, Adrian
11:19Toomes.
11:20But when he drew too much attention to the operation and threatened to tell his superior's
11:24wife, the Vulture laid down the law with an alien weapon.
11:34When he fired it, everyone was surprised to see that Shocker had been turned into a pile
11:38of ash.
11:39The funniest bit is that Vulture thought he was holding an anti-gravity gun the whole
11:43time.
11:49While Toomes didn't mean to go such extremes, the kill was in line with his ruthless nature.
11:5418.
11:55Queen Ramonda – Black Panther Wakanda Forever When Namor led a surprise attack on Wakanda,
12:00many innocent citizens perished in brutal ways, but their queen may have gotten the
12:04worst of it.
12:05By using specially designed water bombs, Namor is able to completely flood the room that
12:09the royal is standing in.
12:11Although Queen Ramonda survived the initial blast, she died while getting her ally Riri
12:15to safety.
12:17Characters' reactions to the royal's death are simply heartbreaking.
12:28While the queen's method of death wasn't as physically over the top as other demises,
12:32her passing made for a brutal gut punch.
12:34The Wakandans could do nothing but mourn as they lost yet another one of their leaders.
12:4717.
12:48Hela – Thor Ragnarok The goddess of death causes a lot of chaos
12:51throughout Thor Ragnarok, so it's only fitting that she goes out in a completely over the
12:56top way.
12:57During the movie's climactic battle in Asgard, the heroes figure out that the goddess can
13:01only be stopped by destroying Asgard.
13:04This prompts the characters to unleash the fire giant, Surtur.
13:13When Hela attempts to destroy the destructive deity, he reduces her to dust with his gigantic
13:18sword.
13:19Just in case anyone thought she survived, Asgard explodes for good measure.
13:22Hela's extremely thorough demise ensured she wouldn't be coming back for any future
13:2816.
13:37Billy Fitzgerald – Moon Knight Even if you don't remember his name, you
13:48probably remember his death.
13:50Billy Fitzgerald was a corrupt police detective that supported the villain, Arthur Harrow.
13:54While the cop was on the big bad's payroll, he followed his boss into a tomb.
13:58Unfortunately for Billy, he got captured by an ancient priest.
14:01The sinister holy official then proceeded to relieve the detective of his organs while
14:05the cop was still alive.
14:07While we don't see all the gory details, we can hear what this impromptu operation
14:12sounds like.
14:13Although Billy wasn't the greatest guy, we're still not sure if he deserves such
14:16a harsh ending.
14:2015.
14:24Ajax – Eternals We were sad to see Gilgamesh go out in such
14:28a horrible way while he was defending his friends.
14:31However, the team's original leader got a more brutal demise.
14:35After Ajax and her team of Eternals killed the vicious deviants, her subordinates Icarus
14:39let her know the creatures were back.
14:41But he didn't just want to give her a heads up.
14:50After taking his boss to the deviants, Icarus betrays Ajax and pushes her into a pit of
14:55creatures.
14:56She's savagely attacked by a wolf-like beast before her life force gets completely drained.
15:00This death is especially harsh because she didn't die doing something heroic.
15:04In the end, Ajax had a painful demise because one of her former allies had lost their way.
15:1214.
15:16Maria and Howard Stark – Captain America Civil War
15:18We had long known that Tony Stark lost his parents at a relatively early age, but we
15:23had no idea how dreadful their passing was.
15:26The exact nature of their deaths was revealed in Captain America Civil War.
15:30During the climax, Zemo shows Tony footage of what happened to them on that fateful night
15:34in 1991.
15:40A then brainwashed Bucky was ordered to hunt them down and intercept a briefcase holding
15:45a recreation of the Super Soldier Serum.
15:47After running them off the road, Bucky beat Howard multiple times in the head before choking
15:52Maria.
15:53This revelation is made all the more terrible by the fact that Cap knew and never told Tony.
16:10We can't really blame him for lashing out.
16:1213.
16:13Comirotage Librarian – Doctor Strange
16:15Thanos wasn't the first character to get decapitated in the MCU.
16:19Preceding the Glass Dimension fight, one of the best opening sequences in the franchise,
16:23Kaecilius and his followers break into Comirotage's library.
16:33But before he can get what he's after, he disposes of the librarian.
16:37Director Scott Derrickson tapped into his horror roots, having Kaecilius string up the
16:40poor bookkeeper as he screams.
16:42He then lobs his head off with silhouettes showing the grisly murder.
16:51Most disturbing shadow puppets ever.
16:53Although it's a character we never get the name of, the cold, swift nature of it makes
16:57the scene exceptionally barbaric and sets the villain up as a ruthless antagonist.
17:0912.
17:10Avengers Infinity War – Thanos
17:11During the Mad Titan's quest for the Infinity Stones, he learns that he can only get the
17:15complete set if he sacrifices something he loved on the planet Vormir.
17:19It doesn't take Thanos long to realize that his adoptive daughter Gamora was his best
17:24option.
17:30Although she fights to get out of his grip, the Mad Titan drags her to a cliff in Vormir
17:34and throws her over the edge.
17:36The dramatic music and editing further emphasize how absurdly brutal her death was, and the
17:41fact that her end brought Thanos closer to his goal made it even more painful.
17:46After watching Gamora perish on Vormir, we got a second dose of this harsh death when
17:50Black Widow sacrificed herself to get the stone.
17:5911.
18:04Happy Hogan – What If?
18:05While the zombie episode of What If doesn't quite match the ferocity of its comic source
18:10material, it still has some pretty nasty moments for an animated series aimed at kids.
18:27One is the death of everyone's favorite Stark employee, Happy Hogan.
18:30As one of the surviving team's members without powers, Happy uses one of Tony's repulsor
18:35gloves to fight the undead.
18:38Sadly, that doesn't really help against a zombified Hawkeye shooting arrows from the
18:45dark.
18:46Happy is pulled into the darkness as he futilely fires towards his attacker, getting turned
18:50moments later.
18:51Sharon Carter, quick on her feet, turns the undead Happy's glove back on him, blasting
18:55him straight in the face.
19:01We don't see the carnage, but the sound effect is gross enough.
19:0510.
19:06Loki – Avengers Infinity War Until the opening scene of Infinity War, Big
19:10Bad Thanos had merely made cameos or been referenced to, but this moment signified how
19:15much trouble he'd be for the mighty Avengers.
19:18After murdering a multitude of Asgardians and physically besting the Hulk, Loki thought
19:23he'd take a literal stab at stopping the Mad Titan.
19:40Thanos isn't one to be fooled easily, however.
19:43Seeing the fan-favorite anti-hero get the life choke from him after finding redemption
19:47was tragic.
19:48Everything from Loki's gagging sound to his purple face is absolutely cold blooded.
19:59Although we now have an alternate version of Loki to adventure with, that doesn't
20:03stop his death from being impactful.
20:059.
20:06May Parker – Spider-Man No Way Home In No Way Home, Op May convinces her nephew
20:11Peter to help villains like Norman Osborn live normal lives, but her kindness backfires.
20:23After Spidey gets close to curing Norman, the man is completely taken over by his Green
20:28Goblin personality.
20:29The Big Bad soon overwhelms Peter and leaves the hero helpless.
20:33When Aunt May tries to save her nephew, Green Goblin hits her with his glider.
20:37To make matters worse, the villain blows up the lobby she's in.
20:40It's unclear which painful injury was ultimately the cause of May's death, but no matter which
20:45misdeed killed her, there's no question that her demise was unbearably cruel.
20:528.
20:56Iron Man – Avengers Endgame Iron Man and his fellow Avengers knew they couldn't
21:00let Thanos use the Infinity Stones under any circumstances.
21:04When the Mad Titan got the powerful items in his grasp, Tony used his tech to steal
21:08them back.
21:09Instead of trying to flee, Iron Man made a stand and used the Infinity Stones to eliminate
21:13Thanos and an army of goons.
21:26The cosmic items were so powerful that Tony was left with severe burns and inoperable
21:31injuries.
21:32His body was so damaged that he could barely form words.
21:35In the end, Tony only succumbed to his awful wounds when his wife Pepper let him know that
21:39he could let go.
21:49As his life flickered out, we doubt there was a dry eye in the house.
21:537.
21:54Quicksilver – Avengers Age of Ultron Pietro Maximoff and his sister Wanda started
21:58off as sworn enemies of the Avengers, but after spending some time with the sadistic
22:08Ultron, they changed their tune and switched to the good side.
22:12During the climax in Sokovia, the city is flooded with bots and the heroes do their
22:16best to get everyone to safety.
22:18As Hawkeye holds a child, a drone fires bullets their way, but the lightning-fast Quicksilver
22:22moves the non-powered individuals out of the way and takes all the gunfire himself.
22:27The high artillery wounds looked absolutely painful, and as a final twist of the knife,
22:33Quicksilver's last words were meant to make an old enemy smile.
22:396.
22:43Niko – The Falcon and the Winter Soldier We all immediately knew something was off
22:47with John Walker.
22:51The would-be Captain America never seemed fit to hold Steve's shield.
22:55That concern was solidified in the miniseries' most brutal moment.
22:58Following the death of his friend Lamar Hoskins at the hands of Karli, John lost all sense
23:02of composure.
23:09He ran down one of Karli's flag smashers and proceeded to beat him in the chest repeatedly
23:13with his shield.
23:14Niko's cries of innocence and the thuds from Walker's tremendous force had us stunned,
23:25but the most powerful aspect of this death is the shot of Walker holding Cap's bloody
23:28shield.
23:29The shock expression of witnesses mirrored our own.
23:325.
23:33Thanos – Avengers Endgame With Thanos successful at the end of Infinity
23:36War, many were left with unfathomable loss.
23:40One hero who took the weight of that loss to heart most was Thor, who had failed to
23:44kill the villain before he snapped his fingers.
23:51Surprisingly, the remaining heroes were able to band together quickly and track Thanos
23:56down.
23:57Unfortunately, by the time they got to him, Thanos had already destroyed the stones.
24:11With no way to actually win, Thor broke and decapitated him.
24:15We don't see many decapitations in the MCU, yet what makes this death brutal on an emotional
24:20level is that it's far from a victory.
24:27The villain is killed in a savage manner, but the heroes are still left with loss.
24:314.
24:32Verusa Bloodstone – Werewolf by Night
24:42After Man-Thing was trapped on the Bloodstone estate, Lady Verusa made a group of hunters
24:46compete to slay the gentle giant.
24:48When she discovers that one of the hunters is a werewolf, the violent leader attempts
24:52to kill the lycan too, but Verusa's bloodlust turns out to be her undoing.
24:56Shortly after her attempt to kill Jack, the werewolf backfires.
24:59Man-Thing returns for revenge.
25:14He uses his special ability to burn her from the inside out before tossing her aside like
25:18a ragdoll.
25:20Having Verusa perish at the hands of the monster she tried to kill made for a scene that was
25:23full of brutal and ironic justice.
25:263.
25:28What If?
25:29In a particularly macabre episode of What If, a vengeful Hank Pym starts slaughtering
25:33heroes before the Avengers had a chance to form.
25:45His most cruel murder is that of Bruce Banner.
25:48Throughout the episode, we see events of several heroes' origin stories.
25:51During the university fight of the Incredible Hulk, things take an even nastier turn.
25:56After transforming and battling with General Ross' forces, Hulk begins to grow even larger.
26:03Normally, the Hulk growing larger would be cause for celebration, but here it's deadly.
26:10His body swells until it can't anymore, bursting in front of the awestruck soldiers.
26:16That's one nasty demise, even if it does just result in a cloud of green smoke.
26:232.
26:25Avengers Infinity War With Thanos hunting Infinity Stones, we went
26:28into Infinity War worried for the character who had one embedded in his head.
26:41But it was so much worse than what we imagined.
26:44As the Avengers try to slow Thanos down, Wanda is forced to destroy the Mind Stone along
26:48with the person she loves.
26:54That's bad enough, except that with the Time Stone, Thanos is able to reverse Vision's
27:02death so that he can rip the Time Stone out of the android's head with his bare hands,
27:07tossing the lifeless gray body with a gaping hole in its head aside.
27:11Vision's death signals Thanos' victory.
27:13Both of his deaths are heartbreaking and utterly brutal.
27:311.
27:33The Illuminati – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
27:36With Sam Raimi at the helm, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was chock full
27:41of surprisingly vicious violence for a PG-13 feature.
27:44No scene was more brutal than the fight between the Illuminati and the Scarlet Witch.
27:54We were still riding the high of seeing these heroes when they started to drop like flies.
27:59Black Bolt's death is perhaps the most ruthless.
28:02Wanda vanishes his mouth, causing him to scream in horror and pop his own skull.
28:15However, cutting Captain Carter in half with her own shield is also pretty ferocious.
28:23Regardless of whose death is the most shocking, the entirety of this fight is undeniably blood
28:28thirsty.
28:29Was there a spectacularly gruesome death we missed?
28:32Share all of the disturbing details in the comments below.