There are few cinematic achievements as magnificent as the Infinity Saga, which encompassed the first twenty-three films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It completely changed the game for superhero films, building on the framework laid by Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and, more importantly, the Dark Knight trilogy, and transforming them into a near-unrivaled box office monster.
Avengers: Endgame, a film with problems but also a gratifying, emotional, and epic experience, served as the saga’s culmination (with Spider-Man: Far From Home serving as more of an epilogue). The film has its share of death as a new age begins. Before the film’s release, some fans joked that when everything was said and done, the answer to the question of who died in Avengers: Endgame would be “everyone,” but that wasn’t the case. However, some of the fatalities are still difficult for the audience to accept.
Amanda Bruce updated this page on November 18th, 2021: In Avengers: Endgame, there is a lot of death and destruction, but perhaps not as much as some fans expected. The enormous battle scenario that served as the film’s conclusion had the most deaths, but not all of them were particularly brutal or sad. Each death in the film advances the plot to a new point, so they aren’t technically pointless, but just a few deaths in Avengers: Endgame are the kind that the audience actually connects with.
2014 Nebula
Nebula and Gamora joined their father in the other timeline of villains that journeyed from 2014 to 2023, and with present-day Gamora gone, Nebula was the only one of the three to face their future self.
She assassinates 2014 Nebula, who, unlike her sister, remains on her father’s side in the titanic war. Unfortunately, unlike her future self, this Nebula never had that redemption; she never got to really embrace Gamora or see her father’s depravity. There are, however, many more tragic fatalities.
2014 Thanos
For a long time, the absence of great villains was perhaps the most serious criticism leveled against the MCU. For a long time, there was no one truly magnificent except Loki, a villain who evolved into an anti-hero.
This began to change with the introduction of characters such as Killmonger, Vulture, and, finally, Thanos, the villain that fans had been waiting for and who lived up to the hype, exceeding even the highest expectations. There are two versions of Thanos in Endgame, and the Thanos who traveled from 2014 to 2023 had a happier end. Before being vanquished by the Avengers, he immediately became impatient and ravenous for them.
Akihiko
In Endgame, Marvel fans finally got to see Hawkeye take up the Ronin mantle as an avenger of the dead, hunting criminals who survived the snap in a bid for vengeance and a method to deal with his grief over the loss of his family.
Ronin’s stint was brief but memorable, and fans watched him hunting Akihiko and his men in Tokyo, Japan. Despite pleading for mercy, Akihiko is killed by Ronin, and the audience shows no emotion, possibly simply amazement at Clint Barton’s conduct. After all, the only thing the audience knows about the character is that he’s a bad person who Hawkeye has to chase down. When Black Widow watches the death, she isn’t too upset about it, and neither is the audience.
Black Widow
Thanos brutally deemed Gamora’s life worthy of sacrifice to achieve his purpose, making her fall to her death to collect the Soul Stone, and it was shocking when she died in Infinity War.
Fast forward to 2023, or one year for viewers, and Black Widow and Hawkeye are still on the lookout for the Soul Stone. Avengers: Endgame had equally terrible repercussions, with both characters fighting for the death of the other, with Natasha eventually succumbing to her death, leaving viewers in a state of shock and despair. The fact that both parties were eager to sacrifice themselves so the other might continue made this death feel much worse.
Children Of Thanos
The Children of Thanos, also known as the Black Order, a team of Thanos’ adoptive children with power who featured in Infinity War and Endgame, are another villain whose death causes little emotion among fans.
Infinity War killed the 2018 incarnations of Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Cull Obsidian, and Proxima Midnight in various ways. The 2014 versions, on the other hand, journeyed to 2023 with Thanos and were all killed either by Tony Starks’ heroic snap to rescue the planet or by other means. Because they have names, their deaths are marginally more tragic than the rest of Thanos’ army, but no one is supposed to care about these characters or their deaths. The emphasis is on the heroes triumphing, not on Thanos’ team’s survival.
Thanos’ Army
The victims of Thanos’ snap appear in the film’s conclusion, and an epic, thrilling battle unfolds between the heroes and Thanos’ army.
Those armies, which included Leviathans, Chitauri, and other creatures, were merely foot warriors. They were not as important as the other villains in the film, and little thought or care was given to any of their deaths, much alone sadness. In superhero movies, “faceless armies” are frequently the ones that receive the brunt of the heroes’ blows.
Thanos
The other Thanos is the one who appeared in the Infinity Saga’s timeline, was teased in many films, and eventually blasted into the scene in Infinity War, where he surprised many by winning. He defeated and murdered a large number of heroes, some permanently and others temporarily.
This Thanos reappeared in Avengers: Endgame. Thanos moved to Planet 0259-S, a.k.a. the Garden, to cultivate and live in peace after achieving his life purpose of delivering ‘balance’ to the universe. The Avengers track him down in a desperate attempt to reclaim the Infinity Gauntlet and stop the snap. It doesn’t work out, and Thor kills him savagely. It’s a jarring scene for the audience, especially considering they’ve been seeing everyone mourn the loss of the heroes from Infinity War.
The Original Avengers And Guardians Teams
Many of the tragic moments in Endgame involving death were caused by situations unrelated to death, rather than by people dying in the game. In some ways, Avengers: Endgame “killed” the original lineup of teams that fans were accustomed with.
Captain America did not die, but his time as Captain America came to an end as Steve Rogers grew older. Steve’s decision nearly killed Captain America’s insignia and set in motion the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Loki, Vision, Gamora, and Heimdall did not die in this film, but their chances of surviving their deaths in Endgame were shattered. Of course, two Avengers perished in Avengers: Endgame.
Tony Stark
Of course, as terrifying as Natasha Romanoff’s death is to witness, it pales in comparison to one of the most tragic scenes in cinema history for superhero fans: Tony Stark’s death.
Many fans foresaw the death of the man who started the entire Infinity Saga and had such an obvious influence on most of the films inside it going into the film. “I am Iron Man,” is a sentence that will go down in history, and his final breath, as well as the comments and attendance at his funeral from people who loved him, further added to the agony.
