Warning: The following article contains spoilers regarding the demise of several MCU villains. If you do not want spoilers, proceed with caution.
Some villains are so bad that it’s a relief when they’re finally dead – ahem, Thanos (Josh Brolin) – while others may bring a tear to your eye. No matter what, great villains are a pleasure to watch, which is why we love to hate them.
Of course, when a villain is as completely evil and uncaring, like Ego (Kurt Russell), it’s difficult to sympathize with them when they die. There are villains that balance that thin line between good and evil that make their deaths that much more poignant when it does happen.
How well a villain is loved by the masses is all in the portrayal of the actors themselves. Writers can write something great on the pages, but it all comes down to the delivery from the actors.
These are some of the saddest villain deaths in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and encompassing multiverse.
10. Norman Osborn
The death of the Green Goblin – Spider-Man’s arch-nemesis – while deserved, was sad. Norman Osborn and his evil split personality were expertly portrayed by the legendary Willem Dafoe.
As the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn did atrocious things in Spider-Man, but viewers felt bad for him because they could see the internal struggle Norman faced trying to ward off the evil Green Goblin. Accidentally impaling himself while trying to kill Spider-Man (Tobey Maquire) made more than a few tears fall.
9. Erik “Killmonger” Stevens
Erik Stevens (Michael B. Jordan), born N’Jadaka, is the son of Wakandan Prince N’Jobu, making him T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) cousin. Erik earns the nickname “Killmonger” as a Navy SEAL and CIA Black Ops mercenary, due to his impressive kill rate.
When he finds out that former King T’Chaka killed his father, while also blaming Wakanda for not helping oppressed Africans throughout the world, Killmonger challenges T’Challa for the throne. After seemingly killing T’Challa, Killmonger consumes the heart-shaped herb – which gives Wakandan leaders their Black Panther abilities – then orders all the remaining herbs to be destroyed. Killmonger then uses his new position as the Black Panther and king of Wakanda to make plans to send vibranium weapons out to oppressed people around the world.
Killmonger and T’Challa face off again in the subways of Wakanda, resulting in Killmonger’s death. Sympathetic, T’Challa takes Killmonger outside to see the Wakandan sunset and tells his cousin that they may be able to save him. Killmonger, satisfied at finally seeing the Wakandan sunset, removes the dagger from his chest and dies with T’Challa by his side.
8. Xu Wenwu
After the murder of his wife, Wenwu (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), otherwise known as the Mandarin, is corrupted by the mystical Ten Rings, which give its bearer increased strength, longevity, and special abilities. The Mandarin is being corrupted by the Dweller-in-Darkness, a soul-consuming demon the people of Ta Lo have kept sealed for thousands of years, who wants the Mandarin to free him.
Wenwu winds up sacrificing himself to save his son Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) from the Dweller-in-Darkness, and transfers the Ten Rings to Shang-Chi as his soul is being sucked from his body.
While Wenwu did a lot of horrible things, his story was tragic, making his sacrifice and death even more heart-wrenching.
7. Jean Grey
Jean Grey’s (Famke Jannsen) Phoenix is unleashed in X-Men: The Last Stand, revealing the psychokinetic and telepathic mutant as one of the most powerful mutants to ever exist.
After killing her fiancé, Scott Summers (James Marsden), at the beginning on the movie, then later killing Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) himself, Jean later unleashes her full Dark Phoenix abilities, destroying everything in her path.
Only Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), with his adamantium skeleton and healing factor, is able to approach her to try to talk her down. In a brief moment of clarity, Jean begs Wolverine to save her. Tearfully, Wolverine professes his love for her before plunging his claws into her stomach. The scene was well acted and completely heartbreaking.
6. Nico
During the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Nico (Noah Mills) is Karli Morgenthau’s (Erin Kellyman) right-hand-man in the Flag Smashers, a terrorist organization who wants to restore the world to the way it was during the blip, when the smaller world population came together and helped one another.
After witnessing Karli accidentally killing his best friend Lamar (Clé Bennett), John Walker’s (Wyatt Russell) Captain America completely snaps, chasing down Nico and murdering the young Captain America fan in cold blood. The scene was completely shocking, brutal and agonizing.
5. Harry Osborn
Harry Osborn (James Franco) is Peter Parker’s (Tobey Maquire) best friend and son of Norman Osborn. After the death of his father, Harry mistakenly believes Spider-Man murdered his dad. Harry descends into madness and exposes himself to the Goblin serum in Spider-Man 3, becoming the new Green Goblin.
After finally realizing the error of his ways, Harry sacrifices himself to save Spider-Man from Venom and dies with Peter and Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) by his side.
4. Dr. Otto Octavius
Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is a nuclear scientist who is building a fusion reactor during the events of Spider-Man 2. While Otto is wearing a harness with robotic arms with artificial intelligence to help handle the hazardous materials, the reactor malfunctions, killing his wife and causing the arms to fuse with him. The Daily Bugle gives Otto the moniker Doctor Octopus, since the robotic arms resemble octopus tentacles.
With the robotic arms now controlling him, Doctor Octopus plans on making an even larger reactor. As the reactor threatens to destroy the entire city, Spider-Man reveals himself and begs Otto to save the city. In a poignant moment, Otto takes control of his mind and decides to do the right thing.
Otto uses his robotic arms to break the platform holding the fusion reactor, dumping it into the Hudson River before it explodes, sacrificing himself.
3. Loki
Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is the psychotic villain everyone loves to hate, with his crazy antics and snarky sense of humor. Loki’s journey is a winding one, with the villainous adopted brother of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) always causing trouble for the Avengers.
After cheating death more times than he can probably count, Loki finally dies at the (literal) hands of the Mad Titan Thanos, who strangles him with one hand as Thor watches in horror. The shocking death, which takes place during the opening moments of Avengers: Infinity War, was horrifying to watch.
2. Wanda Maximoff
Wanda Maximoff’s (Elizabeth Olsen) tragic story seemingly came to an end in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. After losing her parents, her country, her twin brothers and her true love, Wanda’s grief consumed her, creating a fantasy world in which she and Vision (Paul Bettany) were happily married and end up miraculously having twin boys named Billy and Tommy (Jullian Hilliard and Jett Klyne, respectively.)
Wanda eventually realizes what she is doing is hurting other people and says goodbye to her made-up world, only to discover that Billy and Tommy exist in the multiverse. Fully embracing her Scarlett Witch powers, Wanda kills several notable heroes as she makes it her goal to reunite her family.
As Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness came to a head, Wanda realized that she became a monster. She destroys the Darkhold across the multiverse, presumably killing herself in the process, as Wundagore Mountain crumbles around her.
Wanda arguably has the most tragic story in the MCU. Watching her transform from an angry young woman to a superhero and then turn bad was devastating. There is hope she survived, as a red flash of light is seen as the mountain crumbles.
1. Yondu
Yondu (Michael Rooker) is a Ravager who traffics children on various planets in Guardians of the Galaxy. Because of this, he is outcast by the Ravager community. Yondu kidnaps Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) in 1988 and trains the boy to be a thief like the Ravagers. He is abusive to Quill and doesn’t seem to really care at all for him, until the audience discovers the full story.
During Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Peter discovers that Yondu was hired by Ego to kidnap him. Ego impregnated women all across the galaxy and was looking for the offspring that had he power to help consume worlds. When his children didn’t have the power, he killed them. Knowing what Ego was doing, Yondu had a soft spot for Peter and kept him hidden away from Ego.
As Peter prepared to sacrifice himself to destroy Ego and Ego’s Living Planet, Yondu arrived and carried Peter away, only to sacrifice himself to give Peter the oxygen he needed to survive in space.
In what has to be the saddest, yet most beautiful funeral scenes in the MCU, the Ravagers gathered around the Milano as Yondu’s body was turned to dust and sent into space, giving him a proper sendoff as someone who made up for his past mistakes.