Avengers: Endgame had some of the biggest character deaths in the MCU, and all of them have one thing in common. Picking up after the devastating ending of Avengers: Infinity War, the Joe and Anthony Russo-directed film wrapped up the franchise’s Infinity Saga, which included the demise of some of its most prominent players.

Following the five-year time jump, Endgame’s time heist came about thanks to Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), who was stuck in the Quantum Realm when Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) Decimation took place. It allowed them to travel back in time to retrieve all six Infinity Stones before the Mad Titan got his hands on them, resulting in their ability to bring back all those who perished due to the deadly snap. The process, however, called for some sacrifices from the heroes to be successful.

Unlike Infinity War, Endgame had fewer character deaths. The former ended with half of life in the universe turning into dust, including a lot of of the Avengers’ allies. That being said, each death in Avengers: Endgame had a massive impact on the narrative and MCU as a whole moving forward. All of them were also intentional, happening through self-sacrifice in varying ways, not necessarily something that happened because they were killed while being caught off guard.

In order to acquire the Soul Stone in Vormir, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) fought each other over who would sacrifice themselves for the stone. In the end, Black Widow won, and as tragic as it was, her demise was important to the mission. Nebula (Karen Gillan), on the other hand, faced her own villainous self after she was abducted by Thanos and was swapped with her 2014 version. This allowed the Mad Titan to ambush the heroes after they brought back those who perished in Infinity War. With two Nebulas on opposite sides of the story, the present-day version decided to kill her past self in order to save 2014 Gamora (Zoe Saldana).

Finally, Iron Man’s (Robert Downey Jr.) death also played out similarly to that of Black Widow’s. Knowing full well that his suit won’t be able to withstand the power from all six Infinity Stones, he decided to still wield it in the hopes of ending Thanos. In the deleted Endgame scene with him and grown-up Morgan Stark (Katherine Langford), he apologized for dying that way, meaning he knew full well that he wouldn’t survive using the gauntlet. Even looking at Thanos first death, he knew that the heroes would be looking for him. While he might not have been aware when and how they’d come, the fact that he let himself live vulnerably in the Garden meant that he was done with fighting since his life-long mission was already done. A similar argument can be said in Thanos’ second death; instead of fighting the inevitable, he simply sat there and waiting to fully turn into dust.

In hindsight, the deaths in Avengers: Endgame were the complete opposite of those in Infinity War. The heroes refused to sacrifice anyone from their roster in the hopes that they’d be able to defeat Thanos just as long as they stood together. Captain America (Chris Evans) could’ve followed Vision’s (Paul Bettany) idea about destroying the Mind Stone before the Mad Titan got to him. When they finally decided that there was no other way but to move forward with this, it was too late and Thanos was able to nab the last elemental crystal he needed for the snap. The same could be said with Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) willingly giving up the Time Stone in exchange for Tony’s life - although it’s worth noting that the sorcerer knew very well that he needed him to be alive to defeat Thanos in the sequel, which he eventually did.

More: Eternals Can Show The Problems With Avengers: Endgame’s Happy Ending

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