Marvel’s brand is known as the lighter, bubblier, funnier alternative to the dark, gritty realism of DC’s brand. But on a few rare occasions in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the filmmakers have used audiences’ expectations of a lighter superhero story to their advantage.
Because these movies are big-budget, VFX-laden zany, comic sci-fi adventures, the filmmakers are able to give their darker moments a lot more impact. When a movie has an entirely dark tone, the darkness has less effect on the viewer, because they’re expecting it. When it has the light humorous tone of Guardians of the Galaxy and it turns dark, that’s a different story. With that in mind, here are the MCU’s 10 darkest moments, ranked.
10 Thanos strangles Loki in front of Thor (Avengers: Infinity War)
The opening scene of Avengers: Infinity War instantly establishes the threat of Thanos. Following his ship’s arrival in Thor: Ragnarok’s mid-credits scene, Thanos has invaded the ship and killed most of the Asgardians on board. Ebony Maw restrains Thor with some steel beams. Thanos kills the Hulk, then kills Heimdall for resurrecting the Hulk and sending him to Earth.
Then, when Loki begrudgingly hands over the Space Stone after attempting to kill Thanos, the Mad Titan grabs Loki by the throat and squeezes until the life leaves his eyes, all while his brother, the God of Thunder, watches helplessly from afar.
9 “It broke my heart to put that tumor in her head.” (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)
Considering the generally light tone of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and the fact that, ultimately, this is a Disney release, this line from the second Guardians movie is incredibly dark.
It was telegraphed from the beginning that Ego wasn’t as awesome as he made himself out to be and he would eventually become the film’s villain, but the revelation that he actually gave Peter Quill’s mother the cancer that killed her – paired with the nonchalant manner with which Kurt Russell delivers the line – was still pretty shocking. The fact that Quill’s immediate response is to shoot him repeatedly is perfect, too.
8 Tony’s vision (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
“You could’ve saved us.” When Wanda Maximoff shows Tony Stark a vision of his worst nightmare – an alien army, like the one he faced in The Avengers, arrives on Earth and he’s not ready for it, so the invasion is successful – these are the words that stuck with him.
He looks upon his dying fellow Avengers as Earth is decimated by the Chitauri and Captain America tells him, “You could’ve saved us.” This is the moment that haunted Tony for years to come, until this vision came true and Thanos defeated the Avengers. But in reality, when Tony could save the Avengers from the unstoppable bad guy, he did it.
7 Adrian Toomes threatens to kill Peter (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
On the tail end of a goofy getting-ready-for-the-school-dance montage with Aunt May in Spider-Man: Homecoming, when Peter Parker arrived at his date Liz’s house to take her to the dance, Adrian Toomes opened the door. This moment brought the house down. When that door opened, Peter and the audience instantly recognized Toomes as the Vulture, the winged arms dealer Spidey had been after for the whole movie.
Toomes didn’t immediately recognize Peter as his nemesis Spider-Man, but he figured it out soon enough in the car. As Liz got out of the car and headed into the dance, Toomes held Peter back and threatened to kill him. They’re not wearing masks or costumes – this is just a grown man threatening to murder a child for interfering with his illegal business.
6 Thanos sacrifices Gamora to get the Soul Stone (Avengers: Infinity War)
The Russo brothers weren’t kidding when they said that Thanos was the main character in Avengers: Infinity War. From the Mad Titan’s perspective, it’s the story of a cosmic warlord who figures out his purpose and takes on a legion of superheroes in order to fulfill that purpose.
Over the course of the movie, this cost him – in his own summation – “everything.” To acquire the Soul Stone, he had to sacrifice the person he loves the most, and that was his favorite adopted daughter, Gamora. He looks heartbroken to do it, but still determined that it’s what has to happen.
5 Killmonger becomes the King of Wakanda (Black Panther)
At Black Panther’s midpoint, Erik Killmonger infiltrates Wakanda and reveals himself to be T’Challa and Shuri’s cousin and, therefore, Wakandan royalty. He challenges T’Challa for his throne and wins the duel. He even throws T’Challa off a cliff to his death. Now, everyone in Wakanda has to bow to the bad guy – the guy who just killed their true king – and follow his orders.
This brought T’Challa to his “all is lost” moment. He lost his kingdom, he lost his power – he even briefly lost his life. But this just spurred him on to become a true leader and put up the fight of his life to get his throne back.
4 Thor beheads Thanos (Avengers: Endgame)
This moment should feel like a victory. But crucially, it doesn’t. Killing off Thanos in the first 20 minutes of a movie that had been hyped as the Avengers’ last stand against the Mad Titan could’ve been a cheap gimmick, but it worked perfectly within the context of Thor’s character arc. Having made the error that allowed Thanos to win in Infinity War, Thor’s immediate drive was for revenge.
So, he cut off Thanos’ head. Thor killed the first enemy that ever defeated him, so the order should’ve been restored, but it wasn’t, because decapitating Thanos didn’t change anything. The damage was still done. Thanos didn’t even put up a fight. This set off Thor on the depressive spiral that led to his alcoholism, weight gain, and despair five years later.
3 Gamora and Nebula find the skeletons of Ego’s previous children (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)
Yondu’s redemption arc in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 revolves around the guilt he feels for trafficking children to Ego. It’s revealed that he initially abducted Peter Quill from Earth in 1988 because Ego had summoned him. Yondu decided not to deliver Quill, and to instead raise him as his own, when he found out Ego had been killing all of his previous children.
Right before the movie’s thrilling climax, Gamora and Nebula stumble upon a mountain of skeletons – the skeletons of Ego’s previous offspring – in the catacombs of Ego’s planet. The true sinister nature of the character instantly sets in.
2 “Don’t s**t me, Rogers. Did you know?” “Yes.” (Captain America: Civil War)
For its first and second acts, Captain America: Civil War is about the Avengers disagreeing over the Sokovia Accords. But in the third act, Tony realizes he was wrong after seeing his fellow heroes locked up at the Raft and makes a truce with Steve and Bucky.
But then, Baron Zemo shows footage of the Winter Soldier murdering Tony’s parents, and the movie quickly becomes about Tony’s desire to kill Bucky and Steve’s desire to protect him. Tony asks Steve if he knew Bucky had killed his parents. Steve says, “I didn’t know it was him,” but Tony presses him: “Don’t s**t me, Rogers. Did you know?” After a moment’s hesitation, Steve says, “Yes.”
1 The Snap (Avengers: Infinity War)
In most superhero movies, the villain blabs about their insane, illogical plan to “fix” the world, and at the last second, the hero thwarts that plan. But in Avengers: Infinity War, the villain actually succeeds in carrying out that plan.
Thanos spoke almost religiously about his plan to wipe out half of all life in the overpopulated universe, freeing up resources and space for a more prosperous society made up of the survivors. And in the end, because Thor went for Thanos’ chest instead of his head, he managed it. It was blockbuster cinema’s most powerful downer ending since The Empire Strikes Back.
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