Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff in Avengers: Endgame. Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Aunt May in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Loki in Avengers: Infinity War. These are all Marvel Cinematic Universe deaths that shook the surrounding characters, shook the audience, and proved to be influential on subsequent events. They were hugely important characters and their departures (even if ultimately temporary, as was the case with Loki) were of similar import. But those were all in movies. That begs the question of whether there were any character departures on the small screen that were just as heavy.
As it turns out, some of them have come quite close. Whether it was on the Netflix series or the Disney+ series, there have been some small screen MCU character deaths that have really hit hard. In fact, because stuff like Daredevil: Born Again can get away with being closer to an R rating, some of the small screen deaths are the most brutal to date. Let’s go through 10 that really cut us to the core.
10) Foggy Nelson in Daredevil: Born Again
Image courtesy of Marvel Television
To address the elephant in the room, Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson is scheduled to return in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. According to IMDb that will occur in the season’s finale, “The Southern Cross.”
But, let’s face it, that’s going to be a flashback. We’ll eat our words if we end up being wrong but suffice to say it would feel very out of character for this particular show. Even though Born Again exists in the same universe as Avengers: Endgame and the like, it is more grounded, through and through. And, in the first season’s debut episode, “Heaven’s Half Hour,” Foggy was assassinated by Bullseye. That event has loomed large over the characters in Born Again, and it’s done wonders to make this revised take on live-action Daredevil feel unpredictable, dangerous, and serious.
9) Talos in Secret Invasion
image courtesy of disney+
Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos may very well have been the best misdirect villain in the history of the MCU. Unfortunately, his second and final project in the universe, Secret Invasion, wasn’t half as good as Captain Marvel, which in and of itself was only slightly above average (though, again, one consistently bolstered by his presence).
Like a later entry on this list, Talos is killed by Gravik, one of the franchise’s blander villains. We’re glad we got to see Talos patch things up with his pal Nick Fury and his death did help influence Fury’s character arc throughout the remainder of the show, but it was still one of those things where we wish we would have lost Talos in a better project.
8) He Who Remains in Loki
Image courtesy of Marvel Television
The end of Loki Season 1 has Sylvie stab He Who Remains in the chest. He then, much to her surprise, laughs, and says “See you soon.” She and Loki then learn why he said this, because with his death the Sacred Timeline was connected to the whole Multiverse, which allowed for the Council of Kangs to finally have access to said timeline.
This was all the start of something that never fully came to fruition. We got Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Victor Timely in the second season of Loki, but in hindsight its more of a big event that now lacks any of the punch it had when it first aired.
7) Commissioner Gallo in Daredevil: Born Again
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The Netflix shows weren’t without their violent moments, but Daredevil: Born Again gave the MCU its first official disgusting death with Kingpin’s murder of Commissioner Gallo. He squeezes his head and pops his jaw out sideways…it was like Pedro Pascal’s death in Game of Thrones.
Not only did this moment signal that the MCU was in even firmer R-rated territory than Deadpool & Wolverine, but it also firmly established Kingpin as an authoritarian. He was now the de facto leader of New York, and absolutely no one was going to stand in his way of that.
6) Nico the Flag Smasher in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
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Throughout The Falcon and the Winter Soldier it’s pretty obvious that John Walker is not a suitable replacement for Steve Rogers. He’s quick to rush into situations and, oftentimes, pretty volatile.
But when his friend, Lemar Hoskins, is accidentally killed by Nico of the Flag Smashers, we see his true self fully come to the surface, and it’s vicious. Walker murdering Nico was essentially the beginning of the arc continued in Thunderbolts*, and he’s gotten a little less scary since this horrible moment, but it was nonetheless a horrific act that shined a dark light on a somewhat major character.
5) Ben Urich in Daredevil
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Before he killed Commissioner Gallo, Kingpin murdered Ben Urich in the first season of Daredevil‘s Netflix era. It was the exact event required to show that this corner of the MCU was not playing it safe.
This was the moment when we learned the MCU’s version of Kingpin wouldn’t be softer than his most volatile and violent comic counterpart. It also pushed Karen Page further into the investigative journalist role Urich inhabited so well.
4) White Tiger in Daredevil: Born Again
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Considering the wonderful Kamar de los Reyes sadly passed away before the first season of Daredevil: Born Again was even released, it was inevitable that his character, the White Tiger, would either be killed off or recast. As it turned out, the plan was always for the former.
Season 2 of Born Again has continued to make his character important however, even though he was in just two episodes. This has primarily been done via the increased importance of his niece, Angela Del Toro, who has become the next iteration of White Tiger.
3) Captain Britain aka Captain Carter in What If…?
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Hayley Atwell has been with the MCU pretty much since the beginning, yet she only really had a major role in Captain America: The First Avenger and her show, Agent Carter. Even still, she stole her bit roles in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Avengers: Endgame, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
But it was arguably the alternate universe series What If…? that put her character to the best use. It allowed her to suit up as Captain Carter aka Captain Britain, which she did twice in Season 1, four times in Season 2, and twice in Season 3. And how did the final episode of the final season deliver the goods? By delivering the gut punch that was Captain Britain’s self-sacrifice to transport her allies to Strange Supreme’s universe. What If…?, of course, told a variety of stories, but there’s an argument to be made that its overarching protagonist was Atwell’s Captain Britain.
2) Vanessa (We’re Assuming) in Daredevil: Born Again
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Remember how we kicked off this list with Foggy Nelson and how his death has loomed large over the rest of Born Again? That has continued with the most recent episode, “Gloves Off.”
Bullseye (or “Dex”) continues to have Wilson Fisk in his sights. He doesn’t feel great about having killed Foggy and wants to right the ship, as it were. The episode ends with Dex taking another crack at killing Fisk, but Vanessa shoots him as he throws a glass ornament, which Fisk breaks with his boxing championship belt, which then hits Vanessa in the skull. She’s not beyond a shadow of a doubt dead, but she certainly looks as though she has lost enough blood for that to be a safe enough assumption.
1) Maria Hill in Secret Invasion
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Cobie Smulders’ Agent Maria Hill was Nick Fury’s right-hand woman, and she couldn’t have debuted in a bigger way. After all, hers is one of the first faces we see in The Avengers, and it cannot be overstated just how big an event that movie was in 2012.
Smulders then had a sizable part to play in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Spider-Man: Far from Home as well as smaller roles in Age of Ultron, Infinity War, and Endgame, only to be killed off by Gravik in the first episode of Secret Invasion. It gave the show some stakes, sure, but it was a disappointing departure for a noteworthy character. Then again, at least she got to sit out the remainder of Secret Invasion which…woof.
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