The MCU Has Had Plenty Of Death Fakeouts, But These 10 Prove That Even A Fake Death Can Be Emotionally Devastating

The Marvel Cinematic Universe might have used fake-out deaths more times than expected, but I have to say that it is fine to do so when they are as emotionally resonant as so many MCU fake-out deaths have been. Deaths are par for the course when it comes to superhero projects. Most of the MCU"s best movies include some kind of death, which can come from heroes, villains, or civilians not making it after an action sequence.
The MCU knows how to make deaths count, and we have seen many deeply emotional deaths, such as those of Robert Downey Jr."s Iron Man and Scarlett Johansson"s Black Widow in Avengers: Endgame. However, fake-out deaths can pack the same kind of emotional punch as actual deaths, as many projects in the MCU"s timeline have shown, and I hope future Marvel Studios movies and TV shows know how to keep using those to shake up the franchise.
10 Vision Fake-Out Death In Avengers: Infinity War Close Paul Bettany"s Vision is one of the MCU"s most tragic characters. While the actor will be back as White Vision in 2026 with a solo series, it is a different version of the character. Avengers: Infinity War marked Vision"s first two deaths in the MCU. While one of them mostly stuck, the first did not, but even though it was a fake-out, the moment carried an impressive amount of sentimentality.
Ultron will return in 2026"s Vision series after he seemingly died in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which could add another fake-out death to the MCU.
Since Thanos was after the Infinity Stones, which included the Mind Stone in Vision"s forehead, the Mad Titan needed to kill him. I was heartbroken by how Elizabeth Olsen"s Scarlet Witch chose to do so herself by destroying the stone so Thanos could not get it. Wanda Maximoff was killing the love of her life for the universe to live on. Sadly, Thanos turned back time, then killed Vision brutally and swiftly.
9 Loki Fake-Out Death In Thor: The Dark World Close Loki, much like Vision, is an MCU character who had a fake-out death before he really came to die in a future project. After helping his brother, Thor, battle the Dark Elves, Tom Hiddleston"s Loki was impaled by the biggest of them, Kurse. That led to an emotional farewell scene between the brothers, with Loki dying in Thor"s arms. However, it was later revealed that Loki faked his death to rule Asgard, pretending he was Odin.
Thor had to watch his brother be choked to death by Thanos, this time with no tricks, which was haunting.
The first emotional layer of Loki"s fake-out death is how he seemingly died in Thor"s arms, apologizing to his brother as he passed away. The other component of the death is how Loki was revealed to be alive, only to have an even darker death in Avengers: Infinity War. Thor had to watch his brother be choked to death by Thanos, this time with no tricks, which was haunting.
8 Bucky Fake-Out Death In Captain America: The First Avenger Close Sebastian Stan"s Bucky Barnes was one of the MCU characters who had the earliest fake-out death in the franchise. The death was emotional, not just because of how the scene itself played out, but also due to what Bucky"s story would be when he was revealed to be alive. Captain America: The First Avenger did a great job of setting up Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes" friendship as the stuff of legend.

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Posts 2 Sadly, Steve was unable to save Bucky, having to see his best friend fall to his death from a moving train onto snowy mountains. Captain America not saving his best friend makes the fake-out death dark. However, since Bucky was brought back as the brainwashed Winter Soldier, forced to kill people for HYDRA for years, and tortured to do so, his fate was more tragic than dying.
7 Spider-Man Fake-Out Death In Avengers: Infinity War Close Spider-Man is such a popular Marvel hero, easily the company"s most well-known character, that it was never a possibility for the MCU to actually kill Peter Parker. That is why the surprise fake-out death of Tom Holland"s Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War hit as hard as it did. A lot of the emotional factor in the death was due to its shocking nature, with Holland"s performance making it incredibly somber.
While several heroes were turned to dust by Thanos" snap, Spider-Man was the only one who knew he was dying quite some time before it happened. As such, fans had to watch him slowly realize what was happening and desperately plead to Iron Man, his father figure, that he did not want to die before saying he was sorry. Only a kid, Peter"s death was one of the MCU"s most heartbreaking moments.
6 Captain America Fake-Out Death In Captain America: The First Avenger Close Chris Evans" Captain America became one of the faces of the MCU alongside Robert Downey Jr."s Iron Man. Right from the start, it was clear that Evans was capable of delivering deeply moving scenes. One of those happened to be a crucial moment in Steve Rogers" origin story. Captain America is known as a "man outside his time," after all, so Steve Rogers needed to "die" in the MCU.
Marvel did so with Captain America sacrificing himself by crashing Red Skull"s plane so that no one was hurt by its intended explosion. The sequence was emotional, not just because of his sacrifice, but mainly due to how Steve and Hayley Atwell"s Peggy Carter were talking through it all, making plans to dance together before Steve crashes the plane and the line cuts. Captain America then wakes up in the future and realizes he has lost his chance of a life with Peggy, which adds insult to the injury.
5 Phil Coulson Fake-Out Death In The Avengers Close Phil Coulson has one of the most impactful deaths in the MCU. That said, the character"s role in the list is also a special one, as the status of his death being a fake-out and not a full-on death depends on what is considered MCU canon. Coulson had appeared in multiple MCU movies before The Avengers, establishing his presence as an overarching player in the franchise.
That and his charismatic persona added to the character"s death, making it quite tragic. However, due to how multiple Avengers had some form of connection to him, his death was impactful and served as the catalyst for Earth"s Mightiest Heroes to become a team for the first time. While the MCU has largely kept his death in place, Coulson led seven seasons of Agents of SHIELD, being resurrected by Project T.A.H.I.T.I.
4 Black Panther Fake-Out Death In Black Panther Close T"Challa died for good in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever due to Chadwick Boseman"s tragic passing in real life. Before the character was retired by the MCU, the franchise"s first Black Panther had a fake-out death in his solo movie. Boseman"s T"Challa and Michael B. Jordan"s Killmonger fought for who would be Wakanda"s ruler, with the Marvel villain coming out on top and throwing T"Challa off a waterfall.
Black Panther Movie
Release Year
Black Panther
2018
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
2022
Black Panther 3
TBD
The fake-out death threw Wakanda into disarray, with T"Challa needing time to get back to full health after it was revealed he had survived. During that time, Killmonger took over the African nation and started pushing for a more aggressive attitude than Wakanda was known for. The fake-out death is now more tragic after Wakanda Forever, as watching it is a reminder that T"Challa later dies for good in the MCU and why.
3 Daredevil Fake-Out Death In The Defenders

With Netflix"s The Defenders Saga MCU canon, there are a few surprisingly emotional fake-out deaths in it that shook up the franchise. Charlie Cox"s Daredevil was thought to have died when a building fell on top of him in The Defenders. As Daredevil does not possess any actual powers, it is hard to believe that he could survive something like that, which is why his close friends, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, were heartbroken.
The death scene was tragic and beautiful at the same time. Matt Murdock kissed Elektra as they realized they would die, to which she answered by saying that being there with him is what living felt like. The fake-out death is made more emotional by the fact that Daredevil would be revealed to have survived, whereas Elektra died. Matt then took a long time to tell his friends he was back.
2 Elektra Fake-Out Death In Daredevil Season 2

Elektra is one of the tragic characters on the list to have died twice during her MCU tenure. The first time her life came to an end was when Elektra helped Daredevil take down the Hand. During their mission, Elektra would be killed fighting Nobu. After she was fatally wounded when Nobu stabbed her, Elektra would come to die in Daredevil"s arms as he broke down crying.
The intimate moment between the two lovers as Elektra died was hauntingly poetic. It would be a fake-out death because the Hand resurrected Elektra and made her a major threat to Daredevil and the other heroes in The Defenders. Then, Elektra tragically died for good as a building collapsed on her and Daredevil. Her fake-out death serves as the first part of what feels like the perfect goodbye between the characters now that we have watched Elektra die for good while she kisses Matt.
1 Deadpool And Wolverine Fake-Out Death In Deadpool & Wolverine Close Deadpool & Wolverine might be exciting due to its multiverse characters and huge action set pieces. However, the MCU movie truly excels when it has to show how much heart Marvel packed into the film. That comes out in many moments with Ryan Reynolds" Deadpool and Hugh Jackman"s Wolverine. However, the most emotional moment is the duo"s fake-out death, where both try to sacrifice themselves to save everyone from Cassandra Nova"s dark multiversal plans.
Deadpool and Wolverine had quite the journey before they became friends and felt like they deserved to be called heroes. That fake-out death was the moment both characters truly achieved hero status and showed just how much they meant to audiences, as the possibility of them dying in the Deadpool trilogy finale was real and scared many fans. In the end, the heroes lived, but the shocking nature of their fake-out death makes it an incredibly meaningful MCU moment.

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
Created by Kevin Feige First Film Iron Man Cast Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors Expand All Announced Upcoming MCU Movies