8 Best Marvel Heroes Who Are Currently Dead

The Marvel Universe is surely no stranger to tragedy and loss with its stretched-out roster of heroes often having to make the ultimate sacrifices in their fights to protect the world. In the wake of this, some of the most beloved Marvel heroes have met their untimely or rather timely ends, leaving behind legacies that continue to inspire the heroes remaining.

While death is rarely permanent in comic books, these fallen figures remain iconic for their heroic achievements and impacts across their lives, or in this case, superhero careers. So, therefore, this piece seeks to celebrate the lives of these fallen heroes and their legacies, while acknowledging their impacts across the MCU’s multiverse. As a result, below are the best of Marvel’s fallen heroes who currently remain dead.

8 Mighty Thor

Not Even Cancer Could Stop Jane Foster As The Might Thor

• First Appearance: Thor (2011)
• Universe Dead In: Earth-19999
• Death: Thor: Love & Thunder (2022)

The only romantic interest of Thor Odinson in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, The Mighty Thor, also known as Doctor Jane Foster, during her life, was one of the world’s leading astrophysicists; the superhero comes a little after. The main character of the MCU’s Thor: Love and Thunder of 2022, Jane Foster was one of the MCU’s newer superheroes.

While her status as a superhero is short-lived, its impact is much more profound. Faced with the god-slaying danger of Gorr the God Butcher, and the threat of stage IV cancer, the MCU’s Mighty Thor succumbed to her illness, after defeating Gorr, saving New Asgard. However, with her soul making it to Valhalla, a Valkyrie comeback may not be off the cards. But, until then.

7 Quicksilver

A Tragic Life of the Ultimate Redemption

• First Appearance: Captain America: The Winter Solder (2014)
• Universe Dead In: Earth-199999
• Death: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

One of the MCU’s more tragic but necessary deaths, Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff is another whose superhero status is very much shortlived, given the circumstances around his death. Fraternal twin brother of the Scarlet Witch, Pietro like his sister, blurs the lines between heroism and villainy, as both were initially in the service of H.Y.D.R.A against the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.

However, the cost of heroism comes at a price too heavy for the speedster after he sacrifices himself to save Hawkeye and a civilian child during the battle of Slovakia in Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, whatever is the hallmark of a hero, if not self-sacrifice?

6 The Original Groot

Groot Is Family

• First Appearance: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1
• Universe Dead In: Earth-199999
• Death: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1

The prophesized hero of Drez-Lar and Rocket’s original accomplice, the Original Groot was a founding member of the Guardians of the Galaxy whose only manner of speaking was no more than “I am Groot”. While the extra-terrestrial tree trunk had very limited words, his actions spoke clearly of a hero, manifested both before his death and after it.

In what would be the Guardians’ first attempt at being ‘guardians’, Groot sacrificed his life to save his friends during the battle of Xandar in an attempt to protect one of the Infinity stones from Ronan the Accuser. However, unlike other dead heroes, the hero, Groot lives on in his offspring, birthed from a part of his destroyed body.

5 The Scarlet Witch

A Life of Neither Good Nor Evil, Just Loss

• First Appearance: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Universe Dead In: Earth-199999
• Death: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Marvel’s perfect realization of a morally ambiguous character, The Scarlet Witch, also known as Wanda Maximoff was one of the MCU’s fiercest heroes and villains, technically.

While her actions as the Scarlet Witch in the MCU’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness completely deviate from what a superhero should be, Wanda’s heroic acts can not be easily overwritten.

From watching her twin brother die, having to sacrifice her lover for a war to nearly killing Thanos. However, it is the unintended effects of so much self-sacrifice, and the need for any sort of closure, that lead to her brutal descension to black magic, ultimately leading to her demise under the collapsing rubble of the Darkhold Castle.

4 The Ancient One

A Perfect Life At The Perfect Time

• First Appearance: Marvel’s Doctor Strange Prelude #2
• Universe Dead In: Earth-199999
• Death: Doctor Strange (2016)

Doctor Strange’s predecessor and former Sorcerer Supreme and Leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, the Ancient One was responsible for Stephen Strange’s emergence as Doctor Strange, in the movie Doctor Strange of 2016.

Not that she deserved to die at the hands of her former student, Kaecilius; however, The Ancient One was originally of Celtic descent and had lived a fairly long life prior to meeting Stephen Strange. You could argue that her death occurred at just the right time to pass on the torch while leaving an indelible legacy among the MCU’s long list of now-deceased heroes.

3 Loki

The Ultimate Result of a Life of Tricks

• First Appearance: Avengers: Thor (2011)
• Universe Dead In: Earth-199999
• Death: Avengers: Infinity War

The biological son of the King of the Frost Giants, introduced in Thor, the movie, 2011, Loki was also the adopted son of Odin and half-brother to Thor. While Loki’s credentials as a hero can be questioned, given his actions from Thor the movie through to The Avengers.

However, his journey to redemption was just as satisfying. His final act of redemption, it would seem, came at the price of his life after Thanos snaps his neck in front of his brother, Thor, putting an end to the Loki of the original timeline.

2 Black Widow

Natasha, the Ultimate Help

• First Appearance: Iron Man 2 (2010)
• Universe Dead In: Earth-199999
• Death: Avengers: Endgame (2019)

One of S.H.I.E.L.D best best-ever agents and a founding member of the Avengers, Natasha Romanoff proved again that the height of heroism is self-sacrifice. With her only known family broken in The Avengers and the fate of the entire world in the balance, Natasha Romanoff was the first key to ensuring the one-in-a-billion chance that Doctor Strange foresaw.

The infamous Black Widow may not have had superpowers but her hero needed no cape to fly, as she flew to her death for the Avengers to obtain the Soul Stone to defeat the mad titan, Thanos.

1 Iron Man

“I Am Ironman”

• First Appearance: Iron Man (2008)
• Universe Dead In: Earth-199999
• Death: Avengers: Endgame (2019)

The MCU’s most iconic superhero, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist, Iron Man, also known as Tony Stark could not have lived a better superhero story. Son of Howard Stark and the CEO of Stark Industries, Tony is the prime example of heroism, and his sacrifice proved monumental for the fate of the world in The Avengers: Endgame of 2019.

Taking on the power of all six infinity stones, with a heart made out of an artificial power source, Tony willed away Thanos and his army and reversed the Blip, all at the expense of his own life. His iconic “I am Iron Man” line put the crown on the MCU’s greatest superhero story.