10 Biggest Ever Sacrifices In MCU Movies
We loved you 3000, Tony Stark.
Nothing makes a hero more than what they give up. As Thanos told Gamora after the snap, his agenda to save the universe - in his mind a wholly justified, heroic action - had cost him absolutely everything. Even in Thanos' warped, amoral mind, the fact that he had been forced to give up the one thing in his entire life that he loved - his daughter - made him even more heroic.
He was wrong, because he was a monster, mostly, but his sentiment rings true, which is precisely why so many comic book movies use selfless acts as a true mark of worthiness or heroism. If you're willing to give up everything for the greater good, you're the right person to be looking after the planet, basically.
The MCU is particularly fond of such moments, from Thor seemingly sacrificing himself to defeat the Destroyer to Loki doing the same to beat the Dark Elves and Tony Stark flying the nuke through the wormhole in The Avengers. They tend to be the moments that linger in memory and those ones aren't even good enough to make the list!
10. Bruce Banner Sacrifices His Own Happy Ending - Avengers: Age Of Ultron
It might have been a pretty contentious storyline in Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age Of Ultron - and gave us the worst line in the entire MCU ("hide the zucchini") - but there was something valuable in the romance between Black Widow and Bruce Banner (and Hulk, to be honest, because it was a menage-a-trois after all). It gave Banner more of a reason to wrestle with the morality of his very existence.
It might have been retconned subsequently, but the romance between the two replaced Banner's ties to Betty Ross and added an emotional sting to the tragedy of Banner's condition. And as Age Of Ultron built up anxiety around him losing control - and what he could do to the ones he loved - seeing him wrestle with what drew him to the Avengers (Nat) and a desire not to Hulk smash that all to bits was compelling.
In the end, he gave up his chance of normalcy and romance and flew off to self-imposed exile, sabotaging both his and Nat's feelings for the good of the world.
9. We Are All Groot - Guardians Of The Galaxy
It doesn't matter that Groot came back when he died the first time or that his death resulted in Baby Groot and the delirious delight of watching him dancing to Mr Blue Sky - there's nothing can take away how much his sacrifice for the rest of the Guardians crew hurt.
Groot was introduced as an outsider - like Rocket - and Guardians was as much about the crew all coming together as a family as it was about the quest to stop Thanos getting his hands on the Power Stone or to stop Ronan going berserk on Xandar. That moment was realised in two moments: the second was when they all held hands to use the Power Stone against Ronan but the first was when Groot sacrificed himself.
In order for Rocket to really belong and to save his new friends, Groot made the ultimate sacrifice and in doing so he transformed our perceptions of Rocket too making for an even more emotionally loaded scene.