9 Avengers Fates Worse Than Deaths

5. Realising What You've Caused

Age Of Ultron
Marvel Comics

Oh Tony, what did you do...

In Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's Civil War story which ran from 2006 through until 2007, many readers viewed Tony Stark as being the true villain of the piece. Remember, it was Stark who championed the Superhero Registration Act that forced all superheroes and supervillains to give up their secret identities. Of course, across from Iron Man we had Captain America, who led a team of characters who opposed Tony's ideals.

Not just did Civil War further the distrust the public had in its self-anointed protectors due to the destruction this caused, but it also resulted in the deaths of, amongst others, Goliath, Goldbug, Jester, Jack O'Lantern and even eventually Captain America in the fallout of this battle.

Of course, the Cap death would end up being revealed to be a classic fakeout, with the 'fatal' shot from the mind-controlled Sharon Carter simply phasing Rogers into a static place in time and space. Uhu. Still, for a good 18 months or so, the Sentinel of Liberty did indeed remain dead.

Elsewhere, Tony Stark schmoozed Spider-Man into joining his Civil War cause so much that he even got the Wall-crawler to unmask on live TV and reveal to the world that he was Peter Parker; a reveal that would put a target on Peter's back and see Aunt May shot. Elsewhere, there's also the fact that the Fantastic Four temporarily split up as a direct result of Civil War's brutality.

So yeah, nice one Tony.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.