10 MCU Characters Who Died Way Too Soon

Like almost every major blockbuster franchise, death is a major part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, whether the hero vanquishes the villain at the end of a movie, a beloved character is mercilessly slaughtered by the antagonist or a frontline hero is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice.

And while the MCU has been frequently accused of devaluing the finality of death with its various resurrection shenanigans, Avengers: Endgame certainly helped lend some weight with the seemingly permanent demise of its flagship superhero himself, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).

Iron Man's death was an extraordinary pay-off built up over more than a decade, but sadly not all MCU deaths have achieved quite that feeling of earned emotion - and sometimes, the trigger is pulled way too early.

In the case of these 10 characters, be they minor supporting roles or front-line Avengers, each seemed far from realising their full potential, yet for whatever reason, the call was made to take them out sooner than befitted them dramatically.

Though it's admittedly tough to take death too seriously in the MCU, it doesn't seem like any of these characters will be coming back (any time soon, at least), and so their preemptive dirt nap was most certainly a missed opportunity...