10 MCU Characters Who Died Way Too Soon

2. Crossbones

From the moment that Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo) made his debut in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s S.T.R.I.K.E. team, fans were eagerly anticipating his inevitable transformation into his villainous alter-ego, Crossbones.

The Winter Soldier ended with Rumlow, who was secretly a member of HYDRA, gravely burned, naturally setting the stage for his return in Captain America: Civil War as Crossbones.

Except, barely 10 minutes into Civil War, Rumlow is killed off, staging a suicide bomb attack against Captain America (Chris Evans) which is deflected by Scarlet Witch, killing dozens and kicking off the movie's overarching "superhero accountability" plot.

Though an alternate timeline version of Rumlow did briefly appear in Avengers: Endgame, it did little to remedy the fact that an iconic comic book antagonist was teased only to be easily beaten by Cap and promptly blown out of the MCU.

Given that Crossbones played a pivotal role in Cap's death in the comics, nerfing his abilities and curtailing his character arc in the movies felt like such a waste - especially with an imposing specimen like Grillo playing him.