18 Most Heartbreaking Moments In The MCU (So Far)

Even with the pain of watching half the universe of beloved characters die, the individual deaths brought about by Thanos even before he retrieved all the Infinity Stones were each difficult to watch.

Loki's slow suffocation was particularly gruelling, with Thor crawling over to hold his body close as the entire ship exploded. Heimdall's death, coming off of saving Banner, was another blow. Gamora's death at Thanos's hands was tragic in her struggling to the very end, knowing what real love was and hating Thanos for corrupting it.

Wanda being forced to kill Vision was a painfully drawn out process, their love and Vision's unwavering trust in her giving the scene poignancy and an extra layer of grief, only for Thanos to reverse their sacrifice and tear Vision's Mind Stone out, delivering gut-punch after gut-punch to a hopeful audience.

These deaths may have proven Thanos to be a force to be reckoned with, but really, in the end, they were just beloved characters fans had to accept were gone forever, given that these deaths are more than likely irreversible, unlike those that came after Thanos's life-ending snap.