In a universe surrounded by superheroes, gods, mad titans, mutants, aliens, and celestials, theMCUprides itself on telling deeply personal stories, with characters many of us can relate to and sympathize with. These otherworldly and super-powered characters have faced their fair share of tragedies on their journeys to becoming better people and characters. Whether they lost their parents, theloves of their lives, or had the entire universe forget they ever existed, these MCU characters have the most tragic backstories and superhero journeys in the franchise.
10Erik Killmonger
Erik Killmonger’s (Michael B. Jordan) journey to becoming one of the best MCU villains was certainly a tragic one. At a young age, Erik watched his father, the Wakandan Prince, N’Jobu (Sterling K. Brown), murdered at the hands of his brother, King T’Chaka (Atandwa Kani), after N’Jobu attempted to kill Zuri (Denzel Dominique Whitaker)for revealing his plan to use Wakanda’s technology to assist those of African descent from oppression. T’Chaka then left Erik to fend for himself, fueling Erik with anger and vengeance against King T’Chaka and the whole nation of Wakanda. Erik joined the Navy SEALs, gaining skills that he later used to enact mercenary jobs for money, while waiting patiently to enact the revenge and take his place as the new leader of Wakanda.
Drax (Dave Bautista) may be among the funniest MCU characters, yet his humor doesn’t hide his tragic backstory. Before he joined the Guardians, his wife and child were brutally murdered by Ronan the Accuser, leading Drax on an unstoppable rampage across the galaxy, giving him the name Drax the Destroyer. Fed by vengeance, Drax searched high and low to avenge his wife and daughter and kill Ronan. Thankfully, Ronan was defeated with the help of his new-found family, The Guardians of the Galaxy. Whilst we knew how much anger his family’s death meant, we never knew the true pain he felt, until Mantis (Pom Klementieff), an empath, broke down when sensing the pain that Drax carried.
8Black Widow
While being one of the deadliest assassins in the world is a very impressive feat, it does come with its fair share of consequences. As a child, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) was enacted into the Red Room, where she was taught to master hand-to-hand combat, acrobatics, weapon training, and tactical skills. The Red Room used psychological conditioning to make the Widows obedient, including forcing the Widows to spar with one another, and the Widow that loses is killed by their opponent. Considering Natasha survived, we can imagine that Natasha has sadly killed many of her fellow Widows.
Likewise, the Widows are handcuffed to their beds while asleep, forced to perform ballet routines repeatedly to make them unbreakable, and their ability to bear children is horrifically removed. Natasha has a lot of red in her ledger, which fueled her ambition to do right by the world, saving it a couple of times, and even sacrificing herself because of it.
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Being abducted at a young age, and having your whole life be a complete lie, by your father no less, will guarantee to create a villain out of anyone. Giving Loki (Tom Hiddleston) this tragic backstory made fans sympathize with the villain from the get. Loki has constantly lived in Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) shadow, forcing his hand at villainy and world domination, only to be halted by his brother. On top of that, Loki was also responsible for his mother’s death, filling Loki with insurmountable amounts of guilt. After cementing his brotherly bond with his brother, Thor, Loki goes on tosacrifice himselfin order to save his brother’s life.
6Star-Lord
Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), the galaxy’s goofball, sadly lost his mom to a deadly battle with cancer when he was only young. Moments later, Quill was then kidnapped by a group of ravagers who wanted to eat him, but were soon convinced by their leader Yondu (Michael Rooker) to instead teach him the ways of a ravager. Years later, Quill met his real father, who wasn’t exactly who he said, as it was soon revealed that Ego (Kurt Russel) actually killed Peter’s mom. During the epic battle with Ego,Yondu sacrifices himselffor Quill, teaching Quill that Yondu was the father he never had.
After falling in love with Peter Quill, Gamora (Zoe Saldana) asked Peter to kill her if she was ever captured by her father, to hide the location of the Soul Stone. Inevitably, Thanos (Josh Brolin) caught Gamora, and after failing to kill her himself, Thanos killed Gamora himself, leaving Peter Quill without Gamora.
Nebula (Karen Gillan) is a criminally underrated MCU character, whose tragic backstory is often overlooked in favor of others. Being the daughter of a mad titan is something we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemy, especially knowing how he treated his daughter. Nebula, constantly trying to prove herself to her father, is torn apart over and over again, each time gaining new upgrades and mechanics to be able to become a better warrior like her sister Gamora. Thanos’ anarchy over the galaxy led the mad titan to adopt the humanoid alien after killing her family, very much like Gamora.
4The Winter Soldier
At first, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) had a fairly great life. He drafted himself into the army and eventually fought alongside his childhood best friend, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). However, after being injected with the super soldier serum and falling off a train, his life spiraled out of control. Forced through rigorous psychological manipulation tests, Bucky was soon under the control of Hydra, and with his new powers and mechanical arm, was forced to assassinate anyone Hydra told him to, including Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) parents. After Steve gave up his mantle as Captain America, Bucky has worked tirelessly to forgive himself for his past sins.
The Norse God of Thunder’s whole life is filled with tragedy, especially after becoming a member of the Avengers. Thor sadly lost many important people in his life, including his brother, who he watched die numerous times,his motherand father, and his best friend, Heimdall (Idris Elba), who was taken from him by the hands of Thanos. On top of that, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), the love of his life, broke up with him after a few years of dating, and his guilt from losing to Thanos forced Thor into a pit of despair. Most recently, Thor held Jane Foster in his arms as she took her last breath, after fighting a deadly battle with cancer.
Related:MCU: 10 Characters Who Could Be the Next Leader of The Avengers
2Wanda Maximoff
Love forces people to do many terrible things, just ask Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen). As a child, Wanda’s parents were killed by a bombing in Sokovia, and a few years later, her and her brother Pietro (Aaron Taylor Johnson) underwent genetic testing by Hydra, where they both acquired their superpowers, which Hydra and later Ultron (James Spader) used against the Avengers. After joining sides with the Avengers, Wanda went on to find love with Vision (Paul Bettany), but sadly lost her brother when fighting Ultron.
Years later, when Thanos sought the Infinity Stones, Wanda was forced to kill her true love, Vision, and destroy the Mind Stone trapped in Vision’s head. After killing the love of her life, Thanos used the Time Stone to bring Vision back to life, where Thanos then went to rip the Mind Stone out of Vision’s head, forcing Wanda to watch Vision die once again.
However, Wanda’s tragedy doesn’t stop there, as after saving the universe from Thanos, Wanda went on to create Westview, a town corrupted by Wanda’s. Wanda finally created the perfect life in a small town, with her husband, Vision, her two kids, Tommy and Billy, as well as her brother. Sadly, none of this was real, and she later had to remove her hex, saying goodbye to Vision once more, as well as sadly losing her kids, who she went on to scout the multiverse for.
1Spider-Man
The MCU’s Spider-Manorigin storyroughly follows the same as every Spider-Man (Tom Holland) before him. He was bitten by a radioactive spider and sadly lost his uncle Ben at the hands of a criminal. A tale as old as time. However, it’s Spider-Man’s journey throughout the MCU that sheds us to tears every time. First, Peter Parker lost his mentor and father figure, Tony Stark, and later went on to lose his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). But the real kicker was when Peter Parker told Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell to make everyone in the multiverse forget who he was, sending the villains and the two other Spider-Men back to the universes they came from. This meant that Doctor Strange, Happy, Ned, and MJ forgot he ever existed. Peter Parker now lives in a world completely on his own.
