Unsurprisingly for a team that is often dubbed “Earth’s mightiest heroes,” the Avengers have been responsible for a ton of heroic acts throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
By virtue of being superhero movies about the lives and triumphs of superheroes, all of the movies in the MCU contain a handful of heroic acts. But the truly selfless, virtuous, awe-inspiring ones stand out. In particular, these have been the work of the franchise’s main Avengers line-up – the six original and the four leading “the Avengers Initiative” into the future – so here is the most heroic thing each major Avenger has done.
Captain America: Crashing a plane full of W.M.D.s into the ice
If the most heroic acts are the ones where the hero puts people’s lives before their own, then Steve Rogers crashing the plane containing all of the Red Skull’s weapons of mass destruction might be the most heroic of all.
If he hadn’t been thinking on his feet and willing to make what he would call “the sacrifice play,” then Rogers would’ve allowed the Second World War to become a lot more devastating. He fully believed that the crash would kill him – there was no way he could’ve anticipated getting cryogenically frozen and then being thawed out decades later – and he didn’t think twice.
The Hulk: Snapping everyone back from the dead
Since Tony Stark’s subsequent finger-snap was a lot more dramatic, the Hulk hasn’t received appropriate praise for his finger-snap. Tony’s snap was important because it stopped 2014 Thanos from getting a hold of the Infinity Stones and using them for his revised plan: wipe everyone from existence and start the universe fresh. But the Hulk’s snap was the one the Avengers spent the whole of Endgame building towards.
It was the one that brought back everyone who turned to dust in Infinity War. He didn’t just save the lives of the heroes we hold dear, like Spider-Man and Black Panther; he saved the lives of trillions of beings across the universe who disappeared at the same time as them.
Black Panther: Taking Killmonger to see the Wakandan sunset
Being a hero is about more than just dispatching bad guys and rescuing fellow good guys because the difference between good and bad isn’t quite black-and-white. From a certain perspective, Killmonger isn’t a bad guy. In fact, he has the same goal as T’Challa – he just has a more violent, vengeful way of getting there.
After mortally wounding Killmonger and talking to him as he died, T’Challa learned an important lesson from him: that there are people outside Wakanda that need his help and he has the resources to help them, so he should. Killmonger told T’Challa that his father – who was murdered by T’Challa’s father to protect a secret that arguably doesn’t need protecting – used to tell him about how beautiful Wakandan sunsets were. So, T’Challa took him outside to see the sunset with his own eyes as he ed away.
Doctor Strange: Watching 14 million futures where the Avengers lost
Doctor Strange was integral in the Avengers’ eventual victory over Thanos at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Halfway through Infinity War, he looked at 14,000,605 possible outcomes to determine how to win, and he only ever found one where Earth’s mightiest heroes triumphed over the Mad Titan.
To gain this key information, Strange had to watch 14 million futures where his world is destroyed and people he cares about are killed. And not only that, he had to make the tough decision to sacrifice Tony Stark’s life for the lives of trillions of lifeforms across the universe (a sort of cosmic trolley problem).
Thor: Destroying Asgard to kill Hela
the most badass Thor moment in the final battle.
In the opening scene, Surtur announces that the titular apocalyptic event – the destruction of Asgard – is inevitable, but then Thor kills him and takes his crown home, so it doesn’t seem likely. Then, a villain shows up who’s stronger than Thor: his long-lost sister, Hela, who grows stronger the longer she’s in Asgard.
In the final moments, as Thor loses an eye, is hopelessly outmatched in hand-to-hand combat with Hela, and quickly loses hope, Odin appears to him and tells him that he doesn’t need a special hammer to be the God of Thunder. Then, he channels the thunder, annihilates Hela’s army, and allows Surtur to destroy Asgard to defeat Hela.
Hawkeye: Risking his life to save one kid
The final battle of Avengers action scenes, the Sokovia set-piece does a terrific job of exemplifying character.
When S.H.I.E.L.D. shows up to rescue the surviving Sokovians, Clint Barton gets on board with them. But then he sees a young boy who’s still trapped in the rubble. Without a second thought, he runs off to save the kid, risking his own life – simply because, like he told Scarlet Witch in a surprisingly Cap-like pep talk, it’s his job.
Captain Marvel: Triumphantly showing up during the Battle of Earth
Carol Danvers had an unusually limited role in Avengers: Endgame. In the long run, it made sense to place the focus on the original six Avengers. But at the time, it was strange that a character who had just been introduced as an important and all-powerful figure would hardly be around.
When she was on-screen, she was making excuses for why she wouldn’t be on-screen much. However, this did give a lot more impact to her triumphant arrival on the battleground in the final act. As Thanos ordered his warships to fire, all of the heroes ducked for cover. And that’s when Carol showed up, tearing through the ships and disabling their weapons, saving literally everyone.
Spider-Man: Defeating Mysterio
In the third act of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker could’ve easily itted defeat. It was becoming clear that Mysterio could use his illusions to stay one step ahead of Peter and was, therefore, smarter than him, and just call in one of the other Avengers to clean up his mess. But that’s not very Spidey.
Instead, he designs himself a new suit and has Happy Hogan drop him off in London to confront Mysterio. He doesn’t let the illusions fool him, he takes down the drones creating them, and he uses his spider-sense to stay one step ahead of Mysterio. In short, Spidey gets his groove back.
Black Widow: Giving her life to retrieve the Soul Stone
Although reshoots made the scene play awkwardly, the sacrifice made by Natasha Romanoff in Avengers: Endgame is a breathtaking moment. She’s on Vormir with her best friend Clint Barton, and they have to decide which one’s going to give their life to retrieve the Soul Stone.
Natasha had been one of the most ionate about bringing everybody back, “whatever it takes,” since the beginning. The way she saw it, Clint had a wife and kids, whereas she never really had a permanent identity or an emotional attachment to anyone besides Clint himself, so she decided to give her life for the Soul Stone.
Iron Man: Snapping Thanos and his armies out of existence
Tony Stark fulfilled his destiny when he stole the Infinity Stones from Thanos and snapped his fingers, wiping the Mad Titan and his armies out of existence, giving his own life in the process.
This is the moment that Tony had been living his life both in fear and in anticipation of. It was a chance to not only avoid his worst fears (being left alive while all his friends were killed and he could’ve saved them, as outlined in Age of Ultron) but also to live up to his own legacy. This is why it feels so perfect when Pepper s him as he dies and tells him, “You can rest now.”
