Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..Loki (Tom Hiddleston)..Photo: Chuck Zlotnick..©Marvel Studios 2018
Since the first trailer for Avengers: Endgame debuted, we’ve been rewatching Avenger: Infinity War on repeat to better prepare ourselves for our favorite characters dying round two. After all, we can expect some more causalities in Endgame.
The first trailer for Avengers: Endgame is finally here. After over-analyzing every detail in the trailer (and some that aren’t visible in the trailer), we’ve concluded that we need to actually start preparing for the movie premiere.
Basically, we’re just preparing ourselves for more pain — seeing as the way we’re preparing to watch Avengers: Endgame in a few months is by rereading specific issues where our precious characters die and rewatching Infinity War, where we can see them succumb to the decimation.
After voluntarily viewing Infinity War for the twelfth time, we naturally took it upon ourselves to rewatch the film for the sole purpose of watching our favorite characters die. (It’s how we cope, OK? If that’s not how you grieve fictional deaths, we suggest you click to a more uplifting MCU-related article.)
Now that we’re almost officially desensitized in time to watch Avengers: Endgame without crying (or at least not crying through another trailer since watching the potentially 3-hour-long movie without sobbing seems too ambiguous). Seeing as we’ve memorized the fallen heroes’ death scenes in the process, we’ve also ranked the last words they said before being choked, stabbed or snapped to death.
Most of us can universally agree that all the deaths in Infinity War were universally upsetting, which is why we’re ranking them based on their last words. Seeing as we can’t eradicate the context around each character’s final remarks, we’re also using the grim context surround and leading up to their deaths to accurately rank their somber deaths.
As a forewarning, we’re not including Shuri on this list because Shuri is still only missing, nothing more. We also didn’t include the dusted Ant-Man characters. Even though we’re still not over Janet van Dyne having her existence erased immediately after she got out of the Quantum Realm, and the fallen characters did get dusted during the same gauntlet-ruled timeline, but they weren’t actually in Infinity War.
Now, let’s get into one of the most dismal ranked lists.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Drax (Dave Bautista) and Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt)..Photo: Chuck Zlotnick..©Marvel Studios 2018
14. Drax
Even within context, “Quill?” isn’t the most upsetting pre-death line a character has uttered in Infinity War. Nonetheless, it’s still upsetting that Drax turns to Peter Quill for answers when he confusingly starts to devolve into nothingness.
Overall though, Drax’s death is devastating because he never got closure in his story arc. He never got to avenge his slain daughter and wife. Granted, he did at least try to vanquish Thanos before the gauntlet-induced decimation started.
While the Guardians are on Knowhere, Drax obviously tries to attack Thanos. You know, before we all found out that Knowhere is under the influence of the Reality Stone, and things start to go badly for our heroes.
Excuse us, Mr. Thanos, could we please have Drax (and everyone else) back? In the meantime, we’ll be billing Joe and Anthony Russo our monthly tissue budget.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
13. Star-Lord
“Oh, man,” is one way to respond to your own existence being erased. We’ll put ourselves in Peter’s boots for a moment.
He has just gone through hours of torment. This includes getting himself emotionally prepared enough to attempt to kill his girlfriend, failing to kill Gamora (thanks, Thanos), probably feeling like he’s failed her and the universe because of it, and then having to deal with the overwhelming grief of losing his girlfriend at the hands of her abusive father.
That doesn’t even take into account that Peter likely turns to dust even as he feels like he may be responsible for the snap and Thanos’ victory. To sum up, Star-Lord feels guilty both for betraying his girlfriend (even though we all know he didn’t have any control over the Reality Stone) and wrongfully feeling guilty for killing half the universe.
Granted, we also know he isn’t responsible for that, seeing as Thanos is the one who embarked on his genocidal scheme, and Thanos is also the one who snaps his fingers—not Quill. We just wish Peter’s existence wasn’t erased when he still has so much misplaced guilty on his deteriorating shoulders.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wong (Benedict Wong)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
12. Doctor Strange
“Tony. There was no other way.” Okay, now the last words are getting a little sadder. We haven’t had to wipe away any tears yet. However, there is a sense of helplessness behind Doctor Strange’s last words.
He goes through most of the movie protecting the Time Stone, and he even endures some torture because of it. After previewing every imaginable outcome in the heroes’ fight against Thanos, Strange, unfortunately, realizes that there is only one way to ultimately defeat Thanos.
We can assume that part of that potential outcome either included giving up the Time Stone or saving Tony Stark’s life from being dusted. Out of the 14,000,603 future outcomes Strange taps into, we’d guess that Thanos likely succeeded in retrieving the Time Stone more than once— just like we can guess that Tony survived the dusting more than once.
If there’s only one potential outcome where the Avengers and company win and reverse the snap, we can also assume that a rare extenuating variable also relies on their success — such as Tony Stark living his unfortunate excursion back to Earth in the Benatar. Regardless of the latent variable, we just hope that Tony survives longer than his borrowed time earned from surviving the snap.
11. Bucky Barnes
“Steve?” Excuse us, is it getting a little humid in here, or are our eyes just starting to concede to our self-imposed list? It’s probably the list, because it’s starting to transition from more pensive discourse to more mournful quotes. Clearly, we have to do more preparing if we’re going to survive Avengers: Endgame without crying.
To be fair, we aren’t crying yet. However, it was noticeably sorrowful to watch Bucky call out to Steve Rogers and simultaneously watch as Cap has to see his life-long friend die in front him for a second time.
Sure, Bucky doesn’t die when he falls off the train in Captain America: The First Avenger, and he’s probably not going to say dead by the end of Endgame either. However, that’s not to say that this line isn’t the last thing that Bucky will ever say to Steve.
Coupled with the fact that Bucky says his last word in an inquisitive matter — which suggests he knows something is happening and that confuses or scares him — that’s why Bucky’s closing statement is a bit closer to the top ten list.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..Falcon (Anthony Mackie) flying over Wakanda battlefield..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
10. Falcon
Like we said in our foreword, we’re taking into account the context surrounding each character’s final words or word (sorry Bucky and Drax, you two apparently are only allotted one final word). The fact that Sam Wilson, the Falcon, doesn’t technically get an opportunity to have any terminal statements automatically earns him a place in the top ten saddest final words.
After all, “Guys, we got a Vision situation here,” isn’t exactly a deathbed speech. However, those are officially Sam’s last on-screen words before he is snapped into ashes.
Sam dies alone. In fact, he is one of only three on-screen characters who dies alone in the entire film. While viewers watched as Rhodey calls out for Sam seconds after he turned into dust, we’ll never forgive the Russo brothers for letting Sam die alone.
Regardless, we can’t help but wonder what Sam might have said in his final moments. We already know that he would’ve delivered them to Colonel James Rhodes — given the subtext in Infinity War, and the fact that Sam likely became closer friends with Rhodey after Captain America: Civil War.
We know that Sam should have never felt responsible for Rhodey’s disability in Civil War; however, based on the fact that Sam asks about Rhodey’s well-being after the fight at the airport, we can infer that Sam nevertheless, and wrongfully, feels guilty. This likely caused an off-screen moment where Sam apologized to Rhodey, and they naturally became closer friends, which explains their combative alliance during the battle of Wakanda and why Rhodey is looking for Sam after the fight against the Outriders.
Regardless of what did or didn’t happen between movies and off-screen in prelude comics, Sam Wilson, the selfless hero who helped multitudes of veterans cope with their PTSD, deserved to have official last words like the majority of the other characters in Infinity War.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland), Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Drax (Dave Bautista), Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
9. Mantis
“Something’s happening.” You’re right, Mantis. Something was happening, and it, unfortunately, does happen.
Like Peter Parker, Mantis also feels the snap before she officially becomes one of its victims. Because of her empathic abilities, she could have — and probably did — sensed the others around her beginning the decimation process.
In the frames leading up to Mantis’ final statement, you can see that Peter Quill is touching her arm. Since she needs to touch a person to feel their emotions and pain, her empathic abilities likely feel the impending snap’s effects on Quill.
Unconsciously, her powers sensed what is happening to Quill before the snap gets to Mantis herself. Though Mantis has likely used her empathic powers to proactively sense death or significant pain in other individuals, she probably has never sensed any feeling similar to the snap, which could explain why she knew something was happening but doesn’t know exactly what was happening.
8. Groot
“I am Groot.” We aren’t fluent in Groot, but based on a translation from Groot’s last words to Rocket, this quote has a devastating new meaning.
That’s right: Groot’s last word is “Dad.” This just makes Rocket’s preemptive quote either in the film, where he says, “I have a lot I could lose,” even more tragic. And in fact, Rocket unknowingly loses everyone he loves.
The stubborn rabbit might seem tough, but we all know it’s a facade, especially after Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Unbeknownst to him, Rocket has more than just Groot, and we really don’t want to think about what Rocket will go through after he finds out he’s also lost Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis. However, now we’re thinking about it.
Is it too early to pull out our tissue stash? Because looking back at our favorite light-hearted Guardians of the Galaxy GIFs and memories isn’t doing much to postpone our impending sob session. (It’s probably expediting it, to be honest.)
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..Loki (Tom Hiddleston)..Photo: Chuck Zlotnick..©Marvel Studios 2018
7. Loki
Alright, the trickster doesn’t have the best track record when it comes staying “dead,” but he does commit to the grand gestures of a noble death act. His death scene may or may not be real or exactly permanent (despite what the Russos keep telling us), but we’re going to examine his scene as it if it is real and everlasting.
Loki’s last words are a bit long-winded (which is, admittedly, an understatement). He starts with, “If I might interject. If you’re going to Earth, you might want a guide,” and ends with, “You will never be a god.”
Toward the middle of his pre-mortem monologue, Loki says, “I, Loki, prince of Asgard…Odinson…the rightful king of Jotunheim…god of mischief…do hereby pledge to you…my undying fidelity.” This is deliberately included in his speech, as he finally acknowledges that he’s an Odinson and his sibling.
The prince of Asgard doesn’t know the definition of subtle, which is likely why he dies in the first eight minutes of the film, yet his death scene is one of the most drawn out. Loki might have the longest word count in his (un)dying monologue, but that’s because his death appears deliberate.
Directly before Loki attempts to stab Thanos, we can assume that he knows that he’ll die while confronting the Titan, or at least that he knows the odds are not in his favor. Before he attempts his attack, Loki looks down, takes a prolonged breath, and a single tear starts to meander down his face.
The overly confident Norse god wouldn’t need a moment to collect himself unless he isn’t certain he’ll survive, or if he definitively knows that the outcome would be his death. Because of this, Loki’s death seems premeditated to an extent. Granted, there is still a fair possibility that Loki could still be alive and he just faked his death.
Loki is also in our top ten saddest death scenes and final quotes in Infinity War because we can also assume that he didn’t go to Valhalla like Odin and Frigga. When the Odinsons’ parents die, they dissolve in the form of a shimmery beam of light. However, Loki doesn’t.
This might be because Loki isn’t actually dead. However, it’s possible he actually dies and goes to Hel, which might have a part of Loki’s scheme anyway. With Hela presumably no longer a problem, Hel needs a new ruler, and who better than the God of Mischief to take on the mantle of death and help overthrow Thanos?
Regardless, we hope the sun will shine on the Odinsons soon, because we can barely handle sad Thor any longer.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
6. Scarlet Witch
In reference to Thanos not understanding her pain and remorse, Wanda’s final line is, “You could never.” Well, technically, Wanda’s last word is “No,” in reference to Thanos reversing time via the Time Stone to bring back Vision. Given any minimal context, both of her last remarks are upsetting.
Although Vision and Wanda’s relationship is seemingly sprung upon us in Infinity War, the two do go through a lot in the film. Sure, there’s an implied trail of their relationship sprinkled in Captain America: Civil War, but Infinity War explores Wanda and Vision’s coupledom in a lot more detail.
It is a lot to handle, primarily for Wanda. Throughout the film, Wanda has to deal with the stress of losing Vision either to the time-sensitivity to the gauntlet-based apocalypse or to Thanos himself. We’re not exactly sure if Vision counts as Wanda’s boyfriend, given that he’s more of an altruistic synthetic human, but she does lose some she loves twice in one day.
Not to mention, Wanda also has to kill Vision during his first death. Losing the love of her life only compounds the long string of loss in her story arc, from her brother to her parents from a few films ago.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Lizzie Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
5. Vision
“It’s all right. It’s all right. I love you.” We wish we could say this is the first time we’ve lamented over a kitchen appliance, but it’s not. The first time was over our microwave that short-circuited while we were making popcorn. (Don’t attack us for our joke. It’s also a part of how we grieve. Also, comic Wanda periodically calls Vision a toaster, both in a loving sense and as an insult, so we have some leeway.)
Obviously, there is more leading up to Vision’s final sentence of “I love you.” He also convinces Wanda to destroy the Mind Stone, thus asking her to kill him, by saying, “I just feel you.” Earlier in the film, Wanda says the same thing when she looks into the Mind Stone.
Judging by her initial grimace after she peeks into Vision’s Stone, we can judge that Wanda is lying about only feeling Vision when she touched it. She likely feels the inevitable destruction and maybe even foresees Vision’s own death.
Because of this, we can also assume that Vision might be lying when he returns the line as a way to convince Wanda to kill him. He says this before she starts the grim extraction process, but it’s likely that this painful parallel also causes Vision a severe amount of pain before the Stone is officially obliterated.
And admittedly, Vision’s death is even more devastating because Wanda makes his death a whole ordeal because she loves him. Wanda and Vision are a package deal in Infinity War, and it’s difficult to analysis either’s death without the other person, particularly when Vision accepts his death from the start of the film by saying the stone should be destroyed.
4. Heimdall
“Allfathers, let the dark magic flow through me one last…time.” Heimdall, the unofficial guardian of the Odinsons, uses his last words and the last of his abilities for an altruistic act that’s very much in character.
Heimdall literally uses his remaining strength to conjure up the Bifrost one last time to selflessly transport a person he has only just met hours beforehand. In doing so, he keeps the Hulk and Bruce Banner safe.
Being that Heimdall is all-seeing, all-hearing, and can use his abilities to see the future to an extent, he likely foresees Loki’s lengthy death scene and knows that the Guardians will save Thor after Thanos destroys the Sakaarian vessel.
Seeing into the future, Heimdall might also see his own death, so he uses his last moments to save the sometimes-green Avenger. Even with his last sentence, he protects others instead of himself — because he’s always been a selfless protector of the Nine Realms.
Given the thousands of years he unconditionally served Asgard, we just wish Heimdall had more time in Infinity War. We’re equally jealous and impressed by his innate powers, but we just wish Heimdall at least had the opportunity to be selfish at least once while on screen. If his last words are any indication, he deserved (and still does deserve) more screen time.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..Black Panther/T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), in b/g M’Baku (Winston Duke), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
3. Black Panther
Seconds before he dissolved, T’Challa says, “This is no place to die.” We all know what happens next: He dies in that exact place.
As another painfully selfless character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, T’Challa dies while helping someone else. Honestly, we’ll never get over Okoye’s disheartening response to T’Challa’s transforming into dust.
We can all agree that witnessing Okoye confusingly watch T’Challa dissolve in front of her broke us emotionally, right? Okay, we might have gone through a couple of tissues at this point of the list, and we’re also wondering why we even put ourselves through this torture. After all, think of it this way. Not only is she watching her king die, she’s also just starting to come to terms with the gravity of the losses sustained during both the battle of Wakanda and the decimation.
However, we obviously know that Okoye, Nakia, M’Baku, and probably Shuri (because, again, she’s just missing) will avenge the deaths of T’Challa and the innumerable other Wakandans. We can all assume that they’ll be using some (or a lot of) Shuri’s tech to defeat Thanos.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
2. Spider-Man
“Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good. I don’t…I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go, sir. Please. Please, I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go. I’m sorry.” The most meme-able dying quote is also one of the saddest in Infinity War.
Like Mantis, Peter Parker also senses his impending death. He might not be an empath like Mantis, but his spidey-senses thankfully (or unthankfully) lead him to predict his own death, or at least sense it before he officially starts to dissolve into dust, according to CBR.
The fact that Peter continues to be polite to his mentor and implicit fatherly figure makes his death a bit more somber. Beyond formally referring to Tony as “Mr. Stark,” Peter also apologizes to him — likely because he’s afraid he’s disappointed a significant role model in his life. Leave it to Peter to apologize for dying.
Obviously, the more upsetting part of his mini-monologue is the fact that Peter isn’t ready to, doesn’t want to, and is overwhelmingly afraid to die. Okay, now we’re a little peeved that The Blob made it cinematically acceptable to script in a kid’s death.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..Gamora (Zoe Saldana)..Photo: Chuck Zlotnick..©Marvel Studios 2018
1. Gamora
Naturally, Gamora’s final words include her screaming “no” in a sorrowful parallel to her childhood origin story, which Infinity War apparently retcons. We’ve already seen her desperately fighting Thanos while he commits genocide on her home planet before kidnapping her. However, we’re going to accept “This isn’t love” as Gamora’s last quote—because she deserves at least a somewhat noteworthy quote after her on-screen fridging.
Gamora’s death and adjoining last words are the most upsetting in Avengers: Infinity War because, in her dying moments, she knows that she is indirectly a part of Thanos’ plot to kill half the universe along with his misconstrued concept of humanitarianism. She has hated her captor, Thanos, her entire life, and she’s willing to do anything to prevent him from collecting all the Infinity Stones, including killing herself or telling someone else to kill her, such as Peter Quill, as a final failsafe.
Prior to her death, she thinks that Thanos’ own plan to destroy half the universe ultimately defeats him. One of her final phrases, that Thanos “loved nothing,” transitions into her demise. Gamora’s death cynically contributes to her lifelong abuse, caused directly and almost exclusively by Thanos.
She knows that Thanos doesn’t love her because Thanos was never a father to her. He was emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive to both of his stolen daughters. Gamora’s entire life has been unfortunately defined by his abuse. Even in death, she can’t escape his maltreatment and grossly distorted definition of love.
After all, Gamora is correct. Thanos doesn’t love her. Thanos only thinks he loves his kidnapped daughter; however, abuse isn’t affection, and he notably abused both Gamora and Nebula throughout their childhood and into adulthood. As there are layers to most of the bleak moments in Infinity War, Gamora also loses her free will.
Even in the moments leading up to her death, Thanos still controls her life, just like he has manipulated and abused her through his control for decades. He denies her any control over her fate and over her own death by using the Reality Stone just before she stabs herself. She tries to kill herself to prevent the death of billions, but she ends up dying anyway—just not in the context she had hoped for.
Gamora’s death is distressing not only because of her line or because she becomes a part of Thanos’ decades-long plan to wield the Infinity Gauntlet, but also because her death serves as a flippant plot device for the entire film. We all know that Gamora deserves better than being put in the peripheral refrigerator.
All we can say is that we hope Nebula and Gamora reunite in Avengers: Endgame, so they can rightfully defeat Thanos together and officially free themselves from his abuse.