With ten years of cinematic backstory and an endless comic history to draw from,
every character in the MCU is worth following by the time
Marvel's Infinity Saga wraps up — but some receive more satisfying conclusions than
others. From cosmic villains to genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropists,
here are the Avengers: Endgame character endings ranked from worst to best.
While each member of the Black Order gets a pretty epic ending in Avengers: Infinity War,
once you get to Endgame, the group stumbles a bit.
As their 2014 selves face off against the Avengers, each of them goes out not with a
bang but with a whimper. Ebony Maw attempts to reclaim Iron Man's Infinity Gauntlet but fails,
Corvus Glaive is quickly stabbed and tossed aside by Okoye, and Cull Obsidian is unceremoniously
crushed to death by a giant Ant-Man. Their endings are inconsequential, to say the least.
Despite receiving her own solo film between Infinity War and Endgame,
Captain Marvel ended up playing a pretty minor role in the grand finale. Still,
she does manage to stay busy, saving Tony Stark and Nebula in the opening moments of the movie,
and then arriving in the nick of time to join in the final battle.
But when it comes to the character's ending, it isn't too glamorous.
Carol Danvers is last seen paying her respects at Stark's funeral as the film wraps up.
She looks a bit out of place, which makes sense considering she barely knew Tony.
The lackluster ending to her undercooked story lands her pretty low on our list.
While practically every hero in the galaxy is present at the final fight in Avengers:
Endgame, the armies of Wakanda provide a sea of muscle to back up the Avengers and their allies.
Standing tall at the head of the well-trained African army are two characters who deserve a
shoutout Okoye and Shuri. Okoye makes her mark on the proceedings by taking out Corvus Glaive
single-handedly, while Shuri can briefly be seen blasting away opponents on the battlefield.
But after their splashy entrance, they mostly fade into the background of the final battle,
making their collective "ending" a bit less impressive than we might've hoped.
Iron Man's bittersweet ending wouldn't feel complete without seeing how it affects
the people closest to him: Pepper Potts, Morgan Stark, and, of course, Happy Hogan.
Appropriately, the trio takes the emotional spotlight in the fading moments of the film,
beginning with Tony's final holographic message.
After donning her Rescue armor in the film's final battle and comforting her husband in
his last moments, Pepper's last scene sees her bidding adieu to her lost love
as she sets Tony's arc reactor adrift on the lake. Meanwhile, Happy and Morgan have a touching moment
on the porch, where Tony's daughter shows that she's inherited her father's appetite.
"I want an American cheeseburger."
"You hungry?"
"Mmhmm."
"What do you want?"
"Cheeseburgers."
Fondly remembering his former boss, Happy promises Morgan as many burgers as she could ever want.
It's a sweet, fitting goodbye for the people closest to the Infinity Saga's biggest hero.
James Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine, has faithfully remained by Tony
Stark's side throughout the entire MCU. The character stays busy throughout Endgame,
and his story technically wraps up on the lakeside as he attends Stark's funeral.
However, the most emotional part of James Rhodes' ending occurs a few moments earlier.
In the seconds after Tony Stark snaps away Thanos and his army, Rhodey is the first one to find
his best friend as he breathes his last. As he realizes what's taking place, he puts his hand to
Tony's head, and the two brothers in arms share a quiet moment together. The scene is deeply moving,
especially considering what the pair of friends have gone through up to that point in time.
Peter Parker gets tangled up in the Thanos storyline early on
when Ebony Maw's giant flying donut parks right over his hometown.
From there, the web-head joins Stark and Dr. Strange on an unplanned trip to Titan.
At the end of Infinity War, Parker is tragically snapped away, and he doesn't reappear until the
portals open up in the climactic ending of Endgame. No worse for wear after his five
years as dust, the Crime-stopper from Queens swings right back into action and even carries
Stark's Infinity Gauntlet for a bit. He mourns the loss of his mentor when Stark dies and has a
place of honor at the funeral. However, his ending gets a little brighter when he's shown reuniting
with his friend, Ned, setting the stage for his own solo sequel film, Spider-Man: Far From Home.
After doing her part in the final battle against Thanos,
Valkyrie returns to New Asgard, where Thor tells her that he's leaving and likely won't return.
When she reminds him that his people need a king, Thor informs her that they already have one.
Just like that, Valkyrie is handed the leadership of Asgard.
While that seems like a pretty happy ending, it's important to remember the current state
of the kingdom that she's been tasked with ruling. The surviving Asgardians
lost their home planet and many of their countrymen following Thanos' slaughter.
The population of New Asgard is barely large enough to fill a town, and it seems a little
unfair for Thor to ditch out and leave all his kingly responsibilities to his second-in-command.
Nevertheless, if anyone can turn things around for the New Asgardians, it's Valkyrie.
"You know I'd make a lot of changes around here."
"I'm counting on it."
Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes wind up sharing their final Endgame scene.
After a dramatic entrance into the final battle,
Wilson and Barnes help hold back Thanos' armies until Stark is finally able to finish them off.
From there, the two heroes attend Stark's funeral before they head off to witness
Professor Hulk send Captain America back in time to return the borrowed Infinity Stones. When Steve
Rogers fails to return from the Quantum Realm, Sam is concerned, but Bucky smiles knowingly,
the first to understand Steve's choice to remain in the past. Moments later,
when old Steve arrives with his shield in tow, Bucky graciously steps aside to let Wilson take
up Cap's shield. As for Sam, he's honored when Steve passes the Captain America mantle to him.
"Thank you. I'll do my best."
It's a satisfying conclusion for their Infinity Saga storylines,
and a great setup for their own spinoff storyline in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
When we first meet the gentle giant, Professor Hulk, it seems like a great new start to an
exciting storyline for Bruce Banner and his alter ego. But then the Professor
Hulk narrative just kind of stalls out. While he's pretty heavily involved in the time heist,
his character arc doesn't really go anywhere. His biggest moment is reversing the Snap.
"It's like, uh… I was made for this."
The problem is that Endgame was supposed to be Hulk's chance to shine.
Banner and the Big Green Guy were at odds throughout Infinity War, and it seemed like
Endgame should've offered Hulk an opportunity to redeem himself in battle, but it never quite came.
While Scott Lang's involvement in Endgame
definitely pushes the plot forward by bringing time travel to the table,
not much happens with the character himself. Hope van Dyne's role in the movie is even smaller since
she doesn't appear until the final battle. So while the pair's endings in Endgame aren't bad,
they are fairly vanilla. The most they do in the final battle is help repair Luis' van,
although that still turns out to be a dead end. Afterward, we see them back home watching
fireworks with a teenage Cassie, and they're last shown attending Stark's funeral. While the heroes
undoubtedly have a bright future moving forward, their Endgame endings aren't particularly special.
After spending the first act of Endgame ruthlessly hunting down organized crime
syndicates and grieving the loss of his family, Clint Barton attempts to find redemption during
the time heist. He tries to sacrifice himself to gain the final Infinity Stone,
but is instead forced to watch his best friend, Natasha Romanoff, die in his place.
"Let me go."
"No. Please, no."
Clint eventually rediscovers his heroic roots, and spends the final battle working
to get the Infinity Gauntlet to safety. Following his appearance at Stark's funeral,
Clint is last seen sharing a quiet moment with Wanda Maximoff as they both remember
their lost loved ones. The scene provides some nice closure for the Infinity Saga
and sets the stage for each of the pair's solo spinoff series, but is dampened a little
if you recall Clint's dark and violent actions in the first half of the film.
After being willing to sacrifice everything she had in order to defeat
Thanos at the end of Infinity War, Wanda Maximoff returns thirsty for vengeance
at the end of Endgame. And who can blame her; thanks to Thanos' destructive actions,
Wanda had to kill Vision, whom she loved... only to then be forced to watch Thanos kill him again.
The Scarlet Witch takes on Thanos mano a mano in the final battle of Endgame,
and likely would have killed him if he hadn't been willing to destroy his
own troops in order to stop her. Later, she finds some peace talking to Hawkeye,
finding comfort in her belief that Vision and Natasha know their sacrifices weren't in vain.
"She knows. They both do."
Despite being dusted for most of the movie, Stephen Strange paves the way for the events
of Endgame by having willingly surrendered the Time Stone at the end of Infinity War.
Although Strange gets snapped moments later, his action steers the surviving Avengers
toward their one-in-14 million chance at a victorious outcome.
Once he's brought back to life by Professor Hulk's snap, Strange and his fellow Masters
of the Mystic Arts open up numerous portals, enabling thousands of heroic troops to join
the battle. Then, right when it seems as though Thanos' victory is inevitable,
Strange finally reveals to Stark that they are, indeed, operating within
that one-in-14-million timeline. We last see Strange paying his respects at Tony's funeral,
leaving him in a prime position to continue playing a critical role in Phase 4.
For all intents and purposes, Gamora shouldn't have had an ending in Endgame at all.
But it turned out that the 2014 version of the heroine
ultimately becomes the replacement for the 2018 Gamora who died in Infinity War.
After jumping forward in time, Gamora turns on her adoptive father during the final battle,
and is present for Stark's death. In a deleted Endgame scene, it was revealed that afterward,
the confused 2014 version of the character departs quietly for destinations unknown.
This open-ended finale is a fun one, mostly because of how unexpected it is.
With the universe at stake, the noble King T'Challa is the first to step through Strange's
portals. He joins the battle with Shuri, Okoye, and a host of Wakandan soldiers at his back.
In the ensuing conflict, the Wakandan armies play a critical role in resisting Thanos' hordes,
with T'Challa even helping to keep the Stark Gauntlet safe from Thanos.
After the fight, the king and his country can be seen reveling in their reunification
before T'Challa, Shuri, and Okoye attend Stark's funeral.
While T'Challa's final moments in Endgame aren't particularly flashy,
they ended up being the last scenes that actor Chadwick Boseman filmed for the
role before he tragically passed away. This makes those scenes especially significant,
serving as Boseman's unexpected farewell to the MCU as a whole.
While Gamora's final moments in Endgame are somewhat bittersweet,
the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy have happier endings. Rocket and Groot finally
reunite after five years apart, Star-Lord finds hope in the fact that Gamora is still alive,
and Drax and Mantis continue to provide moments of unintentional hilarity.
The best part of the Guardians of the Galaxy's Endgame ending, though, is that it turned out
not to be the last time we'd see the team working together. Just months before Endgame hit theaters,
the long-derailed third Guardians installment got back on track, with original director James Gunn
back at the helm. This allowed the Endgame writers to weave the future of the Guardians into Endgame,
culminating in the scene where the Guardians are preparing to leave Earth with Thor to find Gamora.
The excitement of their reunions, as well as the humor of their departure,
ranks as one of the better multi-character endings in the film.
Thor goes through the wringer in Infinity War, and seems to hit rock bottom in Endgame.
But after some much-needed inspiration from his mother during the time heist,
he finally reclaims some of his lost confidence. After that, the son of Odin resumes his god-like
ways, wielding both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker in his electrifying fight against Thanos.
After the defeat of the Mad Titan, Thor spends his final moments of Endgame passing off his
kingly duties to Valkyrie and joining up with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
"Well, the Asgardians of the Galaxy, back together again."
Thor is last seen subtly challenging Star-Lord for leadership,
ending Endgame on a fun note for his character.
The conflicted daughter of Thanos is actually featured twice in Avengers:
Endgame, and both Nebulas receive solid endings. The primary Nebula wraps up
her journey by helping in the climactic battle, attending Tony Stark's funeral,
and then joining the Guardians of the Galaxy. The former villain's redemptive
journey is full of promise, with her dark past literally left in ashes on the battlefield.
However, 2014 Nebula's ending is less positive, though still moving. She spends the majority of
the movie tragically tethered to father's every whim, bringing the Sanctuary II through the time
machine and nearly killing Hawkeye in her attempt to reclaim the Infinity Gauntlet.
At that moment, Gamora and the other Nebula arrive and attempt to talk her out of the deed.
Unable to change, she's eventually shot and killed by her older self. A tear runs down her
cheek as she dies, bringing a heartbreaking ending to a deeply conflicted character.
Original Avenger Natasha Romanoff's character arc is shockingly cut short in Endgame. In fact,
she's the only one on the list whose ending wraps up before the third act of the film.
Up until this point, Romanoff's MCU journey has always been one of redemption.
Starting with red in her ledger, the super spy consistently worked to make amends for
her past in her MCU appearances throughout the Infinity Saga. Her story abruptly ended
when she sacrificed herself to get the Soul Stone halfway through Endgame. In the end,
Natasha's universe-saving sacrifice becomes one of Endgame's most powerful endings,
even if it meant she wasn't around to participate in the film's grand finale.
"It's okay."
While most of the best endings in Endgame belong to heroes, Thanos scores highly on the list by
receiving two satisfying endings. The 2018 version of the villain meets his end early on in the film,
when he's hunted down by the Avengers and decapitated by Thor.
"I went for the head."
This is actually closest to the ending Thanos wanted. Not only does he wipe out half of
the universe, but he prevents his victory from being undone by destroying the Infinity Stones.
But he never could have predicted that the Avengers will go back in time
to walk back his success. During the time heist,
2014 Thanos emerges as the Avengers' ultimate foe once again. This leads to his final ending,
in which he and his armies are poetically snapped away into the wind.
Captain America's story arc stretches nearly the entire length of the Infinity Saga before
it finally comes full circle in Endgame. Steve Rogers' path begins during World War II,
when he's transformed from a 90-pound weakling into a super soldier of epic proportions.
His journey eventually catapults him into the 21st century,
where he becomes a founding member of the Avengers.
By Endgame, Cap has evolved from patriotic soldier to universe-saving team leader,
and his final act includes several moments that fans waited nearly a decade to see.
"Avengers, assemble."
From that long-awaited line to his opportunity to finally wield Mjolnir in battle, Endgame is full
of opportunities for Steve to shine. Ultimately, though, it's his chance to go back in time and get
that dance with Peggy Carter that truly feels like the ending he deserves. After a lifetime
spent feeling out of place and at the service of others, Steve finally gets a life for himself.
"How'd that work out for you?"
"It was beautiful."
The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe kicks off with Tony Stark's pivot from a narcissistic
playboy into a bona fide superhero. Early in his journey, Tony proves that he's willing to
sacrifice himself for the greater good when he flies a nuke into space and hurls it at
a Chitauri ship. When he survives, the next several years see an anxious Stark doing his
best to prepare for the next world-ending threat, only to still fail when he faces Thanos on Titan.
In Endgame, though, he gets a second shot at saving the world. After realizing that the
one version of reality where they win can only be achieved by sacrificing himself,
he doesn't hesitate. Stark snaps away every last one of Thanos' soldiers,
knowing it means he'll never see his family again.
"I am
Iron Man."
The heroic act marks the end of the World's Greatest Hero,
but his selfless sacrifice makes it the best character ending in the film.
"I love you 3000."
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