MCU Character Deaths That Were More Important Than You Realize

One of the many ways Marvel Studios plants seeds we won't notice for years lies in its choices for character deaths. To kill a character in a Marvel movie, particularly in the case of superheroes, is no small thing. Except in the cases of characters who come back from the dead (who, admittedly, are not exactly rare in the MCU), every dead character is a lost opportunity. When Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) dies in Avengers: Age of Ultron, his death means no solo Quicksilver movie, no sequels to that movie, no merchandising for those movies, and so on. Sure, you may think the notion of a solo Quicksilver franchise is far-fetched, but you may want to remember how — not too long ago — a lot of people would have responded similarly to the idea of a space action franchise that counted a talking raccoon and a freaking tree among its cast.

In other words, you can be sure when Marvel Studios greenlights a character's death, they aren't doing it lightly. There has to be a reason for that death, because every dead character who stays dead in the MCU is potentially money that's slipping through Disney's couch cushions. So when a hero or villain takes a dirt nap, you can rest assured there was a solid reason for it, and possibly one that will have larger implications down the road. With all that in mind, here's a look at some MCU character deaths that were more important than you might realize. 

What exactly happened to Xandar?

We know from Avengers: Infinity War that Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his forces — in Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) words — "decimated" Xandar to get the Power Stone. But what does that mean? "Decimated" is a powerful word, but not a specific one. Did he literally kill everyone? It sure sounded like that was the case, but that isn't Thanos' usual M.O.; usually he kills half, like he did when he attacked Gamora's (Zoe Saldana) homeworld. And if any Xandarians survived, then what about Nova Prime (Glenn Close)? Or Corpsman Dey (John C. Reilly)?

One tantalizing possibility is that in one of Marvel's upcoming movies, we're going to see Xandar transformed; specifically, we may see its Nova Corps grow closer to the source material. In Guardians of the Galaxy, the Nova Corps was made up of relatively normal people. In the comics, every member of the Corps has super powers. They're essentially Marvel's answer to the Green Lantern Corps — given helmets (rather than rings) that grant them powers. Their abilities aren't nearly as versatile as the Lanterns', but you wouldn't want to get one of them mad regardless.

If Xandar survived, then after weathering two separate assaults by alien maniacs, they may decide it's about time they build an army capable of more than just piloting spaceships and arresting raccoons. They might do whatever it takes to found the real Nova Corps.

Before his defeat at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Ego (Kurt Russell) identifies himself as a Celestial — a race of mysterious beings with nearly limitless power who, in Marvel Comics at least, hold the keys to many of the universe's mysteries. This is one of the many ways Russell's Ego differs from his comic book counterpart (who is literally a planet with a giant planet-sized face), but that isn't what's particularly meaningful about his death. Instead, it points towards one of the MCU franchises we haven't seen yet.

We know Marvel Studios is gearing up to introduce audiences to the Eternals, a race of superhumans whose origins are very much intertwined with the Celestials. In the comics, the Celestials created the Eternals specifically to defend the Earth against their opposite — the Deviants. If the MCU realization of the characters remains true to the comics in this way, then it's likely we'll be learning much more about the Celestials than we did in Guardians or any other Marvel Studios films. The fact that one of the Eternal's Celestial makers — Ego, who apparently believed he was the only Celestial in existence — was killed by an Earthman could be of great interest to Marvel's newest heroes. 

Considering Mickey Rourke is as likely to reprise his Iron Man 2 role as he is to replace Emily Blunt in the next Mary Poppins, this is one that will probably just have to remain a mystery. But the mystery's there all the same. 

Rourke's character Ivan Vanko swears vengeance on Tony Stark because Ivan was taught that Stark's father Howard stole the idea for the game-changing Arc Reactor from Ivan's father Anton. Twice in the film we see a small bit of evidence that seems to support this: design schematics with Vanko's name listed before Stark's. When Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) reins in Stark's crazy behavior, he tells Stark that Vanko was full of it; his claims of stolen innovation were just a part of the drunken rage he dived into after getting shipped off to Siberia. 

But we never definitively learn whether Whiplash's father's accusations were valid. Fury says they weren't. He also says in Avengers that S.H.I.E.L.D. is only interested in the Tesseract because of the clean energy it could provide, and we know that's a lie. He's far from a reliable source. And while no, it proves nothing on its own, it is curious that Vanko's name came first on the schematics — both on the copies Vanko has early in the film and the one Stark finds in the stuff S.H.I.E.L.D. brings him from storage. 

Regardless, we'll probably never know. All we know for sure is that Mickey Rourke really doesn't like Marvel. 

The death of the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) in Doctor Strange raises questions that aren't answered by the end of that film. In spite of subsequent appearances by Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War, those questions still haven't been answered. There are hints, perhaps, but nothing concrete. 

Namely, what happened to Kamar-taj? Immediately after the Ancient One's death, Strange and Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) head to Hong Kong, and by the end of the film all we know is that Doctor Strange knows how to put his cloak on in slo-mo. The Ancient One's death leaves a huge void in Kamar-taj's leadership and we have no idea who, if anyone, has stepped up to fill it. The Ancient One and her students are apparently the only ones standing between the MCU's Earth and hordes of malevolent forces, so the question of who steers the ship now would seem to be a pretty important one to answer right away.

The only hints we get are in what seem to be a huge leap in terms of Doctor Strange's mystic skill. In Doctor Strange, he was barely keeping up with Kaecillius' (Mads Mikkelsen) henchmen. By Infinity War, the guy gives Thanos (a Thanos with four Infinity Stones) a better one-on-one fight than just about any other hero in the movie. Is it possible Strange was allowed to assume leadership of Kamar-taj in spite of being the new kid on the block? 

Perhaps the most surprising death in 2018's Black Panther was Killmonger's (Michael B. Jordan) murder of Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis). Initially introduced as a weapons dealer in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, some thought Klaue might be the main villain of Black Panther — and with good reason. For quite a while, Ulysses Klaw has not only been the Wakandan monarch's most persistent foe, he was actually T'Challa's first enemy. 

In the comics, Ulysses Klaw is much more to Wakanda than a thief; he's the killer of a king. It's Ulysses, not Zemo (Daniel Brühl), who murders T'Challa's father T'Chaka (John Kani) while trying to steal Wakanda's vibranium for himself. Still just a boy, T'Challa shoots Ulysses with his own sonic weapon, causing him to be transformed into the villain Klaw, a being composed of solidified sound. 

Black Panther director Ryan Coogler didn't like killing off Klaue. In May 2018 he told the Toronto Sun, "I like Klaw. It really bugged me having to [kill him]. It's tough when you have to kill characters off and I really did love that character." Coogler went on to heap praise on Andy Serkis' performance, calling him a "lovely person" who treats every scene "like it's the best day of his life." Considering Coogler's sentiment for both Klaw and Serkis, could we one day see Klaue return as a villain closer to the source material? Particularly considering it looks like Coogler's willing to resurrect someone else for Black Panther 2?