A quest to find Marvel’s most tragic character uncovers a dark, unspoken secret about the MCU

Which Marvel character has suffered the most in the MCU’s history? By asking that question, fans have just opened a can of worms and realized, to their dismay, that being an Avenger isn’t as gratifying as they’d imagined.

Writing a compelling superhero character is a challenge, because the more powerful they are, the more difficult it is to make them human and relatable. That’s why most writers lean on heavy emotional stuff and deep inner conflicts to fill that void and create a balance, resulting in the characters constantly having to deal with traumatic incidents.

In fact, according to a new thread on Reddit, almost every MCU character has had to deal with that sort of thing at some point in their lives, so it isn’t just the most obvious candidates like Thor, Wanda, or Rocket Raccoon that we’re talking about here. Who knew that being among the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes would put you in therapy?

We should definitely include Bucky and Nebula on that list. Bucky suffered years of brainwashing at the hands of Hydra and will have to live with the memory of committing all those atrocious crimes, while Nebula is the very embodiment of surviving toxic parenting.

And of course, there’s Black Widow, Sylvie, Peter Parker, Moon Knight, and even Jessica Jones, who all suffer from PTSD or worse.

It seems that all those heroic deeds, breathtaking action sequences, and overarching story blocks are distracting us from a simple truth — that superheroes have it tough. I mean, sure, it would be pretty amazing to have the power of Thor and save people, but the thing the story needs to get right is the sheer burden and emotional baggage that comes with a life like that.