Does Avengers: Endgame Kill Off Any Major Characters?

Spoilers to follow.

Earlier this week, Avengers: Endgame had its long-awaited world premiere in Los Angeles, and the social media response was just as positive as we expected. However, among the various reactions, one frequent comment was the fact that the movie is said to be a real tearjerker. In fact, Marvel even took it upon themselves to hand out tissues to those in attendance.

It turns out that was a good move, too, as Endgame does indeed have some heartbreaking moments, with the film not afraid to kill off some of its main characters. Yes, if you’ve seen the Infinity War sequel you’ll know that while it’s not quite the bloodbath that the last movie was, it still does away with two major heroes.

First, we lose Black Widow. As her and Ronin go to Vormir to retrieve the Soul Stone, one of them needs to make the ultimate sacrifice, as we saw Thanos do in Infinity War with Gamora. And in a scene that’s expertly executed, we’re led to believe it’s Clint Barton that Marvel’s setting up to take the fall. But then, in an unexpected turn of events, Nat winds up taking his place, plummeting to her death so that her fellow Avenger can obtain the stone.

As if that wasn’t heartbreaking enough, it isn’t long before we’re forced to witness another major death. Near the end of the film, Tony takes on Thanos in a final bid to stop the villain and in doing so, realizes that the only way to bring the chaos to an end is to wield the Infinity Gauntlet himself and perform the snap. Of course, this proves to be too much for the beloved Avenger to handle and ultimately, the power and radiation from the stones destroys him on the battlefield, leaving him to die surrounded by a few of his fellow teammates and, of course, Pepper.

All tragic stuff, and if you haven’t already done so, you may want to pack those tissues for when you head out to see Avengers: Endgame this weekend.