10 Darkest Stories In The MCU's Entire 16-Year History

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has explored some incredibly dark storylines in the 16 years since it kicked off with the release of 2008’s Iron Man. Marvel Studios has become well-known for producing a lighthearted, family-friendly and colorful live-action superhero franchise, which is something that other studios have often struggled to replicate. However, the MCU isn’t all fun and games, as some of the darkest and most heart-wrenching plot lines from Marvel Comics have also been adapted into the live-action MCU.

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Audiences have seen the darker corners of the MCU ever since Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark came face to face with the consequences of his weapons manufacturing empire in Iron Man, but Marvel’s stories have only become even grittier since then. Over the last 16 years, we’ve seen HYDRA almost commit genocide, the Scarlet Witch descend into darkness, Thanos wipe out half the universe’s population and Agatha Harkness murder hundreds of witches in cold blood. These are just a few of the MCU’s darkest storylines, and more are surely on the way as the franchise continues to grow.

10 Agatha Harkness Lures Witches To Their Deaths With The Witches’ Road

Agatha All Along (2024)

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Marvel Studios’ most recent live-action project, Agatha All Along, explained more about the history of Kathryn Hahn’s original Salem witch, following her debut in 2021’s WandaVision. Agatha All Along’s finale, “Maiden, Mother, Crone,” revealed the truth of the Witches’ Road, confirming that Agatha Harkness and her son, Nicholas Scratch, had innocently written “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road,” and then Agatha had used the song to lure witches to their deaths following Nicholas’ death. This was a twisted storyline that certainly makes it one of the MCU’s darkest yet.

The fact that Agatha Harkness made up the Witches’ Road in the 1700s allowed her to work out that “Teen” was actually Billy Maximoff, a.k.a. the son of the Scarlet Witch, in
Agatha All Along
episode 5.

Shortly after burying her son in 1756, Agatha Harkness was approached by a witch seeking the rewards the Witches’ Road had to offer. She brought together a coven, got them to sing the Ballad and provoked them when the Witches’ Road didn’t appear. They fired their magic at Agatha, which she then absorbed along with their lives. Tainting the innocent song she’d written with her deceased son makes Agatha Harkness one of the MCU’s most reprehensible villains, especially since she carried out this same pattern for centuries after, at least until the Witches’ Road actually appeared.

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9 Iron Man’s Parents Are Murdered By Bucky Barnes’ Winter Soldier

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

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2016’s Captain America: Civil War has persisted as one of the MCU’s most emotional movies, given the fact that it marked the disbanding of the Avengers and an epic battle between Tony Stark’s Iron Man and Steve Rogers’ Captain America. Perhaps Civil War’s most poignant and darkest moment, however, was when Stark learned the truth about his parents’ 1991 deaths: that Bucky Barnes had killed them while operating as HYDRA’s Winter Soldier. After learning that Rogers knew Barnes had killed his parents, the deal was done for Tony Stark.

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Robert Downey Jr.’s acting at this moment was simply beautiful and heart-breaking, as he tried to come to terms with watching his parents be killed on security footage, while also seeking swift vengeance against Bucky Barnes. The battle between Iron Man, Captain America and the Winter Soldier was intense, leading many to believe that at least one would lose their life, while the fight ended with only Barnes losing his arm, and Rogers relinquishing the Captain America shield and mantle. Tony Stark learning the truth in Captain America: Civil War is a hard MCU moment to forget.

8 John Walker Kills Someone With Captain America’s Shield

The Falcon & The Winter Soldier (2021)

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Steve Rogers did adopt the Captain America role again in Infinity War and Endgame, but soon passed these responsibilities on to Sam WIlson. Before Sam, however, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker took on the role of Captain America, with his ego and corruption driving him to take an experimental super soldier serum, which seemingly led to this epic but harrowing moment in 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. After Karli Morgenthau inadvertently killed his friend, Lamar Hoskins, the super soldier John Walker apprehended one of her followers and publicly murdered him using Captain America’s shield.

This symbol of hope, patriotism and unity was very quickly reduced to nothing more than a murder weapon, and the whole world was watching. This led to a huge spar between John Walker, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, with the former Avengers ultimately acquiring the shield, while allowed Sam to officially become Captain America. Walker’s actions as Captain America will be investigated further in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Thunderbolts*, as he is currently famous for all the wrong reasons, and he will surely deliver some deadly blows in the MCU’s future, though not with Captain America’s shield.

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7 HYDRA Plans To Commit Genocide

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

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Captain America’s MCU stories have included some of the most game-changing and world-spanning events, such as HYDRA’s rise during World War II, the Avengers disbanding and the return of HYDRA in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. HYDRA was revealed to have been growing like a parasite inside SHIELD since the very beginning of the organization, but this only set the backdrop for this incredibly dark MCU plot. While SHIELD thought Project Insight was a peacekeeping strategy, HYDRA planned to use the trio of helicarriers to commit genocide, wiping out millions of threats at once.

Project Insight and STRIKE being outed as HYDRA was teased early on in
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
, as their logos use yellow and green colored details, which are HYDRA’s colors in Marvel Comics.

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Project Insight ran on an algorithm designed by HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola, who joined SHIELD after being apprehended in Captain America: The First Avenger, but never lost his loyalty to HYDRA. Zola’s algorithm targeted the likes of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, President Matthew Ellis and Stephen Strange, among millions of others – anybody who posed a threat to HYDRA’s mission then or in the future. Had Project Insight been successful, the world of the MCU would have been shaken beyond repair, and this came dangerously close to being a reality.

6 Black Widow & Yelena Belova Are Raised In The Red Room

Black Widow (2021)

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Ever since Avengers: Age of Ultron gave us a glimpse of Natasha Romanoff’s training as an assassin in the mysterious Red Room, many had hoped that a solo Black Widow movie would have explored Romanoff’s origin story. Unfortunately, only Black Widow’s opening credits did this before the majority of the movie caught up with Romanoff in the time between Civil War and Infinity War. Even so, this created one of the MCU’s most impactful and heart-breaking montages, as viewers saw Romanoff and Yelena Belova torn from their family and trafficked to General Dreykov and the Red Room.

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Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff mentioned many times her abuse and torture at the hands of the Red Room while growing up and being trained to be nothing more than a weapon, and this was reiterated by Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova in Black Widow. Undergoing involuntary hysterectomies and being manipulated and chemically mind-controlled is only scratching the surface. There are hopes that a future MCU project will delve deeper into this dark and haunting backstory for both Romanoff and Belova, who is set to return alongside Bucky Barnes and John Walker in Thunderbolts*.

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5 Gamora & Nebula Recount Their Childhood Being Tortured By Thanos

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

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Gamora and Nebula’s sisterhood has been one of the most rewarding things to see develop since the pair’s debut in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, but this hasn’t been without its obstacles. Raised by Thanos, Gamora and Nebula have regularly mentioned the torture they faced at the hands of their father while growing up, and this culminated in Nebula trying to kill her sister in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Eventually, however, Nebula admits that she never wanted to fight, but only ever wanted to have a sister in Gamora, bringing the formidable villains-turned-heroes closer.

Gamora and Nebula were shown to be even closer in 2023’s
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
, even though Gamora is a variant from 2014 who has not experienced Nebula’s growth for herself and never traveled with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

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Director James Gunn referred to Gamora and Nebula’s hug at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as one of the most emotional scenes he’d written. This moment was full of connection due to the pair’s shared experience, each suffering under the father’s thumb. Gamora and Nebula’s childhood hasn’t been properly explored in the live-action MCU, but perhaps this is for the best, as it seems to be nothing but torture, pain and torment, contributing to some of the MCU’s darkest and most darkly funny moments in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.

4 Marc Spector’s Mother’s Abuse Leads To The Birth Of Steven Grant

Moon Knight (2022)

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Oscar Isaac’s Marc Spector is one of the most exciting yet troubled new heroes in the MCU, as Moon Knight revealed that Spector is a man dealing with his dissociative identity disorder while also being the avatar for the Egyptian God of the Moon, Khonshu. The origins of Spector’s DID were explored in Moon Knight episode 5, “Asylum,” which saw alter Steven Grant learn that he was created by Spector to quell the impact of his mother’s abuse following his brother’s accidental death. Wendy Spector blamed Marc for Randall’s demise, which produced some heart-wrenching moments in Moon Knight.

Moon Knight’s Known Alters	Moon Knight Moniker
Marc Spector	Moon Knight
Steven Grant	Mr. Knight
Jake Lockley	TBD

Marc Spector’s mother blamed him for Randall’s death as he had led his younger brother into caves during a flash flood, which trapped the pair inside and ultimately led to his brother’s demise. Of course, this was not actually Marc’s fault, but his mother’s abuse in the wake of this traumatic event spurred the birth of Steven Grant to bring some lightness and joy to Spector’s life. It’s common for alters to appear in young children following trauma, and this was beautifully represented in the MCU, despite being one of the franchise’s most tragic and gut-wrenching moments.

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3 The High Evolutionary Brutally Enhances Rocket & His Friends

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

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While previous Guardians of the Galaxy movies packed an emotional punch, 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was the most heart-breaking installment yet. Through flashbacks, audiences were shown Rocket Raccoon’s origin story, including his cybernetic enhancements at the hands of the twisted High Evolutionary, his painful first words and his joyous experiences with his newfound friends, Lylla, Teefs and Floor. Rocket’s backstory had been alluded to in previous MCU projects, but actually seeing it unfold in live-action was incredibly powerful and emotional.

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Chukwudi Iwuji’s High Evolutionary proved himself to be one of the MCU’s most twisted, sinister and disgusting supervillains thanks to his actions in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and throughout the MCU’s unseen history. His enhancement of Rocket and his friends was just the beginning, as he went on to create the Humanimals, but eventually wiped them out in a brutal and haunting act of genocide. The High Evolutionary’s survival means more dark plots can surround him in the MCU’s future, which is both exciting and terrible.

2 Scarlet Witch Holds Westview Hostage

WandaVision (2021)

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Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff has been on a tumultuous journey since her debut in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. She has gone from minor villain to Avenger, and from grieving mother to outright villain, allowing her to be the subject of some of the MCU’s darkest storylines, particularly in Phase 4. The entire plot of 2021’s WandaVision saw Wanda Maximoff, in her grief over Vision’s demise, inadvertently erect a hexagon-shaped barrier of radiation around Westview, New Jersey, trapping the residents inside and forcing them to play out sitcom-style scenarios across various decades.

The Scarlet Witch used her Chaos Magic to throw Westview into sitcom-style scenarios, casting spells without incantations and changing reality at will, proving that she is perhaps the most powerful magic-user in the MCU.

This act of sheer power and the manipulation of reality was a truly spectacular display of Wanda Maximoff’s power, which eventually led to her officially becoming the Scarlet Witch. However, the residents of Westview surely weren’t as impressed, as they were practically tortured during Wanda’s entire stay in the sleepy New Jersey town. They felt her pain, dreamed her dreams, had no free will or will power of their own and were gaslighted when they eventually confronted the Scarlet Witch with Agatha Harkness’ help. Agatha All Along revealed Westview is still reeling from the Scarlet Witch’s actions in WandaVision.

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1 Thanos Wipes Out Half The Universe’s Population

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

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While all of these dark events have had a huge impact on the MCU and its viewers, the darkest moment in the franchise is, of course, Thanos snapping his fingers in Avengers: Infinity War. The 2018 marked the culmination of a decade of stories in the MCU, as most of the franchise’s heroes came together to try to thwart Thanos’ plan to collect the six Infinity Stones and bring balance to the universe. After several defeats and emotional deaths, the Avengers were ultimately unsuccessful, leading to a few harrowing minutes as we watched some of our favorite characters turn to dust.

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The likes of Bucky Barnes, T’Challa, Peter Parker, Peter Quill and Wanda Maximoff, as well as trillions more, lost their lives in Infinity War. Avengers: Endgame thankfully reversed this five years later, meaning the MCU was thrust into a lengthy period of uncertainty, darkness and depression in the wake of Thanos’ attack. Even Thanos’ eventual defeat was bittersweet, as both Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark paid the price. The Mad Titan’s snap will always be remembered as one of the most iconic and darkest moments not just in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but in cinema history as a whole.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.

Created by Kevin Feige Upcoming Films Deadpool & Wolverine , Captain America: Brave New World , Thunderbolts* , Blade (2025) , The Fantastic Four: First Steps , Avengers: Doomsday (2026) , Avengers: Secret Wars Upcoming TV Shows Agatha: Coven of Chaos , Ironheart , Daredevil: Born Again , Wakanda , Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man , Marvel Zombies , Wonder Man , Vision Quest

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