Phase 5 has been a big one for Marvel, and it includes more than a few character deaths.
The fifth phase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe consists of four movies and five Disney+ series to date, with quite a few projects from the Marvel slate still to be released in 2025 and beyond.
Following many Marvel character deaths in 2023 alone, Phase 5 has significantly culled the numbers in the superhero universe.
Who Died in the MCU in Phase 5?
MODOK
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was the first project to kick off Phase 5 of the MCU. It also brought the long-awaited arrival of the major Marvel villain MODOK.
In a slight twist on the character, Ant-Man 3's MODOK is actually Scott Lang's old nemesis, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who was last seen shrinking to infinitely subatomic size in Ant-Man. In Quantumania, it's revealed that Cross has been cybernetically enhanced to become MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing) and is depicted with the same oversized floating head and small body as the comic character.
Initially, MODOK is hired as a henchman of Kang the Conquerer, but by the end of the movie, he turns on his boss and helps Ant-Man break through Kang's energy shield, which kills him.
Kang the Conquerer
Initially expected to be the central antagonist of the MCU's Multiverse Saga, Kang the Conquerer (played by Jonathan Majors) was introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, only to be killed off in the same movie.
In the final battle, Scott Lang and his family defeat Kang by throwing him into his malfunctioning Multiversal power core, which seemingly destroys both him and the machine.
Xolum
Xolum was introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as one of the freedom fighters in the Quantum Realm.
Identifiable by a spotlight-shaped head, Xolum joined the fight against Kang the Conquerer in the final battle, only for Kang to obliterate him with an energy beam to the head.
Lylla
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 explored Rocket Racoon's backstory, which included meeting his long-lost animal-hybrid friends.
Lylla (voiced by Linda Cardellini), an otter with mechanical arms, was one of those friends who sadly met her demise at the hands of the High Evolutionary after Rocket attempted to lead his friends to freedom.
Teefs
Teefs (Asim Chaudhry), an enhanced walrus, quickly became a beloved member of Rocket's group when he was introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Unfortunately, Teefs died when the group attempted to escape the High Evolutionary's captivity and was killed by the guards who arrived to stop them.
Floor
Floor met a fate similar to that of her friends, Teefs and Lylla, after they fled the High Evolutionary's clutches. Guards killed the small, muzzled white rabbit (voiced by Mikaela Hoover) during their escape attempt.
Ayesha
Elizabeth Debicki's Ayesha was the Golden Priestess of Sovereign, a superior race created by the High Evolutionary. After appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Ayesha returned in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, this time with her son, Adam Warlock (Will Poulter).
This film is also where Ayesha meets her end as she is blown up in the same explosion that destroyed Counter-Earth.
Theel
Nico Santos' Theel was introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as one of the High Evolutionary's loyal henchmen.
At the end of the movie, Theel is killed by Star Lord after he is tackled off the edge of Arête Laboratories and falls to his death.
Vim
Another of the High Evolutonary's Recorders, Vim, helped the mastermind pursue his twisted creations. She met her demise at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Miriam Shor's character was killed by a blast from the High Evolutionary, who had entered a deranged and ruthless state by the end of the film.
Controller
The Controller, a human-animal hybrid with the genetics of a naked mole rat, was in charge of piloting Arête Laboratories. However, they were decimated in the same blast that took Vim at the hands of the High Evolutionary.
Dar-Benn
Zawe Ashton was cast as Marvel villain Dar-Benn and introduced as a Kree warrior and revolutionary desperate to save her planet in The Marvels. To do this, Dar-Benn targeted essential resources on all the planets that held significance to Captain Marvel to get revenge on her for destroying the Supreme Intelligence.
In the final battle for Earth's sun, Dar-Benn managed to achieve her goal of obtaining both Quantum Bands. However, after ignoring all warnings, she activated both bangles, and the ensuing energy killed her.
Johnny Storm
One of Deadpool & Wolverine's best cameos was Captain America star Chris Evans' return in his old Fantastic Four role of Johnny Storm.
Storm appeared in a prisoner convoy along with Deadpool and Wolverine headed to Cassandra Nova. Despite pleading for his life, Storm fell prey to Deadpool's attempts to save himself, which shifted the blame on Storm.
Cassandra Nova did not take Storm's supposed insults against her lightly and punished him by removing all of his skin.
Sabretooth
After last appearing in the original X-Men movie, Tyler Mane reprised his role as Sabretooth for Deadpool & Wolverine, which led to a long-anticipated fight between his character and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine.
While many were expecting Sabretooth to die after his severed head leaked in set photos, the climactic battle was still shorter than expected as Wolverine made quick work of his opponent by decapitating him.
Nicepool
One of the many Deadpool Variants that appeared (and died) in Deadpool & Wolverine, Nicepool was one of the only ones who died for real.
Played by Ryan Reynolds, Nicepool was established as the personality opposite to most of the Deadpool Variants; however, he lacked regenerative superpowers.
In the final battle against the expansive cast of Deadpool Corps, Nicepool is used as a human shield by Deadpool, who expects his Variant to heal himself. However, he quickly learned Nicepool was only a regular human, and he died from his wounds.
Cassandra Nova
Deadpool 3's major villain, Cassandra Nova was revealed to be the twin of Professor Charles Xavier who was banished to The Void by the Time Variance Authority. Once there, Cassandra built an army and prepared to destroy all realities in the Multiverse outside her own with the Time Ripper.
After Deadpool and Wolverine teamed up to overload the Time Ripper, it atomized Nova and killed her.
Agent Prescod
Richard Dormer's CIA Agent Prescod was stationed in Russia when he uncovered a Skrull conspiracy to overrun Earth in Secret Invasion.
Prescod entrusted his information to Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), only to suspect that Ross was already a Skrull, which led to Ross killing Prescod before he could reveal their secrets.
'Everett Ross'
After being suspected of being a Skrull in the opening episodes of Secret Invasion, Everett Ross' impersonation is confirmed after Talos chases him off the side of a building and falls to his death, which returns him to his Skrull form.
While Skrull 'Everett Ross' is dead in the MCU, the real person lives. Throughout Secret Invasion, he was imprisoned in a stasis pod so that the Skrulls could continually draw on his memories and likeness.
Maria Hill
Long-standing Marvel mainstay SHIELD Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) met her end in Secret Invasion.
Hill was involved in stopping the Unity Day bombing in Moscow, which radical Skrull leader Gravik (Kingsley-Ben Adir) intended to spark World War III. While they foiled the plot, Hill was duped by Gravik posing as Fury, who shot and killed her.
'Chris Stearns'
News anchor Chris Stearns was chosen by the Skrull radicals as one of the crucial people to impersonate in Secret Invasion.
While the real Stearns was held in captivity, Skrull Chris Stearns supported Gravik as General and the creation of Super Skrulls. Eventually, he was shot and killed in his studio by humans after the President revealed the existence of Skrulls.
UK Prime Minister Pamela Lawton
Another victim of the Skrull's takeover of Earth in Secret Invasion, UK Prime Minister Pamela Lawton was released from New Skrullos captivity by G'iah and returned to take her place as leader of the country.
However, after President Ritson declared war on the Skrulls, she was killed by a vigilante who believed a Skrull still impersonated her.
Talos
First introduced in Captain Marvel, Ben Mendelsohn's Skrull leader Talos has always advocated for peace between humans and Skrulls.
In Secret Invasion, Talos and Nick Fury worked together to stop Gravik's invasion of Earth. However, Gravik ultimately killed Talos while trying to protect the President.
Raava
Raava was the Skrull who impersonated James Rhodes (read more about who else was impersonated by Skrulls in the MCU) for much of Secret Invasion's run. She was responsible for influencing the President on actions that would secretly benefit the Skrull takeover but was eventually discovered and killed by Nick Fury.
Gravik
Gravik, the mastermind behind the Skrull invasion and the antagonist of Secret Invasion, ultimately died in the series.
Kinglsey Ben-Adir replaced Talos as the Skrull General and then initiated a nuclear war among humans so that the Skrulls could inhabit Earth.
Gravik eventually died in a battle with G'iah. With both of them enhanced by Super Skrull abilities, G'iah eventually prevailed by blasting a hole in Gravik's chest.
General Dox
Kate Dickie appeared as the ruthless General Dox in Loki Season 2. Dox garnered a kill count higher than Thanos' after she betrayed the TVA and pruned many timelines to stop the Temporal Loom from overloading.
This action came back to bite her as the TVA captured and held Dox with her loyalists. She refused Renslayer's offer to help her retake the TVA and was punished by being crushed to death.
Victor Timely
Jonathan Majors returned to play the He Who Remains Variant, Victor Timely, in Loki Season 2. Much of the season focused on Timely's inventions, which went on to form the basis of the TVA.
Victor Timely's multiple deaths formed a large part of the plot of Loki Season 2 as Loki attempted to keep him alive long enough to fix the Temporal Loom.
Eventually, after Timely died many times, Loki found an alternate solution involving replacing the Temporal Loom and holding the Multiverse together, which allowed Timely to live on.
Vickie
Introduced in Echo, Victor "Vickie" Tyson was one of the workers at the Black Crow's SkateLife rink under Henry Lopez. He eventually turned on Lopez to pursue the bounty on Maya Lopez and kidnapped her at the skating rink.
He was killed by Zane and the Black Knife Cartel after the deal for Maya's capture went south.
Zane
Another character who saw their demise in Echo was Zane (Andrew Howard), one of the leaders of the Black Knife Cartel who operated under Kingpin.
Zane met his end after attempting to attack the Choctaw Nation Powwow, where Henry Lopez killed him before he could enact his plan.
Ronan the Accuser
One of the creative liberties afforded in a show like What If...? is the ability to use (and kill off) characters with different fates in the MCU.
Ronan the Accuser had already died in Guardians of the Galaxy but was killed again in What If...? Season 2, Episode 1. This episode envisioned a world where Ronan had run a successful coup against Thanos, and the Nova Corps enlisted Nebula.
To stop Ronan from taking Xandar, Nebula recruits her own team and decimates Ronan's fleet by controlling the shield around the planet to open and close as the ships break through.
Melina Vostokoff
Rachel Weisz returned to voice her Black Widow character, Melina Vostokoff, in Episode 5 of What If...? Season 2.
In this alternate reality, Melina is the leader of the Red Room and successfully brainwashes Steve Rogers, who runs a rampage in the mechanical Hyrdra Stomper.
After Captain Carter talks Rogers around, he agrees to sacrifice himself. Natasha Romanoff manages to attach Melina to the Hydra Stomper suit, which explodes and kills her.
Sharon Davis/Mrs. Hart
Debra Jo Rupp's WandaVision character Sharon Davis (aka Mrs. Hart) was only recently re-introduced in Agatha All Along, but her time in the MCU was brief.
In Episode 3 of Agatha All Along, the new coven of witches attempted to pass their first trial, which involved finding an antidote to a poisonous wine. Unfortunately, the group was not quick enough to give the antidote to Sharon, and she died from the poison at the end of the episode.
All of Marvel Studios' Phase 5 projects are streaming on Disney+.
