Random Most Selfless Acts Of Heroism In MCU (19 items)

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  (#3) 'Captain’s Orders'

  When: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

  When the HYDRA infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. is revealed by Steve Rogers, things move pretty quickly - and a lot of agents need to make important decisions on the spot. No one is put in a tougher position than Cameron Klein, who is directly ordered by Brock Rumlow to launch the Insight Helicarriers into the sky - but bravely refuses.

  Klein states that he can’t proceed with the launch because of “Captain’s orders,” and he sticks to this even when Rumlow threatens his life. The intervention of Sharon Carter prevents Klein from having to actually sacrifice his life, but it’s clear that he's willing to do so in order to prevent the launch - a remarkable act of heroism from a regular, non-powered character in a world full of superheroes. 
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  (#10) Captain America Goes Down With The Red Skull’s Airship

  When: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

  As a veteran of WWII, Captain America’s whole character arc has been about self-sacrifice from the very beginning - and his greatest act of sacrifice comes long before his time as an Avenger. Faced with no other choice, Steve Rogers chooses to down the Red Skull’s Valkyrie airship into arctic waters before it can make its preprogrammed and destructive arrival in North America. 

  In doing so, Rogers assumes he’s giving up his potential life with Peggy Carter - as well as his life in general. That assumption proves to be half-correct, however, when Cap is pulled out of the ice in the modern era - and wholly incorrect once the events of Avengers: Endgame are played out in their entirety. Captain America’s happy ending, however, does nothing to diminish the intentions behind his noble sacrifice. 
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  (#13) Spider-Man Risks His Life To Save The Vulture

  When: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

  All the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe carry plenty of positive character traits, but Peter Parker still manages to be the most wholesome of the bunch. Spider-Man has long represented the very best of Marvel Comics’ superheroes, and the cinematic Spidey is no exception to the rule. In his first solo film, Parker does what few MCU protagonists would ever think to do - he risks his own life to save one of his enemies.

  Spider-Man really has no desire to fight the Vulture, who turns out to be the father of his homecoming date, but he can’t let Adrian Toomes escape with dangerous technology, so he stops him. When Toomes’s overzealousness winds up with him strapped to a wingsuit about to blow, however, Parker dives back into the fiery wreckage to rescue the guy who was just trying to take him out. Just another day in the life of the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
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  (#16) The Holding Of The Forge On Nidavellir

  When: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

  Thor Odinson has spent millennia throwing himself with reckless abandon at all manner of enemies - and so, self-sacrifice has a somewhat different connotation for the God of Thunder. He generally goes into a situation assuming that he will come out on top, but that doesn’t mean that Thor is incapable of putting his life on the line. He just does so with unerring optimism.

  When Thor offers to personally hold open the iris of the Nidavellir forge so that Stormbreaker can be forged - taking the full force of a star as he does so - he’s told that he will be eradicated. Thor’s retort says a lot about how he views such sacrificial acts - he knows that he’ll either perish or forge a Thanos-stopping ax, so he simply has to succeed. 
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  (#1) Tony Stark’s Endgame

  When: Avengers: Endgame (2019)

  Steve Rogers once opined that Tony Stark wasn’t one to make the “sacrifice play,” and Iron Man has spent the rest of his cinematic career proving that wrong. The culmination of Stark’s heroic arc is also the sacrifice that saves the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe from destruction at the hands of Thanos.

  When he comes up with the idea to take the Infinity Stones via nano-thievery and then snap Thanos’s forces out of existence, he knows full well that it will end him. All it takes, however, is a quick glance at Doctor Strange to confirm his plan will work - and one last “I am Iron Man” - for Stark to act. 
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  (#14) Ant-Man Goes Subatomic For The First Time

  When: Ant-Man (2015)

  Scott Lang learns a lot of information in a short amount of time throughout the course of his debut film, but the lesson that gets repeated to him again and again is that “going subatomic” will result in him being lost in the Quantum Realm for all time. Of course, that doesn’t prevent Ant-Man from doing exactly that when the life of his daughter Cassie is on the line.

  Lang finds himself unable to shut down the Yellowjacket suit of Darren Cross - who has gone mad enough to threaten Cassie’s life. Without hesitation, Lang deactivates his suit’s regulator and goes subatomic, leaping inside Cross’s armor and condemning both of them to a horrible fate. Ant-Man frees himself from the Quantum Realm almost instantly, but he had no way of knowing that was possible when he committed the act - making this a genuine sacrifice. 

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