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

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  (#6) Ho Yinsen Starts It All By Saving Tony Stark

  When: Iron Man (2008)

  Tony Stark may end up making the most important sacrifice in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it’s made possible by the very first sacrifice - that of Ho Yinsen. The captured doctor saves Stark’s life in a multitude of ways - by operating on his shrapnel wounds, by helping him build the first Iron Man suit, and finally, by sacrificing his life to buy Stark extra time.

  Yinsen rushes the Ten Rings, knowing full well that he’ll be taken out as a result. When Stark catches up with Yinsen, the fading hero tells him that “This was always the plan” - meaning that he never intended to escape that cave, and had only been acting in Stark’s interest the entire time. It’s a lesson that Tony Stark doesn’t soon forget. 
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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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  (#9) Iron Man’s First Sacrifice Play

  When: The Avengers (2012)

  Iron Man’s story ends with a powerful sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame, but it’s not the first time that the Armored Avenger puts his life on the line. Shortly after being teased by Captain America for his inability to make the sacrifice play, Tony Stark grabs hold of a nuclear missile headed for Manhattan and flies it into an alien wormhole - a journey that he assumes will be a one-way trip.

  Stark does end up falling out of the wormhole and being caught by the Hulk before he can hurtle to the Earth, but that doesn’t change the fact that he just stared an alien armada in the face without blinking. The incident results in some major PTSD for Stark in the years to come, but it doesn’t prevent him from making another important sacrifice play when the time comes.
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  (#12) The Guardians Grasp The Power Stone

  When: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

  The Guardians of the Galaxy place their lives on the line on numerous occasions to protect the planet Xandar from Ronan the Accuser - including during Peter Quill’s dance-off to save the universe. Their truest moment of heroism, however, comes seconds after the dance-off when Quill grabs the Power Stone out of mid-air to prevent Ronan from regaining it - knowing full well that the Stone typically eradicates everything it comes into contact with.

  Quill improbably survives his grabbing of the Power Stone, but it requires the contributions of the remaining Guardians to wield its energy. Each Guardian has to assume that they’ll perish by joining hands with Quill, but they do so anyway - annihilating Ronan and solidifying their family bond in the process. 
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  (#8) Quicksilver Sacrifices Himself To Save Hawkeye

  When: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

  Pietro Maximoff isn’t an Avenger for very long, but he manages to pick up on their trademark selflessness in record time. Despite spending much of his debut film antagonizing Hawkeye, Quicksilver makes a snap decision to throw himself in front of a hail of fire aimed at Clint Barton - who was himself in the process of protecting a child from harm. 

  Maximoff manages to make a callback quip of “You didn’t see that coming?” before collapsing. It’s a sacrifice as shocking as it is sudden, with few fans expecting the long-time comic book Avenger to perish in his first cinematic appearance. Quicksilver’s demise stands as an important testament to what it means to be one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. 
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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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