Death is rarely permanent in comic books, and it seems the same can be said for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In Marvel Comics, heroes return from the grave, villains crawl back from apparent destruction, and entire universes are rebooted whenever continuity becomes inconvenient. There is even a long-running joke that nobody in comics ever stays dead except Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben. The MCU timeline has generally treated death with more permanence, but it has still left plenty of doors open.
Several supposedly deceased MCU characters have already returned through variants, magic, alternate timelines, or simple misdirection. Loki survived multiple deaths before finally becoming the God of Stories, while Vision found a way back despite being killed twice. With the Multiverse Saga embracing alternate realities and magical resurrections, even seemingly definitive endings are no guarantee that a character is gone forever.
Of course, theoretically any fallen MCU character could return. Tony Stark could appear through a variant, and even Yondu could find his way back through cosmic shenanigans. However, some characters have been positioned much more carefully than others.
Their deaths happened off-screen, their bodies were never recovered, or the stories themselves hinted that something more might be going on. These are the MCU characters whose returns would require the fewest narrative gymnastics because Marvel has already laid the groundwork.
Wanda Maximoff
Wanda Maximoff’s fate at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness remains one of the MCU’s biggest unanswered questions. After realizing the horror she has inflicted across the multiverse, Wanda brings Mount Wundagore crashing down on herself to destroy every copy of the Darkhold.
However, no body is ever shown, and viewers briefly see a burst of red energy just before the mountain collapses. Considering Wanda’s extraordinary powers, surviving a cave-in hardly seems impossible. This is a woman who reshaped an entire town in WandaVision and earlier battled multiple sorcerers with ease.
Wanda’s return would also make narrative sense. Unlike many villains, Wanda had already begun her redemption before her apparent death. Having recognized her mistakes, she could return seeking forgiveness and attempting to repair the damage she caused across countless realities.
Ultron
Ultron supposedly met his end during the climax of Avengers: Age of Ultron when Vision destroys the final surviving drone. Unfortunately for humanity, artificial intelligence is notoriously difficult to kill completely.
Spider-Man: Homecoming included an intriguing Easter egg that suggests Ultron may still exist in some form. During Adrian Toomes’ illegal weapons operation, Spidey spots an Ultron head among the salvaged technology from previous Avengers battles. More importantly, the head’s eyes are glowing red.
That detail implies the machine remains active rather than functioning as a lifeless scrap. While Marvel never followed up on the tease, it establishes that pieces of Ultron survived the Sokovia incident. Given Ultron’s ability to transfer his consciousness between bodies, it would only take one functioning component for him to begin rebuilding himself once more.
Hela
The MCU never explicitly confirms Hela’s death following the destruction of Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok. Instead, audiences witness Surtur driving his enormous sword through the realm while Hela stands her ground. That collision certainly looked catastrophic.
Yet Hela is not exactly an ordinary Asgardian. She is literally the Goddess of Death, drawing power directly from Asgard itself and demonstrating durability far beyond almost any other MCU villain. Throughout the film she repeatedly shrugs off injuries that would instantly kill most characters.
The destruction of Asgard was supposed to stop her, but viewers never see a body or hear any definitive confirmation afterward. Considering Loki survived multiple apparent deaths across the Thor films, it would hardly be unprecedented for another member of Odin’s family to do the same. If Marvel ever needs an immensely powerful antagonist again, Hela remains one of the easiest villains to bring back.
The Collector
The fate of Taneleer Tivan became surprisingly murky during Avengers: Infinity War. When the Guardians arrive on Knowhere, they discover what appears to be a defeated Collector. Then the entire scene is revealed to be an illusion created by Thanos using the Reality Stone.
That twist throws the Collector’s status into question. The movie never shows his death. Thanos clearly has already acquired the Reality Stone, but audiences only see manipulated images rather than genuine events. The Collector’s survival has never been addressed in subsequent MCU projects.
Considering his comic-book counterpart survives countless cosmic disasters and his brother, the Grandmaster, remains active after Thor: Ragnarok, it would not be surprising if Tivan simply escaped. For a character obsessed with preserving rare objects, surviving one angry Titan seems well within the realm of possibility.
Kang
Several Kang variants have died across Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but defeating one Kang has never been the same as defeating all Kangs. That is the entire problem.
The post-credits scene of Quantumania introduced the Council of Kangs, revealing that countless variants exist throughout the multiverse. Even if the Conqueror was destroyed in the Quantum Realm and He Who Remains dies at the Citadel at the End of Time, innumerable alternatives remain.
Unlike many entries on this list, Kang’s return would not even require resurrection. The MCU has already established that variants can replace one another with alarming ease. While Marvel’s plans have shifted since Quantumania, the multiverse still provides an easy explanation for future appearances. As long as alternate timelines exist, the possibility of another Kang emerging remains difficult to rule out.
Mysterio
Quentin Beck appears to die at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home after his illusion technology spirals out of control. However, Mysterio’s entire shtick revolves around deception. Everything seen throughout Far From Home is filtered through drones, holograms, and carefully staged performances.
Beck spends the entire story manipulating both Spider-Man and the viewers. Because of that, some remain unconvinced by his death scene. To be fair, bringing him back would certainly undermine Peter’s emotional growth.
One of Far From Home’s most important moments is Peter finally trusting his Spider-Sense instead of his eyes. Still, if any villain could fake his own death convincingly, it would be Mysterio. The character built an entire superhero identity from smoke, mirrors, and lies.
Nicholas Scratch
Although Nicholas Scratch appears only briefly in Agatha All Along, the character carries enormous significance. The series reveals that Agatha’s son died long before the events of the show, but magic rarely respects traditional rules regarding life and death.
Nicholas has a long comic-book history as a powerful adult warlock and is canonically the Salem Seven’s father. However, Agatha All Along barely touches on these. The MCU also introduced Rio Vidal, Marvel’s Lady Death, as an apparent rival to Harkness. It is her who claims Nicholas’s soul.
If Rio wanted to punish Agatha, returning Nicholas without her knowledge could be an effective method. Bringing him back as a misuiguided, powerful sorcerer would instantly provide emotional conflict while introducing one of Agatha’s most important comic-book relationships. Given his magical nature and comic history, Nicholas is arguably better positioned for resurrection than most MCU casualties.
Elektra
When The Defenders concluded, Elektra and Matt Murdock appeared trapped beneath Midland Circle as the building collapsed around them. Audiences later discovered that Matt survived. That fact alone keeps hope alive for Elektra. If one of the two combatants escaped the destruction, it stands to reason the other might have managed the same feat. The situation becomes even more plausible given Elektra’s previous resurrection by the Hand.
Unlike many deaths in the MCU, Elektra’s fate remains wholly unresolved rather than simply implied. No body was recovered, and no character ever witnessed her death directly.
With Daredevil now firmly integrated into the MCU through Daredevil: Born Again, revisiting Elektra would be an obvious storytelling opportunity. Her complicated history with Matt and her lingering ties to the Hand provide plenty of material should Marvel decide to reopen that chapter.
Foggy Nelson
Foggy Nelson’s death in Daredevil: Born Again shocked viewers, partly because many comic readers expected something very different. In Marvel Comics, Foggy famously fakes his death and enters witness protection, leading many to predict a similar twist. For months, speculation suggested the MCU version would eventually reveal that he survived.
That revelation didn’t materialize during the first two seasons. As time passes, the theory feels less likely, but it has not become impossible. The circumstances surrounding Foggy’s death still leave room for future MCU surprises if Born Again chooses to revisit the idea.
Witness protection, mistaken reports, or legal manipulation would all fit the character’s history. The longer Marvel waits, the harder such a twist becomes to justify. Nevertheless, comic precedent means Foggy remains one of the few supposedly deceased non-superpowered characters whose return would not feel entirely out of nowhere.
Alice Wu-Gulliver (& Lilia Calderu)
The deaths of Alice Wu-Gulliver and Lilia Calderu in Agatha All Along are particularly easy to undo because of the Witches’ Road storyline. Alice dies when Agatha drains all of her powers, while Lilia sacrifices herself during a trial to stop the Salem Seven. Both moments are emotional and appear final.
However, Agatha All Along reveals that the Witches’ Road is an illusion conjured by Billy Maximoff, meaning that little to none of it was real. This could therefore extend to the characters who died along the journey, particularly Lilia, who is killed by one of the Trials.
Alice, however, is a protection witch. Her abilities specifically revolve around shielding herself and others from harm. That creates at least a theoretical possibility that she could have protected herself without anyone else knowing and escaped Billy’s spell. Whether the events of the Road in Agatha All Along function exactly as they appear remains open to interpretation, leaving the door cracked open for both witches to return to the MCU someday.
- Movie(s)
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Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday, Werewolf by Night , The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, The Punisher: One Last Kill
- TV Show(s)
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Inhumans, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If…?, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Secret Invasion, Agatha All Along, Ironheart, Daredevil: Born Again, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Wonder Man, Echo, Marvel Zombies, Eyes of Wakanda
- Cast
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Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a long-running multimedia franchise drawn from the heroes, villains, and narratives of Marvel Comics. The MCU formally began with 2008’s Iron Man, with other successes forming the basis for the contemporary path from comic page to screen, including over 30 films and 20 TV shows.
