Marvel Studios has brought many exciting characters from the comics to life, and through several adaptations, some Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes and villains have had their tragic childhoods showcased. A character’s upbringing ends up defining their life many times, leading to someone becoming a villain or a hero, for example. The MCU has used that tactic, showing how some of Marvel Studios’ best villains came from a deeply tragic background.
The same can be said for some of the best MCU heroes. As is often the case in the comics, a character going down a heroic path is many times related to their past. Multiple MCU heroes have dealt with difficult childhoods, varying in what problems they had to face. Since 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel has brought some traumatic childhoods to the MCU, and here are the most tragic.
10. Doctor Strange Watched His Sister Die
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (2022)
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange is a character who has faced great trauma. One of the top surgeons in the world, Stephen Strange suffered a major accident that made his steady hands falter, no longer able to operate, which led to him chasing magic and becoming Doctor Strange. In the animated What If…? series, Doctor Strange had an even more tragic fate, with the love of his life, Christine Palmer, dying over and over.
Besides the trauma the character faced in his adult life, Strange had one of the worst experiences someone could have during his childhood. It was revealed in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that Strange had a sister. Not only that, but a young Stephen Strange had to watch as his sister died. Stephen and Donna were playing on a frozen lake when the ground broke, and Donna drowned.
9. Peter Quill/Star-Lord Was Kidnapped Into A Life Of Piracy
Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)
Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord has had quite a tragic journey in the MCU. The character started with a happy childhood, being raised full of love by his mother and his grandfather, even though his father — later revealed as the Celestial Ego — was not around. However, in 1988, Peter Quill’s mom died due to a brain tumor inflicted on her by Ego. Right after Peter’s mother died in the hospital alongside her son, Quill was taken away from Earth.
The trauma of losing his mother was immense, but it was only made worse by the fact that Peter had to leave his grandpa behind as he was kidnapped by Yondu and the Ravagers. So that he would learn how to be a pirate worthy of the Ravagers, Yondu would often assault and threaten Quill as he grew up. Later, it was revealed that Yondu cared deeply for the boy. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s ending finally saw Star-Lord reunite with his grandfather on Earth.
8. Erik Killmonger Grows Up Without Family After His Father Is Killed
Black Panther (2018)
Killmonger has become one of the best villains in the MCU, with Michael B. Jordan’s nuanced acting in the role being enhanced by an utterly sad backstory. As a child, Erik Kilmonger lived with his father, Sterling K. Brown’s N’Jobu, a Wakandan prince, in the United States. Killmonger grew up in the US with his father promising him that they would one day return to Wakanda and be able to watch the most beautiful sunsets in the world.
Killmonger’s world gets turned upside down when his father is murdered by T’Chaka, the father of future Black Panther T’Challa. N’Jobu wanted to steal Vibranium from Wakanda to give weapons to African Americans, so they could fight back against discrimination. That event led to Killmonger becoming a villain in the future and invading Wakanda to fulfill his father’s vision. In the end, Killmonger died watching the sunsets his father always spoke of.
7. Black Widow Was Raised To Be A Killer In The Red Room
Black Widow (2021)
One of the original MCU Avengers, Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff would take years to finally delve deeper into her tragic childhood. After a long time, Marvel Studios finally brought that story to the big screen in 2021’s Black Widow, the long-requested solo movie for the character. As a child, Natasha was happy with her fake family on an undercover mission, which consisted of her, Yelena Belova, Melina Vostokoff, and Alexi Shostakov.
However, she only got into that fake family due to horrific circumstances. Natasha was deemed a potential asset to the Red Room based on her DNA, with the evil organization buying her from her biological family. After Nat’s mother tried to find her, General Dreykov ordered her death. Aside from her time undercover with her fake family, Natasha had a rough childhood in the Red Room, being trained to become the ultimate spy but missing so many milestones that a regular child should have.
6. Wanda Maximoff Lived In Fear Of War And Death
WandaVision (2021)
Few characters in the MCU have had a more tragic life than Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch. After years of playing a supporting role, Wanda Maximoff’s backstory was spotlighted in Disney+’s WandaVision. The series revealed that while Wanda spent her childhood in the presence of a loving family, her life was plagued by fear of the bombings happening in Sokovia. Wanda’s only reprieve was the comfort she found in watching American sitcoms with her family.
One day, a mortar hit the apartment where the Maximoffs lived, killing Wanda’s parents. Wanda and her brother Pietro had to wait for two days in their destroyed apartment, staring at a Stark Industries mortar shell that would never go off. The harrowing experience shaped the kids, leading to Wanda and Pietro joining Hydra. Later in her life, the Scarlet Witch saw her brother and husband die, her kids get erased from existence, and died after a villain turn, completing her tragedy.
5. Ghost Had To Endure Great Pain For Years
Ant-Man And The Wasp (2018)
Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost is one of the most underrated characters in the MCU. The actress has only one appearance in the franchise so far, which is shocking. Hannah John-Kamen debuted as Ava Starr in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, with the movie having her as an antagonist to its title superhero duo. Despite her start as a villain, the reveal of what happened in Ghost’s childhood and how that shaped her life added a lot of nuance to her actions.
After Hank Pym got Ava’s father fired from S.H.I.E.L.D., Elihas Starr decided to continue experimenting with the Quantum Tunnel on his own. Without the proper backing to do so, the research ended in an accident that killed Ava’s parents and hit her with quantum energy. Ava had to live with increasing pain for years, being used by S.H.I.E.L.D. as a spy, which led to her becoming an antagonist.
After several years, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost will return as part of the superpowered team in Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, which releases next year.
4. Sylvie Was Taken From Her Universe
Loki (2021)
Sylvie is one of the most popular characters in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, which is no small feat, as the period has been the most controversial in the franchise. Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie is a Loki variant who had immense growth in Disney+’s Loki. The series revolved in great part around what happened to Sylvie as a child and how that informed her plans as an adult.
Loki revealed that Sylvie was taken from her universe as a child. Simply for existing, the TVA arrived in Sylvie’s reality and told her she was under arrest while the girl played with toys, using a Reset Charge to wipe out her universe. Sylvie would escape the TVA by stealing Ravonna Renslayer’s TemPad. For the following years, Sylvie had to grow up hiding in apocalypses so that the TVA could not track her, crafting her revenge plans.
3. Moon Knight Had A Life Of Abuse
Moon Knight (2022)
Oscar Isaac’s performance in Moon Knight was spectacular. The character is a very interesting one, as the trauma in Marc Spector’s life led to him developing DID and brought the Steven Grant and Jake Lockley personalities of the character to life. Marc Spector’s childhood trauma started with his brother’s death. As a child, Spector loved watching the Tomb Buster series, and while he and his brother, Randall, went to a cave to reenact scenes from the show, a tragedy happened.
Their mother had told the boys not to go into the cave when it rained, and even though it had started to rain on that day and Randall was unsure about going, Marc made his brother join him. Randall ended up drowning when the cave filled with water. Marc’s mother never forgave him for the accident, going on to beat her son for the rest of the time he was at the family’s home. Due to the physical abuse, Marc developed the polite Steven Grant alter and later the violent Jake Lockley.
2. Thanos Forced Nebula To Fight And Rebuilt Her Over And Over
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Thanos was far from the MCU’s most loving father. His sacrifice for the Soul Stone was his daughter Gamora, whom he loved more than anything else. Thanos’ preference for Gamora was something that Nebula was aware of and contributed to Karen Gillan’s character having such a traumatic childhood. As shown in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, over the years, Thanos forced his daughters to fight each other in order to test them.
Despite giving it her all, Nebula would always lose to Gamora. That created a rift between the sisters, with Nebula holding a grudge against Gamora because after every fight she would lose to her sister, Thanos would torture her. Nebula had many body parts removed and replaced with mechanical parts in order to enhance her, as Thanos believed. That turned Nebula into a killing machine who only recovered her true self after joining the Guardians of the Galaxy.
1. Rocket Raccoon’s Childhood Was Utterly Tragic
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was the perfect ending for the original version of the team. More than that, it was the project that cemented Rocket Raccoon as one of the fan-favorite characters of the MCU. Yes, Bradley Cooper’s Rocket is an exciting character to follow when he is blowing enemies up with his many creative weapons; however, the tragic past of the sarcastic hero adds a nuance to the character.
The third Guardians of the Galaxy movie showed what happened to Rocket when he was a child. The character was taken from Earth as a baby, with Rocket being experimented on and given the ability to speak, along with what would develop into a genius intellect. The villain in charge of the experiments was the High Evolutionary. Eventually, Rocket befriended a group of other animals who had been heavily experimented on, only to see all of them die in front of his eyes as they tried to escape after years of torture, making his childhood the MCU‘s most tragic.
