The MCU has featured many moments that are guaranteed to reduce even the most Hulk-hearted of Marvel fans to puddles of emotion, and we all know what those are — the many deaths of Avengers: Infinity War, Iron Man’s sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame, yada yada. But the fandom has recently turned its attentions to a much more underappreciated phenomenon — those MCU moments that have made folks blub like Scott Lang reading The Fault in Our Stars, but for no discernible reason.
The suitably monikered EmotionalWrecker got the ball rolling on the r/marvelstudios subreddit by asking fans “What scene made you cry, which wasn’t intended to be upsetting?” Their own suggestion was the ending of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is generally considered to be more thrilling and action-packed than tear-jerking.
Some fans in the replies missed the point of the question somewhat, voting for obviously poignant scenes like Steve and Peggy’s reunion in Endgame or Vision’s “love persevering” line from WandaVision. The best responses, though, were those where people opened up about crying over scenes that had no good reason making them shed a tear.
Sometimes an epic line delivery is all it takes.
Not the most emotional moment in Endgame by a long shot, but you do you.
What a waste of good tech!
Uh oh, we have a #ThanosWasRight-er here.
Another commenter went for the moment Zemo deletes his voicemail in Captain America: Civil War. Clearly, a lot of fans out there secretly side with the villains…
Elsewhere, some fans decided to get snarky, with one quipping that the entirety of Thor: Love and Thunder made them cry because they hated it so much. Another, meanwhile, admitted to getting weepy over that film’s post-credits scene, which sees Jane Foster going to Valhalla.
Clearly, what this thread teaches us is that, sometimes, Marvel fans just need a good cry.