The Marvel Cinematic Universe is filled with death fakeouts that trick audiences into thinking a beloved character has met their end. It's no secret that the MCU has a long history of fooling around with the perceived mortality of its various heroes. Whether an onscreen death is intended to fool the other characters in the film, the audience, or both, there are plenty of instances where the MCU pulled a fast one and revealed that a thought-dead character was actually — and sometimes bafflingly — alive and well.
Across the vast amount of media that constitutes the MCU timeline, there have been plenty of characters who have "died" onscreen, only to be brought back anywhere from a few scenes to a few movies later. Some of these fakeout deaths exist only to drive the plot of a specific film/episode, and the audience is hardly surprised when said character is revealed to be alive. However, there are also plenty of characters who were truly thought to be dead who came back, surprising audiences and oftentimes creating a mystery surrounding their actual fate.
Whatever the reason behind a specific fakeout death, one thing is for certain: the franchise is full of them. From well-known survivors like Tom Hiddleston's trickster god Loki and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes to, most recently, multiversal heroes from Marvel's What If...? animated series here's a look at every character who hasn't stayed dead in the MCU.
Loki
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the king of the MCU death fakeout is the nefarious and exceedingly difficult to kill Loki. Thor: The Dark World (2013), Loki is seemingly killed by Kurse, only to once again survive and assume the identity of Odin.
By this point, Loki's propensity for survival had become a running joke in the MCU, so much so that when Loki series, and even this version of the character was "killed" when he was pruned by the TVA. Naturally, he survived this ordeal, too.
Captain America
Not even Captain America is safe from the MCU death fakeout, although this particular incident likely never fooled anyone into thinking he was really dead. At the end of Captain America survived being frozen on ice and was found and saved nearly seven decades later. With the beginning of the film revealing the discovery of Cap's downed craft, the audience was already aware that his story wasn't over. Therefore, Cap's "death" wasn't meant to trick the audience, but rather to further the plot of the franchise.
Phil Coulson
In The Avengers (2012), the death of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Agent Phil Coulson was used by Nick Fury as motivation for the film's heroes to put aside their differences and fight for humanity. But while Coulson has effectively stayed "dead" in the MCU films, he has very much lived on within the realm of the small screen. In the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson's death count stands at six. While his most recent sacrifice in season 7 seems to be a more permanent affair, it's wise to never underestimate the "unkillable" Phil Coulson.
Bucky Barnes
One of the more shocking revivals in the MCU — at least for those unfamiliar with the comics — was that of Steve Rogers' longtime friend, Bucky Barnes. Bucky was believed to be dead when he fell from a bridge during a WWII mission led by Steve, by then Captain America. Of course, Bucky survived his fall thanks to the intervention of HYDRA, who replaced his mangled limb with his famous cybernetic arm and brainwashed him into becoming the assassin known as the Winter Soldier. Steve's discovery of Bucky's survival became a huge turning point for Cap, and Bucky's eventual rehabilitation allowed him to the fight to save humanity, including in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Pepper Potts
Throughout the entirety of the Iron Man 3 (2013), Tony can do nothing as Pepper is seemingly killed by the villainous Aldrich Killian. Thankfully, Pepper's exposure to Extremis gave her superhuman abilities — allowing her to survive her fall and, ultimately, to kill Killian herself.
Nick Fury
Nick Fury is easily one of the toughest characters in the MCU, and not even a serious car accident and a spray of bullets can keep him down. Early in Nick Fury faked his own death after an assassination attempt is made on his life by none other than the Winter Soldier. Of course, "attempt" is the optimal word, as Fury miraculously survives despite appearing to die on the operating table. As always, Fury was ten steps ahead of his enemies (and, temporarily, even some of his allies).
Groot
One of the MCU's most emotional fakeout deaths came in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy. During the climactic crash of Ronin's ship, the lovable Groot extends his tree-like limbs all around his friends in an attempt to protect them from the coming impact. The plan works, and the remainder of the Guardians are able to walk away from the crash with their lives, but Groot was killed. For a while, it looks as though Groot's heroic act was his final contribution to the team, but of course, Rocket soon discovers that a single twig from Groot's body has begun regenerating into a juvenile version of everybody's favorite talking tree.
JARVIS
Despite being an artificial intelligence, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), it truly looked like the "voice of Stark Industries" was gone for good. Thankfully, JARVIS was able to be saved and reborn when he was ed to form part of the Mjölnir-worthy superhero known as Vision.
Janet Van Dyne
In 2015's Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, where she will aid the other heroes in combating Kang the Conqueror.
Vision
In the climactic battle of Infinity War, the wise synthezoid Vision is horrifically killed when Thanos rips the Mind Stone out of his head and his death seemed absolutely permanent, not one the Avengers could undo in their time heist. However, Scarlet Witch resurrected a living memory of him with her Chaos Magic in WandaVision. Though that version died, another version of Vision lives on in the form of White Vision, made of Vision's original body and restored memories. It's inevitable White Vision's story in the MCU is not yet finished.
Skinny Steve Rogers (a.k.a. Hydra Stomper)
Though voiced by Josh Keaton rather than Chris Evans, Steve Rogers nonetheless returned in Marvel's What If...? season 1, episode 1, "What if...Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?" Having been shot, the episode saw Steve unable to receive the super-soldier serum. Instead, Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter went through the procedure and Skinny Steve Rogers was gifted a proto Iron Man-esque suit of armor. As a result, he became known as the Hydra Stomper.
Unfortunately, one of the ripples in the changed history was that Steve (instead of Bucky) seemed to meet his end during the train mission. For a time, it looked as though he was primed to be the Winter Soldier to Peggy's Captain Carter. Ultimately, however, he was found to have been recovered by Hydra and rescued by his friends before Captain Carter made her own sacrifice at the episode's end. Whether he'll ever return to the MCU (as Peggy did following Captain America's sacrifice in the original timeline) shall remain to be seen.
