My Top FIVE Emotional Moments In The Marvel Cinematic Universe
After having compiled my top five emotional moments from Disney and Pixar animated features, I started thinking about the moments that have touched me through the 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, here is my top FIVE list in no particular order.
1) Thor banished from Asgard in Thor
There was something so amazing of seeing the scene in which Odin banishes Thor from Asgard. It's such an iconic part of Thor's origin story and I could not have pictured it done any better in live action form. Sir Anthony Hopkins's performance in this is so intense and makes what could have come off as hokey seem so real. The scene always gives me goosebumps and is one that has stuck with me over the years with a sense of wonder.
2) "We Are Groot" in Guardians of the Galaxy
I think this scene is the first time I cried during a Marvel film. Like flat out bawled. Here you had this group of people from varying degrees of sordid backgrounds forced to team up and, eventually, gel into a family. When their lives are threatened, Groot, who's only vocabulary had been "I Am Groot," instinctively knew what to do. He sacrifices himself for his friends. When Rocket asked why, Groot simply says, "We Are Groot." In that moment, we fully feel what doing this means for the gentle giant.
3) Steve visits Peggy in Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Having now lived in the modern world for awhile and serving a government that has since changed, Steve goes to visit the one touchstone to his past for guidance - Peggy Carter. However, now Peggy is in her 90s and, unfortunately, suffering from Alzheimer's Syndrome. At first, the two are connecting and, then, suddenly, Peggy has an episode and she looks at Steve like she had not seen him since the 40s. The performances by Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell are stellar as they convey both love and loneliness in two different ways.
4) T'Chaka dies in U.N. Bombing in Captain America: Civil War
After the accident in Lagos, several nations began promoting the Sekovia Accords that would make superheroes agents of the government. Wakanda was one of the nations leading the charge and the current king T'Chaka went to speak in front of the United Nations with his son T'Challa, the soon to be Black Panther. Through a terrorist act meant to frame Bucky Barnes as an assassin, T'Chaka died in a bombing. Chadwick Boseman's performance as he cradles T'Chaka in his arms is quite compelling and visceral.
5) Yondu saves Peter's life in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2
Through the course of the two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, we witnessed the unconventional relationship between Yondu and Peter Quill. Instead of delivering Peter to his father, Yondu took him on as his own and Peter grew up to be a Ravager. Despite their often adversarial relationship, Yondu always had a soft spot for Peter. In the second movie, Peter meets his birth father who turns out to be Ego, a villainous Celestial bent on taking over the universe. After defeating Ego, there is only one life support suit available and Yondu sacrifices himself for Peter. Peter realizes that Ego might have been his biological father, Yondu was much more of a father to him. Chris Pratt gives a great performance with his guttural cry realizing what Yondu was doing.
What are the Marvel Cinematic Universe scenes that really touch you?