Each of the MCU films released this year has offered plenty of memorable moments that fans likely won’t be forgetting any time soon. As such, listing all the best scenes from Marvel Studios’ big screen offerings this year would take much more than one article. So in the interest of brevity, here are just five of the highlights from 2021’s MCU movies.
RELATED: 5 Great Actors Marvel Wasted In Underwhelming Roles
One of Phase 4’s biggest strengths has been its focus on characterization, exploring new depths and nuances for familiar characters. Just look at Black Widow — it may be a globe-trotting spy thriller in the vein of James Bond, but the action isn’t even the best thing about the movie. The real highlight of the film is the tragic, offbeat, yet ultimately heartwarming dynamic between Natasha and her surrogate family. The newly introduced Yelena, Melina, and Alexei (brought to life by Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, and David Harbour) all leave a big impression not just due to their action scenes, but because of the quiet moments that flesh them out as characters.
One of the film’s standout scenes comes after an awkward family dinner that turns into a heated argument. Natasha resents her adoptive parents for letting the Red Room turn her into a weapon, while Yelena still cherishes her family — after all, it’s the only one she’s ever had. Yelena retreats to her room to be alone, only for Alexei (still in his Red Guardian uniform) to attempt to comfort her. Naturally, he doesn’t do well. However, Alexei manages to reconnect with his estranged daughter by singing a song from her childhood: Don McLean’s “American Pie.” Before long, Yelena can’t help but join in too. It’s a small moment, but it’s a perfect encapsulation of what makes Black Widow so great — it’s a story of broken, troubled people who struggle to connect to each other, but ultimately find happiness in their bonds.
From one dysfunctional family to another, this list wouldn’t be complete without the dramatic showdown between Shang-Chi and his father Wenwu at the climax of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This intense martial arts duel is a strong contender for one of the best fights in the entire MCU based on choreography alone, but an already-epic battle is made even better by the massive narrative weight behind it.
The conflict between Shang-Chi and Wenwu is so much more than a simple clash of good and evil. Wenwu is no mustache-twirling supervillain like his comic counterpart, the Mandarin — he’s a grieving father desperate to be reunited with his wife. Shang-Chi isn’t just another selfless hero, he’s a traumatized son who intends to take vengeance on the man who forged him into a killer. But in the end, Shang-Chi chooses to spare Wenwu, reaching out to the once-kind man who raised him instead of becoming the murderer he was trained to be. It’s a poignant, heartfelt end to a truly action-packed battle.
Speaking of memorable final battles, the climax of Eternals is plenty thrilling in its own right. While the film generally prefers existential musings to typical superhero action, the big Act 3 showdown is well worth the wait. To save humanity from being destroyed by the Emergence, Sersi leads her fellow Eternals into battle against one of their own: Ikaris, the Superman-esque paragon hero, now revealed as a cold, ruthless zealot.
While the real meat of Eternals is in its philosophical themes, it still offers a spectacular climax. Watching the Eternals go all-out in battle is a sight to behold, from Makkari unleashing the full power of her super-speed to Phastos becoming the unexpected MVP of the team with his high-tech gadgets. Ikaris is arguably one of the most unique antagonists in the MCU, and he absolutely gets the fight he deserves.
Spider-Man: No Way Home’s trailers were hesitant to give away much of its plot, and it’s easy to see why. No Way Home is an emotional roller coaster of a story, filled with triumphant highs and devastating lows. But out of all the tragic moments in Spidey’s latest cinematic adventure, none are quite so heartbreaking as the death of Aunt May at the hand of the Green Goblin.
At first, it seems that Peter’s successfully managed to save May. She gets back up long enough to give Peter some much-needed words of encouragement, urging him not to give up on saving Norman. She even utters the iconic phrase “with great power, there must also come great responsibility” for the first-ever time in the MCU, invoking the motto that defines Spider-Man as a character. But then, tragedy strikes. May collapses, her wounds proving too much to bear. Peter desperately urges her to wake up, but it’s too late. May Parker is dead. It’s an absolutely gut-wrenching scene — arguably the most important one in the film — that’s carried by the phenomenal performances of Tom Holland and Marisa Tomei.
But of course, one can’t bring up the greatest moments in Spider-Man: No Way Home without discussing the film’s amazing (pun intended) climax, in which Tom Holland’s Peter Parker teams up with his multiversal variants played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, reprising their roles from their respective Spider-Man films. Just watching the three Spideys interact is fun enough, but seeing them take on their villains together at the Statue of Liberty is a whole other level of incredible.
The final battle of No Way Home is packed with nearly too many memorable moments to mention, from Andew Garfield’s Spidey tearing up after saving MJ to Doctor Octopus arriving to aid the Spider-Men, to the chilling one-on-one showdown between MCU Peter and the Green Goblin. It’s almost cheating to list the entire battle as one big moment, but it’d be a crime to leave any of it out.
MORE: The Worst Spider-Man Villains Who Should Never Make It To The MCU
