Superheroes are often recognized for their ability to take a hit —be it physical or emotional— and for their refusal to give up. As the members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe punch, blast, and occasionally dance-battle their way to victory, we as the adoring fans can rest easy knowing that our heroes will stop at nothing to protect the Earth they defend —616 or otherwise. Just like Cap says: “I can do this all day.” However, what we can also learn from superhero movies is that sometimes strength lies not in continuing to fight, but in knowing when to let go.
Although many people think of surrendering as the idea of giving up, to surrender can mean a lot of different things that are synonymous with bravery and honor. Surrendering control, surrendering to your feelings, or surrendering ideas of what we think we know. At the end of the day, to surrender is a sacrifice, and in the MCU, there’s been no shortage of heroes who’ve had to sacrifice themselves in some capacity in order to do what they know is right.
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In Endgame, Tony Stark Surrenders to the Only Way
InAvengers: Endgame, adored genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) learns from his frenemy Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) that out of 14,000,605 possible outcomes in the fight against Thanos (Josh Brolin), there is only one timeline in which the Avengers are victorious. ThroughoutEndgame, we see how during the five years of the Blip, Tony became a dedicated family man. He married Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow), moved out to an idyllic lake house, and sired a beautifully sharp-tongued young daughter named Morgan. However, once he realizes that the only way to defeat Thanos’s army is to sacrifice himself, he relents to the fact that this is the only way out. He surrenders his own desire to watch Morgan grow up in favor of knowing that she will do so safely in a Thanos-less universe in the care of her more than capable, badass mother.
It’s the same sacrifice that our beloved Black Widow Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) made earlier in the movie. Neither Tony nor Natasha wanted to die, and they knew what they were leaving behind. Nonetheless, in their respective moments of grim realization, they surrendered themselves in order to save the world and the people they love, maintaining their status as heroes through their courage and the enormity of their sacrifice.
Thor & Jane Submit to That Which They Cannot Control in Thor: Love and Thunder
Similarly, inThor: Love and Thunder, both Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane (Natalie Portman) surrender to the things they can’t control. Jane spends most of the movie battling terminal cancer, hoping that Mjölnir’s power will be able to cure her illness. While the hammer initially appears to make her stronger, she eventually learns that every time she wields it, she in fact grows weaker. When Thor learns this, he wants Jane to avoid the final battle with the nefarious Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) and his monsters. However, sensing that Thor is struggling, Jane decides to use the last of her strength to help him win. After they have defeated his army and made peace with Gorr, both Thor and Jane have to deal with the fact that Jane is dying. While Jane has already accepted this, Thor now has to face the fact that he cannot fix it either.
After the events ofInfinity WarandEndgame, we know that being unable to save someone —or half the universe— is a position that Thor is entirely unhappy to accept. However, with the woman he loves dying in his arms, he shows immense growth by surrendering to this circumstance and Jane’s wishes, and holding her through this transition. At this moment, Thor and Jane alike show how accepting a fate you cannot change isn’t a moment of weakness, but rather one of immense strength.
Truth and Surrender in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Apart from accepting death, other heroes in the MCU have had to surrender to different situations. InDoctor Strange, Stephen starts the movie as a strict believer in science, and the power of his own mind and surgical skill. After a car accident wrecks his hands and leaves him unable to perform surgery, science and medicine fail him, and he searches elsewhere for remedies. Once he learns of Kamar-Taj and the potential healing powers of the Mystic Arts, he is forced to abandon his belief in solely what he can see and feel. Stephen learns to surrender his previously held truths in order to open himself up to a higher power and become a gifted sorcerer.
In the film’s sequelDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) descends into, well, madness in her quest to find her children after losing them during the events ofWandaVision. After spending the movie murdering her way through the multiverse, Wanda eventually reaches an alternate version of her sons and realizes they want nothing to do with this frightening iteration of her. They cower away from our Wanda and beg for their own mother, causing Wanda to relent and accept that no matter how many versions of her boys she finds, none of them will be the same as the ones she lost. Upon this realization, Wanda is once again forced to surrender the idea of family she desperately wants, even when she’s already lost every family she’s ever known. In doing so, she allows her other-worldly sons to live in peace with their mom, and she even sacrifices herself —as far as we know— to destroy the Darkhold which pushed her to such evils in the first place.
As much as we hate to admit it, there are some odds that are, in fact, insurmountable. There are ills we cannot cure, minds we cannot change, and enemies we can’t defeat without giving up a major part of ourselves. While it is vital for our favorite superheroes to be willing to fight for us and for themselves, what they can also show us is that to accept difficult truths and make decisions in spite of them is a form of resistance in and of itself. As the Marvel Cinematic Universe has illustrated to us through these movies and many others, sometimes strength lies in sacrifice, and surrender is the most heroic thing of all.
