Phase 4 may have been a little more hit-and-miss than we'd have liked, but there were still plenty of movies and TV shows to get excited about. The Infinity Saga, meanwhile, is hard to find fault with and was Marvel Studios at its magnificent best.
Something all four Phases have in common, though, is that they delivered some huge surprises. With that in mind, we're now taking a look back at 10 awesome MCU moments fans never saw coming.
There have been a lot of those over the years, whether it's cliffhanger endings, unexpected twists, or shocking creative decisions which shook up this shared world in some mind-blowing ways. We're sure there's more to come in the rest of the Multiverse Saga, but all of these will be hard to top.
Check out this feature by hitting the "Next" button below, and then share your thoughts on our picks in the usual place.
10. "What The Fu-" - Spider-Man: Homecoming, 2017
As Spider-Man: Homecoming nears its end, Peter Parker has turned down Tony Stark's offer to join The Avengers, rejected that snazzy Iron Spider costume, and instead gone back to his classic red and blues. Back in his bedroom, the web-slinger removes his mask and it's then that the unexpected happens.
In a moment no one could have predicted, Peter's Aunt may appears in the doorway behind her nephew and exclaims "What the fu-" as the credits roll with one massive cliffhanger.
Marvel Studios made us wait until Spider-Man: Far From Home to address how May reacted to her nephew being a superhero, though it's a shame we never got to see the conversation that followed. Kevin Feige loved this moment in the comic books, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that he brought it to the screen back in 2017.
9. Multiversal Cameos - Various, Phase 4
The Multiverse Saga has delivered an awful lot of surprise cameos, whether it's Charlie Cox in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law or Vincent D'Onofrio in Hawkeye.
However, both of those pale in comparison to what we saw in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, with Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Professor X and Anson Mount suiting up as a comic-accurate Black Bolt. We even got to see John Krasinski play Mister Fantastic, though the less said about Reed's demise, the better.
Going back to Spider-Man: No Way Home, the scenes with Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man Variants stepping into the MCU are moments we'll never forget. Yes, it had been rumoured beforehand, but there still was nothing like seeing that in theaters for the first time.
8. "I Am Iron Man" - Iron Man, 2008
It wasn't easy to choose between this and Samuel L. Jackson's surprise appearance as Nick Fury in that unforgettable post-credits scene, but Marvel Studios really established just how different their movies were going to be when Iron Man ended with this unexpected twist ending.
Rather than pretending that Iron Man was his bodyguard as his comic book counterpart did for all those years, Tony Stark told the world that "I Am Iron Man," and we really couldn't have asked for a more memorable ending for the opening chapter of what would one day become the MCU.
This was a moment handled perfectly by director Jon Favreau, and while some fans have been disappointed by the lack of secret identities in this shared world, this was still a great scene.
7. Agent Coulson's Death - The Avengers, 2012
Despite not being a character from the comic books, Agent Coulson was an immediate hit with moviegoers, and his recurring presence turned him into a legitimate fan favourite by the time The Avengers started. That's perhaps what made this shocking moment hurt so damn much.
After playing a key role in assembling Earth's Mightiest Heroes for Nick Fury, Coulson was there to protect the team from Loki and used Destroyer tech to take the God of Mischief down.
Of course, Loki being Loki, he reappeared moments later and drove Chitauri Sceptre straight through the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Any hope of him being saved was soon gone, and everyone's jaws were left on the floor after seeing this hero meet his maker so soon into his MCU tenure.
6. Ms. Marvel Is A Mutant - Ms. Marvel, 2022
Iman Vellani did a fantastic job as Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel, and while the show's villains stop this series from being a classic, that finale definitely didn't disappoint.
Some fans remain unhappy with the way the teenager's powers have been changed, but the final episode delivered one heck of a surprise when we found out there's a "mutation" in Kamala's genes. With that, the X-Men: The Animated Series theme tune could be heard playing in the background, confirming that the hero is a mutant in the MCU rather than an Inhuman.
We don't know whether this is leading to her eventually getting comic-accurate superpowers, but with Namor also confirmed as a mutant in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the X-Men are finally somewhere on the horizon.
5. Vision Lifts Mjolnir - Avengers: Age Of Ultron, 2015
You probably think that Captain America lifting Mjolnir in Avengers: Endgame is more deserving of a place on this list, but after it was teased in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it was a moment which wasn't necessarily expected, but one we all hoped to see would happen in the "Infinity Saga" finale.
After his creation in this 2015 blockbuster, The Vision implores Earth's Mightiest Heroes to come together to put an end to Ultron once and for all, and as the team is getting ready to leave, he passes Mjolnir to Thor.
Proving that he's not on Ultron's side and is truly worthy of assembling next to the rest of The Avengers, this was a major moment for The Vision and one which established him as one of this shared world's biggest heroes. Not everyone loved it, but you can deny it was a genuine surprise.
4. Everyone Dies - Avengers: Infinity War, 2018
Heading into Avengers: Infinity War, the stakes were obviously high, but fans were convinced that the sequel wouldn't necessarily revolve around the Mad Titan, especially with rumours that everyone from Annihilus to Galactus could be coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As a result, when Thor buried Stormbreaker in Thanos' chest, it looked like he would be defeated just in time (as is so often the case in superhero movies). Instead, the villain was still able to snap his fingers and unleash the power of the Infinity Stones to enact his deadly, terrible plan.
With that, beloved heroes like Black Panther, Bucky, Spider-Man, and Groot all turned to ash, shocking fans everywhere, and leaving us all wondering how they could possibly be resurrected.
3. "I Am Iron Man" (Again) - Avengers: Endgame, 2019
Of course, all those heroes would eventually be brought back from the dead thanks to The Hulk using the time-displaced Infinity Stones to bring back all the lives Thanos snuffed out five years earlier.
However, with the Mad Titan's forces overpowering Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Tony Stark was forced to take matters into his own hands (literally) when he donned the Infinity Gauntlet and snapped his own fingers - declaring "I Am Iron Man" one final time - to wipe out Thanos and his massive army.
We expected the hero to potentially meet his maker in Avengers: Endgame, but not like this, and not in a way that so perfectly referenced his first adventure in the MCU. The Russo Brothers nailed it.
2. Steve Rogers' Trip Through Time - Avengers: Endgame, 2019
Not all of you will necessarily agree with this topping poor Iron Man's end, but of all the ways fans imagined Captain America's story reaching its end, who could have imagined it would be this?
Heading back in time with the Infinity Stones to return them to their rightful place, it seemed like Steve Rogers was going to be sticking around for the foreseeable future...except he didn't come back. Instead, an old man wielding Captain America's shield returned to the present day, and it was then we learned he had decided to remain in the past to finally get his happy ending.
That beautiful final shot of Steve dancing with Peggy Carter couldn't have been any better, and is an ending for Chris Evans' Star Spangled Avenger we could have never predicted beforehand.
1. Spider-Man's Secret Identity Is Outed - Spider-Man: Far From Home, 2019
If your jaw wasn't on the floor after watching this mid-credits scene, we don't know what to say.
Based on rumours that had been doing the rounds, it seemed likely that we might get an Oscorp mention or something similar, but when a news report started playing near Madison Square Garden, it was hard to say what was coming next. Of course, you could have given any fan a million bucks and they wouldn't have guessed it would be the return of J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson!
As if that wasn't big enough, he proceeded to reveal that Mysterio had framed Spider-Man for his murder before telling the world that it's secretly Peter Parker beneath the wall-crawler's mask.
Simply amazing.