61 Marvel Movie And Show Details That Are So Clever, The Writers Literally Planned Them For Years
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is big, and it's had a lot of callbacks and references between all its movies and TV shows over the years. Here are some of our favorites:
🚨 Spoilers ahead! 🚨 Also, some submissions are from Community users.
1.Happy's boxing gear that he used while training with Tony in Iron Man 2 is on display in his apartment in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
2.The earlier commercials in WandaVision correspond to the pieces of Wanda's story we've seen throughout the MCU.
The Stark toaster represents the Stark tech that killed Wanda's parents and traumatized her and Pietro. The Strucker watch and Hydra Soak represent Wanda and Pietro turning to Strucker and Hydra to find control, only to be experimented on. The Lagos paper towels represent Wanda's failed attempt to contain a bomb in Lagos.
3.But the Nexus commercial from WandaVision predicts the "Nexus events" described in Loki.
4.Yelena makes macaroni and cheese in Hawkeye, the same food she asked for when she was a child in Black Widow.
5.Loki smashes his cup after finishing his drink in Loki, just like Thor does in Thor.
6.Wanda says, "I can't feel you," as she feels Vision's lifeless head in WandaVision, which is a reference to them saying, "I just feel you," to each other in Infinity War.
7.In Loki, Loki recycles his iconic "glorious purpose" line from Avengers.
8.As Monica is walking through the hex barrier in WandaVision, she hears a lot of voices, including Carol repeating something she said in Captain Marvel.
9.The in-flight entertainment in Spider-Man: Far From Home includes a lot of movies and shows about different parts of the MCU, including an episode of the PBS show Nova hosted by Dr. Erik Selvig.
10.Pepper's Rescue Armor in Endgame is the same silvery blue as the gown she picked out for herself as a birthday gift from Tony in the first Iron Man movie.
Suggested by: mjwatson92
11.Throughout Endgame, Wanda's visions from Age of Ultron all sort of come true.
12.Bucky sleeping on the floor in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a reference to a conversation Steve and Sam had in The Winter Soldier.
13.Bucky asks John if he's ever jumped on a grenade in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier because that's the test Colonel Phillips used in First Avenger to see if Steve had "guts."
14.Principal Morita in Spider-Man: Homecoming has a picture of his grandfather, Jim Morita, one of Cap's Howling Commandos from Captain America: The First Avenger (and both characters are played by Kenneth Choi).
15.In the Captain America exhibit in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, there's a wall of documents, many of which appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger.
16.In the fight club in Shang-Chi, we see a widow from Black Widow, an Extremis soldier from Iron Man 3, Abomination from The Incredible Hulk, and obviously, Wong from Doctor Strange.
17.In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter unknowingly mimics the way Tony interacts with holograms in Iron Man, which gets him a fond look from Happy.
Suggested by: maiziehurst123
18.WandaVision reveals that Jimmy Woo mastered the card trick he asked Scott about in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
19.Loki cheering when Hulk smashes Thor in Thor: Ragnarok is a reference to Loki getting similarly smashed in The Avengers.
Suggested by: benevolentspirit
20.A map in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in Iron Man 2 seems to label significant places in both past and future MCU movies.
Suggested by: christopherf4a0d0a2c4
Greenland is where Cap crashes the Valkyrie, Malibu is where Tony lives at the time, New Mexico is where Thor's hammer lands, and Wakanda is where T'Challa lives. The other locations are a little unclear. The one on the US East Coast could be New York, a reference to the battle of New York; New Jersey, where Camp Lehigh is; or Virginia, where Bruce Banner becomes the Hulk. The one in Europe could be Norway, where the Tesseract was hidden for a long time, or Sokovia, where the Maximoffs are from.
21.Thor's comment after Steve calls Mjolnir in Endgame confirms that he saw Steve was worthy enough to lift the hammer in Age of Ultron.
Suggested by: kookycooky97
22.In Agent Carter, we meet the Stark Labs scientist Anton Vanko, who we learned in Iron Man 2 helped create Stark's arc reactor technology and also fathered Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash.
23.In The Incredible Hulk, we meet a pizza-craving grad student who grows up to become Peter Parker's teacher in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Suggested by: putzik47
24.In Spider-Man: Homecoming, there's a picture of Bruce Banner in Peter's physics class and a mural of Howard Stark in a stairwell.
25.Thor's failed attempt to soothe Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok is a reference to what Natasha does to soothe Hulk in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
26.A Stark-designed ship in Thor: Ragnarok requires that Thor use the name "Point Break," a reference to Tony using the nickname in The Avengers.
Suggested by: pipermurreyj
27.Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows have a running joke of messing up that famous Spider-Man quote: "With great power comes great responsibility."
28.In Infinity War, Loki makes a reference to something Tony said to him all the way back in The Avengers, making it clear he's really switched sides.
Suggested by: megana459810788
29.Captain Marvel teases people who saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier by implying Fury will lose his eye by trusting a Coulson lookalike, only for him to actually lose his eye by petting a cat.
Suggested by: goosethekitty
30.In Avengers: Endgame, Loki brings back (or maybe originates) his spot-on Captain America impression from Thor: The Dark World.
Suggested by: jaclynm3
31.Steve gets tired of his own catchphrase after using it through three movies.
Suggested by: jaclynm3
32.Steve almost re-creates his iconic elevator fight from Winter Soldier in Endgame until he realizes the one thing he could have said to walk out without fighting.
Suggested by: jaclynm3
33.Thor references the shawarma lunch from the Avengers mid-credits scene in Avengers: Endgame.
Suggested by: mikea4846bed6c
34.James D'Arcy returns in Avengers: Endgame to play Edwin Jarvis, Howard Stark's butler who we first met in Agent Carter.
Suggested by: whopple
35.Sam finally gets to say, "On your left," back to Steve in Endgame after hearing it so much in Winter Soldier.
Suggested by: mororke7
36.Steve finally says, "Avengers, assemble," for the first time in Endgame after teasing it in Age of Ultron.
Suggested by: kookycooky97
37.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. references Wolfgang von Strucker and the fact that he gave Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver their powers, which we saw in the credits of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Suggested by: everlea
38.Peter activates "Instant Kill" again in Endgame, but on purpose this time, unlike when he accidentally activated it in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Suggested by: kookycooky97
39.Scott gives Hope a look after she calls Steve "Cap" in Endgame because she teased him throughout Ant-Man and the Wasp for doing the same thing.
Suggested by: cor15
40.Tony's last words in Endgame before sacrificing himself to save the world are the same words he ended his first movie with.
Suggested by: murrays3
41.Steve and Tony prove each other wrong one last time in Endgame, years after their big argument in The Avengers.
"Tony sacrifices himself for the greater good to save everyone, proving he's the guy to make the sacrifice play, and Steve is able to wield Thor’s hammer, proving he is worthy and special."
42.Harley, Tony's friend from Iron Man 3, attends Tony's funeral in Endgame.
Suggested by: megana459810788
43.Morgan asks Happy for cheeseburgers at the funeral, the same thing Tony asked for after escaping his abductors in the first Iron Man.
Suggested by: megana459810788
44.Tony's first arc reactor, which Pepper turned into a keepsake in Iron Man, also appears at his funeral.
45.Steve and Bucky say goodbye in Endgame the same way they did before Bucky left for war in The First Avenger.
Suggested by: mh202019
46.Steve and Peggy dance in Endgame to the same song that was playing on the stereo when Nick Fury broke into Steve’s apartment in Winter Soldier.
Suggested by: mesaunders96
"It's Been a Long, Long Time" was actually released just before the end of World War II, and it was a huge hit after the war ended. The lyrics are about reuniting with a lover after a long time apart.
47.Captain America: The Winter Soldier mentions Stephen Strange as a target of Project Insight two years before the release of Doctor Strange.
48.In Far From Home, Happy turns on "Back in Black," the song that the Jon Favreau–directed Iron Man opens with, but Peter Parker is too young to recognize who it's by.
Suggested by: mjwatson92
49.Both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home end with a cut-off "What the f—?"
50.Batroc calling Sam's new uniform a "bird costume" in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a reference to the UN calling his old suit the same thing in Civil War.
51.Sam says the same thing to Karli in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that Steve said to Bucky in Winter Soldier.
52.When Bucky refuses to move his seat up in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it's payback for Sam not moving his in Civil War.
53.Natasha and Clint reference a mission in Budapest in Avengers and Endgame, but we don't find out what the mission was until Black Widow.
54.In Eternals, not only does Kingo claim he knew Thor as a kid, but Sprite also calls Captain America "Captain Rogers," which suggests she may know him personally or at least through the military.
55.The guy who asks Spider-Man to do a flip in Homecoming is the same guy who livestreams the bus fight in Shang-Chi.
56.The tower at Kate's school in Hawkeye is named after Obadiah Stane from Iron Man.
57.Yelena lands on the roof in Hawkeye in a pose that's very similar to the one she made fun of in Black Widow.
58.In Spider-Man: No Way Home, you can spot a few billboards for Rogers: The Musical, which Clint took his kids to in Hawkeye.
59.Yelena mentions a "new and improved Statue of Liberty" in Hawkeye, but the giant Captain America shield being added to it is not revealed until Spider-Man: No Way Home.
60.There's a bus ad in Moon Knight for the GRC, or the Global Repatriation Council, which is the international council in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that's in charge of managing the refugee crisis following the Blip.
61.Finally, there's also a line in Moon Knight that suggests Layla has been to Madripoor, the criminal haven we first saw in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
