Back in 2008, the concept of a shared superhero universe was frowned upon. Right now, it is something the movie making industry of Hollywood cannot even live without. The MCU, the DCEU, and even the Universal’s upcoming Monsterverse – are all examples of a shared cinematic universe which is about to get even a whole lot bigger with bigger and newer additions to H-Town. But it was all started by the MCU, who sowed the seeds of Easter eggs and foreshadowing long before anyone could even think of it. Presenting – 10 Cases of incredibly clever comic book references in the MCU to make you go WOW!
1. Age of Ultron – Heimdall talks about Hela
Age of Ultron is perhaps the most badly reviewed movie of the Avengers’ lot. Yet it still raked in more than a billion in the Box Office. The movie served as a bridge for the past movies of the MCU to properly connect with the future. In one of the scenes in Avengers 2, the visions induced by Scarlet Witch upon Thor makes him see his Asgard in ruins and Heimdall referring to him as Odin’s First Son. He did not say First Born but First Son. Meaning Odin had an elder sibling. Hail Hela!!
2. Civil War – Gave away who will die in Infinity War
Captain America: Civil War put team Iron Man against Team Cap. While it came way before Infinity War and had next to no connection to its events, it still somehow ended up influencing it. In one of the scenes of Civil War, we see Vision, Scarlet Witch and Falcon sitting on one side of a table while Captain America, Black Widow and War Machine sitting on the other. Tony Stark was also aligned more with the formers’ position. The wait is it what we think it is??
3. The First Avenger – The curse of the Red Skull
When Johann Schmidt aka the Red Skull first breaks down a church in Norway to get hold of the Space Stone, the priest who tries to protect it says that the Red Skull is not worthy of his power. He is clearly heard saying –“You will burn!!” The Red Skull ends up holding the Space Stone with his bare hands at the end of the movie and forever cursed to be the Soul Stone’s keeper, warning travellers that they need to pay a price in order to wield an Infinity Stone. Red Skull was ‘burned’ that way.
4. Age of Ultron – Ultron predicts Thanos is coming
During the second Avengers flick, Ultron is heard addressing the Maximoff twins. He claims that the Earth has already faced at least 12 extinction level events. Whenever the world settles down for a moment, another stone is thrown at it. His words, not ours! He also claims that we need to be ready for something far greater is coming. Did Ultron already know about the Infinity Gauntlet and the plans of the Mad Titan?
5. Iron Man – J.A.R.V.I.S predicts infinity War
During the first Iron Man movie, we see Tony Stark testing out his new Iron Man suit. The suit has impressive abilities and can fly with bleeding edge velocities. But it faces one small problem – the higher it goes, the more ice starts to build up aboard his suit thus shutting it down completely, which could be fatal for a man flying 10,000 feet above the surface. When Tony asks Jarvis to make the necessary adjustments, the A.I makes a witty remark that he might need it when he travels to other planets. In Infinity War, Tony Stark actually does.
6. Age of Ultron – The ‘Endgame’ had been already mentioned
The Endgame is what the rumour mill claims to be Doctor Strange’s master plan to defeat the Mad Titan. Doctor Strange died and let Tony Stark live because he believes that is the only way to defeat Thanos. While we ponder upon what his plan is, it is worth mentioning that the Endgame is a term that has been used way before in the MCU. When Thor confronts Tony about his involvement in creating Ultron, Tony replies that Ultron is the ‘Endgame’ that they all need to defeat. How didn’t Tony get that reference from Strange?!?!
7. Iron Man 2 – Enter Project Goliath
Bill Foster is a recent entrant into the MCU family. But his name had already been mentioned in the cinematic universe a long while ago. In Iron Man 2, when Tony Stark is trying to search for a cure to help alleviate his critically deteriorating condition, he asked Jarvis to look into the database and search for Project Pegasus, Exodus and Goliath. The first is a clear reference to Tony Stark’s pet project to spy on Shield. The second is a nod to Exodus, a popular mutant supervillain and perhaps a gateway for the X-Men to enter the MCU. The third is Goliath, the comic book alter ego of Bill Foster who appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
8. Thor – Odin already knew Loki is up to no good
It is official news now that Odin had three children – two of his own and one adopted. The first was Hela, who was banished to Hel for being too bloodthirsty and detrimental to the health of the Nine Realms. The second was Thor, the current God of Thunder and the guy with the Uru hammer. The third is Loki, the God of mischief and the only adopted one out of the three. Loki is, in fact, a Frost Giant, with clearly defined facial features akin to one. But Odin used his magic to make him look more like Hela, the daughter he banished. Why didn’t Odin make Loki’s hair blonde? The simple answer is – Odin knew Loki was a bad guy and hence, he made sure he looked like Hela, to be reminded of the fact that Loki could turn evil at any point of time, which he did.
9. Homecoming – Tony knew Peter will die soon
In Spiderman: Homecoming, we see a young Peter Parker being guided by Tony Stark on the ways of the superhero every step of the way. In one of the scenes, we hear Tony saying that if Peter dies, his death will be on him and he won’t ever be able to get that out of his consequence. The very next movie featuring both the characters is the one where Tony literally sees Peter fading away into nothingness before his eyes. His prophecy had come true, the moment Tony made Peter an Avenger, and Peter died a horrible death.
10. Guardians of the Galaxy – Gamora was set to be a sacrifice for the Soul Stone
In Infinity War, Gamora was of the opinion that since the Soul Stone demanded a sacrifice of a near and dear one to let it be wielded Thanos can never own it since he never loved anyone. That was not true. Thanos did love Gamora as his own child. He even mentioned this explicitly to Ronan the Accuser in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 1, referring to her as his ‘favourite daughter’. Gamora’s destiny had already been set. She was destined to be the sacrifice for Thanos in the Infinity War.
The latest movie to be released under the Marvel Banner is Ant-Man and the Wasp. The official plot synopsis for the movie reads:
“Scott Lang is grappling with the consequences of his choices as both a superhero and a father. Approached by Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym, Lang must once again don the Ant-Man suit and fight alongside the Wasp. The urgent mission soon leads to secret revelations from the past as the dynamic duo finds itself in an epic battle against a powerful new enemy.”
The highest earning movie under the MCU banner is Avengers: Infinity War. The plot synopsis for the third Avengers movie reads:
“Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the rest of the Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet — the evil Thanos. On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artifacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment.”
