49 Marvel Movie and TV Callbacks That Were So Clever, The Writers Literally Planned Them For Years
All the way from Iron Man to WandaVision
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been running for over a decade, and that means there have been a lot of callbacks and references among all those movies and TV shows over the years. We asked the BuzzFeed Community for their favorites, and these are the incredible results:
🚨 Spoilers ahead! 🚨 Also, not all submissions are from Community users.
1. Loki cheering when Hulk smashes Thor in Thor: Ragnarok is a reference to Loki getting similarly smashed in The Avengers.
Suggested by: benevolentspirit
2. 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.
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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).
6. A case described in Doctor Strange seems to match Justin Hammer's failed attempt at re-creating Iron Man in Iron Man 2.
Suggested by: intercept & christinaf30
Though the description does also sound like Rhodey's injury in Civil War, the age and timing don't match.
7. 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.
8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier mentions Stephen Strange as a target of Project Insight two years before the release of Doctor Strange.
9. 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
10. 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.
11. In Captain America: Civil War, Sam interrupts Scott because he still doesn't want Steve to find out Scott beat him in Ant-Man.
12. 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
13. 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.
14. Black Panther's UN speech scene parallels the press conference at the end of Iron Man.
Suggested by: jlb6
15. Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows have a running joke of messing up that famous Spider-Man quote, "With great power comes great responsibility."
16. The first episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. casually mentions Project Pegasus, which we later find out was the secret Tesseract experiment that gave Captain Marvel her powers.
Suggested by: dizzytooth81
Plus, "New Mexico" is a Thor reference.
17. 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
18. Captain Marvel explains how Fury came up with the Avengers Initiative presented in Iron Man 2, as well as where the name Avengers came from.
Suggested by: megana459810788
19. Thor actually takes Thanos's advice from Avengers: Infinity War when he kills him in Endgame.
Suggested by: isatom
20. Also in Avengers: Endgame, Loki brings back (or maybe originates) his spot-on Captain America impression from Thor: The Dark World.
Suggested by: jaclynm3
21. Steve gets tired of his own catchphrase after using it through three movies.
Suggested by: jaclynm3
22. 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
23. Thor references the iconic shawarma lunch from the Avengers mid-credits scene in Avengers: Endgame.
Suggested by: mikea4846bed6c
24. Stan Lee makes his final cameo in the MCU in Endgame, bringing with him some poignant final advice for Tony and Steve.
"This is Stan Lee’s final nod and message to his fans as he, quite literally, drives off into the sunset. He's been digitally de-aged, which means this is likely Stan Lee himself in the '70s rather than a character. His final words, 'Make love, not war,' are both a nod to the Iron Man movies because that’s what Tony did when he stopped making weapons for the military and fell in love with Pepper, as well as parting advice to the First Avenger, who goes back in time at the end to live his life with Peggy Carter. So this scene is Stan’s parting gift in the final Avengers movie, and it's underscored by a bumper sticker with one of his catchphrases: ‘Nuff said."
25. 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
26. 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
27. 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
28. Sam finally gets to say "on your left" back to Steve in Endgame after hearing it so much in Winter Soldier.
Suggested by: mororke7
29. Steve finally says "Avengers, assemble" for the first time in Endgame after teasing it in Age of Ultron.
Suggested by: kookycooky97
30. 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
31. 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
32. T'Challa uses Clint's name when he asks for the gauntlet in Endgame, revealing that he actually did care when Clint introduced himself in Civil War.
Suggested by: marcusanthonym2
33. 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
34. 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."
35. Harley, Tony's friend from Iron Man 3, attends Tony's funeral in Endgame.
Suggested by: megana459810788
36. 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
37. Tony's first arc reactor, which Pepper turned into a keepsake in Iron Man, also appears at his funeral.
38. Steve and Bucky say goodbye in Endgame the same way they did before Bucky left for war in The First Avenger.
Suggested by: mh202019
39. 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.
40. Throughout Endgame, Wanda's visions from Age of Ultron all sort of come true.
41. 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
42. Also 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
43. The MCU starts with Tony saying "I am Iron Man" at the end of Iron Man, and Phase Three ends with "Spider-Man's name is Peter Parker" in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Suggested by: its_just_pretty_great
44. Both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home end with a cutoff "What the f—?"
45. WandaVision reveals that Jimmy Woo mastered the card trick he asked Scott about in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
46. 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.
47. 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.
48. In Avengers: Infinity War, Vision is in the middle of asking Wanda to stay with him when they're interrupted by a fight, and WandaVision reveals that he was most likely about to show her the property he'd already bought them if she agreed.
49. And finally, WandaVision includes a lot of references to Wanda's past with Vision. Probably the most heartbreaking is Wanda's "I can't feel you," as she feels Vision's lifeless head, which is a reference to them saying "I just feel you," to each other in Infinity War.
