By Aaron Schweitzer
They say hindsight is 20/20. The MCU has 22 films total and the last 2 chronologically combine to one that 20 films have set up. So let’s take a look back at those 20. The goal of this series is to rewatch the MCU with Infinity War and Endgamein mind and see a few things. The first is to see ways in which they refer back to other movies indirectly or indirectly. The second is to see how these movies prepare for the Infinity Saga in terms of story, character, and development. This article isn’t focused on references to how it sets up other MCU movies other than Infinity War and Endgame and also some of these might seem like a bit of a stretch, but that’s the fun in it. Obviously not all of these were intentional, but the MCU has done a fantastic job with little references everywhere and I want to find them with the Endgame in mind. Of course, SPOILERS.
(2:06) Fury to Coulson: “How bad is it?” “That’s the problem, sir, we don’t know.”
This statement reflected a similar conversation at the beginning of Endgame. Natasha is briefing the team and says that Thanos did exactly what he said he was going to do. Both scenes have this scene that there seems to be a lot of damage, but our heroes aren’t exactly sure the extent or what they can do about it.
(6:07) Loki to Hawkeye: “You have heart.”
I picked this quote to write about because by the time Endgame has come around, Hawkeye has become a big aspect and is arguably the heart of this team. Sure, people have argued that he has been underutilized and they’re probably right, but with the introduction of his family, his grace shown to Natasha, his life saved with Quicksilver’s death, and seeing his family disappear in the Snap, Hawkeye has become a really sympathetic heart-driven character.
(7:08) Loki to Fury: “I come with glad tidings of a world made free.” “Free from what?” “Freedom. Freedom is life’s great lie. Once you accept that in your heart, you will know peace.”
Loki is making an argument here that seems very similar to what Thanos is arguing. Loki claims that slavery brings freedom of heart and peace of mind and Thanos brings about a food shortage crisis that will ultimately bring peace. Both think they have good intentions, but really only to themselves.
(8:21) Fury: “Barton has turned.”
In this movie, Hawkeye has been mind-controlled by Loki and changed sides from good to bad. In Endgame, he takess his Ronin persona and definitely becomes more of an anti-hero and one could even argue villain. Ronin takes things a bit too far in Endgame and Natasha is keeping an eye on him. He may have some sweet one-liners, action scenes, and an interesting motivation, but he is certainly not a guy we want to root totally for when we meet him.
(17:56) Banner: “I don’t always get what I want.”
Banner notes in Endgame that he tried to bring Natasha back when he snapped, but it does not work that way. If anyone wanted Nat back, it would have been Banner for sure, given their relationship, but this is just another example that Banner does not usually get what he wants. Honestly, out of all of the Avengers, I think he gets the worst hand dealt to him.
(37:16) Sitwell about Loki: “He’s not exactly hiding.”
Something about this line seemed different when watching this movie again. I’ve already made one comparison so far, but when the Avengers attack Thanos at the beginning of Endgame, there is the same reaction. Captain Marvel scopes out the garden planet that Thanos is resting on and he is not hiding, but out in the open and it shocks the Avengers. Given their past with Loki, they must know that something is up and this time they do not take any prisoners.
(55:04) Tony: “Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnel effect…”
I never caught this as I thought the first mention of Quantum was in Ant Man, but this brought me back to the future because essentially what Tony does in Endgame is stabilize the quantum tunnel effect. He calls it something else that’s all science-y and probably just yada-yada-ed, but essentially what he is doing is stabilizing time travel via the quantum tunnel, right?
(55:33) Cap: “I’d start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.”
Sure, Loki’s scepter is given to him from The Other and before that we’re not really sure, but Endgame brought out something new to this line for me. We see in the time travel to 2012 NY scenes that a few SHIELD agents come and grab Loki’s scepter. Except they’re not SHIELD agents, they’re HYDRA. I mean, I guess technically they’re both, but either way, we see that Cap refers to it as similar to a HYDRA weapon and we find out that from 2012-2015 it is a HYDRA weapon.
(1:00:13) Banner: “So, you’re saying that the Hulk… the other guy… saved my life? That’s nice. It’s a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?
Hulk is a character that has self-identified as always seeming out of place until halfway through Endgame where the Avengers regather the Infinity Stones. There is a discussion on who is going to wield it and Hulk says, “It’s like I was made for this.” This really seems to be the first time Hulk finds his purpose and this quote really demonstrates that sense of lostness.
(1:10:14) Cap to Tony: “Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?… The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play.”
Gosh, this quote and the next are my two biggest takeaways from re-watching The Avengers. Right from the start, Feige did a great job making sure the tensions existed so Civil War would feel natural, but they also do so in such a way that makes Endgame feel so natural. Cap questions Tony’s integrity and commitment in this movie and perhaps rightfully so, but by the time Endgame comes around, Tony fights for everyone multiple times and makes the ultimate sacrifice. It’s a really nice bookend to these two and their relationship.
(1:10:47) Tony to Cap: “You’re a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle.”
This is my other big takeaway from this movie. Tony seems rather unimpressed when he meets Steve Rogers and, perhaps it is because of Howard Stark’s relationship with each, respectively, that influences that. But Tony believes and calls out that the only reason that Captain America is who he is is because of the Super Soldier Serum. And that may have been true (except for his character), but with his ability to wield Mjolnir (Which Feige has confirmed he was able to do in Age of Ultron, but out of his humility he pretended he couldn’t). Steve Rogers is something special and I think it takes Tony until Endgame to figure it out.
(1:41:05) Tony: “If we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.”
Yes! Finally, someone who gets it! I promise this will be the last time I rant about this and if you disagree with this statement or have an insight I don’t then please leave a comment. Calling the Avengers that before this line just does not make sense to me. And Endgame is the fulfillment of this line. Gosh, I just really love how much Endgame is bookended by stuff specifically from this movie.
(2:05:21) Cap to Tony: “You know that’s a one-way trip?”
The first of two times that Tony takes a trip to Space and comes back. The first here and the first when he hops aboard Thanos’ ship on his way to Titan. I’ll expand on this journey a little more in the next line.
(2:06:28) Call from Tony to Pepper fails.
In Infinity War on his space trip here, phone calls get made and interrupted. Tony tries to call Pepper to say goodbye and it fails going through. Later, Pepper tries calling Tony and it gets cut off, although they do get a few words in that time. These trips that Tony takes are some of the most humanity-filled moments in Avenger movies and it is because Space doesn’t change the human narrative. At the end of the day, Tony in Space is still Tony separated from his life on Earth and that’s not a life we really want to see played out for too long.
(2:08:53) Tony to group: “Have you ever tried shawarma?”
I said it in my initial Endgame review and I’ll say it again. The main reason why I think Endgame is the best MCU movie now is because of how much it elevates every other movie that came before. That is true cinema greatness. Whether it is bringing more purpose to some lesser-loved movies like Age of Ultron or The Dark World, revisiting character themes, seeing character progression, or just even reliving the joy of a previous MCU moment, this movie has it all.
(2:09:30) Loki: “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll have that drink now.”
This line does the same thing that the last line did, however, this is where Cap and Tony truly encounters the 2012 crew again, but this time with a new tiny friend who is supportive of Cap’s suit and what it does for his butt.
(2:12:11) Hill to Fury: “We get into a situation like this again, what happens then?” “They’ll come back.” “Are you really sure about that” “I am.” “Why?” “Because we’ll need them to.”
I know it is not the same line, but this series of lines reminds me of the line Cap says to Natasha in Endgame: “Because I don’t know what I’m going to do if [this doesn’t work].” They are two completely different conversations with two completely different sets of characters, but they feel so similar in tones of hope. Both are hopeful in the team now assembled, but one is from a place of insecurity and the other is from a place of desperation. Either way, we will always need the Avengers, no matter the situation.
(2:15:50) The Other: “To challenge them is to court death.” Appearance of Thanos, who then smiles.
This is a more comic-run fun tidbit, but Thanos’ motivations in the comics was to court Lady Death. He was hoping that if he killed half of the population, he would win her over. I think this like The Other is intentional and Thanos’ motivations are pretty similar here in initial theory. Joss Whedon has said that he loved the idea, but is thankful he didn’t actually have to tackle Thanos as he did not know how to. Looking back, The Russo Brothers absolutely crushed it and a big reason for that is all that Feige, Whedon, Favreau, and the whole crew has done to really set up that perfect pitch, even if they did not have 20/20 on what the future held.