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 Endgame in mind and see a few things. The first is to see ways in which they refer back to other movies directly or indirectly. The second is to see how these movies prepare for the Infinity Saga in terms of story, character, and plot. This article isn’t focused on references to how it sets up other MCU movies other than Infinity War and Endgameand 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.R
(5:09) Red Skull: “It has taken me a long time to find this place.” Also refers to himself as a man of vision.
One thing that is very noticeable on a re-watch is how similar Red Skull is to Thanos in journey and philosophy. I’d kind of like to see a Superhero Café of them. Red Skull seems to be a pre-cursor to Thanos. Additionally, we understand that Thanos has been searching for the Infinity Stones for years, which is a long time. I wonder how much longer it would have taken had certain other events not taken place, such as Ragnarok or the keeping of the Aether at Knowhere.
(5:59) Red Skull picks up an imitation Tesseract.
This is similar to in Infinity War where the Guardians encounter Thanos on Knowhere where Thanos leads on the Guardians by changing reality to look normal. People keep trying to disguise these Infinity Stones and their abilities. It seems rather useless to try to hid them.
(7:56) Tower Keeper: “You cannot control the power you hold. You will burn.”
Little did Walder Frey know just how accurate his statement is. In Endgame, all three who use the Infinity Stones Thanos, Hulk, and Tony show signs of burning, some more severe than others. Thanos and Hulk merely get a limp arm and, of course, it devastates Tony’s whole body. The best way to describe the damage has to be burning and it always seems to be representative of the power and how no living person is really supposed to wield them. Even Peter Quill, whose father was a celestial, could barely harness one out of the six.
(9:18) Movie Theater: “Every able bodied man is lining up to serve his country.”
Reminded me of the glamor shot in the final battle of Endgame where every hero is lined up in one shot to “assemble.” Just when we thought that hero shots could not get any cooler than the ones in Infinity War, Endgame just blew us all away and showed so many loved characters and even threw in a few new surprises. Anyone who can fight does.
(9:51) Movie Theater: “We will face any threat; no matter the size.”
This seems to reflect the nature of the Avengers during Infinity War. Despite failing, they still stand strong and try until the very end. And when they lose and the Avengers are reduced in size, they still fight. And when the threat is not even a physical threat anymore, but a metaphysical threat, they conquer it. Just how much more threatening do you get beyond metaphysical!?
(10:11) Theater Bully: “You just don’t know when to give up, do you?”
After Thanos is killed at the start of Endgame, all hope seems to be lost, but Cap and Natasha are the two who try to fight hardest, albeit in different ways. Even in the ashes, Steve does not give up on rebuilding from the ashes. Cap’s character trait throughout all of these movies has been the last line of defense and there is no alternative. If Steve is alive, he is fighting.
(10:13; 1:35:01) Steve: “I can do this all day.”
Of course, this becomes Cap’s staple line and used heavily in almost every appearance from him. Mostly used as a mantra to get back up, except in Endgame where it is used for arguably the biggest comedic line in the movie.
(13:26) Bucky: “We’re taking the girls dancing.”
Dancing remains prominent in this movie with the double date and several conversations with Steve and Peggy. It’s always dancing; never anything else. Maybe this is Steve’s only idea for what a date could look like (well, except for fondu, but I’m pretty sure he still doesn’t know what that means). We’re going to go ahead and use this as (almost) all of the references pointing to Steve and Peggy’s dance at the end of Endgame.
(14:20) Bucky: “Don’t do anything stupid until I get back.” “Steve: How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.”
Verbatim the words when Steve goes back to replace the Infinity Stones. Except in Endgame, the people who say these lines are switched. And what better way to bookend the Bucky/Steve relationship than to show how each character has progressed. Bucky has moved from the confident to damaged and redeemed character and Cap has moved from a little want-to-be to the ideal form of himself only to go back to his roots.
(16:39) Steve: “I don’t like bullies. I don’t care where they are from.”
I thought it was interesting the “where they are from” line as no one on Earth had any idea about Titan before Infinity War. In fact, Cap only finds out about space in Avengers and even then, I don’t think anyone expected the next big bully to come from the sky.
(24:17) Colonel Phillips: “He’s still skinny.”
I think there is a small remark here about the comment of Steve’s flat butt in Endgame.
(25:52) Abraham: “For Schmidt, it is not fantasy. For him, it is real.”
Again, parallels between Red Skull and Thanos. To everyone else, their plans seem outrageous and fantasy, but to them, their plans are the only acceptable reality. To Thanos, everyone thinks he is the “Mad Titan” but in his mind, everyone else is mad for not seeing the impending doom that will inevitably fall upon these civilizations.
(27:30) Abraham: “Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will remain who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.
I chose to include this line because of the promise to be good rather than perfect. A perfect person would not have lost initially to Thanos, but a good man is far more useful than a perfect soldier. Even when the battles are long settled, Steve is still trying to be good by hosting a survivors group and fighting in a new way.
(44:33) Red Skull: “Hydra is assembling an arsenal to destroy my enemies in one stroke.”
Everyone seems to seek a weapon that only takes one. If you read the Iron Man Article, you saw this appear there as well with the Jericho missile. It’s kind of funny, however, that the weapon that only needsto be used once isused four times (not counting times the stones were used individually). Once to annihilate life, one to destroy the power they hold, one to restore life, and one to destroy Thanos and his army.
(1:04:26) Cap to Bucky: “I thought you were dead.”
This is likely Cap’s thought after the team kills Thanos. None of our characters had any idea what had happened to any of these characters in Endgame. In fact, even the audience is not sure until Peter explains his side of the story, but even then, they are just as good as dead in the real world. In this movie, Bucky was taken captive and Steve comes to rescue him. Same situation, greater stakes in Infinity War/Endgame.
(1:04:30-57) Bucky to Cap: “What happened to you?… Did it hurt?… Is it permanent?”
Just a few questions I image Cap asking Bucky about the Snap. There are a million questions I think we all have about the effects of the Snap and hopefully we will get some answers to them, but these are some examples of the questions at the top of the list.
(1:20:33) Cap’s compass with Peggy’s picture first appears.
This is featured as a prominent identifier in Endgame. It even leads to a scene that confuses the crap out of 2012 Captain America.
(1:42:54) Red Skull: “You don’t give up, do you?”
Kind of the point of the Avengers, wouldn’t you say? Truth be told, I never really bought into the idea that their name should be the Avengers until Endgame. I know that Captain Marvel reveals that it was because Fury was inspired by Danvers’ callsign and that in the moment it was because of Coulson’s “death,” but that just never seemed enough. Sure, Tony has a great line in The Avengersthat I’ll cover in the near future (foreshadowing *ding*) but Endgame really seems like the first time that the Avengers earn their name. They don’t give up even when they have clearly lost.
(1:50:12) The photo of Steve is shown that Peggy keeps on her desk in the 70s.
(1:53:45) Cap: I had a date.
It’s quite fitting that the last line of the first chronological movie would be the ending to the Infinity Saga. Cap is distraught that he had a date and missed it and, little did anyone know, that he would eventually get that date. Dancing serves as a really strong bookend to this one of this franchise’s most beloved characters.