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 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.
Re-Watching Thor
(28:59) Odin to Thor: “YOU ARE UNWORTHY!”
One of my favorite subtle themes in Endgame is worthiness. Captain America proves to be worthy and Thor is reaffirmed as worthy, even when he considers himself a failure. This moment is the one that starts to form him to the worthy character we know, but more importantly, Endgame emphasizes that whatever you may have gone through and consider yourself a failure for, you are still worthy and that should be re-affirming for all of us.
(29:35) Odin: “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, he should possess the power of Thor.”
Kind of unfortunate that one of the only two memorable moments is not even about our title character himself! Endgame finally wowed fans when Captain America wielded Thor. Some common fans might have been confused as they may have thought that Thor’s powers were given to him by the hammer. Ragnorak made it very clear that Thor’s powers do not come from the hammer, but Odin’s words make it clear here that whoever is worthy can possess Thor’s powers. Hence why Cap can now wield not only Mjolnir but also lightning.
Re-Watching Thor: The Dark World
(Whole Movie Plot)
Let’s start with the simple joyous scene from Endgame where Thor hilariously recalls the entire plot to Thor: The Dark World. Thor’s tone in telling the story is similar to that in Ragnarok, which brings light to this whole movie in general. Thor recounts the Dark Elves (ooooh, scary), the passing of his mother, and Jane with the Aether, then ever so briefly touches on major events and character deaths from both Ragnorak and Infinity War.
Also, given that this is the first movie to name the infinity stones as such, as well as containing a major sequence in Endgame that takes us back in time to get the reality stone, there will seemingly be a lot of connections from this movie, so let’s begin, shall we!?
(1:10) Odin on the Aether: “An ancient force with infinite destruction.”
Kind of curious that Odin would use the word “infinite” don’t you think? I really wonder what would have happened if Odin would have been around for Infinity War. Also, given that he is narrating explaining the original battle with the Dark Elves and Malekith and the Convergence, would that make that battle the original Infinity War?
(4:50) Odin to Loki: “Wherever you go, there is war, ruin, and death.”
Loki is with the main crew of Asgardians at the start of Infinity War and when that movie starts, Thanos has just conquered Xandar and most of the Asgardians. From there, there is nothing more, but war, ruin, and death. This prophecy about Loki stays true until the very end.
(6:10) Odin on Thor: “He will be king.”
This finally comes true in Ragnarok, but is short lived when Thanos arrives. After “The Snap” Thor is still king, but he does not seem to be the king that we were all expecting. More than that, in the end of Endgame, he makes Valkyrie the ruler of Asgard. The main thing Odin was trying to teach Thor all along is that a ruler needs to make wise choices based off of thought before acting as a militaristic Neanderthal. Based off of the way that Valkyrie leads the people in tragedy versus Thor, isn’t that the most wise decision a king could make?
(27:37) Darcy to Thor: “Look at you. Still all muscle-y and everything.”
Pretty soon, he will be less muscle-y and way more like he really just wants a glass of milk, a bath robe, and a bowling ball.
(Prison break scene)
This is rather confusing in hindsight. I was wondering when exactly in the movie we could pinpoint when Thor and Rocket return in Endgame, but there is no logical time that he could have returned while Frigga was with Jane and Thor wasn’t around. I thought that around this time or when Thor ventures with Loki would seem logical, but it is a time of chaos where in Endgame there was calm and after this, Frigga is not around anymore. Just some proof that Hindsight is not always a good thing.
(48:11) Jane is revealed as a hologram. Malekith to Frigga: “WITCH!!!”
In Endgame, Frigga does not take any of Thor’s lies and identifies him as from the future. When he asks how she knew, she says, “I was raised by witches, boy.” A quality that can easily be forgotten by a relatively minor character, it is great to see that Endgame cares about consistency, even in the little things.