One of the best things about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the franchise’s ability to sow small details that go on to have massive implications for the universe, whether they’re easy to notice or not. Like any film, the narrative of the MCU movies are at their best when they can pay off something that is set up much earlier. As such an expansive franchise, the MCU can afford to seed tiny elements of the plot whose ramifications are only seen multiple movies later, ending up to be much more important moments than originally thought.
These small beats that end up being much more important than they seemed are everywhere in the early Marvel Cinematic Universe. Back when the franchise had a more defined direction with the culmination of the Infinity Saga storyline, the MCU’s films were excellent at teasing the direction of future characters with now-obvious foreshadowing. Other times, as is the case with the Disney+ Marvel shows, it’s clear that the significance of these blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scenes are only made retroactively important with new informaiton.
10 Hulk Responds To Being Called By His Own Name
Iconic moment was inThor: Ragnarok
The Hulk is an interesting supporting character in the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Both he and Dr. Bruce Banner are defined by the single body that they share, clearly two distinct entities, though other characters sometimes struggle to tell which is which.
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7/10 11 7.6/10 Thor: Ragnarok PG-13
Director Taika Waititi Release Date November 3, 2017 Writers Eric Pearson , Craig Kyle , Christopher Yost , Stan Lee , Larry Lieber , Jack Kirby , Greg Pak , Walter Simonson , Carlo Pagulayan Cast Chris Hemsworth , Tessa Thompson , Tom Hiddleston , Mark Ruffalo , Jeff Goldblum , Cate Blanchett , Idris Elba , Karl Urban Runtime 130 Minutes
Throughout the MCU’s films, the Hulk’s level of anger can easily be defined by whether or not those around him are referring to him as Bruce Banner or not. Thor repeatedly makes this mistake during the arena fight with Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok, earning a vicious beating for his troubles.
Tony is smart enough to realize his mistake when he does the same right before the Hulkbuster fight in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but his efforts are too little, too late. Meanwhile, Hulk shows much more respect towards Captain America, Black Widow, and Valkyrie, even willing to follow their orders, because they’re polite enough to call him “Hulk” or even simply “big guy.”
9 Captain America Gets Loki To Take Earth Seriously
Iconic moment during The Avengers
Not every small ounce of detail in the MCU movie serves to set up a greater payoff multiple films later. Sometimes, a small detail that is easily overlooked bears its own special significance, as is the case with Captain America’s first encounter with Loki in The Avengers. At this point in Loki’s MCU journey, the trickster god was still very much a villain, giving in to his delusions of grandeur in an attempt to conquer the Earth for himself.
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17 7.9/10 The Avengers PG-13
Director Joss Whedon Release Date May 4, 2012 Studio(s) Marvel Distributor(s) Marvel , Disney Runtime 143 Minutes
At first, Loki makes a big point of referring to humans as inferior, clearly not threatened by anything they could hope to do to him. That is, until he is directly confronted by Captain America, who socks him in the jaw without a moment’s hesitation.
This is a small, but important moment quickly sells Loki on just how dangerous humanity can be as captors if letf unchecked.
The look on Tom Hiddleston’s face quickly washes over from smug superiority to sudden alarm, surprised that any human is capable of leaving such a literal impact on him. This is a small, but important moment quickly sells Loki on just how dangerous humanity can be as captors if left unchecked.
8 Agatha All Along Calls Back To WandaVision’s Black Heart
Iconic moment was in Agatha All Along
While the best easily missed moments with deeper hidden meanings occur in the earlier stages of the MCU’s pop culture dominance, some of them have only cropped up in more recent years. In the series’ first Disney+ streaming show, WandaVision, precedents for imagery were set that went on to have valuable meaning years later. This is the case for a seemingly insignificant visual detail in the show, a small black heart, which has gone on to take on a new meaning in the currently-releasing Agatha All Along.
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7/10 111 8.8/10 Agatha All Along TV-14
Cast Kathryn Hahn , Joe Locke , Sasheer Zamata , Ali Ahn , Okwui Okpokwasili , Debra Jo Rupp , Patti LuPone , Aubrey Plaza , David Payton , Emma Caulfield Ford , David Lengel , Asif Ali , Amos Glick , Elaine Valdes , Paria Akbarshahi , Chau Naumova , Bethany Curry , Athena Perample , Alicia Vela-Bailey , Britta Grant , Marina Mazepa Writers Jac Schaeffer Directors Jac Schaeffer , Gandja Monteiro , Rachel Goldberg Showrunner Jac Schaeffer Main Genre Adventure Creator(s) Jac Schaeffer Expand
In WandaVision, while still trapped in their idyllic sitcom lifestyle, Wanda and Vision schedule a meeting on their calendars with the Hart family, marking the occasion with a simple black heart evocative of their last name. This imagery comes up again in Agatha All Along, where Agatha uses a black heart seemingly as a placeholder for Mrs. Hart’s name on her list of coven members to recruit, despite her apparent lack of magical abilities. This welcome callback helps tie the two shows together with a shared acknowledgment of their returning cast members.
7 Cameron Klein’s Bravery Gets Him Promoted
Iconic moment during Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Occasionally, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will fondly bring back small side characters in order to keep their shared world feeling lived-in and dynamic. One of the most subtle examples of this is first seeded in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, when rogue HYDRA agent Brock Rumlowe, a.k.a. Crossbones, attempts to launch S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarriers for nefarious purposes.
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8/10 17 8.2/10 Captain America: The Winter Soldier PG-13
Director Joe Russo , Anthony Russo Release Date April 4, 2014 Writers Stephen McFeely , Christopher Markus Cast Chris Evans , Hayley Atwell , Scarlett Johansson , Samuel L. Jackson , Robert Redford , Anthony Mackie , Cobie Smulders , Frank Grillo , Sebastian Stan Runtime 136 minutes
He orders an unnamed technician to do so, but in a stunning display of courage, the worker refuses to comply, despite being threatened with a gun to the head. This S.H.I.E.L.D. technician’s name turns out to be Cameron Klein, showing up again in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Here, it’s revealed that Cameron has been promoted for his bravery by Nick Fury, now working directly under him in a more noteworthy position. Though many viewers likely didn’t recognize Cameron, his small character arc is indicative of the MCU’s commitment to attention to detail.
6 Ho Yinsen Tells Tony About His Hometown
Iconic moment was in Iron Man
Another instance in which an easily-missed detail is paid off within the same film it’s introduced, Ho Yinsen’s origins in Iron Man are hard to catch on a first viewing. The brilliant engineer that helped Tony Stark become Iron Man and influenced his rise to heroism, Ho Yinsen is quite an important, but overlooked figure in the MCU mythos.
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9/10 8.7/10 Iron Man PG-13
Iron Man is the first film in the long-running Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, who becomes Iron Man after he is kidnapped and discovers terrorists are using weapons developed by Stark Industries. Gwyneth Paltrow stars as Tony’s love interest Pepper Potts alongside Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan and Jeff Bridges as the villainous Obadiah Stane.
Director Jon Favreau Release Date May 2, 2008 Studio(s) Marvel Studios Writers Matt Holloway , Art Marcum , Hawk Ostby , Mark Fergus Cast Robert Downey Jr. , Jeff Bridges , Gwyneth Paltrow , Terrence Howard , Leslie Bibb , Shaun Toub , Clark Gregg , Paul Bettany Runtime 126 minutes Expand
While trapped in the cave with Tony, Yinsen tells him about where he’s from, a village overtaken by the Ten Rings in Afghanistan called Gulmira. Yinsen describes Gulmira as a nice place, but once the Ten Rings descended upon it, things were different.
The area’s location is only briefly mentioned in a faint news report on the strike Tony watches later, getting revenge for his friend by liberating his hometown.
In one of his first outings as Iron Man, Tony actually comes to this village in particular to clear out the terrorists using his own company’s weapons. The area’s location is only briefly mentioned in a faint news report on the strike Tony watches later, getting revenge for his friend by liberating his hometown.
5 Loki’s First Fakeout Death
Iconic moment was in Thor
Loki has had many fakeout deaths in the MCU, tricking Asgard into believing he had died twice before actually dying for real, only for a past version of him to escape into the TVA. This variant’s journey ends with becoming the god of stories, sacrificing his life to become a living temporal loom holding the branches of the multiverse together.
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7/10 7.6/10 Thor PG-13SuperheroActionFantasy
Director Kenneth Branagh Release Date May 6, 2011 Cast Chris Hemsworth , Natalie Portman , Tom Hiddleston , Kat Dennings , Stellan Skarsgård , Idris Elba , Clark Gregg , Colm Feore Runtime 115 minutes
Amazingly, the moment in which Loki makes this sacrifice is hinted at as early as his very first appearance way back in the original Thor. Loki ends the film dangling off the cosmic Bifrost Bridge.
Pleading with his father, he justifies his plans by saying that he could’ve ”
Done it for you! For all of us!
“, before falling into the void of space.
In the finale of his own show, Loki repeats these lines, only in a far more selfless context, as he gives up any chance of seeing his loved ones ever again in favor of doing what needs to be done. This is just one of many clever ways Loki‘s finale references the first Thor.
4 Red Skull Accurately Predicts The Future
Iconic moment during Captain America: The First Avenger
The Red Skull is one of the most underrated villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially when it comes to his powers of perception. During his final confrontation with Captain America in 1942, The Red Skull mocks his opponent for his naive ideas of nationalism. The HYDRA leader mocks Steve Rogers for wearing a flag and serving a country, stating “I have seen the future, Captain. There are no flags!“
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7/10 8.6/10 Captain America: The First Avenger PG-13
Director Joe Johnston Release Date July 22, 2011 Studio(s) Marvel Cast Chris Evans , Hayley Atwell , Hugo Weaving , Sebastian Stan , Tommy Lee Jones , Samuel L. Jackson , Dominic Cooper , Stanley Tucci , Toby Jones Runtime 124 Minutes
As it turns out, The Red Skull wasn’t lying about seeing the future. Captain America himself ends up losing the Stars and Stripes he once wore as he becomes a fugitive of the U.S. government following the events of Captain America: Civil War. Not only that, but the formation of the Flag Smashers in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier imply that the world was largely stateless during the five-year “blip” in which Thanos’ snap had removed half the population.
3 Odin’s Battle With The Frost Giants Happened In New Asgard
Iconic moment was in Thor
The Asgardians have had quite a rough journey throughout the MCU. Bearing witness to countless invasions, one of the first things the series shows regarding the Asgardians is Odin’s battle with the Frost Giants on Earth thousands of years ago in 965 AD. Here, the menacing army of monsters invade the Norwegian town of Tønsberg, prompting a response from Odin and his army. Afterward, he leaves the Tesseract hidden in a church there, only for it to be found by Red Skull in 1942.
But Tønsberg would come into play once again in Avengers: Endgame, following the events of Thor: Ragnarok. After the original Asgard’s destruction, it’s revealed that the scant remaining survivors establish New Asgard at the same site they once defended in Norway, a town that was apparently ready to accept the alien refugees with open arms. In this way, Tønsberg has consistently been one of the most important locations in the MCU despite its remoteness.
2 Thor’s Visions Walked Him Through Multiple Movies
Iconic moment during Avengers: Age of Ultron
While the series enjoys sowing small seeds of foreshadowing from time to time, it’s rare that a full-on vision sequence gives a more blatant hint towards upcoming events in the MCU. That being said, this is exactly what happens to Thor during the hallucinations Scarlet Witch gives him in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Though there was no way of knowing it at the time, Thor was assaulted with a kaleidoscope of visions that all ended up coming true in the near future.
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7/10 16 7.3/10 Avengers: Age of Ultron PG-13
Director Joss Whedon Release Date May 1, 2015 Writers Joss Whedon Cast Chris Hemsworth , Clark Gregg , Robert Downey Jr. , Cobie Smulders , Aaron Taylor-Johnson , Jeremy Renner , Thomas Kretschmann , Chris Evans , Don Cheadle , Mark Ruffalo , Elizabeth Olsen , Scarlett Johansson , Paul Bettany , Samuel L. Jackson , James Spader Runtime 141 minutes Expand
First off, a visit from Heimdall calls Thor specifically a firstborn son, rather than simply the eldest sibling, implying the existence of his sister, Hela, whom he would only learn of in Thor: Ragnarok. Next off, the events of the Infinity Saga, are briefly touched on, with Heimdall’s own death and the Infinity Stones themselves falling into Thor’s vision. Finally, Thor gets a sneak preview of a later scene in the very same film, with Vision’s eyes snapping awake to punctuate his glimpse of the future.
1 Erik Selvig Accurately Describes His Place In The Multiverse
Iconic moment was in Thor: The Dark World
Thor isn’t the only character from his solo movies that has had a knack for predicting the future. The often-sidelined character Erik Selvig doesn’t come up all that often in the MCU, but when he does, he usually brings a stunning revelation with him. Selvig begins Thor: The Dark World interned in a mental institution, with his cryptic research strewn about him implying a state of mental instability.
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7/10 5/10 Thor: The Dark World PG-13ActionAdventureSuperhero Sci-FiFantasy
Director Alan Taylor Release Date November 8, 2013 Cast Tom Hiddleston , Tadanobu Asano , Idris Elba , Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje , Anthony Hopkins , Natalie Portman , Zachary Levi , Christopher Eccleston , Rene Russo , Chris Hemsworth , Ray Stevenson , Stellan Skarsgård , Jaimie Alexander , Kat Dennings Runtime 1h 52m Expand
However, buried within Selvig’s notes is an important note that described something important about the MCU’s very reality long before it was confirmed as canon. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it note on Selvig’s chalkboard mentions that all realms exist in the “616” universe, referencing Marvel’s base universe, Earth-616. This crucial piece of MCU lore dropped in the 2013 film’s background long before it was hard-confirmed by official sources that the MCU takes place on Earth-616, with the series being referred to by other numbers previously.
Upcoming MCU Movies
-
Captain America: Brave New World
Release Date February 14, 2025
- Thunderbolts*
Release Date May 2, 2025
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Release Date July 25, 2025
- Blade (2025)
Release Date November 7, 2025
- Avengers: Doomsday
Release Date May 1, 2026
- Avengers: Secret Wars
Release Date May 7, 2027
Captain America: Brave New World
Thunderbolts*
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Blade (2025)
Avengers: Doomsday
Avengers: Secret Wars