60+ Marvel Movie And TV Show Callbacks That Were Planned For Years In Advance

With great writing comes great movies

Kylin

• Published in Film & TV
• July 26, 2022

It’s hard to imagine that we’ve been watching our favorite Marvel superheroes on screen for nearly 2 decades now. With each new movie or television series, we’re given another opportunity to see the beloved 80-year-old comic book universe come to life.

So far, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has produced and released 28 movies, and 19 television series, and they have another 12 movies and 14 shows in various stages of development. The MCU is massive, with hundreds of characters and storylines that occur simultaneously either between different dimensions or within the same timeline.

That’s a LOT of content, and the writers on these projects have proven time and again that they are really good at their jobs. While they have plenty of inspiration to draw from the original comics, writers have also taken references and made callbacks between all its movie and TV shows over the years.

And it may be surprising to learn that writers, directors, and producers have worked together to plan callbacks for years in advance. We’ve collected over 60 instances to share, keep scrolling to check out some of our favorite callbacks.

🚨If you’re not all caught up on the MCU there may be spoilers ahead! 🚨

1. Natasha and Clint repeatedly reference a mission in Budapest, and we finally find out about it in 'Black Widow'

2. Some commericals in 'WandaVision' reference what we know about Wanda's history throughout the MCU

⭐The Stark Toaster: A representation of the Stark technology that ended up killing Wanda and Pietro's parents, which obviously traumatized the Maximoff twins.

⭐The Strucker Watch and Hydra Soak: Represented when the Maximoff twins turned to Strucker and Hydra but ended up becoming their experiments.

⭐The Lagos Paper Towels: Were a representation of Wanda's failed attempt to contain a bomb in Lagos.

3. Thor attempts to soothe Hulk in 'Thor: Ragnarok' like Natasha did in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'

4. In the TV series 'Hawkeye' Kate's school has a tower named after Obadiah Stane from 'Iron Man'

5. Steve and Bucky say goodbye in the same way (albeit reversed) in 'Avengers: Endgame' as they did in 'The First Avenger'

6. During 'Avengers: Endgame' we see how Wanda's visions from 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' come true

7. After Steve successfully calls Mjölnir in 'Avengers: Endgame', Thor confirms that he thought Steve was worthy to lift it since 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'

8. In 'Avengers: Infinity War' Loki references a comment from Tony said to him during 'The Avengers'

9. Batroc calling Sam's new uniform a "bird costume" in 'The Falcon and the Winter Solider' is a reference to the same comment made in 'Captain America: Civil War'

10. Happy Hogan has his boxing gear from 'Iron Man 2' on display at his home in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'

11. In 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' we see a picture hanging in Prinicpal Morita's office of his grandfather, Jim Morita, who was one of Cap's Howling Commandos from 'Captain America: The First Avenger'

Kenneth Choi played both characters.

12. In 'Eternals' Kingo claims to have known Thor as a child, and Sprite calls Steve "Captain Rogers" insinuating she may have known him personally or through the military

13. In 'Hawkeye' Yelena lands on the roof in a pose similar to the one she made fun of in 'Black Widow'

14. In 'Iron Man 2' we see a map in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility that has significant places labeled that are featured in both previous and future MCU movies

⭐Greenland: Cap crashed the Valkyrie

⭐Malibu: Tony's residence at the time of Iron Man 2

⭐New Mexico: Where Thor's hammer landed

⭐Wakanda: Where T'Challa lives

The location on the U.S. East Coast could be either:

⭐New York: Where The Battle of New York took place in Avengers

⭐New Jersey: Where Camp Lehigh is located

⭐Virginia: Where Bruce Banner becomes the Hulk

The location in Europe could be:

⭐Norway: Where the Tesseract was hidden

⭐Sokovia: Where the Maximoff twins are from

15. Tony's first arc reactor that Pepper turned into a keepsake in 'Iron Man' was also displayed at his funeral

16. The fight club in 'Shang-Chi' shows us several characters from other MCU movies

⭐Abomination from The Incredible Hulk

⭐An Extremis soldier from Iron Man 3

⭐Wong from Doctor Strange

⭐A widow from Black Widow

17. A ship designed by Tony Stark in 'Thor: Ragnarok' requires Thor to use Tony's nickname for him from 'The Avengers', "Point Break"

18. In 'WandaVision', Wanda says, "I can't feel you" to Vision, which is a reference to 'Avengers: Infinity War' where Vision and Wanda tell each other, "I just feel you."

19. In 'Ant-Man', Hope teased Scott for calling Steve "Cap", which is what she calls Steve in 'Avengers: Endgame'

20. In 'WandaVision', Monica walks through the hex barrier and hears a lot of different voices, including what Carol told her in 'Captain Marvel'

21. In 'Avengers: Endgame' Pepper's Resuce Armor is the same color as the gown she picked for her birthday present from Tony in the first 'Iron Man'

22. Bucky sleeping on the floor in 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' may be a reference to the conversation Steve and Sam had in 'Captain America: The Winter Solider'

23. Morgan Stark asks Happy for cheeseburgers at Tony's funeral, the same thing Tony asked for after his abuction in the first 'Iron Man'

24. Happy gives Peter a fond look in 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' when he catches him interacting with the holograms like Tony did in 'Iron Man'

25. Steve and Tony both prove each other wrong in 'Avengers: Endgame', years after their fight in 'The Avengers'

Steve accused Tony of being selfish and unwilling to make a sacrifice for the greater good, while Tony claimed that Steve wasn't anything special without the Super Serum.

Obviously, in Avengers: Endgame, Tony sacrificed himself to save everyone and Steve was able to call and wield Mjölnir proving he was worthy and special outside the Super Serum.

26. After Sam refused to move his seat up for Bucky in 'Captain America: Civil War', Bucky refused to move his seat for Sam in 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'

27. The song that was playing in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' when Fury broke into Steve's apartment was the same song Steve and Peggy danced to in 'Avengers: Endgame'

The song was "It's Been a Long, Long Time" and was released just before the end of World War II.

28. Tony's last words in 'Avengers: Endgame' were the same words he said at the end of 'Iron Man'

29. The guy who asked Spider-Man to do a flip in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' was the same guy who livestreamed the fight on the bus in 'Shang-Chi'

30. In 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' there are billboards for "Rogers: The Musical" which was the show Clint took his kids to in 'Hawkeye'

31. Both 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' and 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' end with a cut off "What the F—?!"

32. Loki cheers when Hulk smashes Thor in 'Thor: Ragnarok' like he was smashed in 'The Avengers'

33. In 'Moon Knight' it's alluded that Layla has been to Madripoor, the criminal haven seen in 'The Falcon and the Winter Solider'

34. Sam tells Steve "on your left" in 'Avengers: Endgame', a callback to all the times Steve said it to him in 'Captain America: The Winter Solider'

35. Tony's friend from 'Iron Man 3', Harley, attends Tony's funeral in 'Avengers: Endgame'

36. We meet Anton Vanko, a Stark Labs scientist, in 'Agent Carter', who we learned about in 'Iron Man 2'

Anton Vanko was the scientist who helped create the technology for Stark's arc reactor and was the father of Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash.

37. In 'Avengers: Endgame' Steve finally says "Avengers, assemble, which was teased in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'

38. In 'WandaVision' we see that Jimmy Woo mastered the card trick Scott showed him in 'Ant-Man and the Wasp'

39. 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' references Wolfgan von Strucker and how he was experimenting on the Maximoff twins which resulted in ther powers, as shown in the after credits scene in 'Captain America: The Winter Solider'

40. Steve is sick of his catchphrase after he used it through 3 different movies

41. In 'Moon Knight' we see a bud as for the GRC, or the Global Repatrition Council

This was the international council in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that was in charge of managing the refugee crisis following Thanos' Blip.

42. In the TV Series 'Loki', Loki smashes his cup after finishing his drink, just like Thor did in 'Thor'

43. Yelena makes mac and cheese in 'Hawkeye', the same food she asked for as a child in 'Black Widow'

44. Loki reuses his iconic "glorious purpose" line from 'Avengers' in the show 'Loki'

45. In 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Happy turns on "Back in Black" the song that 'Iron Man' opened with

 Peter didn't know who the song was by AC/DC because it was way before his time.

46. James D'Arcy played Edwin Jarvis, Howard Stark's butler, in both 'Avengers: Endgame' and 'Agent Carter'

47. We hear Stephen Strange mentioned as a target of Project Insight in 'Captain America: The Winter Solider'

This was two years before the release of Doctor Strange.

48. We meet the grad student in 'The Incredible Hulk' who grew up to become Peter Parker's teacher in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'

49. In 'Avengers: End Game' Steve almost re-creates the inconic elevator fight from 'Captain America: Winter Solider', but realizes what to say to be able to leave without a fight

50. 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' shows movies and shows from different parts of the MCU as part of the in-flight entertainment

This included an episode of the PBS show Nova hosted by Dr. Erik Selvig.

51. In 'Avengers: Endgame' Loki repeats his Captain America impression he did in 'Thor: The Dark World'

52. In 'Avengers: Endgame' Thor references the post-credits shawarma lunch from the 'Avengers'

53. Peter purposefully activates "Instant Kill" in 'Avengers: Endgame', unlike the accidental activation in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'

54. The Nexus commerical in 'WandaVision' predicted the "Nexus events" described in 'Loki'

55. Sam repeats the same thing to Karli in 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' that Steve said to Bucky in 'Captain America: Winter Soldier'

56. Bucky asks John if he had ever jumped on a grenade in 'The Falcon and the Winter Solider', referencing the test Colonel Phillips used in 'Captain America: The First Avenger' that Steve passed

57. In 'Spider-Man: Homecoming', Peter's school has a picture of Bruce Banner in Peter's physics class and a mural of Howard Stark in a stairwell

58. The Captain America exhibit in 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' has a wall of documents that appear in 'Captain America: The First Avenger'

59. In 'Hawkeye' Yelena mentions a "new and improved Statue of Liberty" but we don't see the giant Captain America shield that was added until 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'

60. 'Captain Marvel' draws out how Fury really loses his eye, which he implied in 'Captain America: The Winter Solider' was lost by trusting somebody

'Captain Marvel' leads viewers to believe Fury lost his eye by trusting a Coulson look-a-like but ends up losing it by petting an alien cat.

61. The MCU TV shows have a running gag where they mess up the famous Spider-Man quote: "with great power comes great responsiblity"

The MCU writers have apparently been working closely between the different movies and shows to set up opportunities for sharp-eyed fans to catch references and callbacks. It can be a treat to catch the continuity or inside jokes from your favorite movies.

What was your favorite callback from this list, or did we miss your favorite Marvel callback? Let us know in the comments section below!

Kylin