Phase One of theMarvel Cinematic Universehas resulted in some weird moments that are easy to miss, becoming especially strange the more they’re thought about. As the earliestMCU movies,the films of Phase One could be awkward at times, the series still finding its footing and tone before growing into the theatrical box office empire its known as today. Along the way, these early films were released with more than a few odd details that remain puzzling to this day.
There are many factors that can make a small moment or beat in these early Marvel films stand out as a bit strange. Inconsistent plot elements are one throughline example, withthe MCU retconningvarious developments first initiated in the early films. Other elements are simply downright weird due to their execution, feeling out of place in the larger context of the film franchise.
10Thanos' “Courting Death” Line
The Avengers (2012)
It’s quite remarkable just how early on the Marvel Cinematic Universe was able to seed the threat of Thanos into the series, with the Mad Titan getting a brief cameo at the end ofThe Avengersafter manipulating Loki into starting the Battle of New York. Here, Thanos likens his audacious plans to “courting death”, referencing the original comic origin of his desire to erase half of all life in existence out of a twisted sense of romantic love for Lady Death herself. Of course, the MCU’s Thanos ultimately ended up being motivated by overpopulation instead.
The Avengers
Cast
The sixth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers is an action superhero film that sees the heroes assembled across the franchise face off with a deadly galactic threat. With the arrival of Thor’s brother, Loki, heroes such as Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man, and Black Widow are brought together to stop him from unleashing an alien race upon earth.
Now,thanks tothe reveals ofAgatha All Along, this small throwaway line has gotten even stranger. It turns out that Lady Death is, in fact, very real in the MCU, meaning the franchise could have kept Thanos' original motivations behind the Snap from the comic in the first place. This makesthe inclusion of the line feel all the more out of place, drawing attention to a forgotten possibility for the series that could have been.
9Tony Stark Recruiting General Ross Makes No Sense
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced the franchise’s long-stand tradition of post-credits scenes, always sowing the seeds of the next film in advance. Starting with Nick Fury’s unforgettable appearance inIron Man, these small moments ended up being popular enough to be adopted by many other film series, hoping to replicate the success of the MCU. That being said,not every post-credits scene in Phase One makes the most sense.
The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk follows scientist Bruce Banner as he seeks a cure for the uncontrollable rage that transforms him into the Hulk. Pursued by military forces eager to exploit his powers, Banner confronts a formidable adversary, pushing him toward a reluctant return to civilization.
In particular, Tony Stark’s recruitment of General Ross into the Avengers initiative makes no sense. Clearly, it’s the Hulk himself that Tony is after, yet the scene reads as if General Ross himself is the one being propositioned for induction into the superhero group. As fun as it is to see Tony interact with the film’s villain,this scene provides no real purposeother than for Iron Man to bask in Ross' failure.
8Hulk’s “Days Without Incident” Counter Makes An Inconsistent Assumption
It isn’t just the post-credits scene ofThe Incredible Hulkthat presents an odd little detail inconsistent with the major story of the series. Before the credits roll, the last shot in the film is ofEdward Norton’s Bruce Banner before he was recast, meditating in an effort to maintain his emotional state. A “days without incident” counter is present on the screen keeping track of the last time Banner transformed into Hulk, only to reset to zero as Norton opens his now glowing green eyes.
The famous “I’m always angry” line further complicates matters, making the exact level of control Banner has over the Hulk at this point in the story incredibly confusing.
This scene seems to imply that Dr. Bruce Banner is fully in control of his transformations as the gamma-powered monster by the end ofThe Incredible Hulk.Yet inThe Avengers, Bruce Banner seems to be treated with extreme caution by S.H.I.E.L.D., not to mention being nervous to be around so many potential sources of stress himself. The famous “I’m always angry” line further complicates matters, making the exact level of control Banner has over the Hulk at this point in the story incredibly confusing.
7Elon Musk’s Cameo At Tony Stark’s Party Feels Out Of Place
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Iron Man 2is largely considered to be the worst film of Phase One by many, if not one of the worst MCU films in general. Much of this can be attributed to the lack of stakes, crude humor, and unimpressive villains. However, the inclusion of one of the most jarring celebrity cameos ever indulged by the franchise certainly doesn’t help its case.
Iron Man 2
The third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man 2, is an action-superhero film that occurs six months after the original film’s events. After outing himself as the heavy metal superhero known as Iron Man, Tony Stark goes to great lengths to avoid demands from the government for his tech. But, unfortunately, the technology Tony used to save his life is beginning to impact his health inversely - just in time for a man named Ivan Vanko to arrive, who creates his version of the Iron Man tech to settle a decades-long score with Howard Stark’s son.
Infamously,Iron Man 2includes a party scene in which real-world billionaire Elon Musk pitches Tony Stark an idea for an electric jet. Once upon a time, Tony Stark may have actually been based off of Elon Musk, but his transition from being primarily known as an inventor and entrepreneur to a divisive figurehead of an American political party has aged the scene tremendously. It’s strange for the MCU’s most overt and excessive celebrity appearance to be this early on, and withsuch a controversial figure.
6Captain America Becomes A Boy Scout When Written By Joss Whedon
For the most part, Steve Rogers maintains a consistent voice and sense of morality across his movie appearances in the MCU. Despite his name, Captain America is more than willing to step outside the authority of the U.S. government, proven as early on asCaptain America: The First Avengerwhere he leads unsanctioned combat missions. Yet whenwritten by Joss Whedon, Captain America morphs into a rule-following boy scout that adheres rigidly to the S.H.I.E.L.D. guidebook.
10 Strange MCU Phase 1 Moments That Have Only Gotten Weirder Over A Decade Later
The first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe had many strange moments, some of them only getting weirder as time has gone on for the series.
This is especially obvious inThe Avengers,where Steve Rogers insists to his team “We have rules, we should follow them”. On a surface level, it feels like this is a blatant misunderstanding of Captain America’s character, making him intoa goody-two-shoes obedient soldier that he never was.This makes his next movie appearance inCaptain America: The Winter Soldierfeel like whiplash when he returns to his old rebellious self.
5Loki Calls Black Widow An Offensive, But Obscure Term
While Loki is more of a beloved anti-hero now thanks to his variant’s heroic arc in theLokiTV series, it’s easy to forget that he was once the biggest and baddest villain of the franchise. The Loki ofThe Avengers, who technically is far closer to the Loki of the trickster god’s self-titled show than the version of himself that died at the hands of Thanos, is far from a good person. Indeed, he’s callous, cruel, and power-hungry, willing to kill scores of people in the pursuit of power.
At one point, Loki maintains the moreShakespearean manner of speaking the Asgardians had in Phase One bycalling Black Widow a “mewling quim”.This is an obscure term, to be sure, but a shockingly offensive one for those in the know, far from something the PG-13 film could get away with if translated into common American English. It’s quite bizarre to see such an antiquated and offensive term in the MCU considering how the dialogue has evolved since.
4Black Widow’s Interrogation Scene Feels Shockingly Suggestive
Yet another shocking beat inThe Avengersrevolving around Black Widow occurs at the very moment of her first on-screen introduction sinceIron Man 2.Black Widow at first appears to be in captivity, tied to a chair and about to be tortured in order to extract some sensitive information she knows. It’s eventually revealed that Natasha herself is in control of the situation the entire time, but the scene lingers on some alarming imagery that likely wouldn’t fly in an MCU film made today.
Betweenher helpless position, low-cut dress, and the insidious sadism with which her captors speak to her, it’s hard not for thisappearance of Black Widowto feel incredibly suggestive. This particular moment feels so odd in that it’s certainly a relic of the early MCU, something that might err a little to strongly on the border of PG-13 for the company to include in one of their major releases today. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is certainly up for debate.
3Tony Stark Being Immune To The Scepter Raises More Questions Than Answers
Not all the small beats inThe Avengerscapable of bumping one out of a rewatch are a tonal issue. Being so early in the series, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first major crossover films added in some bold lore developments that would be difficult to explain later on. In particular, the interaction between Loki’s Scepter and Iron Man’s artificial heart becomes more puzzling the more thought one devotes to it.
It’s certainly a fun moment for Loki’s power to be useless against the Arc Reactor, but the later explanation that the Scepter ran off of the power of the Mind Stone makes the scene retroactively confusing.The idea of the Mind Stone needing a literal beating heart in order to control someone’s brain doesn’t make the most sense. Even if it did, there’s no way Tony Stark could know that he was immune to Loki’s magical wiles, making his gamble to face him one-on-one feel more clueless than tactical.
2Jon Favreau Ogles Black Widow While In-Character
As great asthe filmography of Jon Favreauis, he certainly stumbled withIron Man 2.One of the best parts of the originalIron Manwas the inclusion of Favreau himself as Happy Hogan, Tony Stark’s steadfast bodyguard and chauffeur who would eventually become a staple of the MCU. However,Favreau uses his character quite questionably inIron Man 2when it comes to his interactions with Black Widow.
Suspiciously, Favreau included a scene in which Happy has to drive Black Widow to the action as she changes into her combat suit in the backseat.
Suspiciously, Favreau included a scene in which Happy has to drive Black Widow to the action as she changes into her combat suit in the backseat. Of course, Happy can’t resist sneaking a few peeks in the rearview mirror, nearly crashing the car due to the distraction of ogling her. This bit of self-casting is right up there with Quentin Tarantino writing himself inFromDusk Till Dawnas a character who gets tequila funneled into his mouth via Salma Hayek’s feet.
1Tom Morello Gets Killed By Iron Man In His First Appearance
Iron Man (2008)
Elon Musk isn’t the only celebrity who received a bizarre cameo in Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whereas Musk’s appearance at least addresses him, an even weirder celebrity cameo happens in the very first MCU film withIron Man.Enter the appearance of one Tom Morello, songwriter and frontman of Rage Against The Machine fame.
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Phase 1 of the MCU was exceptional in many ways, but its movies still wasted or otherwise failed several characters who showed real promise.
Morello has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as a Ten Rings terroristwho gets the honor of being laid waste to by Tony Stark in his initial rampage with the very first Iron Man armor cobbled together in a cave with a box of scraps. Seeing Morello’s face for a split-second before he’s engulfed in fire is such a jarring choice for the very first superhero outing of Iron Man. The earlyMarvel Cinematic Universeis full of strange little details like this.
