Spoiler warning forAvengers: Endgame. Like, all of it. If you haven’t seenAvengers: Endgameyet, make like Groot and leave.
One of the taller tasks thatAvengers: Endgamemanages to pull off is paying homage to the 22 movies that came before it, from 2008’sIron Manall the way up to its predecessor,Avengers: Infinity War. It’s an impressive feat on its own, but I was struck by the way thatEndgamealso feels like a love letter to the 58 years of Marvel comics that serve as both its foundation and backbone. Them Russo boys sure do seem to love their comics, and it shows in all theEndgamemoments, big and small, that are either borrowed from or shout out to some of the most iconic storylines in Marvel’s massive history.
Here, we’ve collected all the majorEndgamebits that call-back to moments in the comic book source material.
(And for real, major spoilers ahead forAvengers: Endgame.)
Cap Wields Mjolnir
The reason your local theater no longer has a roof is most likely the moment inAvengers: Endgamewhen Captain America (Chris Evans) manages to wield Thor’s time-travel-recovered hammer, Mjolnir, a sight that caused this humble writer to emit, as the kids say, my longest “yeah boy” ever.
It’s a moment that was teased a bit during the hammer-measuring-contest in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but over in the comics, Steve Rogers has lifted the hammer a few times. The first occasion, in 1988’sThe Mighty Thor#380, came during a time Steve wasn’t even under the Captain America mask; he was donning a more disillusioned identity called “The Captain”, and being worthy of lifting Mjolnir was a nod by writer Tom DeFalco to the fact the good ol' Cap was in there somewhere. Captain America wouldn’t lift the hammer again until 2011, during the Marvel-wide evenFear Itself. During the climactic issue, Steve picks up Thor’s hammer during a battle between the Avengers + a few dwarves from Svartalfheim and a massive dragon. Sidenote:Fear Itselfowns.
The last time Steve hefted the hammer was abitdifferent. During the time-bending, reality-altering, personality-changing event “Secret Empire”, evil Hydra Cap—not the last time you’ll be hearing about him—managed to wield a version of Mjolnir that had been altered by a Cosmic Cube to read “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be strongest, shall possess the power of HYDRA.”
Tony Stark Dies
Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) death via Infinity Gauntlet usage in Endgame is straight tragic. But like most major comic book characters from Batman to Spider-Man to Superman, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the demise of Tony Stark. Not even close. And in classic Stark fashion, every single one of Iron Man’s deaths has been Extra Af.
Or, sometimes, not even a real death at all. During writer Len Kaminski’s run onIron Man—starting with #284, “The Death of Anthony Stark”—Tony dies thanks to a central nervous system malfunction, passing along the title of Iron Man and CEO-ship of Stark International to his best friend, James “Rhodey” Rhodes. Except…not. Tony had actually decided to fake his own death and put himself into cryo-sleep until someone could sort out his very real health problems. When he shows back up in Iron Man #289 like, “surprise!”, Rhodey is understandablykind ofun-chill about the whole thing. (Silver lining: This episode does lead to Rhodes becoming War Machine for the first time.)
But Tony has, in the past, died for real. The extremely unfortunate 1995 storyline “The Passing” saw him sacrifice himself after the villain Immortus manipulated him into killing fellow Avenger Yellowjacket, among several other murders. In 2009, the “World’s Most Wanted” storyline saw Tonydeleting his own brainto keep the info in his head out of the hands of Norman Osborn—comics!—and then reviving his brain-dead body with a back-up. In the recent “Civil War II”, a skirmish over a vision the precog Ulysses Cain had of Miles Morales murdering Captain America—comics!—ended with Captain Marvel punching Tony to death. This was the issues that had the splash page that was a clear homage to Michaelangelo’s Pietà (see above) with Spider-Man taking the place of the Virgin Mary and Tony Stark taking the place of actual Jesus. This was…not subtle.
The Asgardians of the Galaxy
At the conclusion of Endgame, sweet hefty Thor (Chris Hemsworth) takes off into space aboard the Benatar with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, remarking that they should be called “The Asgardians of the Galaxy.” This A+ wordplay is also the name of an actual team, created just last year by writerCullen Bunnand artistMatteo Lolli. After the Guardians went their separate ways inInfinity Countdown#4, a new group of misfits took their space-romping place; Thor himself isn’t involved, but the line-up is amazing: Thor’s sister, Angela. Valkyrie, played in the MCU byTessa Thompson. Skurge the Executioner, played inThor: RagnarokbyKarl Urban. Kevin Masterson, a.k.a Thunderstrike. A hammer-wielding frog named Throg. And the walking piece of Asgardian armor known as a Destroyer, which is being remote-controlled by Kid Loki.
Although the Odinson isn’t involved with that particular team-up, he was apparently a part of the Guardians at some point…according to his future self. In writer Jason Aaron and artist Esad Ribic’s run onThor: God of Thunder, Odinson meets up with himself years into the future on a ruined Asgard; the elderly King Thor remarks to his past self:
“I am the All-Father, you are still just…What are you again? An Avenger? Guardian of the Galaxy? The Head of that ridiculous little Order of yours? Have you moved to the sun and become a cosmic god cop yet?”
If Marvel’s Phase 4 would like to include Thor becoming a cosmic god cop I am 100% on-board.
Old Man Cap
After returning the six Infinity Stones to their proper timelines, Endgame’s Steve Rogers decides to stick around in the past a bit, living a full life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and returning to his Avengers pals an elderly, content man.
The comic book version of Old Man Cap is significantly less pleasant. During a fight with former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent turned supervillain Iron Nail, Steve has the super-soldier serum sucked from his body, causing him to rapidly age the actual 90+ years he’d been alive. The result was a pretty pissed off, grumpy-old man Commander of S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve Rogers. This was eventually all wiped away by the sentient Cosmic Cube named Kobik, the same entity that turned Cap into a lifelong HYDRA agent.
So not a lot in common, but bothEndgameand the comic storyline did lead directly to this:
Sam Wilson Is Captain America
InCaptain America#25 by writerRick Remenderand artistCarlos Pacheco, the aged Steve Rogers announces he’s officially handing over the shield and Captain America mantle to Sam Wilson, who had been flying around with the Avengers as Falcon since 1969. Sam’s run as Captain America lasted until 2017’s Sam Wilson: Captain America #21, in which he quit the role to protest the conviction of the New Warrior, Rage, falsely accused and beaten by the Americops. It was all very depressing, but Sam’s time as Captain America was kind’ve great. Hopefully,Anthony Mackietaking the shield from Chris Evans in the MCU will be the same.
“Hail HYDRA”
If you were paying any attention at all to comic books in 2017 you definitely noticed the internet lose its collective shit over the start of writerNick Spencer’s “Secret Empire”, which turned good ol' Steve Rogers into a HYDRA sleeper agent.Avengers: Endgame’s elevator scene—which itself is a throwback toCaptain America: Winter Soldier—gets in a quick, fantastic nod to the panel that started it all and quickly got meme’d into oblivion: Captain America, red-white-and-blue hero, saying “Hail HYDRA.”
Black Widow Dies
Speaking of Evil Cap! (The Russos must’ve really enjoyed Evil Cap.)Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff sacrificing her life to obtain the Soul Stone in Endgame isn’t the first time we’ve seen Black Widow bite it. An attempt to assassinate HYDRA Cap in Washington D.C. goes horribly wrong during the “Secret Empire” storyline and Black Widow ends up pushing Spider-Man out of the way of Cap’s shield, taking a killing blow in the process.
She came back though, revived inTales of Suspense#103 by the same Soviet Red Room organization that turned her into an assassin in the first place. I absolutely must point out that a talking bear named Ursa Major is involved in this story, and the MCU needs to get him on the screen ASAP.
Clint Barton Becomes Ronin
Even with a three-hour runtime, Endgame only had a little time for Clint Barton’s (Jeremy Renner) stint as the vengeful, Samurai-sword wielding vigilante Ronin in the wake of his family’s dusting. In the comics, Clint is the second person to take on the title, adopting it from the original Ronin, Maya Lopez. He trades his bow for a sword after he joins the New Avengers during the fallout from the massive crossover “Civil War” that ended with the assassination of Captain America. Oh, also, Clint had died and come back to life in the interim. Civilian-turned-superhero Kate Bishop then took up the Hawkeye persona while no one was using and continued to do so even after Clint gave up the Ronin name.
Pepper Potts Wears Iron Man Armor
The climactic splash-page-come-to-life inEndgamefeatures Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) swooping in wearing her very own Iron Man armor. This marks the first on-screen appearance of the Iron Man Armor MK 1616, renamed to the much more pleasant-sounding “Rescue” by Pepper herself in the comics. Created by writerMatt Fractionand artistSalvador LarrocainInvincible Iron Man#10, the Rescue armor was built in secret by Tony Stark with the idea to give it to Pepper at some point in the future. Pepper stumbled upon the suit in a hidden Stark Industries lab and immediately bonded with her new piece of tech. Fun fact: “16 16” converted to letters is “P P”, for Pepper Potts, which is honestly just adorable.
Merged Hulk
There’s been plenty of Hulks over the years, Hulks of all shapes, colors, and costumes. ButEndgameflipped the switch of what we’d seen ofMark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner in the MCU so far by merging the mild-mannered personality of the doctor with the massive green body of his alter ego. Merged Hulk first popped up in the comics inThe Incredible Hulk#377 by writerPeter Davidand artistDale Keown. Superhero/psychiatrist Doc Samson puts Banner into a deep hypnosis to try and help cure the war happening inside him between three personalities: Banner, Gray Hulk, and Savage Hulk. The three personalities go on a trip through Banner’s most suppressed memories; a vision of his mother gets Banner to finally overcome his lifelong guilt over her death, and he emerges as a Combo-Hulk similar to the one inEndgame. Merged Hulk was eventually renamed Professor Hulk, which was incredibly helpful for fanfic enthusiasts everywhere.
