Top 10 Things You Missed In Avengers: Endgame

When Iron Man and Cap go back to the 70s to retrieve the Tesseract and additional Pym Particles, Tony has a run-in with his father, Howard Stark. This emotional reunion for Tony ends with Howard asking his driver Edwin Jarvis if he’d ever met Tony before. This small detail is relevant for two reasons: firstly, it explains why Tony chose the name Jarvis for his A.I. - he was named after the family butler. Fans of the “Agent Carter” tv series may have already known this since the character appears on the show to assist Peggy in clearing Howard Stark of treason accusations. Secondly, it’s a reference to the fact that, in the comics, Jarvis is the Stark family’s butler and not the A.I. that would eventually become Vision.

When Thanos invades from the past, everyone must join the fight, including Pepper Potts. The long-time partner of Tony Stark arrives with an Iron Man suit of her own and kicks a ton of alien ass with it. In the comics, Tony built a suit for Pepper, and with it, she took on the superhero alias Rescue. While the MCU Rescue armor is far more distinct from Tony’s armor than the comics’ Rescue armor, many design elements carry over. We’ll likely never see Pepper dawn the Rescue armor again, as Gwyneth Paltrow has announced that “Endgame” marks her final MCU appearance, but it was a wildly triumphant moment for one of the longest-tenured characters in the MCU.

If you recognized the man detailing his tearful date to Cap during that counseling scene, there are a few places you may have seen him before. Firstly, if you’ve watched any behind-the-scenes or interviews surrounding “Endgame,” you would have recognized him as Joe Russo, who, alongside his brother Anthony, has directed “Winter Soldier,” “Civil War,” “Infinity War,” and of course, “Endgame.” You might also recognize him because of his habit of sneaking himself into his films. In “Winter Soldier” he appeared as Dr. Fine, who treats both Nick Fury and Black Widow’s injuries. In “Civil War,” he plays Dr. Theo Broussard, the man who Zemo impersonates and kills. Hopefully, this won’t be the last Russo Brothers contribution to the MCU, which could only mean more Joe Russo cameos in the future. Also featured in the same scene: Thanos' creator, Jim Starlin.

You may have noticed a couple of cameos from Community alumni Ken Jeong and Yvette Nicole Brown, but did you know that their inclusion is among many Community cameos in the MCU? The Russo brothers acted as executive producers and directed several episodes of the beloved cult comedy before making their leap to superhero movies, and have included many of the cast members in small parts throughout their careers in the MCU. It begs the question: will we ever see Chevy Chase in the MCU? Yeah, probably not.

In the film’s opening moments, we see Hawkeye’s family disintegrate during a picnic, setting Clint down a dark path. Before they vanish, however, Clint helps his young daughter - played by Joe Russo’s daughter Sophia - with her archery skills and calls her Hawkeye when she hits a bullseye. This is a subtle nod to Kate Bishop, who takes on the Hawkeye title under the tutelage of Clint Barton in the comics. Will Clint’s daughter one day replace him as the MCU’s new Hawkeye? Variety has reported that the Hawkeye series on Disney+ will feature Kate Bishop, but note that there’s been no official word from Disney or Marvel about who Clint will pass the torch to.

Ok, so you might not have missed the fact that Korg, Miek, and Thor are playing Fortnite, but if you’re not one of the millions of players logging in to the popular Battle Royale game, you may not have realized why the game was included in the film. Last year, to celebrate the release of “Infinity War,” Thanos made an appearance in Fortnite - players could grab his Infinity Gauntlet and become the Mad Titan himself, providing a huge power advantage. It seems Marvel Studios returned the favor by having “Fortnite” appear in “Endgame.” And, as you’d expect, there’s a brand new “Endgame” event in “Fortnite” that allows you to use the Avengers’ weapons like Iron Man’s gauntlets, Thor’s Stormbreaker ax, and even Cap’s shield.

In “Endgame” we learn that Thor and the remaining Asgardians settle on Earth and create New Asgard after their home was destroyed and half their people were killed by Thanos. This is a nod to similar events in the comics, in which Ragnarok leads to the destruction of Asgard, and Thor finds a quaint spot outside of Oklahoma City to create a new Asgard on Earth. Whereas the MCU version seems like a small fishing town, the comics version is an enormous castle floating just above the ground. Unfortunately, Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers attack the Asgardians’ new home, leading to its destruction. Hopefully, under Valkyries guidance and protection, the MCU’s New Asgard won’t share the same fate.

In this hilarious scene that takes place after the battle of New York, we get what seems to be a callback to the elevator fight from “Winter Soldier.” Instead, Cap uses the information he learned in that film to trick the so-called S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into believing that he too was a secret Hydra agent. Having Cap say “Hail Hydra” is clearly a nod to the incredibly controversial Secret Empire story arc, in which it is revealed that Captain America had been a Hydra sleeper agent the whole time! It turns out that it was actually an evil version of Cap, but that didn’t stop fans from raging out about Cap siding with his arch enemies.

In “Infinity War” Tony tells Pepper that he had a dream where they had a son named Morgan. Well, when we pick up with Tony 5 years later, we learn that he and Pepper had a daughter and named her Morgan. In the comics, Morgan Stark is actually Tony’s cousin, whose father, Tony’s uncle Edward, relinquished his shares of Stark Industries, leaving Morgan with nothing. As a result, Morgan sees Tony as his enemy and makes many attempts to take what Tony has for himself. It begs the question: why would Marvel Studios go with the name of a known Iron Man villain for Tony’s kid? Could something dark be lurking in Morgan’s future? Yeah, probably not.

The film’s epilogue is dedicated to the funeral of Tony Stark, who sacrificed his life to rid the universe of Thanos and his army. In one of the films most heartbreaking moments, Happy Hogan comforts Tony’s daughter by asking her if she wants anything to eat. Morgan simply replies “cheeseburgers.” Happy smiles and tells her that he dad loved cheeseburgers, an unexpected callback to the MCU’s first film, in which, upon returning from captivity, Tony demands one. Endgame marks the end of an era, the final chapter in the story that began with Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man” in 2008, so it’s fitting that he should deliver a callback to his film, which started it all.