There were some strained family reunions, and when rescuing their “father” from the Seventh Circle Prison, director Cate Shortland reiterated a harrowing reveal in a seemingly throwaway line. When David Harbour’s Red Guardian joked about the stereotype of women being moody when on their period, Nat and Yelena explained why that would be impossible.
When trafficked to the Red Room by Dreykov (Ray Winstone), the wannabe Widows are given an involuntary hysterectomy and robbed of ever being able to have biological children. It’s a follow on from Nat’s chat with Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but hits home here with the women finding some dark humor in it.
9. Tony’s Age of Ultron Vision
Back when Joss Whedon was still a figurehead of the MCU, Avengers: Age of Ultron was supposed to put the pieces in place for the rest of the Infinity Saga. Instead, it’s a largely forgotten entry that’s remembered for Elizabeth Olsen’s bizarre Wanda accent. In the aftermath of Thor: The Dark World giving us a taste of the Infinity Stones, Age of Ultron hammered home their importance.
One of the movie’s darkest moments saw Tony Stark get a glimpse of the future when under the influence of Wanda’s powers. Seeing the Earth decimated and his teammates dying, an injured Cap says, “You could’ve saved us.” This spurs Mr. Stark into making Ultron as a weapon of mass protection, but we all know how that ends.
Olsen said it wasn’t foreshadowing Avengers: Infinity War, but with a dead Romanoff, hints like Captain America’s shield smashed in half, and a Chitauri resurgence, it’s pretty accurate for Avengers: Endgame’s final act. Knowing all we know now about the Multiverse, it’s likely that this fate of the Avengers happened in some reality.
8. Werewolf By Night’s Bloody Introduction
Despite being a newcomer to the “pack,” Werewolf by Night has the honor of being the MCU’s first Marvel Studios Special Presentation, and has already carved itself a bloody legacy. Even if it feels like it’s set during the heights of the Universal Classic Monsters movies, Werewolf by Night is far more graphic than anything Boris Karloff would’ve starred in.