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The Illuminati has been under our noses this entire time...
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00:00One of the best things about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is how all these different projects
00:04across movies, TV and one-shot short films speak to each other. A throwaway line in an older flick
00:10might take on a whole new meaning five years down the line, like the Winter Soldier's On Your Left
00:15creating an emotional punch in Endgame's portal scene. And it's this type of deep connective
00:20tissue that makes the MCU feel rewarding for those who keep up with it. Whether these moments simply
00:25have more depth than is apparent on the surface or whether they have bigger implications for the
00:29wider MCU that you didn't even think about. There's more going on in Marvel's big screen
00:34universe than first meets the eye. And to borrow an analogy from a certain ogre, some scenes
00:40have hidden onion-like layers of importance that even hardcore fans could easily miss.
00:45I am Marcus Bronzy and let's kick off 10 MCU moments more important than you realised.
00:52Number 10. Proximia Midnight's Relationship with Corvius Glaive. Avengers Endgame.
00:57The members of Thanos' Black Order weren't fleshed out very much during Avengers Infinity War
01:02and Avengers Endgame, with their backstories being removed from early drafts of the Infinity
01:07War script due to the movie being too crowded. Still, there are various moments throughout both
01:13movies where we can glean more information about their personalities, histories and relationships,
01:18like this one shot in Endgame where if you look closely, Proximia Midnight and Corvius Glaive
01:24hold each other shortly after Tony's snap when Thanos and his forces are disintegrating.
01:29This is an easy to miss detail that you might simply assume is a display of friendship as the
01:34two face their deaths, but it's actually much more than that. As confirmed by Endgame director
01:39Joe Russo, Proxima and Corvus are in fact married in the MCU, a detail lifted straight from the comic
01:46books and one that was supposed to be shown in that aforementioned cutback story, making this a tragic
01:52moment for the two lovers sharing one final embrace.
01:55Number 9. Klein's display of courage earns him Fury's trust. Captain America, the Winter Soldier.
02:01The MCU sometimes brings back minor side characters years after we last saw them,
02:06like the I'm not Tony Stark guy from Iron Man returning in Spider-Man Far From Home.
02:11And though many people realised it, the franchise did something similar with a small moment in Captain
02:16America, the Winter Soldier. Towards the end of Cap's second solo outing, there's a scene where Hydra
02:22agent Brock Rumlow holds a S.H.I.E.L.D. technician at gunpoint, forcing him to launch the project
02:27inside helicarriers. This technician bravely refuses and a scuffle quickly breaks out. And though the
02:32helicarriers are ultimately launched by Rumlow himself, this random S.H.I.E.L.D. member's courageous
02:38display is later rewarded when Nick Fury recruits him to his inner circle. The technician's name is Cameron
02:44Klein, and in a moment that a good deal of viewers probably didn't register, he returns in Avengers
02:49Age of Ultron assisting Fury and Maria Hill in rescuing the citizens of Sokovia.
02:55Number 8. The touching story behind Drax's tattoos, Guardians of the Galaxy.
03:00Another thing the MCU does very well is attention to detail. A perfect example of this are the many
03:06tattoos emblazoned across Drax's body, which could have easily been nothing more than random,
03:10unexplained markings, but are actually way more important than any of us first realised.
03:15As revealed by Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director James Gunn, Drax's ink is the story of his
03:21life, with each tattoo symbolising a different memory about his family, the birth of his daughter,
03:26his mother and father in his childhood, and his marriage to his wife, to name but a few.
03:31In a deleted scene, Drax actually describes these meanings to Rocket, and when you consider
03:35that his family was tragically murdered before the events of the first film, it's like Drax is
03:40literally being consumed by his grief, adding so much more depth to a character who is so often
03:45used just for comedic relief.
03:47Number 7. Tony and Steve prove each other wrong. The Avengers.
03:51Though they did come to respect each other over time, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers rarely saw eye to
03:56eye, throwing insults and punches at each other whenever they got the chance.
04:00One of their most famous bickering moments occurs during the first Avengers movie, where a heated
04:05debate results in Steve telling Tony, you're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, and Tony
04:10retorting, everything special about you came out of a bottle. We couldn't possibly have known this
04:16at the time, and even in hindsight it's easy to miss, but this moment works as a setup for each
04:21character's long-term story arc, hinting at where they'd ultimately end up in Avengers Endgame.
04:26Tony ends up sacrificing himself to save the universe, proving Steve's earlier comment wrong,
04:31whilst Steve shows that he's a kind, heroic and worthy soul by lifting Mjolnir.
04:37This clearly demonstrates that not everything special about him came out of a bottle.
04:41Number 6. The museum voice is a real-life military advocate.
04:45Captain America, The Winter Soldier.
04:47The Smithsonian scenes in Captain America, The Winter Soldier feature a museum narrator
04:52who tells guests about the history of Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes and the Howling Commandos.
04:57Though you probably don't think twice about this voice whilst watching the movie,
05:01this is another one of those things that Marvel Studios went above and beyond with,
05:05putting in way more care than they needed to.
05:07Rather than just roping in any old voice actor, the studio went out of its way to hire Hollywood icon
05:12Gary Sinise, who you'll know from his roles in The Stand, Of Mice and Men, Apollo 13 and of course,
05:19Forrest Gump. Sinise is a major advocate for America's servicemen and women and has created a
05:24foundation in 2011 dedicated to helping wounded military veterans. As such, his role in The Winter
05:31Soldier wasn't just a cool way for Marvel Studios to honour the bravery of Captain America and his
05:35allies, but was also a tip of the hat to real-life soldiers who served in the armed forces.
05:40Number 5. Tony Saves Yinsen's Town People, Iron Men.
05:44Considering Tony's ultimate sacrifice in Avengers Endgame, Yinsen, the man who implored the self-absorbed
05:50billionaire to not waste his life setting him on a more heroic path, is one of the most important
05:55characters in the MCU. Tony doesn't waste any time in heading down the heroic path either,
06:00strapping on his new and improved Iron Man suit midway through the original movie and using it to
06:05free the citizens of a small town from the Ten Ring's callous grip. But it gets deeper. The town that
06:10Tony liberates is actually the same town that Yinsen is from, a connection that isn't obvious unless
06:15you're paying close attention when Yinsen mentions its name, Gulmira, during a cave scene early in the
06:22movie, and again when Tony hears it whilst watching a news report. This means that Tony isn't just
06:26helping these townspeople because the Ten Rings are stationed there with stark weaponry, he's also
06:31helping them so he can honour the fallen friend who saved and changed his life.
06:36Number 4. The remaining Avengers represent the 5 stages of grief, Avengers Endgame.
06:41After Natasha Romanoff's sacrifice in Avengers Endgame, the 5 remaining OG Avengers gather by the
06:47lake outside the Avengers HQ, taking a moment to mourn. They all react to her death in slightly
06:52different ways, and though you perhaps didn't notice this at first, each of their responses seem
06:57tailored to match the 5 stages of grief, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
07:03Thor is clearly in denial, refusing to accept that Natasha is dead, and telling his allies that
07:09they can use the Infinity Stones to bring her back. Hulk fittingly displays a lot of anger,
07:14picking up a bench and tossing it into the distance. Then there's Clint, who represents the bargaining
07:19phase by saying, it was supposed to be me, who sacrificed themselves, and Steve, whose silent
07:25sadness is representative of depression. Finally, we have Tony Stark, who seems the most calm and
07:30collected of the bunch, whose line, do we know if she had any family, indicates that he's accepted
07:35Nat's death. The brilliant thing about this is that each of these reactions doesn't feel forced,
07:40they actually feel in character, giving this moment an added layer of subtext which shows these godlike
07:46heroes reacting to their loss in a very relatable human way.
07:50Number 3. Asgard's Extensive MCU History
07:54Thor
07:54After Asgard's destruction, the surviving Asgardians relocate to a small village on the coast of Norway,
08:00dubbing it New Asgard. The New Asgard iteration of this village, also known by its original name,
08:05Don Spike, was first seen in Avengers Endgame. But what isn't readily apparent is that this
08:10unassuming remote locale is something of a converging point for several centuries of the MCU history,
08:16and this is far from the first time it's popped up in the franchise. Rather, Don Spike's
08:21importance stretches all the way back to the first Thor movie, where an opening scene shows that it was
08:26invaded by the Frost Giants in 965 AD, forcing Odin and his Asgardian army to intervene. From here,
08:33Odin left the Tesseract on Earth for some reason, and the device was hidden deep within Ton Spike,
08:39where it remained safe for hundreds of years. That is, until Ton Spike showed up once again in Captain
08:45America, the First Avenger, where the Red Skull ravaged the village in 1942 and located the
08:51Tesseract hidden within a church. Basically, this place is low-key one of the most crucial places in
08:56the MCU, and not just in the Prime Universe either, with the village also appearing in the What Ifs
09:02Captain Carter episode. So don't be surprised if many more important events take place here as the
09:08franchise continues. Number 2. Red Skull Prophesizes the Flag Smashers. Captain America, The First
09:14Avenger. Speaking of Red Skull and Captain America, The First Avenger, that movie contains a small
09:19moment that doesn't just foreshadow Cap's future, but the future of the entire MCU as we know it.
09:24During the final battle between the two characters, just before Red Skull is teleported by the Tesseract,
09:29the red-headed villain hits Cap with the following line.
09:32You could have the power of the gods, yet you wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle
09:36of nations. I have seen the future. Captain, there are no flags. Cap retorts with a, not in my future.
09:43But as it would turn out, Red Skull was totally right. Not only do the stars and stripes disappear
09:49from Cap's outfits as he becomes more and more disillusioned with the modern world, but the damaged
09:54society we see post-endgame gives way to a group called the Flag Smashers, whose mission statement is
09:59to strip away borders and create a more united world. Now, obviously both Red Skull and Marvel
10:04Studios couldn't have known that the Flag Smashers would have one day featured in the MCU, but in
10:09hindsight, Red Skull seemingly foreshadowed this widespread anti-nationalist movement with a single
10:15line of dialogue and over 70 years in advance.
10:18Number 1. The Illuminati has been here all along. Iron Man 2. With the MCU set to introduce the
10:24Illuminati in the upcoming Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, there's a ton of
10:29speculation about who might be on the team, with predictions ranging from Captain Carter
10:33to Black Bolt to Reed Richards. But if this moment in Iron Man 2 is more than just a fun
10:37easter egg, then Marvel Studios might have confirmed a future Illuminati member.
10:42During the court sequence in Iron Man 2, Tony Stark pulls out his ridiculously advanced smartphone
10:47and uses it to hack the TV screens in the courtroom. And in a blink and you'll miss it shot of his
10:52home screen, we can see an app called Illuminati in the right hand corner. Without having a zoom and
10:57enhanced in your own eyeballs, it's virtually impossible to notice this detail. But given
11:02what we know about Doctor Strange 2, the implications of it could be huge. Again, it could have just
11:07been a fun easter egg, but what if it wasn't? What if Marvel Studios was thinking about the Illuminati
11:11all the way back in 2010 and Stark is going to be one of those people sat at the table in Doctor
11:17Strange 2? The filmmakers could even retroactively say that this app was a clue, even if it wasn't their
11:23intent at the time. The buzz on opening night would be insane if Robert Downey Jr. makes a
11:28rampant from return. And this throwaway moment could have been sowing those seeds from the very
11:32beginning of this franchise. Spicy. What did we miss? Let us know in the comments below. And of
11:38course, don't forget to give us a like and subscribe here and check us out on social media
11:42at WhatCulture. I too am there on all the socials at M-A-R-C-U-S-B-R-O-N-Z-Y Marcus Bronzy.
11:49Also Twitch.tv slash Marcus Bronzy. And my podcast called Ain't Got A Clue is there wherever you
11:54listen to yours. Until next time. Peace.
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