Summary
Movies of theMarvel Cinematic Universe, as well as earlier adaptations of Marvel comic books, have mastered the art of character introductions. It’s no secret thatsuperhero movies live and die by the strength of their heroes and villains, with the personalities and backstories of these characters driving a huge margin of the interest in comic book films. From Marvel’s first movie adaptations to the expansive success ofthe MCU’s films, Marvel in particular has gotten extremely good at quickly selling audiences on a character.
Often, but not always, the starring lead will feature heavily in asuperhero movie’s opening scene, immediately setting up their personality and heroic journey from the onset of the plot. Other times, packed crossover movies will introduce highly-anticipated new characters halfway through in a manner that’s threatening, exciting, or ominous, depending on the specific needs of the narrative. Whileevery superhero series needs snappy, engaging introductory scenes for its characters, Marvel in particular has gotten quite proficient at them.
10 MCU Movie Scenes That Would Seem Impossible (If They Hadn’t Already Happened)
The MCU is one of the most magical and remarkable franchises in existence, with countless impossible moments that make it a must-watch experience.
Going into their first film, the Guardians of the Galaxy were quite an obscure bunch of comic book characters to stake a Marvel release on. With so little audience familiarity to rely on, theMCU had to be especially careful to nail the introductory moments of all five original Guardians, especially their leader, Star-Lord. Luckily, James Gunn’s first entry in theGuardians of the Galaxyfranchise was able to effortlessly do so with (adult) Peter Quill’s first scene.
He gleefully trapses across an alien planet while singing Redbone’s Come and Get Your Love, the first of the series' many iconic needle drops.
Star-Lord summarizes both his own personality and the general tone of theGuardians of the Galaxyfilms with his debut, in which he gleefully trapses across an alien planet while singing Redbone’sCome and Get Your Love,the first of the series' many iconic needle drops.The scene is made even better when it shows up in the MCU again during the time-travel adventures ofAvengers: Endgame,making for one of thebest scenes of theGuardians of the Galaxytrilogy in general.
Captain America: Civil Warhad the difficult job of introducing two important new characters to the MCU while also balancing an expansive crossover story featuring plenty of familiar faces. Because of this, it was even moreimportant for the film to nail both Spider-Man and Black Panther’s first scenes, with the former standing out as particularly well-done. In a single impressive tracking shot, the film follows just over Peter Parker’s shoulder as he makes his way back into his apartment, only to find Tony Stark waiting for him.
There’s an immediate chemistry in the first conversation between Holland’s Peter Parker and Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark.
This brief, easily-overlooked introduction works so well for a variety of reasons. It instantly conveys Parker’s values, world, and personality without directly explaining them, ashe makes his way into a cramped Queens apartment while carrying old electronics to fiddle with in his spare time.There’s an immediate chemistry in the first conversation between Holland’s Peter Parker and Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, setting up a phenomenal mentor relationship that the films would later pay off.
It’s hard enough to introduce a new character, butre-introducing them with a new actor behind the wheel can be just as challenging.The MCU is no stranger to recasts, and one of their earliest and most prolific was the decision to replace Terrence Howard’s Colonel James Rhodes inIron Manwith Don Cheadle’s version inIron Man 2.This new version of Rhodes, who finally becomes War Machine in the sequel, is first introduced during a courtroom hearing surrounding Tony Stark’s use of Iron Man armor.
Exact Point When Rhodey Became A Skrull Confirmed By Secret Invasion Director (But It’s Complicated)
Secret Invasion director Ali Selim reveals when Rhodey was replaced by a Skrull in the MCU, but it has massive repercussions in the franchise.
Cheadle quickly sells returning audiences on the recast by addressing his presence with a line that all but breaks the fourth wall to acknowledge the change, saying “Look it’s me, I’m here, deal with it. Let’s move on.” In the following scene that plays out in the high-strung courtroom,Cheadle quickly proves himself as having more chemistry with Robert Downey Jr. than Howard ever did, making for a more than worthy War Machine replacement. To this day, War Machine is one of the most active heroes in the MCU.
It isn’t just heroes that need great introductory scenes in comic book movies. While the MCU has historically struggled to craft engaging villains,Avengers: Age of Ultronsawone of the series' best villainous entrances with the activation of the titular robotic antagonist. When Ultron is activated, the movie shifts into a strange, meta-physical digital space to play out Ultron’s conversation with J.A.R.V.I.S., the near-sentient A.I. that later becomes the hero Vision.
James Spader’s buttery smooth voice work keeps him threatening even as a disembodied program.
There’s something inherently comedic about Ultron immediately becoming bent on the extinction of humanity after spending five minutes on the internet, but James Spader’s buttery smooth voice work keeps him threatening even as a disembodied program. The abstract way he “kills” and absorbs J.A.R.V.I.S., who had been with Tony Stark for several movies now, quickly sold the threat of Ultron. Even if the rest of the film couldn’t maintain the hype of Ultron’s introduction,there’s no denying it was a powerful way to debut him.
One of the most beloved villains ever in the MCU, Michael B. Jordan’sErik Killmonger had a fittingly hype-worthy introduction in his first appearance. InBlack Panther,Killmonger first appears as a simple museum guest, admiring the artifacts of an African tribe at a stuffy museum. When his presence attracts the attention of a curator, he quickly reveals his true intentions, taking off his social mask to don a literal one while stealing a valuable Vibranium weapon.
Was Killmonger right in Black Panther?
Killmonger is one of the best Marvel villains in recent years, partially because he’s easy to sympathize with. However, that doesn’t mean his ideas and plans are right. While he made T’Challa and others change their problematic isolation policies, Killmonger was an imperialist who wanted to create a Wakandan Empire that likely would have achieved power through violent means. I think although Killmonger was right about some things, he was definitely a villain with dangerous plans that ultimately made him wrong.
Killmonger’s speech about the theft of his culture’s priceless history hits quite close to home in this scene, and easily establishes him as aMarvel villain that’s technically in the right. Nevermind Jordan’s amazing performance as the bloodthirsty Wakandan usurper, which only gets stronger as the film progresses. Intense, chaotic, and making a good point,Killmonger’s museum heist is hard to beat in terms of strong first scenes for Marvel villainsthroughout the MCU.
Miguel O’Hara serves as anantagonist, mentor, tragic hero and deuteragonist inSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.His first true appearance in the film somehow manages to encompass all of these fronts at once, being threatening, somber, and heroic all at the same time. A powerful variant of Spider-Man from a futuristic dimension, Miguel O’Hara became the first Spider-Man to reach out to other dimensions and establish a multiversal network of web-slinging heroes.
When a renaissance-era version of the Vulture wreaks havoc on Gwen Stacy’s world, Spider-Man 2099 shows up to take down the dimension-hopping error, appearing in a dramatic burst through one of his signature web-portals.As his eerie techno theme plays, Spider-Man 2099 makes for an ominous figure as the rain pours down around him, unfazed by Gwen’s quips regarding his appearance. His subsequent beatdown on the Leonardo DaVinci-esque Vulture says more than enough.
The film that started it all,Iron Manhad the very first hero introduction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and to this day, manages to be one of its strongest. While on his way to a demonstration of his latest weapon in war-torn Afghanistan,Tony Stark is crammed into a tiny Humvee alongside some U.S. soldiers. Before this attack that changes his life forever occurs, Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark quickly conveys exactly who he is with just a few short lines.
Marvel Already Gave Us An Evil Iron Man, 15 Years Before Robert Downey Jr’s Dr Doom Twist
15 years before Marvel Studios announced that Robert Downey Jr would play Dr Doom, one Iron Man property gave viewers an “evil Iron Man” storyline.
The scene reveals the extent of Tony’s fame by having one of the soldiers ask for a picture with him, which he agrees to on the condition that it doesn’t appear on a “MySpace” page.It also demonstrates his vices, such as alcoholism and misogyny, all to the tune of AC/DC’sBack in Black,setting the tone for Iron Man’s hard rock soundtrack going forward. This scene alone just might make the MCU debut filmthe strongest of theIron Manmovies.
3Nick Fury Opens Up The Marvel Universe
Iron Man
Speaking of the firstIron Man,the titular superhero wasn’t the only important Marvel Cinematic Universe character to be introduced for the first time in the film. In a post-credits scene,Iron Manalso teased the formation of the Avengers, as well as the MCU as a whole, with the introduction of Nick Fury. While returning home to his penthouse,Tony Stark finds a mysterious new visitor waiting for him, none other than Nick Fury.
Here, Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury tells Tony that he’s “become part of a bigger universe”, hinting at the years of cinema to come withIron Manas a foundation. Not only does this scene expertly show off what Nick Fury can do, disabling J.A.R.V.I.S. and sneaking into the home of someone as high-profile as Tony Stark, but it also chillingly predicts the series that would define a generation of pop culture for years to come.16 years later, Samuel L. Jackson is just as convincing as Nick Fury now as he wasback in 2008.
It’s important to pay respects to the efforts of Marvel movies prior to the MCU. On the topic of superhero introductions, few of these earlier superhero films showed off their flagship character quite like the originalX-Men.Kickstartingthe Fox X-Men movie universe,the film introduced audiences to a whole host of mutants, including Hugh Jackman’s iconic Wolverine. The first glimpses the film reveals of Wolverine are in the throes of a brutal underground cage match.
A fight scene isa fitting way to debut the feral character, even if he does refrain from using his claws. That’s not to say that his powers don’t give him an advantage here, with Logan’s adamantium skeleton making his fists sound like an aluminum baseball bat against the skull of his opponent. Perfectly encapsulating his powers, toughness, and fearsome attitude, this opening cage match tells the viewer nearly everything they need to know about the one and only Wolverine.
Both the first scene of the film and the first scene to feature its titlar character, Wesley Snipes' very first moments on-screen inBladeare a true visual marvel. At first,the scene follows a clueless partygoer who joins some women on the dance floor, only to be horrified when the sprinkler system douses the vampiric crowd in blood. Just before he can become a snack, the daywalker Blade wordlessly appears, instantly terrifying the entire crowd of undead bloodsuckers.
Blade proceeds to slay every single last one of the clubgoing vampires, all to the sound of a driving techno beat. Wesley Snipes' impressive martial arts skills and hilarious touches of physical comedy send what would otherwise be a visually-interesting introductory action scene into one of the most iconic opening acts of all time. Blade’s first moments on-screen easilymake for one of the best Marvel films to precede the MCU.
