Avengers: Endgame Has Awesome Callbacks to Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Avengers: Endgame marks the 22nd chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a franchise of shared storytelling that kicked off with Iron Man in 2008. While the film obviously incorporated all of the characters and relationships that audiences have grown to love, in addition to the various events that have unfolded in previous installments, audiences who witnessed Endgame may have noticed that some events of the narrative tied more directly into previous films than others, with key sequences in the latest film drawing clear inspiration from its predecessors. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the first MCU film directed by the Russo Brothers, is one of the films that earned multiple nods.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Avengers: Endgame

A key component of Endgame's narrative and the plan to reverse the events of Thanos' snap involved time travel, with Iron Man, Captain America, and Ant-Man returning to the Battle of New York as depicted in Marvel's The Avengers. After the Avengers apprehended Loki in that film's finale, Endgame depicts our heroes as having to steal the Tesseract back from S.H.I.E.LD. This results in Captain America entering an elevator full of a S.H.I.E.L.D strike team, with the Avenger attempting to steal the artifact.

From the premise to the appearance of Frank Grillo's Brock Rumlow to the various camera angles, the sequence is immediately recognizable as a nod to that sequel. Additionally, Cap defuses the situation by whispering in Rumlow's ear, "Hail Hydra." In Winter Soldier, this key phrase alerted audiences that Senator Stern was an agent of the evil organization when he whispered it into Jasper Sitwell's ear. This sequence was also preceded by an appearance from Robert Redford's Alexander Pearce, who was the main antagonist in that film.

This wasn't the only direct nod to The Winter Soldier, as Endgame's epic conclusion also included a more emotional impact on viewers.

Steve Rogers first met Sam Wilson in Winter Soldier, as the two had similar jogging routes, though with Rogers' heightened endurance and speed, would often pass Wilson, alerting him, "On your left." In that film's final scenes, Captain America was hospitalized from the injuries he suffered at the hands of the Winter Soldier. With Wilson at Rogers' side, the Avenger let his newfound ally know that he was awake, merely saying, "On your left."

In the Endgame finale, Captain America is prepared to make a stand against Thanos all by himself. Luckily, thanks to our heroes using the Infinity Stones, Rogers is far from alone, as he first hears a previously-dead Sam Wilson proclaim, "On your left," while emerging from a portal created by Doctor Strange to unite Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

While Endgame paid off the devotion of all MCU fans, these nods to the Winter Soldier have resonated even more strongly with fans who hold that film highly in their personal MCU rankings.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now.

Did you pick up on these references? Let us know in the comments below!

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