Avengers: Endgame Director Reveals a Blink and You’ll Miss It Moment

Now that Avengers: Endgame is arriving on digital and home video, Marvel fans are getting the […]

August 6, 2019, 3:26pm

Now that Avengers: Endgame is arriving on digital and home video, Marvel fans are getting the chance to examine the film in greater detail, to spot even more of the Easter eggs, references, and little details the missed in theaters. Helping with that hunt is the commentary track recoded by Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo, and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

There’s one detail in Avengers: Endgame‘s final act that most Marvel fans didn’t catch – nor did the actual Avengers characters in the film. Check that out below:

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Joe Russo points out the moment pictured above should’ve been a major clue to any fans who were still confused about which Nebula came back form the Time Heist: “Alright so, if you’re paying attention, that hand should be destroyed. That would be your first clue.”

As we learn in a key scene during the Time Heist, when the 2023 Nebula travels back to 2014 for the Time Heist, her neural network reconnects to Thanos’ network in 2014, alerting the Mad Titan of The Avengers’ Time Heist plans. To counter his foes, Thanos captures 2023 Nebula and replaces her with 2014 Nebula, who travels back to 2023 undercover, to infiltrate the Avengers’ base.

The scene above occurs when The Avengers team returns from the time heist, and is attempting to harness the power of the Infinity Gauntlet to reverse Thanos’ snap. While the team is in the lab of Avengers Compound preparing their Infinity experiment, 2014 Nebula sneaks back to the “Time Tunnel” to summon her father, Thanos. What ensues is an all-out war between Thanos’ cosmic army in the fully restored heroes of the MCU on the ruins of Avengers compound, in the MCU’s most epic battle yet.

Now, Avengers: Endgame gave fans a big clue to tell their Nebulas apart: an orange racing stripe that 2023 Nebula added to her head decoration. But there was also the detail that Joe Russo mentions, which many fans probably overlooked: Nebula’s hands. When 2023 Nebula travels back to 2014 Planet Morag, she obtains the Power Stone from the orb that Peter Quill first heisted, back in the opening sequence of Guardians of the Galaxy. Unlike Quill with his thief’s gadgets, Nebula obtains the orb by simply sticking her cybernetic hand into protective field and grabbing the orb. The effort leaves Nebula’s cybernetic hand melted down – which clearly isn’t the case when we see 2014 Nebula use that same hand’s function to activate the Time Tunnel.

Did you notice that discrepancy in 2014 Nebula’s 2023 disguise (because Rhodey sure didn’t!)? Let us know in the comments!

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in spring 2021, Loki in spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If? In summer 2021, Hawkeye in fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021.