‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Star-Lord and Spider-Man Bond Over Kevin Bacon

So — Kevin Bacon is having a weird week, huh?

Over the last few days, SYFY has pulled the plug on the planned Tremors TV series in which he was expected to star, but he also (once again) got a shout-out from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This time around, it was in Avengers: Infinity War. When the Avengers are referred to as “Earth’s mightiest heroes,” Mantis of the Guardians of the Galaxy offers, “…like Kevin Bacon?”

This is, of course, an extension of a joke from Guardians of the Galaxy.

“On my planet, there’s a legend about people like you,” Star-Lord says in the first film in the franchise. “It’s called Footloose. And in it, a great hero, named Kevin Bacon, teaches an entire city full of people with sticks up their butts that dancing, well, it’s the greatest thing there is.”

Kevin Bacon is, of course, not the protagonist of Footloose but its star, playing a character named Ren McCormack. Don’t let that minor distraction keep you from the larger point, which is that years after Guardians vol. 1 was in theaters, members of Peter Quill’s team still refer to Kevin Bacon as one of Earth’s greatest heroes.

Of course, if there is anybody in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as pop-culture savvy as Star-Lord, it’s Spider-Man, who asks whether the Kevin Bacon she mentions is the guy from Footloose.

“Yes,” Quill enthusiastically replies. “Is it still the best movie ever?”

“It never was,” Spider-Man says, souring his potential bromance with Quill almost immediately.

When Guardians first came out, Kevin Bacon tweeted how much he liked the film and later said that he didn’t know anybody who didn’t get a kick out of the Kevin Bacon joke. One has to wonder how he might feel now, with the Amazing Spider-Man taking aim at him.

The ’80s nostalgia is strong with the Guardians in Infinity War; During a chat with fans on Twitter, James Gunn revealed the name of the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship in the film: the Benatar, named for Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Pat Benatar, best known for her hits “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”, “Love Is a Battlefield”, “We Belong”, and “Invincible.”

Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War are now playing in theaters. Ant-Man and The Wasp is set for release on July 6, 2018. Captain Marvel will follow it on March 6, 2019, with the untitled Avengers 4 set to tie everything about the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a bow on May 3, 2019. Leave your Marvel questions and thoughts in the comment section below or send them to @RussBurlingame on Twitter!