Memes / Marvel Cinematic Universe

"We look like ourselves at a baseball game!"

Rocket: How much for the gun?
Bucky: Not for sale!
Rocket: OK, how much for the arm?
[Bucky gives him a disgusted look and walks off]
Rocket: Oh, I'll get that arm...

— The moment Marvel Studios realized the connection, Avengers: Infinity War.

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Works with their own pages

• The Avengers (2012)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Ant-Man
• Captain America: Civil War
• Thor: Ragnarok
• Avengers: Infinity War
• Avengers: Endgame
• WandaVision
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
• Loki (2021)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• Thor: Love and Thunder

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Please add entries in the following format:

• The meme. ^Explanation The explanation behind the meme.
  • Further mutations and successor memes, if any.

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• X is wearing a suit and tie with a vest, therefore he's the villain. ^Explanation All three Iron Man films, Thor, Ant-Man, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Daredevil and Jessica Jones feature villains who wear suits at some point. Tony Stark, who some fans see as an antagonist in Civil War, is also shown wearing a suit with a vest in some scenes of the movie so naturally the joke spun out from there.
• "Give the rights back to Marvel already!" ^Explanation Reactions to movies made by non-Marvel Studios companies who still own certain character rights, particularly if the films aren't up to par (Such as Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Fox's Fantastic Four films). In most extreme cases may even be applied to movies NOT based on Marvel's comics.
• Nick Fury = Demoman. Both are badass black men with eyepatches.
• Back when Spider-Man was Exiled from Continuity, it became popular Fanon to depict Spidey as existing in the MCU as a Memetic Loser Woobie who's constantly being blocked from joining the Avengers by Nick Fury. Now that he's a part of it, the joke has mutated to him finally being let in and proceeding to completely steal the thunder from Ant-Man, who was just getting recognized.
• "Captain Dorito". ^Explanation About how Cap's shoulder-to-waist ratio matches a Dorito.
  • This has since become an Ascended Meme after Robert Downey Jr referred to Chris Evans by the moniker several times at Comic-Con 2014.
  • This ascended further in an interview with Evans and Hemsworth in which they are both handed a bag of Doritos. Chris Evans is kind of grossed out when he bites into one, while Chris Hemsworth just grins and says "So that's what you taste like!" Cue Evans turning bright red in embarrassment and Tumblr breaking.
• "HELP ME TONY", in reference to Cap supposedly getting hit severely with The Worf Effect outside his own movies.
• The "I'm Just A Civilian" Starter Pack:◊ Baseball cap, hoodie (or jacket) and sunglasses. ^Explanation In Iron Man 3, Tony Stark uses these accessories to go incognito while buying supplies after having to ditch his suit, Steve Rogers does so while on the run in both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, Falcon in Ant-Man, and Bucky (sans the sunglasses) in Captain America: Civil War
  • Pointed out in Ant-Man and the Wasp by Scott Lang: “We just look like ourselves at a baseball game!”
• "It's all connected" for MCU as a whole. It gets used as Arc Words in promotional material for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and is even stated word for word by Daisy "Skye" Johnson in a season two episode.
• Darcy being the fandom bicycle, to the point that it forms a sort of feedback-loop where any time a new character is introduced the MCU there will inevitably be at least one fic pairing them up with Darcy.
• The three Chrisses (Hemsworth, Evans and Pratt). Though he's not in the MCU, Chris Pine is often included as an honorary fourth Chris, especially in light of him joining the cast of Wonder Woman (2017) and voicing Ultimate Peter Parker in Into the Spider-Verse.
• Korath asking "Who?" in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) has become a standard Recognition Failure reaction shot\clip.
• Thanks to overzealous accusations of bribery, online reviewers (particularly on YouTube) now joke about Marvel/Disney paying them off to praise the MCU and trash other superhero movies.
  Korey: (Discussing a harsh review of X-Men: Apocalypse) Did that one guy get his Disney check?[...] 'cause Disney just paying everybody off to talk shit about superhero movies!
• MCU synchronicity/synergy^note A snarky comment by Marvel Comics fans referring to how elements from the MCU will frequently be incorporated into the comics, and not always in the most graceful fashion. Examples include 616 Nick Fury being replaced by his son Nick Fury Jr (who just so happens to resemble Samuel L. Jackson), character costumes being redesigned to resemble the MCU versions, and the infamous "Marvel Comics is pushing the Inhumans to replace the X-Men because they have the rights to the former and not the latter" conspiracy theory.
• BRING BACK BETTY ^Explanation A reference to how Betty Ross has not made an on-screen appearance or even a mention since The Incredible Hulk (2008) despite other MCU love interests (i.e., Pepper Potts, Peggy Carter, Jane Foster) having reappeared in the MCU. This meme exploded after Age of Ultron replaced her with Black Widow as Bruce Banner's love interest, to many fans' chagrin. It has also been used metonymously to refer to Marvel doing more to acknowledge the movie. May have been discredited following Betty's appearance in What If…? (2021), but as that was just an alternate version of events in the original film, the initial point still stands.
• Hallway fight scene! ^Explanation Starting from season 1 of Daredevil, all the Netflix series have at least one fight scene set in a hallway. The Defenders having its teamup be a hallway fight, means this may have become something of an Ascended Meme.
• Joss Whedon has betrayed Marvel. ^Explanation When it was announced that Zack Snyder, director of Justice League (2017), had stepped down from the film to deal with personal family issues, and that Joss Whedon would take his place, a very minor number of people couldn't resist making this joke, as Whedon has previously directed the first two Avengers movies.
• Sad/Confused Kevin Feige ^Explanation  During a joint interview with Feige for Spider-Man: Homecoming Sony head Amy Pascal stated that the upcoming Sony movies would be part of the MCU...contradicting Feige's previous statements that they wouldn't. Feige's seemingly perplexed reaction to Amy's comments reminded fans of the infamous "Sad Affleck" meme.
• Beware the Marvel snipers! ^Explanation  Several MCU actors at various points in time have jokingly claimed that Marvel has snipers ready to take them out during interviews if they give away too much information.
  • Angry Kevin Feige ^Explanation  After credible leaks for the first Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer hit the internet on August 22nd 2021, many fans posted variations of Feige doing something in a fit of rage due to the size of the leak, which also included photoshopped images of him holding a sniper rifle.
• Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo's complete inability to keep secrets about future Marvel plot points. By the time Infinity War rolled around Marvel embraced their status as leakers and used their rep to promote the Infinity War poster reveal. Sometimes Sebastian Stan is grouped in to make it a trio after a joking comment he made about Captain America becoming Nomad in Infinity War. ^note While he doesn't actually take up the codename or any aspects of the infamously Stripperiffic costume, the Russos have confirmed his character does take some inspiration from spirit of the Nomad days in this film. This got to the point that some fans giving Holland and Ruffalo Fan Nickname "Spoiler Bros", akin to how fans calling Tony Stark and Bruce Banner "Science Bros".
• Remember, this series takes place in same universe as... ^Explanation  A small joke from fans who acknowledge the strong differences in tone between the various MCU series, despite all of them taking place in the same universe. For example, series like Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Ant-Man are very light-hearted, while series like Daredevil (2015) or Punisher are much darker.
• Superhero Fatigue. ^Explanation A term that were coined by the entertainment industry (most notably by famous filmakers like James Cameron) that was used to predict that superhero movies would stop bring in audience as far back as 2012 when The Avengers came out. This phrase is now invoked mockingly whenever a Marvel movie performs extremely well or breaks records at the box office, such as films like Civil War, Black Panther or Infinity War.
• "Never Trust an Elf◊" ^Explanation It hasn't gone unnoticed that no less than three actors who played elves in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings trilogies have gone on to play villains in MCU movies: Hugo Weaving (Elrond and Red Skull), Lee Pace (Thranduil and Ronan) and Cate Blanchett (Galadriel and Hela). (And, on the TV side, Craig Parker as Haldir and Taryan on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..) Consequently, the fact that two other elves went on to play heroic MCU roles (Liv Tyler as Arwen and Betty Ross, and Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel and Hope Van Dyne/Wasp) also gets brought up.
• KEVIN FEIGE WAS ABLE TO BUILD THE MCU IN A CAVE! WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS! ^Explanation The MCU turning B and C-list characters into Household Names.
• In spite of the character never really shown partaking in such things, you'll find no shortage of fanart or incorrect quote posts of Peter Parker being a Totally Radical meme machine who annoys his fellow Avengers◊ by quoting the likes of Vine or Twitter. That or teach Fish out of Water Thor to do stuff like this◊.
• After Stan Lee passed away, the meme of him passing his characters to Kevin Feige has been making the round. Using the final scenes of Toy Story 3 make for a massive TearJerker.
• Out of context spoilers^Explanation A trend that kicked off after Avengers: Infinity War. Essentially, fans made photosets of various objects, screenshots from other media, and other seemingly-random images that all connected back to the movie, from quick gags to major plot points, but make absolutely no sense without context. For example, sets for Infinity War often included Squidward, bubbles, and piles of ash.
• Photoshopping men of the MCU (usually Chris Evans or Chris Hemsworth) to have acrylic nails, hoop earrings, and/or wigs to poke fun at stereotypes of Black and Latino family members (as such it's also generally accepted that only those groups should be making the images).
• Captain America always looks like a bird just flew away with his hot dog.◊ ^Explanation Someone noticed a pattern and underlying similarity between all of Cap's expressions in his movies' promotional materials.
  • And the bird's name is Sam.
• "Now that is an Avengers level threat." ^Explanation  Mysterio's line at the climax of Spider-Man: Far From Home when he makes it look like the Elementals are combining. A reaction meme typically used in a sarcastic fashion or as an example of Serious Business.
• Disgruntled Stark employee ^Explanation A common criticism of the MCU is its Meta Origin for some of its villains as people wronged by Tony Stark somehow (even outside of his solo films). Mysterio (and his crew) seems to have been the last straw for some as predictions that future MCU villains will be former employees that Tony Stark fired have gone from genuine theories to snarky jokes about the franchise's issues with It's the Same, Now It Sucks!. Some have even joked that with the acquisition of the X-Men, not even the likes of Magneto will be safe from being formerly employed by Stark Industries.
• It's a common joke that Peter would teach the older Avengers teen slang.
  Steve: Big mood, Tony, big mood.
• With Phase 4 announcing several projects that involve reality warping, time travel, and other multiverse shenanigans, several people have joked that Doctor Strange is going to have a really rough week cleaning up everything that those characters have screwed up during the phase. Though this portrayal of Strange as an Only Sane Man very quickly died out after the trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home showcases Strange botching a spell that is implied to be the start of said chaos, with characters from previous live-action Spider-Man films appearing in the MCU.
• "He's out of line, but he's right." ^Explanation  During their flight to Madripoor in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam and Zemo discuss Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man after Bucky admits it wasn't his thing. Zemo claims it "captures the African-American experience", prompting Sam to respond with the line above. Used as a reaction image for opinions or takes considered out there/controversial but accurate.
• Amazed Kevin Feige^Explanation  While doing a press junket for the upcoming Eternals movie, Feige gave much praise to Chloe Zhao's willingness to film scenes on-location rather than at Marvel's studios in Atlanta. This caused many fans online to joke about Feige being awestruck at things such as real-life grass, waterfalls, or sunsets due to shooting a majority of their scenes behind green screen.
• Phase Four: Trauma! ^Explanation  Fans have noted that the first three properties released for Phase Four (WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki (2021)) involve someone central to the plot suffering from some sort of traumatic event within the show or feeling the effects from previous ones.
  • Phase Four: Therapy ^Explanation A slightly more popular mutation of the above. Another thing fans have noticed is that the first three properties for Phase Four also have the main characters working through certain traumas or problems they have. Such as Wanda getting over the loss of Vision, Bucky visiting a literal therapist as part of his government pardon while trying to amend for his actions as the Winter Soldier, and then Loki being literally put through therapy by Mobius, forcing him to come to terms with his issues.

• CLEARLY You don't own an air fryer◊. ^Explanation An image macro of Tony smirking in his suit, with a Non Sequitur demotivation meme to accompany it.
  • Various memes of Tony asking for Jarvis' help have also been popular. There's an entire Twitter account dedicated to these memes!
• "Yes, very sad. Anyway." ^Explanation  In episode two of Loki (2021), Loki is explaining to Mobius where the Loki Variant they're hunting is hiding, and is using Mobius' salad as a stand-in for Asgard to demonstrate. Mobius then gives his condolences over Asgard's destruction in Thor: Ragnarok, a sentiment Loki shares for all of two seconds before jumping right back into the metaphor. Used as a reaction image towards situations or outcomes someone wouldn't be particularly bothered by.
• [X] is Mephisto ^Explanation Starting with WandaVision and continuing in other MCU entries, several fans have speculated that the Marvel's iconic Satanic Archetype will make his MCU debut at some point in Phase 4, in part due to his close ties towards many heroes and villains in the comics.
• Oh my god, they killed Tony again! ^Explanation In every appearance in What If…? (2021), Tony Stark is killed off in some way. Murdered by Hank Pym in Episode 3, turned into a zombie in Episode 5, killed by Killmonger in Episode 6, and executed by Ultron in Episode 8. At least until the Season 1 finale where the Tony variant that went to Sakaar (an episode that got delayed to Season 2 due to COVID) gets a cameo.
• "I observe everything that transpires here, but I do not, cannot, will not interfere. For I am...The Watcher." ^Explanation Uatu says this line at the end of What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?. This is often used to mock or invoke Bystander Syndrome.
• I have seen everything that has ever happened, ever will happen, ever could happen... and yet... what the hell is this? ^Explanation Character Narrator and Framing Device of What If…? (2021), The Watcher, a member of a race that is nigh-omniscient due to being immortal and insatiably curious, has his presence noticed by Ultron, who has been enhanced by all 6 infinity stones. This genuinely surprises him for what is probably the first time in eons, leading to this quote.
• Nope! Not gettin' out of this chair. ^Explanation Viewers would frequently joke or complain about Thanos' presence in the movies prior to Infinity War being nothing more than him sitting on his chair and watching as his plans only serve to cost him the Infinity Stones he had.
• "I'm the CEO of Sex".^Explanation  A pic of Jacob Batalon in the premiere of Spider-Man: Homecoming has gone viral with this caption, and this has has become a minor Fan Nickname for Ned Leeds. Initially created in 2019, it really took off in 2021 following the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
• "The Greatest Marvel Movie Ever!" ^Explanation Used by detractors to make fun of critics and viewers who praise whichever Marvel movie just came out, knowing they'll be saying it again within the next 12 months.
• APOLOGIZE! ^Explanation After the reappraisal of the The Amazing Spider-Man duology following the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Many users on 4chan's /co/ board started making one word posts in all caps featuring the word "APOLOGIZE" paired with an image of Andrew Garfield in his Spider-Man suit. This has extended beyond the TASM films and gradually started using the meme for other maligned Marvel films like Thor: The Dark World or Fantastic Four (2005).
• "Well... THAT just happened" ^Explanation Ironic meme originally made by detractors to make fun of the Casual Danger Dialogue common in Marvel movies. Became something of an Ascended Meme in a TV Spot for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 where Rocket says "So that happened".
  • "He's right behind me, isn't he?"^Explanation Another meme making fun of a similarly common quote. It isn't helped that this line was used in Thor: Love and Thunder.
• Wong Cinematic Universe. ^Explanation Wong, despite being a fairly innocuous supporting character in both the source material and his debut film, saw a significant increase in prominence in Phase 4, with him often being an Unexpected Character in other films and series. Expect any news of his appearances to be filled with Memetic Badass comments, framing him as the true core hero of the MCU.
• If [X] was written by Taika Waititi ^Explanation The director's overly comedic style and tendency to insert humor in his films as frequently as possible has led to many detractors, and some fans, creating this meme. Non-comedic MCU scenes have been edited to include a purposefully lame joke, like Puns.
• [X] will reprise their role as [X] in Avengers: Secret Wars.^Explanation Secret Wars is the Season Finale of the Multiverse Saga and is widely speculated to be a massive Crisis Crossover between the various Marvel universes such as the main MCU, the X-Men series, the previous Spider-Man continuities, etc. As websites began posting supposedly breaking news of certain actors being confirmed or rumored to return for Secret Wars, the Internet got in on the joke (following a trend from other cameo-heavy movies such as No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness) by making memes that non-Marvel characters or celebrities were confirmed to appear, even deceased people such as Tupac Shakur and Queen Elizabeth II.
• Jonathan Majors news^Explanation On March 25, 2023, Jonathan Majors was arrested for reportedly strangling a woman. Since he's the actor for Kang the Conqueror, the Big Bad for the Multiverse Saga, to say this is a disaster is an understatement. The fandom has responded with some good old-fashioned Gallows Humor.
  • Marvel now knows how DC feels^Explanation Comparisons were made to the DC Extended Universe's infamous problem with Ezra Miller, another actor notorious for disturbing illegal behavior who also happens to be playing the character their cinematic universe rests on.
  • Doctor Doom for Secret Wars.^Explanation A semi-serious alternative to Kang is for the main villain to be Doctor Doom. The main argument is that Doom was a major player in both Secret Wars comics, especially the 2015 version.
  • "Somehow, Thanos returned."^Explanation Yet another alternative to Kang is to have Thanos be resurrected and be the main villain once more, playing on Poe Dameron's infamous line in The Rise of Skywalker. This line is edited to be said by Marc/Steven, whose actor played Poe.
• Kang Dynasty/Secret Wars leaks^Explanation Supposed "leaked images" from these movies that are obviously and hilariously photoshopped with horrible captions underneath them. Oftentimes, these images will have Robert Downey Jr. back as Iron Man, non-MCU Marvel characters or even non-Marvel characters.
• Majors conviction^Explanation On December 18, 2023, Majors was found guilty of assault and fired. This obviously led to a lot of memes, since he was the guy the MCU was hinging its new Myth Arc on.
  • What were his lawyers thinking?^Explanation As the court case went on, Majors's lawyers did action after action that, if anything, just made him look even more guilty, like releasing personal text messages that didn't paint Majors in a good light. Incredulous fans wondered if he had hired dubious lawyers like Lionel Hutz with how incompetent they were.
  • Majors recast^Explanation With Majors out, the role of Kang became free game. Those in the camp of a recast rather than replacing Kang with Doctor Doom then started speculating on a new actor. Serious choices include Denzel Washington and John Boyega (though the latter expressed disinterest), but joking options include Terrence Howard as an ironic inverse of him famously being recast at the MCU's start or Robert Downey Jr. in blackface like in Tropic Thunder.

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