The Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel Comics are, by necessity, different. In adapting comic storylines like Infinity War, Age of Ultron, and Ragnarok, heavy changes often have to be made. These changes have added up over the years and made the MCU an entirely different canon from the comics. Add to that other changes made to visuals and the rosters of teams like the Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy and you would think it would be impossible to find shots that recreate iconic comic book moments faithfully.
But the MCU is chock-full of iconic fan-service moments, some of which pay visual homage to comic panels. While changes can be made, the MCU is generally faithful to any big, character-defining moments in comic books. The Marvel movies are often fairly distinct from the comics in terms of story and visuals, for better or worse, but they are careful not to stray too far from the source material and always reference it closely. Since comics are such a visual medium, this means that the movies will never turn down a chance to add an iconic comic book panel into their films.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
6 Hawkeye Shooting Antman — Captain America: Civil War
Via Disney
During the airport fight in Captain America: Civil War, Hawkeye and Ant-Man displayed an iconic Marvel special attack: Hawkeye shooting Ant-Man while he rides his arrow. Until the Fastball Special involving Wolverine and Hulk appears in the MCU, fans won’t have a more iconic team-up attack. Though the comic book panel is not in the Civil War comic’s arc, it’s still fitting for a crossover movie like Civil War to show audiences such a fun application of both Ant-Man and Hawkeye’s powers working together, especially when it’s used to deliver a shrunken Ant-Man to disable Iron Man’s armor suit. It’s not impossible that the two will get a chance to do something similar in the future, especially given the Ant-Man Easter egg in the Hawkeye series, not to mention that they’re both still in the MCU, but it might be awhile before audiences can see the two working together like that again.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
5 Black Panther Falling off the Falls — Black Panther
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
In Black Panther, Erik Killmonger manages to win his duel with T’Challa and thereby win the seat of King from him. Killmonger does this by throwing Black Panther off a waterfall the two were dueling on at the time. Though he managed to survive, the event marked a low point for T’Challa as his cousin would rule in his stead while he recovered from his wounds. A similar event happens in the Jungle Action comic series, where Killmonger also throws the comic book T’Challa off a waterfall. This moment in the movie represents a darker hour for Black Panther, who has been confronted with proof that his father had been keeping secrets from him. Killmongers represents the fact that Wakanda’s isolationism comes at a price to those they could help with their advanced technology, and his defeat of Black Panther reinforces this message as it is a direct result of those actions that he came to resent Wakanda so much.
4 Iron Man vs Captain America — Captain America: Civil War
Marvel Studios
Toward the end of Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark discovers that Captain America has been keeping a secret: Bucky, aka the Winter Soldier, killed Stark’s parents. Upon discovering this, Iron Man attacks both super soldiers as Steve Rogers tries to defend Bucky from Tony’s fury. One shot in this fight recreates the iconic Civil War comic panel that sees Stark and Rogers fighting over a pile of superheroes. The panel is well recreated in the movie and fits well with the themes of the film and the comic book it’s referencing. In both cases, it’s a stark image that shows how far Steve and Tony’s relationship has fallen and an iconic draw that served to pitch both stories of two superheroes fighting each other.
3 “Who the Hell is Bucky?” — Captain America: The Winter Soldier
During the course of Captain America: Winter Soldier, the superhuman Steve Rogers has to unravel a conspiracy while being hunted down by a mysterious assassin. That assassin, revealed to be the near-legendary Winder Soldier, turns out to be none other than Captain America’s fellow soldier Bucky Barnes. The moment Steve realizes this, and Bucky utters the line “Who the hell is Bucky?”, is a recreation of a panel from the original Winter Soldier storyline. The movie’s use of the line does a lot in a short amount of time, telling the audience that this Bucky and the one we saw in The First Avenger are very different. Not only that, but in hindsight this is a sad sign of how far Bucky’s brainwashing went. The Winter Soldier doesn’t even remember that he is Bucky Barnes and would not be free of all his encoded programming until his time in Wakanda. Despite how much Bucky has done to distance himself from the Winter Soldier name, this moment is still emblematic for the darker take on the character of Bucky the Winter Soldier arc represents.
2 Spider-Man Under Rubble — Spider-Man: Homecoming
In terms of faithful adaptation and iconic visuals, there’s one shot of Spider-Man: Homecoming that any avid fan of the Wall-Crawler is likely to be able to point out. Towards the end of Homecoming, Peter Parker is buried under tons of rubble and debris by the Vulture. This recreates a panel from Amazing Spider-Man #33 almost exactly, where Spider-Man is buried under a similar amount of rubble. This scene is not only an emotional moment in the movie, as Peter beats the odds and digs himself out of danger despite the seemingly overwhelming odds, but also a visual summation of the appeal and character of Spider-Man. Peter Parker is constantly overwhelmed by real life and superhero life. He is buried under responsibilities and problems, and then he has to beat the odds against gangs and super villains. The wall-crawler is as good a character as the challenging obstacles and adversaries he has to overcome. Spider-Man is compelling as an underdog and this iconic image shows the strain he is under while also showing he can overcome it.
1 Captain America Punching Hitler — Captain America: The First Avenger
The famous scene of Captain America punching Hitler is among one of the most famous comic panels period. This moment is recreated in Captain America: The First Avenger. It is a shame that Cap didn’t get a chance to punch the real Hitler in the MCU, given that the Hitler he does punch in the scene is actually in a piece of wartime propaganda he’s helping with. Still, it would have been even more of a shame to not recreate that moment given how important it is to comic history and also to the character’s identity as a national war hero. Though It’s been a long time since this movie and Steve no longer wears the mantle of Captain America, having given his shield to Sam Wilson, this moment has always been part of the origins and DNA of the character.
