While Avengers: Endgame was a mostly original story that relied more on the MCU's connecting threads than the comics, the MCU installment did make several references to the medium. This is expected of comic book movies so fans that witnessed these moments had a great time in the cinema, whilst also explaining to their casual friend why that segment was cool.
Of all the comic book references, however, fans were not expecting a joke about Nick Spencer's controversial Secret Empire.
During a scene set in 2012, Captain America (2023) enters an elevator filled with "SHIELD" agents carrying Loki's staff, who are actually members of Hydra. The scene is shot and set up like that excellent elevator fight sequence in Captain America: The Winter Soldier but Steve, using his head, manages to get the staff and Mind Stone by saying two words: Hail Hydra.
Yup, Steve said those two controversial words that made the internet go crazy just so that he could get an Infinity Stone. Awesome.
Fans have interpreted the scene in a number of ways. Some see it as a cute reference while others think that it's a big middle finger to Nick Spencer's controversial storyline. The comic itself isn't that bad, taking things in a creepy and unfamiliar direction, though the ending was controversial and kind of dumb.
Avengers: Endgame is now showing in theaters.
Read:Avengers: Endgame's Big Iron Man Moment Was a Last-Minute Addition
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Avengers: Endgame