10 MCU Scenes That Are Way More Important Than They First Seemed

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen many moments grow in importance over time, as seeds that had been planted began to bloom into some of Marvel Studios' best scenes. The MCU began in 2008 with Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man. Since then, the MCU has released another 31 films — including Marvel's most recent release, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — and has also expanded beyond just movies. Marvel Studios now produces series and specials for Disney+, which greatly augments the MCU's output of content from when it started in 2008.
With so many projects, it is impossible for every Marvel release to have end-of-the-world stakes all the time, and that is okay. Having smaller character moments works just as well as the big battles, if done right. However, what is extremely interesting is that a lot of those early MCU moments that were not given much attention - or even those that seemed cool at first but nothing more - have been recontextualized by more recent MCU releases. There are several moments throughout the MCU's history that are now more important on a rewatch than when they were originally released, with some small scenes becoming vital to understanding later events.
10 Captain America Nudges Thor's Hammer

Chris Evans' Steve Rogers almost lifting Thor's hammer in Avengers: Age of Ultron was one of the most talked about scenes in the movie, sparking speculation that Captain America was worthy of lifting Mjolnir due to the hammer nudging when Steve attempted to pull it. While fans started to speculate on the scene's meaning, the moment was played for laughs in the film, mainly focusing on Chris Hemsworth's Thor being nervous about Steve being able to pick up the hammer. The moment grew in importance due to it now foreshadowing the Infinity Saga's climatic moment where Steve picks up the hammer to fight Thanos in Avengers: Endgame.
9 Drax Calls Rocket Vermin

One small Guardians of the Galaxy Rocket scene hits different after the cosmic team's trilogy finale. The scene in question sees a tame insult from Drax lead to Rocket giving a tearful speech about how he did not ask to be made or torn apart and put together several times. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 deepens that moment's impact by showing Rocket's MCU backstory, with the character suffering at the hands of the evil High Evolutionary, having body parts removed in favor of cybernetic enhancements, and seeing his childhood friends be killed before his eyes.
8 Thanos Kills Loki

Tom Hiddleston's Loki had already faked his death in the past, so when the God of Mischief was killed by Thanos at the start of Avengers: Infinity War, it seemed like it was only a matter of time until he was revealed to be alive. However, that was not what happened, with Avengers: Endgame cementing that the character had been killed for real, and that the MCU would be using a Loki variant from that moment forward, which Hiddleston will soon get back to playing in Loki season 2. While the new Loki has seen what happened in the original's life, he is a completely separate character.
7 Groot Sacrifices Himself To Save The Guardians

Guardians of the Galaxy's ending saw the original Groot sacrifice himself to save the rest of the team. Notably, the character had lost appendages throughout the film and grown them back thanks to his tree-like powers. That, coupled with the reveal of Baby Groot's existence at the end of the film, seemed to confirm that his sacrifice was temporary and that Groot would grow into his adult form soon. Years later, James Gunn confirmed Baby Groot and Adult Groot to be different characters. That reveal makes Groot's sacrifice in the original movie one of the MCU's most tragic scenes.
6 Red Skull Is Seemingly Killed By The Tesseract

Captain America: The First Avenger's ending seemed to include a generic villain death for Hugo Weaving's Red Skull, with the character disintegrating after holding the Tesseract in his hand. However, Avengers: Infinity War would make this scene a very important moment to the MCU, as the Avengers movie revealed that the light ray that had seemingly killed Red Skull actually transported him across the galaxy to serve as the keeper of the Soul Stone on the planet Vormir. The Walking Dead's Ross Marquand took over the role for the character's more recent appearances.
5 Ultron Attacks Sokovia

Ultron's attack on Sokovia seemed like a pretty standard villain plan of leveling a city, but the destruction it caused led to the biggest cascade effect in MCU history. Ultron's attack resulted in the creation of the Sokovia Accords, which divided the MCU's heroes in Captain America: Civil War. The divided Avengers were not able to stop Thanos from killing half of the universe's population with the Infinity Gauntlet during Avengers: Infinity War. The remaining MCU heroes then had to suffer massive casualties — Black Widow and Iron Man — to revert Thanos' snap in Avengers: Endgame, with it all having started thanks to Avengers: Age of Ultron's destruction of Sokovia.
4 Loki Mind Controls People With His Scepter

In The Avengers, Loki is seen using his scepter to mind control people, including Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye, into doing what he wants multiple times. In the movie, it seemed like the character's use of the scepter was due to some magic-related power, which was later revealed not to be the case. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, the robotic villain destroyed the blue gem from Loki's scepter, revealing that the Mind Stone was within. That reveal puts into perspective just how much faith Thanos had in Loki in The Avengers, as he gifted the scepter to Hiddleston's character.
3 Janet Van Dyne Is Lost In The Quantum Realm

Michelle Pfeiffer's Janet van Dyne was lost in the Quantum Realm for years, with Hank Pym revealing the story of how she had shrunk herself in 2015's Ant-Man. That plot point led to Hank studying the Quantum Realm for years, with his research eventually leading to Tony Stark discovering time travel in Avengers: Endgame. Janet getting stuck in the Quantum Realm led to her meeting Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror there, and unknowingly helping him conquer the Quantum Realm. This also led to the events of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the movie's big battle there, which will have consequences for the next couple of Avengers films.
2 A Kid Sees Tony Stark's Heroics In Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 has a moment where Tony Stark saves a kid wearing an Iron Man helmet from being killed by a robot at the Stark Expo. That kid is none other than Peter Parker. Iron Man 2's Spider-Man retcon came years after the movie was released, with Tom Holland revealing during Spider-Man: Homecoming's press tour that he had spoken to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about the scene and that Peter was retconned into being the kid in Iron Man 2. That scene then grew in importance, as it set up Peter Parker seeing Tony Stark as a mentor in the future.
1 Rocket Steals Batteries From The Sovereign

Bradley Cooper's Rocket Raccoon has stolen many items throughout his time in the MCU, but the character sneaking away with the Anulax batteries from The Sovereign created a ripple effect. That act in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 led to Ayesha creating Adam Warlock, who would gravely injure Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, almost leading to the hero's death. Rocket's near-death state is the driving force of the Guardians' trilogy finale, meaning that the movie would have been totally different if it had not been for Rocket stealing the batteries in the first place, proving the initial scene's place as a Marvel Cinematic Universe moment that became more important with time.
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