10 MCU Scenes That Became Memes

The MCU has firmly established itself as one of the most successful cinematic franchises of all time, if not landing the top spot alongside Star Wars and Avatar. With more than two dozen movies, a slew of TV series and a rich comic book legacy, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has amassed an enormous worldwide audience. Along the way, the comedy/action franchise has been responsible for a variety of modern internet memes.

Marvel movies and TV series may be superhero content first and foremost, but the franchise’s emphasis on comedy has elevated it in the eyes of most fans. The signature comedy style has also created a slew of scenes and interactions that became instant memes among the fan base. From banter between characters to villains getting their comeuppance, these memes are widely used around the internet to play on the franchise’s humor.

10 I Know. But He Can.

After the battle between Thor and Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, the hero orchestrated the release of Surtur, the being destined to bring about the end of Asgard through Ragnarok. As his sister informed Thor that he couldn’t beat her, the god of thunder declared “I know. But he can,” to which Surtur burst onto the scene, ready to crush Asgard.

The full exchange has been turned into a meme that, in effect, is a modern version of the bigger fish idea, with Hela’s self-confidence being shattered by Surtur’s arrival. The scene has been turned into plays on unlikely people or projects overshadowing the success of competitors expected to be unbeatable.

9 Billionare, Genius, Playboy, Philanthropist

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2012’s Avengers finally united Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in what would become one of the most successful films of all time. The story saw Tony Stark and Steve Rogers lead the Avengers in battle against Loki and the Chitauri, but not without a clash of personalities beforehand.

One of the film’s more dramatic scenes came in an argument between Stark and Rogers in which the latter asked Tony what he’d be without his suit. Stark’s reply of “billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist” became an iconic moment from the franchise often referenced by the fandom through memes to show how someone can be more than they appear.

8 That Doesn’t Seem Fair

Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness has a few meme moments that became memes, but an interaction between Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange became the best. As teased in the trailer itself, the scene involved Wanda critiquing the fact that when Strange broke the rules he became a hero, whereas she became the villain.

The interaction between the hero and newly-villainous Wanda has been turned into a meme that plays on comedic double standards. The scene is quite often used when someone is making a self-deprecating or self-aware joke about how their actions were technically the same as someone else’s, yet resulted in different treatment.

7 I See This As An Absolute Win

In Avengers: Endgame, when the team were trying to get ready to travel back in time, the newly-intelligent Hulk worked with Tony Stark and Scott Lang to try and build a time machine. This involved sending Lang into an augmented version of Hank Pym’s machine, resulting in the hero being aged into an old man and a baby.

After the dubious outcome of Hulk’s experiment, the green hero threw up his arms and declared it “an absolute win.” The scene has become a funny way of conveying imperfect victories or wins on technicalities, and can be used to make fun of weird situations resulting in good outcomes.

6 I Understood That Reference

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Famously a man out of time, Steve Rogers began as a super soldier from the 1940s who, after crashing in the Arctic, woke up in the 21st century under the care of S.H.I.E.L.D. As one of the first heroes to join Nick Fury’s Avengers initiative, Rogers was in place with the agency when Loki stole the Tesseract. When the team was fully assembled, Fury set about briefing the team.

After an off-hand reference about “flying monkeys,” Steve was quick to bond with the team by declaring “I understood that reference.” The laugh out loud moment for fans became a meme of comradery used by people to let it be known they understand references or points being made by others.

5 I Don’t Even Know Who You Are

Avengers: Endgame followed the Avengers’ efforts to restore everyone lost after Thanos’ snap in Infinity War. The heroes were successful in this, and fans got to see the return of all their favorite characters who had died in the prior movie. One such example was the return of a vengeful Scarlet Witch.

After her return, Scarlet Witch told the past version of Thanos “you took everything from me,” with the villain responding “I don’t even know who you are.” Fans use the interaction as a play on people’s over-confidence of their own fame or importance, bringing people down a peg when they engage in self-importance.

4 I Am Inevitable

It’s no secret that the MCU established Thanos as one of modern cinema’s most iconic villains, in large part due to the scale of his plan to wipe out half of all life in the universe. After achieving this in Avengers: Infinity War, the team traveled back in time to collect the Infinity Stones and reverse his plan. However, the past version of the villain caught wind of the plan and arrived in the present.

As the younger Thanos believed he had seized the Infinity Gauntlet, he boldly declared “I am inevitable,” only to realize Iron Man had removed the stones. The scene became a meme often used to either poke fun at over-confidence or to point out inevitable things in real life.

3 Everywhere I Go… I See His Face.

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In the MCU, Peter Parker’s origin story was somewhat reworked in order to make it fit better with the wider events of the franchise. One example of this was replacing the importance of Uncle Ben with Tony Stark stepping in as a mentor. After the hero died in Avengers: Endgame, Peter was left with both a sense of loss and worry that he wasn’t living up to Tony’s hopes for him.

As Peter coped with his career in Spider-Man: Far From Home, he took refuge from the fame on a rooftop, where he saw a mural of Iron Man. The scene became an instant meme with the caption “everywhere I go, I see his face.” The meme is often used to make fun of the ubiquity of various celebrities or to voice frustration with excessive conversation about someone.

2 Kathryn Hahn’s Wink

Arguably the single most memed-on of all the MCU projects after Endgame, Wanda/Vision followed the story of Scarlet Witch as she used her reality-altering powers to create a picturesque existence. The villain took over a small community, using her powers to change the decade as they got to know their neighbors.

One such neighbor, Agnes (played by Kathryn Hahn) made a point of getting to know the couple, famously including a scene in which she put on an exaggerated wink. The scene became a meme used to play up tongue-in-cheek lies and deception, effectively replacing the winky face emoji for many.

1 He’s Out Of Line, But He’s Right

Few scenes became memes as quickly as the famous interaction between Zemo, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes during Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The series followed Bucky and Sam as they took on the Flag-Smashers, a terrorist group driven by the grievance of displacement in the aftermath of the Avengers reversing Thanos’ snap.

In order to find the villains, Bucky and Sam released Zemo, who aided them in their mission. In an interaction on a plane, Zemo recommended Bucky experience Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man song, telling him how it captured the African-American experience. The scene led to a bemused Sam telling Bucky “he’s out of line, but he’s right.” The scene became a meme used to point out controversial people expressing agreeable or common sense positions.

 Iconic MCU scenes from Marvel’s films and Disney+ series have since turned into popular memes online.  Read More