The Marvel Cinematic Universe has revolutionized what comic book films are capable of. The routine success that these films experience are a testament to how well the MCU formula works, and while many other film studios have tried to replicate this success with shared universe movies, many have historically fallen flat. One of the main things that separates the MCU films from other big Hollywood franchises is the humor that's sprinkled within each installment. These moments of comedy can vary in quality from time to time, but the one thing that the Marvel Cinematic Universe routinely focuses on is pop culture references.
The amount of pop culture references in the MCU films vary from movie to movie. Captain America: The First Avenger contains very few pop culture references from the 1940s, while the Guardians of the Galaxy films routinely reference the 1980s thanks to Peter Quill. These references serve as a lighthearted way to ground these larger than life superheroes, and help make them feel more like everyday people. Although these references mostly focus on the worlds of film and television, video games have gotten a few shout-outs across the MCU's 11-year history.
Galaga
The first Avengers film was the first time that comic book fans were able to see some of the biggest names in Marvel team up on the big screen. One of the standout moments from the film came when Tony Stark arrived on the Helicarrier and randomly announced that one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents was playing Galaga. As everyone is leaving, we see an agent looking shifty at his desk, and when no one is watching he turns and continues playing the popular arcade game. This reference ended up being particularly appropriate because the end of Avengers sees the heroes fighting against aliens from space, just like in Galaga.
Arcade Defender
The video game references in the Marvel Cinematic Universe get pretty sparse after the first Avengers film, but Avengers: Infinity War provided a pretty deep cut for gamers of the 80s. The reference in question comes when the Guardians of the Galaxy are introduced in the film, and a teenage Groot can be seen playing a handheld game of sorts. Although it's on screen briefly, viewers with a keen eye could see that the sentient tree was playing Arcade Defender. It's unclear where Groot got this game exactly, but it would be no surprise if it was one of the many Earth relics that Peter Quill had aboard his ship.
Fortnite
The Avengers and X-Men are just some of the many crossovers that Fortnite has had over the years, and there was a particularly comedic reference to the game in Avengers: Endgame. The reference in question came when audiences were first shown Thor in a depressed state, living with Korg and Miek from Thor: Ragnarok. Korg is shown to be playing Fortnite, and asks Thor for help dealing with a particularly annoying player that goes by the name Noobmaster69. Seeing the God of Thunder berate a child over voice chat was one of the funnier moments of the film, which was largely welcome considering the morose tone of the movie up to that point.
If one thing is certain about the MCU films, it's that they'll continue to reference pop culture at least once per film until there is no more pop culture to reference. Now that Spider-Man has become well-established in the films, there's even more room to make references that are geared towards younger audiences. Hopefully this means that video games will get more of a spotlight in the MCU from this point on. With Black Widow still set to come out in May of this year, it would be great if that film referenced stealth and espionage games like the Metal Gear Solid series.
Black Widow is releasing in theaters on May 7, 2021.