While it was great to “get the band back together” for Avengers: Endgame, seeing our favorite characters from all 22 films in the MCU was bittersweet for the same reason it was epic; it would be the last time. Fans knew going in that, to make any of their sacrifices against Thanos and the Infinity Stones worthwhile, some of them would have to pay the ultimate price so that others could continue to save the world.
But it wasn’t all bad; while the Avengers were busy figuring out time travel and utilizing it to collect Infinity Stones from different time periods, they were constantly coming in contact with characters from their pasts; some significant, and others minor, but all important. From brief cameos by former HYDRA sleeper agents, to more meaningful cameos like Tony Stark’s father, they all reflected the complex tapestry the MCU has woven through all its three phases. To better understand the significance of their inclusion, here are ten Avengers: Endgame cameos you may not have understood.
Korg
Of all the Avengers, Thor took “The Snap” the hardest, unable to move on from his feelings of failure at preventing Thanos from using the Infinity Stones to make half the Earth’s population disappear. For five years he avoids his fellow Avengers, shirks his responsibilities as king of New Asgard, and prefers to eat pizza and drink beer with…Korg!
You may remember Korg as a rock-like creature from Thor: Ragnarok who, along with whom Thor and Hulk were captured to compete in trials of combat for the pleasure of the Grandmaster in his arena. If you don’t, the sight of Hulk and Rocket finding the God of Thunder playing video games with a talking boulder might be odd.
Alexander Pierce
One of the ways the Avengers decide to undo the destruction of Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet is to locate the Infinity Stones in the past at different time periods. During one such trip back to New York City circa 2012, Captain America, Tony Stark, and Ant-Man are on the hunt for the Space Stone aka the Tesseract. They run into the head of the World Security Council and former head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Alexander Pierce. He was last seen in Captain America: Winter Soldier, where he turned out to be an undercover HYDRA agent who had successfully infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury’s nose.
Jasper Sitwell
During the “time heist” back to New York City in 2012 to recover the Space Stone, Captain America encounters Jasper Sitwell in an elevator. The pugnacious man with the glasses doesn’t believe Cap when he assures him that he’s been sent to take the Tesseract (aka the Space Stone) from him to keep it secure. Sitwell wants to contact the director to confirm the information, clearly suspicious. This is because Sitwell, once a high-ranking agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. last seen in Thor, Avengers, and Captain America: Winter Soldier is actually HYDRA informant, and is actually keeping the Tesseract for his boss. Captain America knows this and plays along, even chiming in with a whispered, “Hail Hydra” to dissuade Sitwell’s anxiety.
Crossbones
A former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who turned out to be a HYDRA agent, Brock Rumlow is present in the elevator with Captain America when he tries to go back in time to 2012 New York City and steal the Tesseract. Rumlow is seen as he appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and not how he appeared in Captain America: Civil War.
At the time of Civil War’s release, Rumlow had become the villain Crossbones, the man responsible for setting up the bomb that was intended to assassinate Captain America but ended up killing the Wakandan king instead and introduced the character of T’Challa (Black Panther).
Peggy Carter
Agent Peggy Carter was a high ranking operative in the early days of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the love of Steve Rogers’ life. She meets him prior to his becoming the superhero Captain America while he’s still in the US Army, and while at first she’s all business, the two soon develop an affectionate report. The last time Peggy Carter heard from Steve Rogers, he was about to be frozen in ice at the end of The First Avenger. When he and Iron Man travel back in time to an army base in the 70s, Steve gets a glimpse of his old love while they try to find another Infinity Stone.
Howard Stark
Tony Stark has gotten several things passed down to him from his father despite their fractious relationship; his love for technology, invention, and his charismatic spirit. However, he didn’t get to spend very much time with him because he was killed by the Winter Soldier, a brainwashed Bucky Barnes. When Tony goes back in time with Captain America to locate an Infinity Stone on an army base in the 70s, he runs into his father who’s there doing research for S.H.I.E.L.D. The two share a few bonding moments, with Howard Stark unaware he’s talking to his future son, who’s due to be born any day.
Harley Keener
For anyone wondering who the awkward teenager standing alone was at the back of Tony Stark’s funeral services, it was none other than Harley Keener, all grown up. He had last been seen as a little boy in Iron Man 3 when Tony Stark breaks into his family’s garage to fix his armor after a fight. Harley discovers him inside and instantly becomes excited with getting to talk to the real Iron Man and see his suit up close. While at first resistant to chat with him, Tony soon develops a friendship with the kid and imparts many life lessons we can only hope he took to heart.
The Ancient One
While Captain America and Iron Man are busy trying to get the Space Stone from S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in 2012 New York City, Hulk is trying to get the Time Stone. He thinks that he’ll be able to get it from the Sorcerer Supreme Stephen Strange, except that Stephen Strange is still just a surgeon, not a powerful magic user. Hulk does encounter the current Sorcerer Supreme and possessor of the Time Stone; the Ancient One. The Ancient One last appeared in Doctor Strange and tells Hulk that if he takes the Time Stone from her, it will upset the temporal reality she lives in. He has to promise to return the stone back to the exact time period it was taken from in order to prevent dangerous temporal rifts.
Red Skull
As the Avengers split up into teams to go back in time and find Infinity Stones from specific time periods, Black Widow and Hawkeye get sent to Vormir, a void of death where the Soul Stone resides. It’s also where Red Skull resides, the former leader of HYDRA from Captain America: The First Avenger who was banished by the Space Stone to guard the Soul Stone for all eternity. Shrouded in black robes and resembling a reaper, he informs them that in order to take the Soul Stone, one must sacrifice the thing they love the most. A soul for a soul stone, in this case. Thanos sacrificed his own daughter, Gamora, to gain the Soul Stone the first time around.
Hank Pym
While Tony Stark and Captain America are busy searching for the Space Stone on a US Army base in the 70s, two important people show up in the time period; Tony’s father, Howard Stark, and Hank Pym, the first Ant-Man and a former S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist. He’s the man who invented the possibility of time travel with his patented Pym Particles. Hank Pym was last seen in Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, except he was quite a bit older. Here, he’s young and vibrant, made so by the wonders of digital technology, and unaware Cap has taken a few extra Pym Particles for their journey.
