Marvel Snuck The Same Star Wars Easter Egg Into All Of Its Phase 2 Movies

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has a lot in common with the "Star Wars" universe. An obvious tie is that several actors have appeared in both film series (such as Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Andy Serkis), but a more subtle connection that is a bit more violent. Each of the MCU Phase Two films features an easter egg where a character losing an appendage, which, of course, pays homage to "Empire Strikes Back," when Luke Skywalker's hand is sliced off by Darth Vader – one of the best sci-fi movie twists of all time.

Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, confirmed it to be true. In an interview, Feige shared that it is more than fan theory. The idea to have characters' hands cut off wasn't planned as a tribute to George Lucas' films, at least not originally. Eventually, Feige decided that they wanted it to happen during each film of Phase Two. Sometimes more than once during a movie.

The Ultimate Marvel Cinematic Universe guide states Phase Two of the MCU officially started with "Iron Man 3" in 2013 and concluded with "Ant-Man" in 2015. During that time, multiple characters lost their hand in one way or another.

The number of times someone loses a hand during Phase 2 can be counted on, well, two hands. By all accounts, seven hands are severed throughout the MCU's six Phase 2 films. As easter eggs, the tie between Luke Skywalker and the MCU character who lost a hand was, at times, subtle, so it's easy to miss the connection. Fortunately, they aren't grotesque and tend to happen quickly. 

Beginning with "Iron Man 3," Killian's arm is chopped off by Tony. Later, that missing arm grows back due to Extremis. That same year, "Thor: The Dark World" features Loki cutting off his brother Thor's hand, and while it was eventually revealed to be a ruse against Malekith, we're counting it here. In "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," a flashback shows HYDRA giving Bucky Barnes his metal arm, and in "Guardians of the Galaxy," Nebula tears her own arm off to escape a fight with Gamora. Earlier on, Gamora fights Groot and chops off his wooden hands. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" has Ulysses Klaue's arm lopped off by Ultron, while later, the Iron Man Hulkbuster armor loses an arm in the fight with Hulk. Finally, in "Ant-Man," Yellowjacket's arm shrinks out of existence when entering the quantum realm.

Kevin Feige's idea to have characters lose hands in Phase 2 is talked about online as well. Reddit users discuss when characters lost hands with some not even knowing or remembering it happened in the first place. One post even shows pictures of all the movies with the now-handless characters. Some Reddit commenters were skeptical to believe the easter egg inclusions were inspired by "Star Wars," but found their inclusion interesting, nonetheless. One Redditor commented "Tis but a scratch" — the beloved line from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" — in regard to Thor's temporary hand loss, like Luke Skywalker — who almost had a much darker name.

This severed-appendage trend later continued into Phase 3 movies of the MCU. Nods include "Captain America: Civil War" where Iron Man blasts off Bucky's metal arm in the final fight between them and Captain America. "Black Panther" features the return of Klaue where his now metal arm is removed before being interrogated by Bilbo Baggins, I mean Martin Freeman's Everett K. Ross. Even "Avengers: Infinity War" had one of Thanos' soldiers, Cull Obsidian, lose an arm during a fight with Dr. Strange, Wong, and Iron Man.