Yahya Abdul-Mateen II‘s Wonder Man has just confirmed that director Christopher Nolan is officially canon in the MCU. During a scene in the new Disney+ show, The Odyssey director is namedropped by an in-universe actor. It is not the first time that the MCU has confirmed the existence of real-life celebrities within its superhero universe.
In the scene, an actor who appears for the callback audition for the Wonder Man reboot mentions his role in a Nolan project. The actor says that he “just wrapped a Chris Nolan project,” confirming that Nolan is an active and influential filmmaker in this universe.
The series also namedrops Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg, theatre director John Gielgud, and Oscar-nominated director Paul Thomas Anderson. Wonder Man is just expanding the list of real-life celebrities who exist in the Marvel world. The earlier movies mentioned many celebrities, including Jackie Chan.
In Thor, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Garrett says, “We’ve got Xena, Jackie Chan, and Robin Hood,” when referring to Thor’s friends Lady Sif, Hogun, and Fandral. It isn’t just celebrities, but the MCU has also confirmed the existence of other pop culture characters in this fictional world.
One recent example would be the mention of Superman in Eternals. In a scene, Phastos’s son compares Ikaris to Superman, sharing, “Dad, that’s Superman with the cape. You were shooting laser beams out of your eyes.” Richard Madden’s character replies, straight-faced, “I don’t wear a cape.”
The mention of the DC character was particularly surprising to fans, as Marvel is DC’s number one competitor in the industry.
Other Real-Life Celebrities Mentioned in Wonder Man
Credits: Anthony Quintano, licensed under CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Simon Williams shares screen with real-life actress Ashley Greene in one scene in Wonder Man. Williams and Greene were supposed to play characters of American Horror Story. Still, Williams was cut from the show after he dragged out the scene.
Another surprising cameo in the show was from The Sopranos star Joe Pantoliano, who played a fictionalized version of himself. In the show, Pantoliano apparently stole a role from Ben Kingsley‘s Trevor Slattery back in the day and betrayed him. During his appearance, the actor also namedrops Matthew McConaughey and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Simon and Trevor discuss the movie Midnight Cowboy on the show. John Schlesinger’s 1969 drama starred Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. Simon and Trevor’s discussion obviously mentions these three names, with Simon narrating how Hoffman convinced Schlesinger to cast him in the movie.
Disney star Josh Gad was given full screen space to roast himself when he appeared in the movie. Former actor and celebrity gossip news host Mario Lopez also appeared in the show. He covers the gossip of the fictional Tinseltown in the MCU.
Simon’s agent tries to dissuade him from auditioning for the lead role of the Wonder Man movie. The reason: “They’re already talking to Leo.” Apparently, this fictional Leonardo DiCaprio is probably open to appearing in a superhero movie.
In another instance from the show, Simon fears interviewing with New York Times reporter Kathy Friedman for a profile. He mentions reading Kathy’s negative comments on Joseph Gordon-Levitt and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Glenn Howerton.
The show also takes a dig at Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton creator Shonda Rhimes. When Simon is offered a lead role in Rhimes’s new fictional series, Trevor comments that it sounded “dreadful.” Other celebrities mentioned in the show include Robert De Niro, Antonio Banderas, Pierce Brosnan, and Dua Lipa.
MCU Has Brought Several Real-Life Celebrities on Screen
Kevin Bacon in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special | Credits: Disney+
The most interesting real-life celebrity presence in the MCU was Kevin Bacon. He appeared as himself in the Disney+ television special, Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. The Guardians kidnap him as a birthday present to Chris Pratt, who has been a fan of Bacon since childhood.
The Guardians trilogy introduced several iconic real-life songs into MCU canon, alongside references to Alyssa Milano and a brief appearance by David Hasselhoff as himself. The Iron Man movies brought billionaires Elon Musk and Larry Ellison on screen alongside Tony Stark.
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we see a list of items in a notebook that Steve Rogers noted down to get better acquainted with the new world. In the U.S. version of the movie, we see Apple founder Steve Jobs and the Nirvana band. Fans also see the mention of the show I Love Lucy, the Rocky movies, and the Star Wars and Star Trek movies.
Sam Wilson suggests Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man soundtrack to Cap, who then notes it down in the book. In the British version of the movie, Sean Connery and The Beatles make it to the list. Sherlock is recommended instead of I Love Lucy on the list. In other language versions of the movie, we get to see the mention of these celebrities:
Rafa Nadal
Shakira
Roberto Benigni
Steve Irwin
Louis de Funès
Wagner Moura
Ayrton Senna
Ji-Sung Park
In Spider-Man: Far from Home, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker wrongly identifies AC/DC song Back to Black as a Led Zeppelin song. He even proclaims, “I love Led Zeppelin.” It confirmed the presence of these two musical powerhouses within the MCU.
In the Iron Man movies, real-life news and TV personalities like Bill Maher, Joan Rivers, Christiane Amanpour, George Kotsiopoulos, Jim Cramer, Josh Elliott, and Megan Henderson make cameo appearances. In The Avengers, Stephen Hawking is mentioned when Phil Coulson compares Bruce Banner to Hawking.
In Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch’s titular character uses many celebrity names to call Wong. When they meet, Wong insists he goes by only one name. Strange replies, “Like Adele?” He then calls him Bono, Drake, Beyoncé, and Eminem.
The MCU also makes several pop culture references. Tony Stark calling Hawkeye ‘Legolas’ confirms the existence of The Lord of the Rings movies. The mention of Hermione in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. confirms the presence of the Harry Potter universe.
Tony calling Thor ‘Point Break’ is a running joke in the MCU, a reference to Patrick Swayze’s character in 1991’s Point Break. Avengers: Endgame makes funny references to Back to the Future, while also mentioning a bunch of other time-travel movies.
What other real-life references have you caught in the MCU? Let us know in the comments below!
Wonder Man is now available for streaming on Disney+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
