3. References To The Avengers
While this element comes of no surprise to most fans, The Dark World pulls what is perhaps some of the most cleverest references to the superhero mash-up yet. Iron Man 3 openly threw nice jabs to the 2012 hit, with slight nudges to the incident in New York and even a obvious nod to Thor himself. With The Dark World, we're given even more incentive to believe Marvel is in full control of what they're doing and how to amuse the fans. The Dark World throws in a few more New York references, both from Jane Foster (as far as I could tell). Discussing her feelings to Thor and how he said he would come back, only to find himself defending humanity from Loki's armies, and eventually the taste out of Loki's mouth when she first sees him, saying "That was for New York!". But the best and most noticeable of the bunch is with Loki himself; after the Dark Elves have made their first move in Asgard, upsetting the established order and infighting chaos thanks to Jane Foster, Thor makes a pact with Loki. Loki helps Thor take down the Dark Elf threat, and in exchange he will have vengeance on their mother, Frigga, whom was killed by Algrim/Kurse, Malekith's right-hand man. Now that he's out and able to go back to his mischievous ways, Loki taunts Thor will all sorts of illusions, the most notable being Steve Rodgers, aka Captain America. He transforms himself into one of Thor's own teammates, deliberately teasing us as the fans that only Marvel can do something that clever and funny to where we all understand it. Although superficial to the overall story, these references are paramount to the enjoyment of the fans and the MCU as a whole. Of course The Winter Solider will press on and throw in its own little tricks and surprises, but up until now The Dark World is leading by example.