Phineas and Ferb co-creator Dan Povenmire may have inspired 2012's The Avengers, being that the similarities between the two properties are uncanny.
Before The Avengers marked the sixth film released for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, viewers were enjoying the 104 days of summer vacation with Phineas and Ferb on Disney Channel. The original series ran for four seasons between 2007 and 2015, releasing a television film titled Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension in 2011. The movie featured a climatic final battle that called back to almost all of the animated series' best moments and creations, but Povenmire has now pointed out in a TikTok video that it is also very similar to the Battle of New York in The Avengers, which came out almost a year later.
In a video originally posted to Povenmire's TikTok (@danpovenmire) on Nov. 30, 2021, the creator and voice actor recounts a final battle of "weirdly-shaped" buildings, devices opening portals for mechanized foes to come through, heroes assembling to stop the threat and more, all intercut with snippets from The Avengers. In a comedic twist, Povenmire then says, "Not that movie, this movie," giving his analysis again but with scenes from Across the 2nd Dimension playing. He then jokes at the end, "I'm just saying we did it a year earlier."
Across the 2nd Dimension originally aired on Aug. 5, 2011, with The Avengers releasing in theaters on May 4, 2012. Both properties are owned by Disney and kickstarted a larger universe beyond just one film or series.
Though Phineas and Ferb's television run ended, the show launched a spinoff, Milo Murphy's Law, that ran from 2016 through 2019, as well as the 2020 film Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, which won an Emmy for Povenmire and the movie's writers for "Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Animated Program" in 2021. Meanwhile, the MCU has seen 27 movies and five Disney+ series so far, with Marvel Studios pushing for its recent film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, to receive a Best Picture nomination in 2022.
Povenmire has garnered a massive TikTok following of 5.3 million followers, where in addition to the discussed comparison between films, he tells behind-the-scenes stories of working on Phineas and Ferb and makes other videos of original content. He closed out his Avengers/Across the 2nd Dimension analysis by reminding fans that they can find both films on the streaming service Disney+, which is also home to Phineas and Ferb, Milo Murphy's Law and many other Marvel projects both in and outside of the MCU, such as Hawkeye, which released its finale this past December.
Source: Twitter