Incredibles 2 Has a Lot in Common With the Marvel Cinematic Universe

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Incredibles 2, in theaters now.

When The Incredibles first released in 2004, there was no such thing as a superhero cinematic universe. 14 years ago, we couldn’t conceive of a film like Avengers: Infinity War, a massive epic that took 10 years of storytelling to build toward. Of course, we probably also couldn’t believe that we would have to wait 14 years for a sequel to one of the greatest superhero films of all time, but here we are.

Thankfully, our Disney fairy godmothers have granted our wishes, and Incredibles 2 has finally arrived in theaters. And along the way, it looks like Incredibles 2 may have been influenced by the superhero films that have come out since its first movie. Superhero tropes are common across media these days, but we’ve noticed a lot of elements very specific to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that appear to have popped up in Incredibles 2. And now that Disney owns Marvel Studios, we may have to consider Incredibles 2 as basically an unofficial animated MCU film.

The Sokovia Accords / the Super Relocation Program

Sokovia Accords Captain America Civil War

In the MCU, the Sokovia Accords was a coming together of many nations, including the usually secretive Wakanda, to sign the historic treaty that regulated the actions of enhanced individuals. Under this treaty, the Avengers are not allowed to act unless they get approval from the United Nations. This would severely limit the team's actions, like the Super Relocation Program in The Incredibles.

The Super Relocation Program was a government service that assisted a superhero’s transition to civilian life. This program made it so that superheroes went into hiding — they couldn’t use their powers because it became illegal to do so. In Incredibles 2, a wealthy man wants to change the laws and public perception of supers, so he sponsored an event that gathered ambassadors together to sign a document about superheroes. Sounds familiar, right?

During the Sokovia Accords, there is an explosion, resulting in the death of Black Panther's father. When the ambassadors in Incredibles 2 sign to make superheroes legal again, there is also an attack. Supervillains like attacking when there’s a large gathering, which is a motivation all of our favorite Marvel franchises have used. Fan favorite MCU villain Loki is known for wanting to put on a show, in fact, such as the German museum scene in the first Avengers movie.

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Cap vs. Tony / Bob vs. Helen

Captain America: Civil War featured a debate between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark about the responsibilities of superheroes and whether big government entities should be trusted. Incredibles 2 had a similar argument, only it took place in bed and not at Avengers Tower (though we’re sure there’s fan fiction that says otherwise).

Like Tony, Helen’s concern is for safety, and she believes that laws were put in place to protect people. She says that if a law is unjust then there are legal ways to fix them. Bob is more of a skeptic when it comes to government involvement, much like Cap. He believes that sometimes you have to break laws to make the most positive change, which he’s more than willing to do for his kids.

Destruction / … Destruction

The first big scene in Incredibles 2 leads to a lot of destruction in the city. Bob and Helen get a lot of criticism from law enforcement in the aftermath. We’ve seen this same criticism of the Avengers, whose fights have also incurred a lot of damage. There’s the fight with the Chitauri in the Battle of New York, the Lagos building in that Wanda accidentally destroys, the epic fight on Johannesburg between Tony in the Hulkbuster armor and the Hulk, to name a few.

Incredibles 2 takes this is a step further and does a cost-benefit analysis of Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. Elastigirl is praised for doing less damage, which is why she becomes the first spokesperson for superheroes coming out of the dark. Bob’s solutions to problems are usually punch first ask questions later, which sounds like the name of a book Thor would write, to be honest.

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The Mandarin / The Screenslaver

Screenslaver, the villain from Incredibles 2

Iron Man 3’s purported villain was the Mandarin. As we watched the movie, however, we learned that the Mandarin was a bumbling British actor, Trevor Slattery. The real mastermind was Aldrich Killian, a powerful scientist who wanted to further human development by using the Extremis virus. The Mandarin was the showman, while the real villain lurked in plain sight. This is exactly what happened in Incredibles 2.

The Screenslaver puts on quite a performance. He manipulates people using screens (which we’re always surrounded by) to hypnotize people. Hypnosis and mental manipulation, by the way, also show up plenty in the MCU – Bucky Barnes, Hawkeye, and Erik Selvig are all victims of this. The Screenslaver’s purpose is murky, but his true identity isn’t cleared up until the end after a pizza delivery guy has already gone to jail for his crimes.

The Screenslaver is the brilliant scientist that Helen is working with, Evelyn Deavor. Evelyn used hypnosis to get others to do her dirty work for her, but she is definitely the villain of Incredibles 2. Which is a shame, because, for a while, there was a great team-up of two powerful women in this film! It’s so hard to make friends when you’re older.

The Wealthy Benefactors

In the MCU, Stark Industries funds a lot of the Avengers tech and living arrangements. Winston Deavor in Incredibles 2 is the face of DevTech, a telecommunications company that his father founded. DevTech, and therefore Winston and his sister Evelyn, have a lot of money to throw around. We’re talking like Stark level money. It makes sense that Winston would be able to sponsor Elastigirl and other supers into getting good press to fight for superhero legalization.

More than just offering money, Winston also offers the Parrs one of his houses, which he claims he never uses. For a house that’s never used, it’s huge and impressive. This reminds us of Howard Stark offering one of his houses for Peggy Carter to live in in the Agent Carter show. A Stark living room is bigger than most apartments, which was the case in the Parr’s new house as well. Only their living room has a waterfall option.

There are more similarities we could get into. For example, Samuel L. Jackson is a superhero in both The Incredibles franchise and the MCU. Both of his characters show up when they’re needed, armed with their fighting abilities and a sassy remark. However, we think we’ve made our point quite clear that Incredibles 2 has a lot in common with a lot of MCU. The Parrs could join the Avengers, as long as Edna got the rights to do all of their costuming.

Written and directed once again by Brad Bird, Incredibles 2 stars Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Sophia Bush, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener, Jonathan Banks, Sarah Vowell, Isabella Rossellini and Brad Bird. The film opens Friday nationwide.