Marvel Studios' made waves by namedropping its distinguished competition's biggest icon, Superman, in its latest blockbuster. Director Chloé Zhao paid tribute to the Man of Steel by comparing him to an Eternal with a similar power-set, Ikaris.
It had been almost 20 years since a Marvel blockbuster -- Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man movie -- referenced a DC Comics character. It looks like it might be the start of a trend that spans both cinematic superhero shops if the DC League of Super-Pets trailer is anything to go on.
The trailer offers a brief look at the home life of the John Krasinski-voiced Superman and Dwayne Johnson's Krypto. After Krypto literally drags his owner out of bed, Superman gets dressed as his alter ego, Clark Kent. Kent notices a wrinkle in his dress shirt and quickly irons it by bouncing his heat vision off a mirror. Impressed with his work, Superman quips that he should be called Iron Man and briefly laughs at his Superdad joke before quickly dismissing the idea.
League of Super-Pets isn't what anyone would call a tent pole DC Extended Universe movie. It has more in common with The Secret Life of Pets than Dwayne Johnson's other DCEU project. It's surprising to see a reference to a Marvel character in any DC property, but it makes a certain amount of sense that it would be in the most light-hearted DC Comics adaptation possible.
While some DC fans might consider this damning, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a family-friendly place. Given that, an Iron Man joke in Super-Pets makes perfect sense for an audience that grew up with Tony Stark as a preeminent movie hero. It's also one of the least offensive ways to reference the MCU and one of its biggest icons.
It's hard to call cross-universe references a trend after two movies, especially two as disparate as Eternals and Super-Pets. There's not a lot of overlap in subject matter or tone between the projects. Still, it's possible that they could lead to more. If Super-Pets putting an ultimately innocuous Iron Man joke into a trailer could embolden other superhero movie creators to comment on the competition.
The biggest wildcard when it comes to references of any kind is Deadpool. Ryan Reynolds' Merc with a Mouth was among the Marvel Comics characters that Disney gained the movie rights to when they acquired 21st Century Fox in 2019. Like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, Marvel Studios is keeping their plans for Deadpool close to the vest at the moment.
As odd a fit as irreverent, it's harder to believe that Marvel Studios would leave money on the table and not continue the wildly successful Deadpool series in some form. Whenever Deadpool makes his return -- in the MCU or not -- it's easy to assume he'll make references to DC's movie as he did in Deadpool 2. One was a joke at Reynolds' expense over Green Lantern. The others were direct shots at the grim and gritty Snyderverse, including the infamous "Martha" scene.
While it's not essential for either side, it would be fun to see more references to superheroes from the "other guys" in both franchises. A friendly rivalry, including jokes at each other's expense, was a fun part of the comics back in the day. It would be nice to see that replicated, whether it's in a harmless dad joke or a meta insult.
To see the Iron Man joke in action, DC League of Super-Pets is set to release May 20, 2022.