The MCU is known for its inclusion of comedy in its high-action superhero films. This comedic element creates levity and helps to bring fans back to these films time and time again. It has also helped many fans who don’t traditionally enjoy superhero films to gravitate to the MCU, which has generally been much funnier than the DCEU movies (except for the recent Suicide Squad). This allows fans a space to introduce themselves to new characters and themes all while being able to laugh - a lot.
Every fan has their own personal favorite jokes from the MCU, whether it’s Avengers: Endgame paying tribute to Lebowski or some brilliant inside jokes only comic books fans will get. The franchise seems to top itself every time it releases a new movie, especially with the jokes. When characters interact, it’s mostly in large-scale battles and thus not a lot of talking is done; at the least action-packed points in the films, there’s enough humor to keep audiences engaged and break the tension created by the fights. The characters are able to laugh at themselves and at each other, breaking the deadly drama of some films and highlighting that, ultimately, these are people dressed in funny outfits with silly names. These are some of the funniest moments in the MCU.
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5 Groot and Captain America’s Introduction in Infinity War
Marvel Studios
Who doesn’t love Groot (if you say you don’t please click off of this article now)? He’s easily one of the cutest and funniest of the Marvel characters, and all he does is say one line repeatedly. Groot is one of the Guardians of the Galaxy and thus before Infinity War had not been introduced to the other Avengers. In one of the large fight sequences in Infinity War, Thor and Cap are reunited, and Thor introduces his new “tree friend” to Captain America.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Groot, lifting the alien monsters he has skewered on his limbs, says his trademark line “I am Groot” in celebration. Captain America, wholeheartedly being himself, responds “I am Steve Rogers!” This is one of those scenes that broke the tension for the audience. In a very high-stakes Marvel film like this one, audiences are on the edge of their seats for over two hours, so a joke like this makes them relax and remember that they are supposed to enjoy these films.
4 Stan Lee’s Cameo in Captain America: Civil War
Fans of the MCU know and love Stan Lee’s cameos (May His Memory Be a Blessing). Every fan has their own personal favorite cameo, but many can agree that the cameo in Captain America: Civil War just may be the funniest. Not only is Lee a FedEx driver, which feels weirdly unnecessary in the Marvel universe (can’t they just use superpowers to get their packages?), but his one and only line is perfectly timed.
Lee is delivering a package to “Tony Stank,” which we should all call Tony Stark for the rest of history. Seeing this in movie theaters, the entire audience erupted in laughter the second Lee said that line. As Marvel fans, we will miss him and his amazing cameos for the rest of time, but we can always look back at Lee’s MCU movie cameos like this one.
3 When Mantis Read Peter’s Emotions in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The Guardians of the Galaxy films within the MCU are known for being absolutely hilarious, so it was a challenge to find the funniest moments. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, a new character, Mantis, is introduced to the gang. She has very interesting powers, including being able to read people’s emotions. In particular, she chooses to read the feelings of Peter Quill (Star-Lord), which ends in a pretty funny exchange including Drax.
Drax is the most manly, aggressive character you’ve ever seen, second-only to maybe the Thing. Thus, to see Drax all giggly and joking with friends is not only jarring in a hilarious way, but adds to the comedic value of the scene as a whole. At the end of the day the Guardians may be the funniest group in the MCU, and nothing beats a giggly Drax making fun of his friends.
2 Thor Seeing Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok
One of the funnies recent MCU films is undoubtedly Thor: Ragnarok, which has many great sequences (especially Jeff Golblum’s performance), but when Hulk meets Thor arguably tops the list. Not only is the line endlessly repeatable, but it also has really sweet origins. In the scene, Thor is tasked to fight someone (whom he does not yet know) after being captured and sold to fight in an arena for others’ enjoyment. When Thor realizes his opponent is the Hulk whom he hasn’t seen in quite a while, he yells out “I know him! He’s a friend from work!”
This line is objectively hilarious but the fact that it is followed by Hulk whipping Thor around the arena makes it so much funnier. In short, Hulk didn’t care that Thor was a friend from work, he just wanted to win the fight. So remember, if you see a friend from work in an arena where you are supposed to battle, maybe don’t mention that you know them, so they don’t beat you too bad.
1 The Shawarma Scene in The Avengers
As the most iconic and hilarious post-credit scene, the shawarma scene from The Avengers had to be the top of this list. After almost dying in the Battle of New York, Tony Stark states that he will only continue fighting if the team goes to his favorite shawarma restaurant after. This line was improvised by Downey and almost wasn’t included in the movie at all. When they chose to include the line, Marvel realized they had no shawarma scene.
Thus, just before the movie’s premiere, the shawarma scene was shot and history was made. No scene will be funnier than this one because of how perfect the call back was and how it almost didn’t happen. We should all go watch The Avengers again just to remind ourselves of how funny this scene was.
