The Ancient One
Let’s start with the return of one dead character we didn’t expect to see again. Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One was a typical Kenobi-like destined-to-die mentor in Doctor Strange, teaching Stephen Strange all she knew before kicking the mystical bucket. So, it was a nice surprise when she showed up again during the trip back to the events of The Avengers in Endgame.
The visit to New York in 2012 reveals that the Ancient One was secretly part of the battle, using her sorcery to covertly attack the Chitauri forces invading the city from the rooftop of the Sanctum Sanctorum in Bleecker Street. This is where Hulk finds her, eventually convincing her to hand over the Time Stone that the Avengers need to help reverse the effects of the Snap.
There’s possibly a slight plot hole here though, as the Ancient One seems to know more about the future than she did in Doctor Strange, but it was still a fun return for the character nonetheless. Even if Mark Ruffalo did his best to spoil the surprise in an interview last year.
Community Cameos
The Russo brothers are known for working on hit comedy Community before they became Marvel’s go-to filmmakers and they’ve always been keen to tip their hat to the series in their MCU films. Jim Rash previously turned up in Captain America: Civil War, for instance, as an M.I.T. professor who badgers Tony for extra funding. Endgame, meanwhile, features not just one, but two further cameos from stars of the show.
First up, you might have spotted Ken Jeong behind some glasses and a beard as the security guard of the parking lot in which Scott Lang finds himself when he emerges from the Quantum Realm in his van. Later on in the movie, Yvette Nicole Brown gets more to do as an employee of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base who shares an elevator with an incognito Cap and Iron Man and ends up ratting them out to the authorities.
