As the MCU grows increasingly predictable, fans look back on the franchise’s finest rug-pulls

The MCU has been confounding and surprising audiences ever since Iron Man. For the most part, the 2008 movie stuck fairly close to Tony Stark’s comic-book origins, only to surprise audiences with a final scene in which the notion of a secret identity was tossed out of the window as Stark admitted “I am Iron Man”. Roll credits.

But, as of late, the MCU has gotten a teeny bit too predictable. Even with the advent of the multiverse we haven’t gotten a huge surprise or twist in any recent movies. Maybe the dusty old MCU formula is starting to wear thin or a few underperforming movies are encouraging the studio to play it a little safer than before.

Whatever the case, fans on r/MarvelStudios are looking back on the moments the MCU zigged when everyone thought it’d zag. And number one, of course, is the shocking ending of Avengers: Infinity War:

Another key moment is that Bucky is responsible for Tony Stark being orphaned:

This Spider-Man: Homecoming reveal was also beautifully played:

Endgame‘s “Five Years Later” gave us chills in the theater:

Maybe this was a little predictable, but it still hit us hard:

This was also an amazing Infinity War moment:

Loki also delivered a great twist:

And we’re still not over Aunt May in No Way Home:

And despite the lingering controversy, we liked this incredible Iron Man 3 rug-pull:

We’re now just a few weeks away from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, with the trailers causing many fans to speculate on what’ll happen in what’s being billed as their final adventure. Here’s hoping we get some moments that’d be worthy of being added to this list, as we’re sure Gunn’s final MCU movie is going to deliver some shocking moments we haven’t seen coming.