This article contains spoilers for Ms. Marvel episode four
Ms. Marvel‘s fourth episode has mixed things up by abandoning Jersey City for a trip to Pakistan. The streets of Karachi were a very fun new setting, crammed with accurate cultural touches. Along the way, we met one of the coolest characters from the original comic, Red Dagger.
As is superhero tradition, he and Kamala introduced themselves to each other by squaring combat. Red Dagger is essentially a Pakistani ninja, equipped with his signature throwing knives, a cool scarf to disguise his identity, and deadly acrobatic fighting skills. Red Dagger soon realized Kamala wasn’t his enemy and decided to help her. And when he did, he dropped a cool Terminator reference by saying:
“Come with me if you want to live.”
This iconic line was first spoken by Michael Biehn’s Kyle Reese to Sarah Connor in 1984’s The Terminator. It’s then repeated to Sarah Connor by Arnie’s T-800 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (helping her trust him) and also popped up in Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys.
It’s also been referenced elsewhere, showing up in Casper, Finding Nemo, and The LEGO Movie. Likewise, it’s even already been said in a Marvel Studios production, with a season 7 episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. featuring the line.
We expect to see more of Red Dagger in the remaining episodes, so here’s hoping he continues to display his pop culture knowledge with a bunch more fun references. In the meantime, let’s pray that one day the creaky Terminator franchise gets the reboot it deserves.
Ms. Marvel airs Wednesdays on Disney Plus.
