All of Marvel’s ‘Phase Two’ Films Share the Same Weird Star Wars Reference

Poor Winter Soldier, his arm never stood a chance.

When Marvel started dropping ominous references to “Phase Two†and “Phase Three†of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most right-thinking people assumed these were simply marketing terms that had nothing to do with anything in the films themselves. But give Kevin Feige a hand: In an interview with CinemaBlend, the MCU head revealed that all the disparate films in phase two — Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the forthcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man — are united by a common Star Wars reference: “Somebody gets their arm cut off in every Phase Two movie. Every single one.â€Â Feige says the trend started by accident, but he likened the comparison to the most beloved Star Wars film: “Is Phase Two our Empire Strikes Back? Not really, but tonally things are a little different [from Phase One].â€Â Feige admitted he was spoiling Ant-Man by spilling the beans, but since ants have six arms each, there will likely be a lot to choose from.

Marvel’s ‘Phase Two’ Films Share a Star Wars Ref