The Avengers’ shawarma scene cut out right before an iconic hero arrived. One of the most memorable, and funniest, post-credit scenes of the MCU, it showed the Avengers enjoying some much-needed downtime. The entire team was present, but as revealed in Marvel’s Iron Man 3 Prelude #2, another MCU hero was on his way and the camera cut out right before they landed.
Marvel’s Iron Man 3 Prelude #2 was written by Christos Cage and Will Corona Pilgrim and drawn by Steve Kurth. For most of the issue, War Machine has been away on another mission, one keeping him from joining the Battle of New York. As War Machine races back, desperately trying to raise Iron Man, he sees the destruction Loki’s forces have unleashed. War Machine tracks Iron Man to a restaurant and enters, only to see the Avengers sitting around a table, eating shawarma and looking just as miserable as they were in the film’s closing scene.
The Shawarma Scene Is a Part of MCU History
By the time The Avengers was released in 2012, the MCU had already established the post-credit scene tradition. Beginning with Nick Fury’s visit to Tony Stark at the end of Iron Man, these scenes further fleshed out the characters and the universe they inhabited. The Avengers had two: the first introduced Thanos to the MCU and the second featured the team eating shawarma, a reference to a line of dialogue spoken by Iron Man. The Avengers did not look enthused about their food, making the scene a light-hearted finish to an epic movie. It was wildly popular, and actually led to a spike in shawarma sales.
War Machine Made It…But Barely
Now fans know that War Machine was almost in the scene, missing being on-screen by only a few seconds. Marvel’s Iron Man 3 Prelude not only added War Machine to this scene, but also explained why he was not in the Battle of New York. War Machine had already been established in the MCU by this point, and even had his armor in time for The Avengers, yet he was nowhere to be found. By sending War Machine out on a separate mission, it kept him out of harm’s way, perhaps to be Iron Man’s “ace in the hole” should the battle have not gone well.
Yet it did, and the Avengers were triumphant. After making their first appearance on the world stage by saving it, the Avengers needed some way to unwind and blow off steam. The shawarma scene allowed this, showing the team relaxing and bonding with one another, even if the food was not so good. From the looks of the team’s face in both the scene and this comic, War Machine did not miss much, and was probably not even hungry, having just gone through the ringer himself. War Machine was almost present for The Avengers’ shawarma scene, barely making it in time.
