Warning — This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 2.
The Mandalorian Season 2 is no doubt impressive so far, and the show's success is mainly due to the fact that it keeps on surprising fans week after week. The surprises started right out of the gate when the debut episode of Season 2 brought back Boba Fett, finally confirming fan theories and speculation that the character didn't die during the events of Return of The Jedi.
From that point on, The Mandalorian kept on introducing new characters to progress the show's core storylines, reintroducing Star Wars animated characters such as Bo-Katan and Ahsoka Tano into the mix. On top of that, The Mandalorian also thrived with the inclusion of notable Easter eggs from the decade-spanning narrative of the Skywalker Saga, while also throwing in some fun callbacks to another monumental franchise in the form of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
For example, the Season 2 premiere already paid tribute to a key moment from Iron Man, while the debut season of The Mandalorian was confirmed to have several tie-ins to the 2008 blockbuster as well. And now, it seems that another one was spotted by an eagle-eyed fan.
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As pointed out by Reddit user Jedd the Jedi, the latest episode of The Mandalorian Season 2 entitled “Chapter 14: The Tragedy” featured an awesome callback to 2008's Iron Man. The clever reference happened during the early moments of the episode before Mando and Grogu lands on Tython.
During the scene, Mando tells Grogu that they're “gonna have to travel the last stretch with the windows down” before showing the runaway duo flying high in the sky thanks to Din's jetpack.
This scene is an interesting nod to Robert Downey Jr.'s line from Iron Man. During the 2008 MCU blockbuster, Tony Stark was being pursued by the US Airforce because he was flying in the restricted zone. When he was asked by James Rhodes about his whereabouts, Stark lied by saying that he's “driving with the top down.”
As it is, the Iron Man references are not coincidental since The Mandalorian was created & written by Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau. However, the interesting part is how Favreau managed to not shoehorn those callbacks in The Mandalorian.
Instead, the inclusions are done so naturally, making it more effective to elevate some scenes. In a way, the notable references between Star Wars and Marvel are a sight to behold for fans of both franchises, especially considering that it doesn't happen too often nowadays.
Based on what's been revealed so far, it's entirely possible that Mando could end up recruiting more allies in the fight against Moff Gideon and his Imperial forces. From Cara Dune to Bo-Katan, it looks like Mando is somehow assembling a group of remarkable people in order to fight a common threat.
As The Mandalorian Season 2 enters its final stretch, it will be exciting to learn if there will be more references to Iron Man and even other MCU films.
