If you’ve been watching the Marvel movies in order or tracking the upcoming Marvel movies, you know the cinematic universe delivers on big battles and layered storytelling. However, some of its best moments are the quiet ones. Case in point: a simple magic trick that began as a joke in Ant-Man and the Wasp and evolved into a mini character arc. Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang learns close-up magic, and Randall Park’s Jimmy Woo takes that trick and makes it his own across multiple appearances.
This little MCU continuity gem was highlighted by the Instagram user @UnitedEgo, which shared a fan-cut video montage, which you can watch embedded below, connecting the dots. The post in question revolves around the sleight-of-hand magic trick that’s performed by both Scott Lang and Jimmy Woo across different Marvel Cinematic Universe projects. Check it out:
Disney+ subscription), Jimmy Woo is tasked with checking up on Scott Lang, who’s under house arrest. Scott, ever the creative dad, has been teaching himself close-up magic to pass the time. He casually shows off a trick, leaving Jimmy both skeptical and secretly impressed. His reaction? A baffled “how’d you do that?” followed by some clear curiosity.
WandaVision, during which he flips out a business card like a pro magician when introducing himself to Monica Rambeau. It’s a quick moment but, if you’ve been following his character arc, it’s also a deeply satisfying one. He didn’t just learn magic offscreen for no reason. It’s a full-circle moment rooted in a character beat from years earlier.
In interviews, Randall Park has spoken about how challenging it was to learn the card flip and how rewarding it was to film it. He recalled that while filming Ant-Man and the Wasp, a real magician was on set teaching Paul Rudd the tricks. Park admitted he was genuinely intrigued and thought it’d be cool to learn someday. I’m not sure if Park expected that “someday” would come full circle in WandaVision, where he’d get to show off his own magical chops in a character-defining callback.
These little threads are what make the MCU more than just a collection of new and upcoming superhero movies. They turn even the smallest background moments into long-running character development. It’s MCU storytelling at its sneakiest and sweetest. What’s also great is that the trick even comes back into play during a brief lunch scene between Scott and Jimmy in 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Jimmy Woo mastering a magic trick over multiple appearances may not shift the multiverse, but it’s a quiet nod to continuity, character growth, and, let’s be honest, Paul Rudd’s underrated role as a mentor in the most unexpected ways. Also, can we all just admit that Woo is an MCU character who needs more screen time? Where was his director’s chair in the five and ½ hour-long Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal?
The next MCU movie headed to the big screen is Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is set to hit theaters on July 25 as part of the 2025 movie release schedule.