Quentin Tarantino Went on a Marvel Studios Binge Pre-‘Endgame’ and Was Pleased by a Shout-Out in the MCU

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Quentin Tarantino, a master of pastiche himself, said he enjoyed seeing an homage to his own work in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” which is just one example of Tarantino and Marvel riffing on each other.

BBC Radio 1’s Ali Plumb asked Tarantino in a recent interview what he thought about the shoutout to his 1994 film “Pulp Fiction” in the 2014 Marvel Cinematic Universe installment.

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Nick Fury’s gravestone features the opening line of Ezekiel 25:17 — “The path of the righteous man …” The bible verse, in its Tarantino-modified form, is delivered by Jules in “Pulp Fiction” as part of his pre-killing ritual in one of the movie’s most memorable scenes.

Jules and Nick Fury are both played by Samuel L. Jackson.

“Probably the first commentary I ever read was the Stan Lee ‘Soapbox’,” Tarantino said, referring to a column penned by the Marvel editor-in-chief that appeared in each comic book until 2001.

“All of a sudden, my universe was now being quoted inside a gate as closed as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it felt pretty good,” Tarantino said.

“Captain Marvel” also included a Tarantino reference.

The scene where Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) shows up at Maria Rambeau’s house and casually drinks soda from a red and white striped fast food cup was inspired by a similar scene in “Reservoir Dogs” where Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) drinks from a similar cup with a similar pose, “Captain Marvel” directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck revealed in their DVD commentary, Comicbook.com reported.

“Reservoir Dogs” features a Marvel reference of its own, adding another link to this seemingly never-ending circle of Tarantino-Marvel shoutouts: Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) compares Joe Cabot’s appearance to rocky “Fantastic Four” superhero The Thing.

Tarantino earlier this year binged MCU movies in the lead-up to the April release of “Avengers: Endgame.” He really loved the cosmic action movie “Thor: Ragnarok” and “The Avengers,” he told Empire.

Tarantino’s interview with Plumb focused on the culture-loving auteur’s own contributions to pop culture.

His movies are notable for their expert use of both popular and lesser-known songs — from Bobby Womack’s “Across 110th Street” in the opening credits of “Jackie Brown” to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich’s “Hold Tight” in the most gory scene in “Death Proof.”

But Tarantino said he’s most proud to see the impact his use of the instrumental “Battle Without Honor Or Humanity” by Tomoyasu Hotei, which plays when O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) enters the House of Blue Leaves with her entourage in “Kill Bill: Vol. 1.”

The song, lifted from “New Battles Without Honor and Humanity,” a 2000 remake of an earlier yakuza film, went on to appear in “Team America: World Police” and “Shrek the Third” after its iconic “Kill Bill” appearance.

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