Neil deGrasse Tyson Breaks Down the Science in Marvel Movies

Avengers, assemble! We revisit our episode on Avengers: Endgame where Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice answer fan questions about the science of the Marvel Universe. What would happen if half of the life on Earth suddenly disappeared?

Rae Wynn-Grant, Ph.D., conservation scientist and National Geographic Society fellow, joins us to talk about the ecological impact of Thanos’ snap. Learn about resource loads, Earth’s carrying capacity, and the periodic table of fictional elements. Is the vibranium in Black Panther anything like a real element? Why is Neil such a fan of Captain Marvel? We explore quantum tunneling, entanglement, the EPR paradox, and the significance of a Mobius strip. Break down the science and the fiction of the Marvel Universe with us!

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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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0:00 - Introduction
0:32 - Scientific Backgrounds of Marvel Characters
1:54 - Periodic Table of Fictional Elements
2:30 - Vibranium
3:58 - What Happens if Half of All Life Disappears?
7:51 - Captain Marvel
8:40 - Quantum Tunneling
11:07 - Mobius Strip
14:01 - Biggest Scientific Inaccuracy
14:28 - Captain America’s Shield
15:23 - Antman & Thanos
15:36 - EPR Paradox
16:41 - Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
17:41 - Groot
18:04 - Closing Notes

[Tedof]

There's science with Hawkeye. If he needs to shoot a far target, he has to shoot upwards to compensate for gravity.

[crob]

In Endgame, when Hulk snapped his finger one of the first indicators that it worked was the appearance of birds outside the window so my opinion is that it's safe to say the other half of animal life returned. Not factual but just a thought.

[Dannosuke]

13:35 This isn't true, in the first Guardians movie Rocket turned off the artificial gravity system in the prison as part of his escape plan. So it is just understood that all of the ships also have similar systems.

[georgemyers]

The problem with Captain America's shield is that vibranium is supposed to absorb all vibrations. That's why when Agent Carter fired those rounds at him in the first movie, they drop straight down and he wasn't hit with any recoil. Because of this, his shield should not bounce off of anything. It should simply hit something and fall.

[morpheuslordofoneiroi]

Neil is one of the few that actually connects the MCU with DCEU.

[josejose]

Neil always seems to be in a hurry and has no time. Love this guy

[daves]

Not sure if comments already addresses this since Neil mentions not knowing how comics handled I believe the reasoning behind Thanos' actions - it was very different in the "Infinity Gauntlet" comic where basically Thanos is insanely in love at the time with the manifestation of the entity "Mistress Death" and culled the life of half the universe as a tribute to her (she wasn't particularly impressed).

[Dan-njdu]

The problem with 'We only need Captain Marvel.' is, there's only one. She doesn't have the ability to split herself into infinite versions so she can be wherever she's needed. Remember the line "There's a lot of worlds out there that don't have Avengers..." (or something like that.)

[ricz]

on Civil War when fighting Spidey, he threw the shield without bouncing back to him but still came back to him to which Spidey commented "that doesn't obey the law of physics at all" I wished Neil could talk about that

[CalebG]

They do reference artificial gravity in the first Guardians movie. When they are escaping the prison they turn off the gravity so all the guards float

[duncanct]

Neil is the only person that can make sounding like a nerd sound so cool that you want to be a nerd. Neil makes the word “nerd” a positive one

[TinDK]

I want to point out that the fictional element unobtanium was first used in The Core (2003) six years before Avatar (2009).
Though the idea of unobtanium was actually "invented" by professor, lexicographer and editor Woodford Agee Heflin in 1958.

[sapelesteve]

Obviously an older video. Interesting and I like it because Neil & Chuck are together in the room rather than on separate screens. 👍👍

[onlocationkat]

Unobtanium was first mentioned in The Core (2003) movie long before Avatar (2009).

[matanglawinX]

Tony's AI during End Game was Friday, not Jarvis.

[tracytoltien]

The Cap shield throwing. It has been explained that his mind (altered with the super serum) calculates the bounce (high level math) so that it comes back to where he is, or where he plans to be.

[WtfYouMeanDude]

It's still amazing to me how you can change the number of protons in the nucleus to get a different element and how crazy it all gets when you go down that road. And even more how you can make the same element or reaction several ways (for example acetylene gas can be made with calcium carbide and water or methane and oxygen, ect. ect..)

[zero]

14:45 I think it was in Age of Ultron they followed the comic plot point where Stark modified the shield so it was magnetic and there was a device on Steve’s wrist to recall it. MOST of the time what you see is the shield bouncing though. That’s still weird because a property they give it is kinetic absorption which I imagine means it can’t bounce. This property is how Steve can block massive attacks and strikes from Mjolnir and stuff.

[Matt-rjxe]

After watching this, I feel like writing a physics paper - Curious about Quantum Physics😅👍

[akirafoxtrot]

I’d argue the gravity generator is implied through showing weightlessness in space till they are pulled in by ravagers or quill landing on the ship in the first one. That’s what I thought at least or remember 🤷 now I got to go back and watch all the guardians again lol