Captain America: The First Avenger
The episode uses the Extremis virus from "Iron Man 3" as one source of power for the character of Mike Peterson. Executive producer Jeffrey Bell explained that the idea of using it came up independent of the film, but the crew realized that it would be a good opportunity to tie in with the films, and worked with Marvel Studios on the tie-in to ensure that "they didn't feel like we were just ripping off their idea." Additional sources of power for the character include Chitauri technology, from "The Avengers" and the Marvel One-Shot "Item 47" (2012); and super-soldier serum, from "" (2011) and "The Incredible Hulk" (2008). Centipede was introduced in such a way to aid audience members that might have been unfamiliar with the Marvel universe. The events of "The Avengers" are referenced numerous times throughout the episode, and archive footage from the film is briefly used in an opening montage. Also, Coulson's flying car is a working model of the prototype seen in "Captain America: The First Avenger".