Spoilers for Episode 6 “Candy Zombies” of Abbott Elementary ahead, as well as spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War.
The last episode of the 2022 TV schedule hit comedy Abbott Elementary showed us just how hard the teachers go for Halloween, especially Ms. Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter). She dressed up as Wanda Maximoff, a la her comic book costume in WandaVision, and it was a spot-on replica of the outfit from the Marvel show. While that is the big obvious MCU shout-out from the episode, there was another subtle yet hilarious reference to Avengers: Infinity War toward the end of the Halloween-themed episode.
To get around the moment of the episode I’m referencing, allow me to give you a bit of background. Mr. Johnson the janitor doesn’t really have a costume, but he does have a yellow dot on his forehead. Jacob points out at the beginning that he is Vision. Then one of the kids shows up in a Thanos costume, meaning we now have a Wanda, Vision and Thanos in the mix. The episode follows the teachers as they try to catch Baby Thanos who has stolen all the Halloween candy. At the end of the episode the kid is caught and as he’s walking out of the gym, he takes Mr. Johnson’s dot off his forehead and Melissa gasps, much like Wanda in Avengers: Infinity War. One clever fan pointed this out on Twitter, posting:
abbott elementary recreating vision's death and wanda watching HURT but also made me cackle, let me tell you pic.twitter.com/pYvmowMVsNOctober 27, 2022
There are quite a few fun subtle nods to the characters the teachers are dressed up as throughout the episode, however, this little Avengers callback is my favorite. It’s also a super meaningful moment in the Marvel universe and was a hard scene to film for Elizabeth Olsen because of how heavy it was. When Thanos takes Vision’s stone out of his head it’s a big turning point for Wanda’s character, and it impacted her throughout the rest of the Marvel projects she's appeared in, and I’d assume will continue to in Marvel’s upcoming projects.
On top of this moment, the little guy playing Thanos absolutely killed it. The fact that I felt a twinge of fear when he took the dot off Mr. Johnson’s forehead was hysterical. These kids are so talented and to see them shine on the show is so fun.
The episode really pulled out all the stops when it came to the other costumes as well. Jacob was wage theft, Janine was the 76ers basketball star James Harden, Barbara was a spelling bee (it was a bee costume with the letters A, B and C on it), Ava was the superhero Storm, and Gregory was Captain Sully. While the cast has complimented the costume designers for their everyday outfits, these Halloween costumes were next level.
Season 2 of Abbott has really upped its game. From bringing Philly icon Gritty into one episode, to this extremely clever Halloween episode, this show continues to prove why it’s such a great comedy.
You can watch this amazing spooky season-inspired episode of Abbott with a Hulu subscription, and you can catch new episodes of the hit comedy every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
