Warning: this entry contains spoilers for 2017 superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019 superhero film Avengers: Endgame.

About

Activate Instant Kill or Activating Instant Kill refers to two scenes from 2017 Marvel superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019 Marvel superhero film Avengers: Endgame in which character Peter Parker activates Instant Kill mode on his Spider-Man suit. Following the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming, an image macro based on the scene saw use as a reaction, gaining further spread following the release of the 2019 film.

Origin

On July 7th, 2017, Marvel superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming premiered in the United States.^[1] In one scene of the film, main protagonist Peter Parker accidentally activates Instant Kill mode on his Spider-Man suit, promptly deactivating it right after.

On April 26th, 2019, Marvel superhero film Avengers: Endgame premiered.^[2] In one scene of the film, Peter Parker intentionally activates the Instant Kill mode in order to repel an enemy attack.

Spread

Following the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming, an image macro based on the scene saw moderate use online. Before July 12th, 2017, Instagram account @comicbookthings one of the earliest memes based on the macro, with the now-unavailable post receiving over 8,800 likes in two years (shown below, left).^[3][4] On July 13th, Instagram account @allthingshero another version of the meme, with the post gaining over 2,000 likes in two years (shown below, right).^[5]

In the following years, notable examples of the meme were posted on Reddit^[6] and iFunny.^[7]

Following the release of Avengers: Endgame on April 26th, 2019, a variation of the meme based on an image macro from the film saw spread. For example, on April 27th, Redditor Hurdfe posted a meme which gained over 170 upvotes in four days (shown below).^[8]

In the following days, more examples of the meme were posted online, primarily in /r/EndgameSpoilers subreddit.

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References