"The Adam Project" takes audiences on a journey through time and space as a man joins forces
with his younger self and his father to save the future for everyone.
In addition to being an action-packed sensation of science fiction, the film is also a heartwarming,
emotionally resonant family drama.
Eagle-eyed audience members are also bound to notice quite a few timeless pop culture
references and Easter eggs scattered throughout the film, so here's a look at the small details
you might have missed in "The Adam Project."
"Superhero landing!"
While watching "The Adam Project," be sure to keep an eye and ear out for some fun references
to some of the biggest sci-fi films of all time, with the characters name-dropping everything
from "Star Wars" to "Back to the Future Part II."
"So what happens now?"
"Nothing.
I'm just going to lay down, let this bullet wound heal, and think about some key investment
opportunities for your future."
"Wait, like Biff from Back to the F—"
"Are you out of your tiny mind?"
You might have also missed that the shirt Louis chuckles over in the 2018 timeline is
a nice nod to the wonderfully bizarre 1997 film "Face/Off."
"I just got your shirt, by the way.
It's very clever."
The older Adam also points to one of the most famous time travel franchises to quickly describe
what is so wrong with his timeline.
"In your fixed time, 2050, is it bad there?"
"We've seen 'Terminator,' right?"
"Obviously."
"That's 2050 on a good day."
Speaking of film references, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in the movie that offers a bit of visual
fun for fans of the film's leads, Ryan Reynolds and Mark Ruffalo.
Though "The Adam Project" marks the first time these two have shared the screen, they're
both known for their blockbuster superhero roles.
"I know, right?"
Reynolds is the star of the "Deadpool" film franchise.
Meanwhile, Ruffalo has memorably portrayed Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk, in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe for the last decade.
In a very heartwarming moment involving both actors near the end of the film, when the
two Adams play catch with their father one last time, there's a very quick shot of the
stickers on the lid of their storage box, which include some pretty specific superheroes.
"Sometimes it pays to be a nerd, guys."
Throughout the film, audiences are bound to notice a bounty of clever references to time
travel, and the first one involves the family pet.
"Hawking!"
In the 2022 era, we find out that Adam has a pet dog named Hawking, clearly named after
the late, great scientific genius Stephen Hawking.
It hints about some of the theories of time travel used in the movie.
Hawking had mixed feelings about whether time travel could ever actually happen.
However, he also wrote about the possibility that additional dimensions exist and would
allow for travel through time.
When young Adam tries to understand how his future self came into his timeline, he talks
about the possibility of a multiverse to explain why the elder Adam doesn't remember their
ongoing encounter.
Interestingly, when both Adams travel back to 2018, we see that Hawking is still just
a puppy, which means he must've gotten his name right around the time Louis was unlocking
the equations that would end up making time travel a reality.
"I was just playing with the theory that you can use wormholes for time travel.
But that part's theoretical."
"Right."
"Still theoretical."
"Well this theory needs to take a leak, so let's go."
"Holy shit, I'm the godfather of time travel?"
Last but not least, there are some meaningful moments of foreshadowing throughout the film.
You might have missed them the first time, but if you go back and watch "The Adam Project"
again you're bound to notice a few scenes that hint at what's to come.
"Son, you need to think about your future.
Because it's coming.
Sooner than you think."
For starters, the video game that Adam likes to play as a boy foreshadows his future more
than you might realize.
It happens literally when he joins a high-speed spaceship chase in the canyons with his older
self, but there's a more subtle reveal later that his father actually designed the game,
and came to regret it because he didn't think it was taking Adam in the right direction.
"I don't know if I should have built that game for him.
I mean, shouldn't he just be outside playing with the rest of the kids?
I mean, how in the hell is he gonna find his place in the world."
"His place in the world?
He's a kid.
We're his place in the world."
Well, it took awhile, but Adam did eventually find his place in the world as a pilot in
the Air Force.
Maybe clinging to one of the last pieces he still had of his dad — the game — ended
up nudging him towards the life he ultimately chose.
"And that is a flight suit."
"Are you a pilot?"
"Yeah."
Perhaps the most emotional instance of foreshadowing comes when Louis reveals that he already anticipates
his own fate -- even before he finds out about the future of time travel.
During his class lecture, he warns his students about the true nature of their work, saying,
"Your cold lifeless husk will be moldering in the ground while generations that come
after you will be finishing the work that you started."
His words are more accurate than he realizes, because at that very moment the next generation
— his son — is in the middle of trying to put an end to his life's work.
With such a well-adjusted outlook as this, it's no wonder Louis decides to team up with
the two versions of his son to put an end to time travel.
Thanks for watching.
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