There’s almost a countless number of easter eggs scattered across the movies of the MCU.
Some are subtle, while others are far more obvious and although it's almost impossible
to list them all, these are a few that you might just have missed.
For years on end, the worlds of the Avengers and the X-Men have been kept separate on the
big screen thanks to a conflict in usage rights between various studios.
While the Avengers assembled at Marvel Studios, the mutants had their own adventures over
at Fox — but that doesn't mean there haven’t been any knowing winks exchanged between the
two.
During one scene in Iron Man, Tony Stark conducts a test flight of his new armor for the first
time and decides to see just how high he can fly.
He asks his A.I. assistant JARVIS what the altitude record is for a very specific plane:
“Alright let’s see what this thing can do.
What’s SR-71’s record?
The record for x-wing flight is 85,000 feet, sir.”
That's a real plane, of course, but it also has a place in the Marvel Universe.
The SR-71 Blackbird was used as the model for the jet flown to missions by the X-Men,
and has often been referred to as "the Blackbird" whenever it's not being called the X-Jet.
Now, Iron Man can't exactly specify that Stark was referring to Charles Xavier's private
super plane, but it was a nice nod in the direction of X-Men fans nonetheless.
Captain America: The First Avenger takes Marvel fans back to World War II not only the era
in which Steve Rogers became Captain America, but also the time during which the character
was created in real life.
But he wasn’t the only superhero to come out of this period.
During the Stark Expo scene, eagle-eyed viewers will be able to spot another classic Marvel
character who was created back when the company was still known as Timely Comics.
As Steve, Bucky and their dates walk through the expo, they pass a glass display case with
a costume in it labeled "Dr. Phineas Horton Presents The Synthetic Man."
Horton is the scientist who created the original Human Torch all the way back in Marvel Comics
#1.
This character, who was initially kept in a glass cylinder much like the one in Captain
America, remains an important piece of the foundations of the Marvel Universe.
This particular shot establishes that some version of him existed in the MCU at some
point so maybe one day we'll flash back again and get the full story of Synthetic Man and
his adventures.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe may be a world unto itself, but it exists in the greater
realm of Marvel Entertainment, which itself contains a vast multiverse of various worlds
featuring many alternate versions of its characters.
The MCU even has its own designated reality number: 199999.
This places it within the greater Marvel multiverse, meaning that whether we'll ever see it or
not there’s a cosmic link between the cinematic versions of these characters and their prime
continuity comic book counterparts.
That link was further emphasized in Thor: The Dark World, when Erik Selvig laid out
his understanding of reality on a giant chalkboard during his time in a mental institution.
Among his scribblings are the words: "616 Universe” — the official designation of
the main Marvel Comics universe.
“Any questions?”
“Yeah.
Can I have my shoe back?”
Although Stan Lee’s cameos in Marvel movies have become practically legendary, Lee isn’t
the only Marvel luminary to pop up in the MCU at one point or another.
One of the most notable instances of this came during Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
As Alexander Pierce is questioning the Winter Soldier, a team of handlers are standing around
the room.
One of them, seen on the left, is Ed Brubaker an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer
responsible for resurrecting Bucky Barnes as The Winter Soldier in Captain America #1,
back in 2005.
Before Brubaker joined Captain America, Bucky had been dead for decades, and was long considered
one of the rare comics characters who would never return from the grave.
Without Brubaker, the MCU would be a very different place indeed so it's nice to see
him get a little moment of recognition here.
No easter egg within the entirety of the MCU is quite as bountiful as the Collector’s
hideaway on Knowhere in Guardians of the Galaxy.
His massive treasure trove of artifacts and living specimens seems to go on forever — and
if you're willing to be a little liberal with the pause button, you're likely to notice
quite a few interesting things.
“Very well, then let us see what you’ve brought.”
Among his items are a Chitauri warrior from The Avengers, a Dark Elf from Thor: The Dark
World, Cosmo the spacedog, and, of course, Howard the Duck.
However, there's one more find tucked away in that room that could have wide-reaching
implications for the future of the MCU.
It’s possible to spot a certain cocoon-like object that writer/director James Gunn later
hinted was the gestation place of Adam Warlock, a character further teased in a post-credits
scene from Vol. 2.
As it turns out, the two objects might not be the exact same cocoon, but the visual cues
are difficult to ignore.
Adam Warlock has massive cosmic implications for Marvel's future, so if he does show up
at some point, we can probably tie it all back to this.
Some easter eggs are so obscure that you'll only recognize them if you carefully read
one very specific comic book.
That's the case here with this gem from Captain America: Civil War.
At Peggy Carter’s funeral, her niece Sharon delivers the eulogy and passes on some words
of wisdom her aunt once shared with her.
“Even if the whole world is telling you to move.
It is your duty to plant yourself like a tree look them in the eye and say no.”
It's a powerful moment.
For certain comic book readers, however, it was made all the more powerful by the fact
that it's a speech lifted largely from Amazing Spider-Man #537, a comic tying in to the original
Civil War event in which a very similar speech is given by none other than Captain America
himself.
Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely definitely did their homework with
this one.
Some easter eggs may begin as an amusing idea, but sadly just don't come together and fail
to ever reach a satisfying pay-off.
In the MCU, where some parts of the universe are attempting to work with the same concepts
as others, this can happen a lot.
For example, it was the case with one particular hidden gem in Doctor Strange, which has been
semi-retconned by the events of Hulu's Runaways TV series.
At various points in the film, we see glimpses of the Hong Kong Sanctum, where sorcerers
work to guard that particular corner of the world from a host of magical threats.
Among them is a staff-wielding character named Tina Minoru, played in Doctor Strange by Linda
Louise Duan.
We only know her name because she's listed in the credits, but Minoru happens to be the
mother of Nico Minoru, one of the main stars of Runaways, who eventually wields her mother's
staff herself.
Of course, Tina Minoru was recast for Runaways but it's still a nice touch.
Some Marvel characters might not be ready for prime time yet, but are still loved by
enough fans and filmmakers to make at least a brief appearance in the MCU.
One instance of this happening occurs during Thor: Ragnarok, when we see the Grandmaster's
palace on Sakaar for the first time.
This towering structure is adorned with various shimmering statues depicting the heads of
the champions that have fought in the arena and while the Hulk head under construction
might end up dominating the whole thing, the heads that have already been built are particularly
fascinating for comic book fans.
They include Bi-Beast, Man-Thing, Ares and even Beta Ray Bill, a longtime ally of Thor
who fans have been hoping to see on the big screen for years.
We may not see any of these characters actually living and breathing in the MCU anytime soon,
but these statues were enough to let us know they exist and that's a good start.
Avengers: Infinity War is very loosely based on the 1991 Marvel Comics event series The
Infinity Gauntlet.
While the plot of the movie differs significantly from its origin story, the film bears many
nods and winks to the text.
For example, Bruce Banner crashes through the roof of Doctor Strange's Sanctum, echoing
the moment when the Silver Surfer did the same thing in the comics.
“I understood that reference.”
Of all the moments that made Gauntlet fans happy, however, one that really stands out
comes in the film's very last shot, when Thanos sits down at his humble farm to "watch the
sun rise on a grateful universe."
As he walks through the hut, you'll see something standing amid the crops growing outside: a
scarecrow made from his old battle armor.
At the end of Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos gives up his quest for ultimate power after the
battle, takes up farming and makes a scarecrow with his armor.
These may be two very different ways of arriving at the same image, but it's a great reference
nonetheless.