Ant-Man and the Wasp had some pretty big shoes to fill; being the follow up to Avengers Infinity
War, people have a lot of expectations for how the film will connect to the rest of what’s
happened in the MCU.
Aside from giving us a few answers and fuelling a few theories, the film is filled with a
bunch of Easter Eggs and references that got fans of the MCU and of the comics quite excited.
So today, we’re counting down a handful of those Easter Eggs and References from the
film.
Before we begin, we want to give a major shout out to Amino for sponsoring this video.
Amino is an app that connects you with a mobile network of fandom communities, from Marvel
to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Marvel/DC Fans, and even a Marvel-DC All Out War roleplay
amino!
Whatever it is that you love, Amino connects you to others who love it, too!
And you can become a member in as many Amino communities as you’d like, giving you access
not only to an awesome feed of content from other diehard fans and casual geeks that you
can chat and make friends with but also to polls and quizzes, where you can compete with
your pals to see who gets the top score.
Want to learn more about your favorite characters?
Missed an MCU film and need a quick way to catch up?
(Also, how are you!
Even though we all should’ve just skipped Thor the Dark World after all).
Well, fear not, Amino has you covered with their wiki, containing profiles and bios for
every single Marvel character seemingly EVER.
You can even get the low down on our buddy Scott Lang before you see Ant-Man and the
Wasp.
Amino even keeps you up to date with everything going on in the MCU and the fandom.
The Live Layer, for one, is like a virtual comic con in the palm of your hands, 24/7,
with the size of the Amino community now over 100K members, meaning you can get a glimpse
into what’s happening all over the world from your favorite conventions.
Definitely beats paying for a flight to San Diego, doesn’t it?
So definitely get your nerd on and check Amino out!
It’s free to download!
Alright, now onto the Easter Eggs and references friends!
Here is the Top 10 Easter Eggs you Missed in Ant-Man and the Wasp!
And, of course, MEGA SPOILER ALERT.
For pretty much this and the last several MCU films.
You’ve been warned!
10 It’s Them!
There’s one point in the film where Bill Foster spots a bunch of ants crawling through
the lab.
In response, he lets out a line.
“It’s them!”
This is actually a reference to the film Them!
Them! is a classic science fiction monster movie from 1954.
A black and white picture, the film was one of the first ‘nuclear monster’ movies,
and the very first ‘big bug’ feature.
It tells the story of a nest of gigantic irradiated ants found in the New Mexico desert that quickly
become a national threat when they break loose.
It’s got some pretty iconic shots that you may recognize even if you’re not totally
familiar with the sci fi side of Classical Hollywood Cinema.
Anywho, it’s an apt reference, all things considered.
Scott, Hope, and Cassie are all watching them at the end of the film, too.
9 Animal House When Scott is kidnapped, you may have noticed
that he’s watching something.
It’s Animal House, the 1978 film starring Jim Belushi.
The scene he’s watching in particular has a cheeky connection to the content of Ant-Man
and the Wasp.
It’s a scene with Pintlo, played by Tom Hulce, and Dave Jennings, played by Donald
Sutherland, where the two are stoned, and carrying on a conversation about how there
are galaxies within atoms.
Even in his downtime, Scott just can’t get away from the quantum realm, can he?
8 Stan Lee Of course there’s a Stan Lee cameo!
Stan Lee has made a cameo in every single MCU film, and Ant-Man and the Wasp is no exception.
This time around, Stan can be spotted during the car chase sequence.
Stan is an elderly motorist whose car is shrunken by one of the shrinking discs.
Stan than says, “The 60s were great, but now I’m paying for it.”
7 Geoffrey Ballard This Easter Egg is a reference to a character
that appears in the comics, and is actually an enemy of Bill Foster’s Black Goliath.
Geoffrey Ballard in the film is an FBI agent that’s contacted by Burch and given that
tip to catch Hank and Hope.
In the comics though, he’s supervillain Centurion, a government official who was sent
to Star International as a security official in his first appearance in Black Goliath Vol
1 issue 4 back in 1976.
He would later go on to be a Ms Marvel villain.
Perhaps we’ll see more of Ballard in the future?
6 Tim, without Eric Fans of the comedy duo Tim and Eric may have
gotten a lovely surprise during the scene in the San Fransisco harbor when Ant-Man goes
giant in front of that boat he’s chasing.
On the boat is a familiar face- Tim Heidecker has a little cameo as the Whale Boat Captain,
and lets out a little scream when he sees Scott in all of his massive glory.
Kevin Feige is apparently a huge Tim and Eric fan.
Fun fact, Tim has also appeared in another Marvel movie, although it wasn’t part of
the MCU.
Rather, it was the 20th Century Fox 2015 Fantastic Four film.
5 Egghead When we find out about Ghost’s origins,
one of the reveals is that her father was scientist known as Dr Elihas Starr.
He experimented with quantum technology, which it was turned Ghost into what she is.
Turns out that Dr Starr isn’t just a new name; he has a history in the comics as being
a villain named Egghead.
Egghead is one of the sillier Marvel villains out there.
He was an atomic scientist with an Egg-shaped head that first appeared in Tales to Astonish
issue 38 in 1962.
4 The Big Lebowski At the start of the film, Scott is walking
around in a bathrobe.
This isn’t just cause he’s a chilled out dude, friends.
Rather, it’s a reference to another well-known and adored dude; the dude himself from the
Big Lebowski.
According to director Peyton Reed, there’s a handful of films that influenced the way
he approached Ant-Man and the Wasp, including After Hours, Midnight Run and even the Empire
Strikes Back.
But turns out the Big Lebowski was also a big influence, to the point where it also
influenced Scott’s wardrobe.
Reed told Cinemablend in an interview, “When we talk about the Elmore Leonard and the sort
of Noir and crime influences, there is a hint of Big Lebowski in there.
There’s a reason why Paul Rudd is in a bathrobe for the beginning when the first comes in
and sees Pym’s laboratory.
It’s the idea that you can’t really have a passive hero in the way Lebowski is in that
movie in a Marvel movie, but we wanted to flirt with it with Scott.”
3 Giant Man Based on all of the trailers, we knew that
we’d be seeing more of Scott Lang enlarging himself in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
That was a trick he first tried out in Captain America Civil War, so naturally, it’s no
surprise that he’d use it again in his sequel film.
When Scott grows to his big boy size to chase after a boat in the San Francisco Harbour,
a newscast on a TV screen that’s visible calls him Giant-Man.
This is a reference to Giant-Man, the alias that belonged to a handful of heroes in the
comics, including Hank Pym and Bill Foster.
Foster initially went by the name Black Goliath before taking the Giant Man mantle from Pym,
who has gone through a series of other aliases in the past aside from Ant-Man.
Scott Lang has also taken up the alias in the Ultimate Marvel universe as part of a
team of Giant-Men, who were part of SHIELD’s reverses, and also featured Cassie Lang as
a member.
2 Baba Yaga During one point in the film, Kurt mentions
the name Baba Yaga.
Baba Yaga, in real life, is part of Slavic folklore, a supernatural being who appears
deformed, and dwells deep in the forest in a hut typically described as standing on chicken
legs.
Turns out Baba Yaga actually has some significant ties to the Marvel Universe.
She first appeared in Captain Britain vol 2, issue 11 back in 1985, and is of Russian
origin, being the goddess of earth, witchcraft and misfortune.
She would pop up a few times, but in her first appearance, she fought Captain Britain and
his shape-shifting girlfriend Meggan when they accidentally stumbled upon her home.
Also, fun fact, in the comics, Captain Britain is the character who first introduced the
concept of the Multiverse in the Marvel Universe.
1 The Quantum Realm In the first Ant-Man film, there was an Easter
Egg inserted in the Quantum Realm when Scott entered it.
It was a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moment; Janet Van Dyne’s Wasp.
According to director Peyton Reed and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige (fi-gee), another
Quantum Realm Easter Egg was inserted in the film.
It’s something that you’ll only catch when you go frame by frame, and many think
that we won’t be able to see it until the film is released digitally.
But, some keen people think they’ve spotted what Feige and Reed have been talking about;
Thanos’ face, smiling.
Apparently it’s visible in the wide shot of Scott floating in the post credit scene,
with the top left of his head and his eyes, briefly flashing to reveal his face.
Others believe that purple eyes that appear aren’t Thanos; they’re Dormammu’s.
This would fit better with what Reed had said, I quote, “Like the first movie there are
clues in the Quantum Realm to other possibilities and things.
We have definitely laid some groundwork for some stuff down there, similar to what we
did in the first movie.”
So, what do you guys see?
Is that Thanos?
Or Dormammu?
Or something else entirely?
There we have it friends!
So, what are your thoughts on Ant-Man and the Wasp?
Were you surprised by the post credit scenes?
And what do you think this all means for how the next Avengers film will play out?
Give us a shout with your thoughts in those comments below!
And, before you go, don’t forget to check out Amino!
We here at Top 10 Nerd have an account, so when you download it, be sure to come to find
us and say hi.
Maybe even try to match our scores on the quizzes we’ve taken; we’ve got some cool
100 percent scores though, so good luck pals.
To find out how you can join, make sure to check out the link in the description below
for all the details.
In the meantime though, if you’re feeling like watching more on the MCU and Ant-Man
and the Wasp, be sure to head on over to our channel top 10 nerd and subscribe.
Thanks for watching!
I’ll catch you all in the next video!