Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here!
If you're an avid Easter Egg hunter, like me, then prepare for a full-on geekgasm as
Captain America: Civil War has oodles to keep you entertained.
In this video, I'm gonna run through all the easter eggs, references, and cameos I spotted
in the movie.
Of course, I'd love to hear about any others you noticed too.
Just before that, I've got an exciting giveaway thanks to DK Publishers, so if you'd like
the chance to win this amazing "Captain America: The Ultimate Guide to the First Avenger" hardback
book packed with tons of cool info and images about Cap's 75-year history in Marvel comics
as well as an intro from Stan Lee himself, then make sure you subscribe and leave a comment
about your favourite easter egg from the movie.
For more ways to enter, click the Gleam link in the video description!
And remember, there are spoilers ahead, so if you want to avoid those, you can watch
my spoiler-free review here!
Although the movie isn't a direct adaptation of Marvel's Civil War comic book series, there
are some cool visual homages to iconic covers and pages from the comics.
This image of Iron Man blasting against Captain America's shield comes from the final issue
of the main Civil War series.
And when Captain America smashes Iron Man's mask and looks like he's about to finish off
Tony Stark, it's incredibly similar to a moment from the final battle between Cap and Iron
Man in the comic books.
And during that final fight scene, Captain America's line to Tony "I could do this all
day" echoes the same words he said while fighting off a bully in an alley in Captain America:
The First Avenger and again to Red Skull at the end of the same movie.
Also in that scene, there's a fresh hint that Bucky could one day take up Captain America's
mantle in the movies as he does in the comics, when Cap and Bucky pass the shield back and
forwards to each other as they batter Iron Man with it.
There's been a nod to Bucky becoming Captain America in each Captain America movie so far.
In the first movie, Bucky picks up Cap's shield while they're fighting on the train carrying
Zola, and in The Winter Soldier, Bucky grabs the shield when Rogers is chasing him after
Bucky shot Nick Fury.
In the movie's stairway fight scene, you can also see the influence of Gareth Evans' The
Raid action movies, which also influenced Season 1 and Season 2 of Marvel's Daredevil
on Netflix.
The MCU's homage to Star Wars arm loss that started in Phase 2 continues into Phase 3
with Bucky losing his metal arm when Iron Man's reactor blasts it off in that final
fight scene.
When Tony Stark calls Bucky 'Manchurian Candidate', it's a reference to the novel and film of
the same name about a man who's brainwashed into becoming an assassin.
Although Stark has a history of being grabbed by the throat in Marvel's movies, this time
he appears to escape, with Falcon, Black Widow, Cap, Black Panther, and Maria Stark all getting
throttled by Bucky Barnes instead!
Oh, and Black Panther almost got to grab Bucky's throat with his claws, until Scarlet Witch
stepped in.
The cell Bucky's held in is labelled D-23, a hidden reference to Disney's official fan
club D23 with 23 referencing the year 1923 that Walt Disney founded the Walt Disney Company.
The activation codes that Zemo uses to trigger Bucky have some cool hidden references too.
The numbers ONE – NINE and SEVENTEEN form the year 1917, which is when Bucky Barnes
was born according to the museum exhibit in the Winter Soldier's post-credits scene.
"Freight Car" is likely a reference to the train freight car Bucky fell from in Captain
America: The First Avenger, and "Homecoming" is a nod to the title of Spider-Man's 2017
solo movie.
And the word "Daybreak" is likely a sneaky reference to the TV show Community.
Daybreak being a jazz melody which featured in multiple episodes of the show.
Both Civil War directors Anthony and Joe Russo directed and produced numerous episodes of
the comedy series.
By the way, there's another nod to Community in the cameo by Jim Rash who played Dean Pelton
in the TV show.
In Civil War, Rash is the MIT liaison who tries to get funding from Tony Stark for his
self-cooking hot dog idea.
The mission report date that Zemo is hunting for, December 16 1991, references the day
that Bucky assassinated Howard and Maria Stark, with the news report we see in Captain America:
The Winter Soldier being published the next day.
Coincidentally, 16th December 1991 is also when Marvel published its very first annual
report to shareholders, which was actually in the form of a comic book!
And curiously the movie's working title, "Sputnik", is a clever easter egg to what happens to
Bucky at the very end of the film.
In the comics, "Sputnik" is the safeword the Russians implanted in Bucky as a safety mechanism
to shut him down in case he went crazy.
In the post-credits, Bucky is shut down again when he volunteers to be frozen until someone
can figure out how to remove his HYDRA programming.
Bucky getting frozen in Wakanda also recalls the flashback scene in The Winter Soldier
where Zola orders Bucky to be put on ice and is also a nod to the Captain America comics
where the Soviet general Vasily Karpov decides to put Bucky back into cryostasis while they
figure out what to do with him.
That same Russian general Vasily Karpov from the comics appears in the movie as the HYDRA
agent who Zemo drowns in Cleveland.
And if you're wondering what Karpov was doing hanging out in Cleveland, well, it's probably
a little tribute to the Ohio city in which the Civil War directors Anthony and Joe Russo
grew up.
When Cap pulls Bucky out of the water after their helicopter battle, it's a nice reversal
of the way Bucky pulled Cap out of the water after their battle on the helicarrier at the
end of The Winter Soldier.
After his return from The Winter Soldier movie, Brock Rumlow references the Battle at the
Triskelion when he accuses Captain America of "dropping a building on my face".
To hide his burned and scarred face, Rumlow returns masked and with his trademark Crossbones
uniform and weaponised gauntlets that the villain has in the comics.
Falcon's sidekick drone Redwing is the MCU's version of the real falcon Redwing from the
comics who Sam Wilson communicated with telepathically.
In the movie, that telepathic link has been replaced with a tech communications interface.
And there's a couple more comic book Falcon easter eggs in the movie too.
The Sokovia accords which were approved by 117 countries reference Captain America issue
117 which was Falcon and Redwing's first appearance in the series.
At the airport one of the walkways is labelled 134, an easter egg to Captain America Vol
1 issue 134 when Sam Wilson officially teams up with Cap and the comic series is renamed
"Captain America and the Falcon" for over 80 issues.
And the airport fight scene is chock full of easter eggs.
When Iron Man asks Hawkeye about being retired and playing golf it's a funny wink to the
What If?
comic series where Hawkeye briefly took up golf rather than archery.
And the joke about Hawkeye missing when he shoots at Iron Man is also a nod to the Hawkeye
Blindspot comics, where Hawkeye shoots and misses a gang of villains.
Hawkeye shooting Ant-Man from his arrow references Avengers #223 when Hawkeye shot Ant-Man from
his arrow in a fight against Taskmaster.
The fantastic scene when Scott Lang transforms into Giant-Man is a nod to the time Hank Pym
transformed into Giant-Man for the first time in the comics.
And the hilarious Star Wars joke by Spider-Man when he takes down Giant-Man by looping webbing
around his legs, of course, references The Empire Strikes Back movie when the Rebel Alliance
used tow cables to entangle and defeat an AT-AT.
And Giant-Man swatting at the superheroes flying around his head has shades of the Godzilla
and King Kong movies about it.
Spider-Man nabbing Cap's shield at the airport with his webbing is an easter egg to the time
he did that in the Civil War series, and at the end of the fight when Peter Parker is
partially unmasked, it's a little nod to how Spider-Man took off his mask to reveal his
identity in the Civil War comics.
And when Spider-Man webs Captain America's legs and says Tony told him to, it's a little
acknowledgement by the Russos of criticism at the way gunmen in The Winter Soldier movie
kept on shooting at Cap's shield rather than trying to take out his legs.
During the fight, Cap smashes a walkway so that it falls onto Spider-Man who has to use
all his strength to hold it up.
It's a nice homage to the moment in The Amazing Spider-Man comics when Spider-Man lifted tons
of steel that fell on him while fighting Dr Octopus.
And with Spider-Man making his debut in the MCU, there's a stack more references and easter
eggs.
Spidey's web-shooters are a mechanical invention of his own rather than the organic shooters
we saw in the first Spider-Man trilogy.
Spider-Man's origin gets just a brief reference when Peter Parker says to Tony Stark "when
whatever happened, happened" and there's a cryptic allusion to a possible tragedy involving
Uncle Ben when Peter says "when you can do what you do and you don't and then bad things
happen, it's on you."
There's also a hint to the famous Spider-Man phrase "with great power comes great responsibility"
when Peter mentions that even though he'd love to play football now he has his powers,
because he couldn't before that, he shouldn't do so now.
When Peter says to Tony about the YouTube videos he's seen of Spider-Man "that's all
fake, it's all done on a computer" it's a reference to the fake Spider-Man post-credits
scene for Avengers Age of Ultron that went viral on YouTube.
And when Tony Stark says about Aunt May, "it's so hard for me to believe she's someone's
aunt", Marisa Tomei's reply that "we come in all shapes and sizes" is a reference to
the previous movie and comic-book incarnations of Aunt May as well as a riposte to the backlash
over Tomei being cast in the role.
Tony and May flirting with each is another reference to Robert Downey Jr and Marisa Tomei's
real-life relationship in the 90s and also to their on-screen relationship in the rom-com
"Only You".
By the way, they also starred in the biopic Chaplin together.
And later back at Peter Parker's apartment in the post-credits scene, Aunt May asks Peter
about the fight he got into and if it's Steve from 12-C, which could be a little easter
egg to the price of the first Spider-Man comic which cost 12 cents.
During that post-credits scene, we also get to see a new piece of tech that Peter discovers
while fiddling with the shooter around his wrist.
The device which projects a very cool Spidey symbol on to the ceiling is very much like
the Spider signal that Spider-Man has attached to his belt in the comics, and it seems likely
that this is some new tech designed by Tony Stark.
Iron Man himself also has some cool upgraded tech, for example his portable gauntlet which
unfolds out of his watch is a similar example to the miniaturisation of his whole suit which
we saw in Iron Man 2.
Maria Stark's appearance during Tony's September Foundation speech at MIT, where he studied
as a young man, is likely a nod to the Maria Stark Foundation that Tony Stark set up in
the comics.
During that scene at MIT, when the young Tony Stark mentions the Pentagon, it's a call-back
to Avengers Age of Ultron when Tony said he'd hacked into the Pentagon as a dare at high
school.
The grieving mother Miriam who lost her son in Sokovia and who confronts Tony Stark and
proves to be the catalyst for him to support the Sokovia Accords is based on the character
Miriam Sharpe from the comics who publicly confronted Tony Stark about her son who was
killed in the Stamford explosion.
Alfre Woodard, the actress who plays the mother, is also set to play Mariah Dillard in Marvel's
upcoming Luke Cage series on Netflix, and in the comics Mariah Dillard is the cousin
of the villain Cottonmouth.
By the way, the name of her dead son, Charlie Spencer, is actually a nod to Robert Downey
Jr's role as Charles Spencer Chaplin in the 1992 biopic Chaplin.
And Tony Stark's comment that Charlie Spencer, 'didn't go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which
I'd do' is a reference to the first Iron Man movie where Tony spends his time gambling
at the casino while he should be receiving an award, and to Iron Man 3 which filmed in
the Fort Lauderdale area.
When Tony goes to visit the Avengers who are locked up in the Raft, Clint Barton calls
Tony Stark "the futurist", a nod to the various times Iron Man has referred to himself as
a futurist in the comics.
Tony Stark says about the prison that "I didn't know they'd put you in some floating supermax
ocean pokey; this place is for maniacs", which is a reference to the The Raft prison from
the comics, based on Rikers Island, and which housed some of the worst super-villains from
the Marvel universe.
Scott Lang also blames Tony at the Raft saying "like Pym said, you can never trust a Stark",
a call-back to Ant-Man's movie when Hank Pym explained to Scott how he's spent half his
life trying to keep his technology out of the hands of a Stark.
And when Tony Stark replies "who are you?", Scott replies "come on, man", a funny echo
from Guardians of the Galaxy when Star-Lord was frustrated that Korath didn't know who
he was.
Tony Stark's electromagnetic headache is a nod to the time in the Iron Man comics when
Rhodey donned the Iron Man costume and suffered from headaches because the suit had been tailored
to match Tony Stark's brainwaves.
And when Tony is helping Rhodes get back the use of his legs at the end of the movie, it's
a reference to the comics when Tony Stark built new bionic limbs for War Machine after
he lost them in a terrorist attack.
Iron Man's AI interface FRIDAY who replaced JARVIS after he became Vision in Age of Ultron
returns with Tony saying he imagined her as a redhead, a little nod to both the Invincible
Iron Man comics in which she appeared as a redhead and also to Pepper Potts.
Speaking of Pepper Potts, her absence from the movie is referenced twice, once at MIT
and again when Tony explains to Steve Rogers that Tony and Pepper have taken a break as
a couple.
Possibly a reference to Gwyneth Paltrow's Marvel contract being at an end despite rumours
of her having filmed something for Civil War.
Two other Civil War absentees, Thor and Banner, also get a mention when Secretary of State
Ross asks the Avengers if they can explain where those two superheroes are right now.
The romantic relationship between Scarlet Witch and Vision in the comics is hinted at
a little more in the scenes between the two in this movie, in particular the paprika cooking
scene.
There's also a Vision easter egg when we see him contemplating a chess board in the movie,
an homage to the 1971 Avengers cover where Vision is analysing a chess opening.
And both characters' powers from the comics get a lot more screen time in Civil War, with
Vision altering his density and firing optic blasts from his infinity stone.
Scarlet Witch's energy manipulation is also much enhanced and she can even power Vision
down through multiple levels of a building.
By the way, Hawkeye's motivational mini-speech to Scarlet Witch at the Avengers Academy with
the words "you wanna mope, you go to high school; wanna make amends, get off your ass"
is a call-back to his motivational speech to her during the Battle of Sokovia in Avengers
Age of Ultron.
It's Sharon Carter's eulogy at Peggy Carter's funeral that helps Steve Rogers convince himself
that he's right to oppose the Sokovia Accords.
Sharon's words about how it's "your duty to plant yourself like a tree, and say 'no you
move'" are a nod to Captain America's speech to Peter Parker in the Civil War comics which
used the same words.
And likewise it was this speech in the comics by Cap which helped convince Spider-Man to
swap sides from being pro-registration to siding with Captain America.
The romance between Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter that was hinted at in The Winter Solder
develops into a kiss between the two in Civil War.
And Cap's words about the kiss being "late" is a little callback to his description of
himself as "the world's leading authority on waiting too long" in Avengers: Age of Ultron,
and, of course, is also a nod to to his relationship with Peggy Carter.
The Agent Carter TV series also gets a subtle reference when Cap and Bucky are reminiscing
about trying to win a stuffed bear for a girl named Dolores, or Dot, at Rockaway Beach.
Dottie Underwood is a Soviet assassin on Agent Carter who trained at the Red Room Academy
where Black Widow trained.
Black Widow's complicated spy background gets referenced by Iron Man when he snidely says
to her it "must be hard to shake the double agent thing, sticks in the DNA" after she
lets Captain America escape despite being on Team Iron Man.
Iron Man's words are also a nod to the Ultimates series where Black Widow tells her boyfriend
Tony Stark that he shouldn't be shocked that the former "Russian spy" turned out to be
the traitor they'd been looking for.
Speaking of Black Widow, she has a run in with Black Panther's security chief, played
by German actress Florence Kasumba.
The security chief is likely one of Black Panther's all-female bodyguards called the
Dora Milage in the comics and she orders Black Widow to "move or you will be moved."
This verbal confrontation is a nod to the time in the comics when Black Widow was beaten
by a group of Dora Milage.
Black Panther's costume can deflect machine guns bullets thanks to the vibranium which
is woven into his suit.
Black Panther scratching Cap's shield with his vibranium claws is a visual nod to the
Captain America annual cover which showed Wolverine slamming his claws into the First
Avenger's iconic shield.
And there are more teases to the upcoming Black Panther movie.
Everett K. Ross, the US government official, played by Martin Freeman, has a small role
in Civil War, although it's likely we'll see more of him in Black Panther.
In the comics his job is to liaise with foreign diplomats in particular T'Challa from Wakanda.
The mid-credits scene with Bucky being treated at an advanced medical centre reflects the
fact that in the Marvel comics, Wakanda is a wealthy and technologically advanced nation.
And the huge Black Panther statue revealed and misty jungle location is an intriguing
peek at Wakanda in the MCU.
The airport battle which takes place at Leipzig airport, is a nod to Baron Helmut Zemo's birthplace
in the comics in Leipzig, Germany.
And when Zemo says to Captain America "there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes.
How nice to find a flaw" it's a reference to Zemo's Nazi background in the comics.
The two days that it took for Zemo to find the bodies of his wife and child mirrors the
2 days that Wanda and Pietro Maximoff mentioned they waited in the rubble of a building expecting
Stark's bomb to go off in Avengers Age of Ultron.
And with Zemo still alive at the end of Captain America: Civil War and the villain Ulysses
Klaw introduced in Age of Ultron, there's a hint we might get Zemo's Masters of Evil
in future movies.
By the way, the Sokovian kill squad "Echo Scorpion" that Zemo used to run could be a
nod to the Marvel villain Scorpion who was also a member of the Masters of Evil.
Stan Lee gets a fantastic cameo delivering a FedEx parcel from Steve Rogers to a certain
"Tony Stank" which Rhodey makes sure Tony won't ever forget.
This isn't Lee's first cameo as a postal worker.
In the 2005 Fantastic Four movie, Lee appeared as mailman Willie Lumpkin from the comic books,
welcoming the Fantastic Four back to the Baxter Building.
Talking of cameos, director Joe Russo, has a cameo as Dr Theo Broussard who Zemo kills
leaving the body in his hotel room bath.
Joe Russo also played Dr Fine in Captain America: The Winter soldier and he's credited in both
films under the alias Gozie Agbo.
By the way the name, Theo Broussard is likely a nod to producer Stephen Broussard who is
executive producer on Doctor Strange and was also producer on Captain America: The First
Avenger, Iron Man 3 and The Incredible Hulk.
Ann Russo, the wife of director Anthony Russo, is the voice of Zemo's wife who we hear on
Zemo's voicemail.
And Chris Evans's assistant, Josh Peck, cameos as a GSG9 Task Force Gunner, while his stand-in
from Age Of Ultron and The Winter Soldier, Brent McGee also cameos as a GSG9 Task Force
Pilot.
And Damion Poitier who played Thanos in The Avengers post-credits scene cameos as one
of Crossbone's mercs.
By the way, the main cast credits which appear before the mid-credits scene in Wakanda include
some cool artwork with thematic shadows that relate to the characters.
Chris Evans has a Captain America shield; Tom Holland has a spider's web for Spider-Man;
Jeremy Renner has arrows for Hawkeye; Chadwick Boseman has a pattern from his Black Panther
suit; Emily VanCamp has the number 13 for Agent 13; Paul Rudd has the Pym Technologies
symbol for Ant-Man; and Frank Grillo gets a large X for Crossbones.
So guys, what other easter eggs and references did you spot in Captain America: Civil War?
And which was your favourite?
Don't forget to comment and subscribe for a chance to win this "Captain America: The
Ultimate Guide to the First Avenger" hardback book.
For more ways to enter the giveaway, check out the Gleam link in the video description
below.
If you enjoyed this video, I've got loads more Captain America: Civil War videos in
this playlist here including interviews, post-credits, Spider-Man videos, my review, and more!
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!