SPOILER ALERT: Warning, this article contains spoilers from Avengers: Infinity War. Proceed at your own risk.
It’s opening weekend, Marvel fans, which means everyone around the world will be basking in the glory that is Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven’t seen the film, check out our non-spoiler review, where we cover how Marvel delivered on their 10-year promise to fans.
If you have seen the film or just can’t wait to know about the Easter Eggs and cameos, then let’s jump into these moments together. Here are the top 25 Easter Eggs, cameos and call backs that we found in the film.
Easter Eggs
Spidey Sense: When Thanos’ Black Order arrives on the Earth, they send their first ship to New York City. Peter Parker experiences his “spidey senses” tingling when the ship arrives. He’s on the school bus at the time and is shocked to see an alien space ship enter the Earth’s atmosphere. His “spidey senses” are well known in the comics and it was cool to see him experience them on screen.
Hulkbuster Armor: Tony Stark built the Hulkbuster armor, AKA Veronica, as a way to stop the Hulk if he ever got out of control. The armor was last seen in the film, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Hulk destroyed the suit when he was under Scarlet Witch’s mind control. In Infinity War, Bruce Banner actually gets to wear the suit, which is a fun switch up.
Captain Marvel Pager: Captain Marvel has yet to make her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, however, her insignia makes a brief appearance in the film. During the post credits scene, Nick Fury and Maria Hill sense the alien ship above New York and Wakanda’s atmospheres. Sensing they are in imminent danger, Fury sends a text message to an unknown receiver. The final shot is Captain Marvel’s star logo on the face of Fury’s pager. Clearly, she’s going to be in Avengers 4.
Rocket’s Eyeball: Rocket is always stealing something. Sometimes it’s legs, sometimes it’s batteries, in this case, it’s an eyeball. While the jokes in both Guardians films always hint to Rocket not needing these obscure things that he’s stealing, this time, the eyeball comes in handy. He gives it to Thor to replace the eye that Hela burned out.
Cauldron of the Cosmos: When Tony Stark shows up at Doctor Strange‘s New York Sanctum, he’s a little confused about all the magical artifacts in the room. At one point he touches something Strange says is ancient. This item is the Cauldron of the Cosmos. The mystical item first appeared in Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1 #112. Strange and Wong have Spider-Man look into the Cauldron to view the past.
Outriders: The Outriders are the alien creatures that Thanos uses to invade Wakanda. These creatures are new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They first appeared in Infinity Vol. 1 #1. They are genetically engineered and are often deployed by Thanos on worlds he wants to claim.
Thor’s Age: As long as we have known Thor in the MCU, we have never known his age, until now. During a conversation with the Guardians, Thor tells them that he is 1500 years old. He shares how he fought hundreds of battles but has never faced someone quite like Thanos.
Thanos’ Farm: It may have surprised you to see Thanos enjoying a sunset the end of this film, but this is actually comic book canon. That’s right, Thanos ended his journey from the Infinity War/Infinity Gauntlet comic as a farmer. Yup. That happened.
Morgan Stark: During Infinity War‘s first scene with Tony and Pepper, Tony relays a dream about having a baby. In the dream, the baby was named Morgan. This is a clear call out to the comic book character Morgan Stark, who had a very checkered history with his cousin, Tony, in the comics.
Call Backs
Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman: Tony first called Peter the “friendly neighborhood Spiderman” in Spider-Man: Homecoming. During Infinity War, Peter repeats the line back to Tony, “I can’t be a friendly neighborhood Spiderman if there’s no neighborhood.” It was a sweet line exchange between the pair and helped remind Tony that even though Peter is young, he is choosing to live the life of an Avenger.
End Game: During Age of Ultron, Tony explains the “end game” of the Avengers is to stop alien invasions. He says, “Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging in through a hole in space…we’re standing 300 feet below it. We’re the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live-long day, but…that up there? That’s the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?”
In Infinity War, Doctor Strange says “We’re in the end game now,” after he gives up the Time Stone. Coincidence? We think not. So what exactly is Doctor Strange’s end game? Is it the same one the MCU films have been discussing? The end of the Avengers and a peacekeeping force that would protect the Earth from these threats for good?
We Have a Hulk: One of the best conversations in Avengers takes place between Tony Stark and Loki. Tony rattles off the team roster, “Your brother the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and YOU, big fella, you’ve managed to piss off every single one of them.”
Loki retorts by saying that he has an army, to which Tony says, “We have a hulk.” Loki delivering this line in Infinity War WAS EVERYTHING! It proved just how much as changed since the first Avengers film.
Kebob in Scotland: Maybe it’s not a huge deal, but when Vision and Wanda were watching the news in Scotland, they were standing inside a Kebab hut. This was very reminiscent of the shawarma scene from the end of Avengers.
Chitauri: We last saw the Chitauri during the Battle for New York in Avengers. They were Thanos’ original invading force. During Avengers, Tony Stark wiped them out with a nuclear explosion. They re-appeared in Infinity War during a flashback when Thanos was killing the Zehoberei people on Gamora’s home planet.
Necocraft Ship: During Infinity War, Nebula used a Necrocraft ship to meet up with the Guardians on Titan. Later, Thanos used the ship to crush the Guardians. These ships were last seen in Guardians of the Galaxy and they were flown by Ronan’s necrosoldiers, the Sakaarans.
Cameos
Stan Lee: Stan Lee is the glue that hold the MCU together. He has made an appearance in every single Marvel film over the last decade. In Infinity War, he’s Peter Parker’s friendly neighborhood bus driver. He also delivers one of the best lines of the film, “What’s the matter, haven’t you kids ever seen a space ship before?”
Red Skull: THIS CAMEO WAS THE BEST! Seriously, who saw him coming!? Red Skull, Captain America’s foe in The First Avengers, was last seen holding the Tesseract on his ship. While it appeared that the Tesseract consumed and killed him, it actually transported him to the far reaches of space, specifically, Vormir. There, he became the ghostly keeper of the Soul Stone.
Thaddeus Ross: This guy just can’t quit the Avengers can he? After coming after The Hulk in The Incredible Hulk, he then came after the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War. General Ross is THE reason Captain America, Falcon, and Black Widow went on the run to become enemies of the state. In Infinity War, he appears as a hologram and asks Rhode to arrest Cap and co.
Eitri the Dwarf: Tyrion Lannister has become the Kingslayer! Oh, wait, wrong franchise. Same actor though! Yes, the wonderful Peter Dinklage made his MCU debut in Infinity War as the cosmic forge and dwarf king Eitri. He helped Thor forge a new weapon, one that could even summon the bifrost and kill a Titan: the Stormbreaker.
The Collector: While he’s no stranger to the Marvel Universe, it was still a surprise to see Taneleer Tivan in Infinity War. He appeared briefly in his own Collection on Knowhere. However, while the actor Benicio del Toro filmed these scenes, his character was technically a mirage, set up by Thanos to dupe the Guardians.
Pop Culture References
Kevin Bacon/Footloose: We all remember the “dance off” the Star-Lord had with Ronan in the first Guardians film. This was inspired by Star-Lord’s greatest hero, Kevin Bacon. Both the film and the actor were mentioned in Infinity War. Not only were these great great pop culture references but call backs to a key Guardians marker from the film. I don’t know Thor, is Kevin Bacon an Avenger now? We hope he is, we really do.
Grimace: Thanos is a big, purple alien, so he’s not hard to make fun of him — in fact, he might be the most meme-able of all Marvel villains, based on his facial expressions alone. Star-Lord couldn’t resist calling Thanos names, especially names from his own childhood, like Grimace. Grimace was a purple, anthropomorphic character in the McDonaldland commercials during the 1970s.
Alien: Peter Parker is the king of movie references, especially sci-fi movies like Star Wars and Alien. Peter referenced the latter when he devised a plan to take down Ebony Maw. The scene he re-enacted was from the original Alien movie, where Ellen Ripley blew the xenomorph out of the side of the ship. You can watch the clip here.
Arcade Defender Video Game: Groot spent most of Infinity War playing a video game — typically for teenage trees like himself. The game was “Defender”, a game that came out in 1981. The game must have come from Peter’s stash, which proves that his backpack was a treasure trove of ’80s toys. You can see the game here.
Squidward: If you’ve seen any episodes of Sponge Bob SquarePants, you know all about Squidward. Squidward is Sponge Bob’s neighbor and is often despised by Sponge Bob and Patrick Star. Tony Stark calls Ebony Maw “Squidward” which is both hilarious and so appropriate.
Bonus
Upon multiple views FANDOM caught a few more Easter Eggs:
Arrested Development: Rumors have been buzzing that the film contained a reference to Arrested Development, but this Easter Egg was definitely hard to find. When the Guardians arrived in Knowhere, the camera pans around the Collector’s collection. One of the first containers hold a man, painted blue. It’s easy to think this could be a Kree, but the Russo Brother’s confirmed that this is, indeed, a reference to Tobias’ Blue Man Group stunt from Season 2.
Flash Gordon: In addition to mentioning Footloose and Kevin Bacon. Peter Parker and Star-Lord also mentioned Flash Gordon. Star-Lord said it was an honor to be compared to Flash Gordon, the lead of the 1980’s film. The film dealt with an alien leader bent on taking over the planet. Sound familiar?
White Wolf: Bucky was called the White Wolf during an after-credits scene in Black Panther, so it made sense that this name would be used again in Infinity War. T’Challa called him the White Wolf when he delivered Bucky’s new arm. The reference is to T’Challa’s adoptive brother from the comics. It’s interesting that Bucky’s new moniker is not yet the new Captain America, but instead the White Wolf. Does that tell us about Bucky’s future in the MCU?
Yggdrasil: Yggdrasil is also known as “the tree of the world, guardian of wisdom and fate.” In Infinity War, the tree was seen on Vormir. Red Skull took Thanos and Gamora to a precipice that had a wide opening. A carving of the tree stood above the gap. The tree was first mentioned in Thor, when Thor was explaining the cosmos to Jane Foster. The tree was last seen during the opening moments of Captain America: The First Avenger in the church where Red Skull found the Tesseract. It all came full circle for Red Skull, didn’t it?
Did you catch all these references and call backs? Did we miss any? Let us know on social or in the FANCOM communities!
Avengers: Infinity War opens worldwide on April 27, 2018.
