Avengers: Infinity War Easter Eggs You Missed

Ten years in the making, Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of all of Marvel's awesome efforts on the big screen, marking the end of many things... and very likely the beginning of even more things. Not a single film in the studio's blockbuster repertoire has passed without dropping a good handful of Easter eggs, and even though Infinity War is pretty focused on the here and now rather than the deeper secrets hidden within the pages of Marvel Comics, this movie didn't disappoint True Believers — in fact, its many true-to-comics scenes and unexpected callbacks darn near stole the show, which is pretty impressive given that "the show" was basically most of the MCU fighting Thanos for the fate of the entire universe. The battles have raged and the end credits have rolled, so here's a spoiler-filled look at a few of the Easter eggs you may have missed in Avengers: Infinity War.

We've been seeing previews of Spider-Man in his fancy new "Iron Spider" armor for months now, after he'd first rejected it at the end of Homecoming. It's not far into the movie before he gets his first feel for the slick new suit — and immediately stows away on the trip to Titan, much to Tony's chagrin. But in spite of the many sneak peeks, and unless you caught one very specific statue design leaked way too early, nobody really expected the suit to sprout a bunch of extra legs and save the day. That is, unless you're familiar with the Stark-designed armor in the comics, which has exactly that feature. While it initially seemed too outlandish for the big screen, those extra appendages definitely came in handy. And when Iron Man can combine his feet to make one giant rocket-foot, a couple of extra spider-legs isn't really that weird anymore.

Speaking of Asgardian allies, Thor seems to have pals spread across both the known and unknown parts of the galaxy. Comics fans might notice that Marvel is once again borrowing parts of their own previously published arcs for their blockbuster movies. They've made significant tweaks to Civil War and Planet Hulk to get them to the big screen, and this time, Fear Itself plays a minor role, albeit in a very patchwork manner. All of the essentials are there: one of Earth's mightiest heroes faces a powerful new threat, so they visit a dwarven forge to get a really fancy new weapon to bring into battle against it. Sure, in Fear Itself, it was Tony Stark visiting Splitlip to make Uru weapons for the Avengers to fight the Serpent... but the general idea is the same: Thor visits the dwarf Eitri to get a new, Thanos-smashing weapon, for better or worse. Mostly worse.

In a move almost nobody saw coming, one-shot First Avenger villain Red Skull re-appeared in the MCU as the cosmic guardian of the Soul Stone, having paid the ultimate price for his search for cosmic power during the first Captain America movie. He's never referred to as Red Skull, but he speaks of his quest for the Stones and how it led him to his essential imprisonment on Vormir, which is pretty much a recap of his entire short-lived story arc with an explanation of what happened after he lost his bid for world domination. Also, he has a red skull. It's pretty obvious.

Fans familiar with Thanos' comic book quest to make the physical embodiment of Death fall in love with him probably also noticed the similarities between Red Skull's new all-black, ghoulish form and Marvel's personification of Death. It's a great twist on Thanos' comic relationships, and seeing it play out like this here pretty much guarantees we'll never have to see a Thanos/Death makeout scene. Everyone wins.

When you're a superhero, there's a 95 percent chance that your relatives will either be other superheroes or villains that you'll one day have to face. Even when you're apparently adopted, like Tony Stark, your secret brothers and cousins will come along and derail your life. Such is the case with Morgan Stark, Tony's rarely-mentioned cousin. Morgan is an occasional hassle to Tony, a guy involved in mob business who sometimes ventures to take over Stark Industries with his super-team, the Stockpile. And like Iron Man, he throws on a high-tech costume, but calls himself Brass. When you name yourself after the metal that tubas are made from, you've already had a pretty crappy start.

So, while none of this family drama has happened yet in the MCU, and it seems like Tony doesn't even really have any extended family to worry about, it's just a little alarming that Tony wants to name his unborn kid Morgan. It's just a little like Batman naming his kid "Joker." Don't do it.

Bear with us, because this one gets a little weird. Infinity War was directed by the Russo brothers, whose previous credits include directing multiple episodes of the cult comedy show Arrested Development. The bros just won't leave their time on that show behind, and hid one of Arrested Development's iconic vehicles, the stair car, in the airport battle scene in Civil War. They're back again with the Easter eggs, this time dropping one of the show's characters into the Collector's assemblage of treasures. It's a weirdly complicated reference, but if you check out the Collector's cases just as his scene begins, you'll spot a bald, blue man in cutoff shorts lounging in the background. That's pretty much Tobias Funke, a man who's afraid to get naked and is painted head-to-toe in preparation for his Blue Man Group audition. It's absolutely ridiculous, but we can see why the Collector would want him for his collection. He's one of a kind.

Infinity War drops the mid-credits scene, pretty much because there's nothing left to say after Thanos does his Thanos thing and turns half of the universe's living creatures into frosted flakes. But in the film's post-credits scene, we see what we know has been coming for a while now: as Nick Fury disintegrates, he puts out a last-second SOS call to a mysterious person who'll definitely have a huge role in the Avengers sequel. As comics readers knew immediately after seeing the logo flash up on Fury's pager, that person is Captain Marvel. It may not be obvious to anyone who isn't up on their Marvel news or superhero iconography, but this little sequence serves as a teaser for the upcoming Captain Marvel movie, which will mark the studio's first female-led superhero extravaganza — and potentially fill in some of Thanos' backstory while setting the stage for Avengers 4. Scheduled for a 2019 release date, Captain Marvel stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, a pilot who gets incredible abilities. We're talking Thor levels of power. No wonder MODOK develops a massive crush on her.

Also, can we finally get MODOK in the MCU, please?

When Thor returns to Earth with his new weapon, Stormbreaker, it's a thrilling moment for comics fans and audience members alike. Again, Stormbreaker isn't just a random name for a random hammer, but there's even more meaning to his latest accessory that casual fans wouldn't have picked up on. What you might not have noticed is that the visuals of Thor's return are straight out of The Ultimates comic series, which united the Avengers of Marvel's Ultimate Universe. While The Ultimates has always had a visual impact on the MCU (just think about Samuel Jackson's casting as Nick Fury, who was reimagined as a guy who looked an awful lot like Jackson for the Ultimate Universe), this is the first time Thor's had such a striking resemblance to that particular comics counterpart in the MCU. Both the glowing bulbs on his vest and his axe are pulled directly from the comics. Here's hoping that the new weapon fares a bit better than Thor's old hammer.

In Infinity War, when Thanos finally rips the Mind Stone out of Vision's head, the robotic Avenger's body immediately loses coloring. Vision's newly colorless body is ripped straight from the comics — specifically West Coast Avengers, in which a multinational group of spies wipe Vision's programming and his emotional capabilities. Following the event, Vision continued on as a hero, albeit one much more traditionally robotic than he was prior. In the process, his trademark red, green, and yellow coloring was replaced with a completely colorless outfit. He even gets killed in Infinity Gauntlet in much the same way, although he was already entirely colorless in the comic series before Thanos got to him. Infinity War's reference to Vision losing color after getting his mind destroyed is likely an indication that even if Vision is resurrected with some of his teammates, it's unlikely that he'll have the same capabilities that he had while he possessed the Mind Stone.

Early in the film, Doctor Strange is captured by Ebony Maw, who tortures him with energy daggers. It's a haunting scene — and, as you might have guessed, one that's inspired by the comics. In this case, it comes from Infinity, a modern-day sequel to Infinity Gauntlet that also served as a major inspiration for Infinity War. The Infinity crossover introduced the emissaries of Thanos that were featured in the movie, although they were called the Black Order in the comics. As in the movie, Ebony Maw captures Strange in order to interrogate him, but the comic also sees Ebony Maw manipulating Dr. Strange into using his magic powers to summon Shuma Gorath to Earth in order to destroy the Avengers. Considering that he's quickly saved by Peter and Tony instead of almost dooming all of New York with an extra-dimensional monster, we'd say that the movie version of Doctor Strange got off easier (notwithstanding the whole "crumbling into dust" thing, that is).

If you missed the reference in Black Panther, then Avengers: Infinity War wants to make sure you heard right: Bucky gets referred to as the White Wolf by T'Challa when they're preparing to fight Thanos. In the comics, Hunter, the White Wolf, is Wakanda's spymaster, as well as T'Challa's caucasian adopted brother. He and T'Challa have feuded back and forth over the years, with Hunter proclaiming himself to be loyal only to Wakanda, even if that brings him into conflict with Wakanda's king. With Infinity War doubling down on the reference, it looks likely that they're establishing that Bucky will have a place in Wakanda as its spymaster following the conclusion of the battle against Thanos... if he survives, that is. If Bucky does end up taking on the official mantle of the White Wolf, here's hoping he gets on better with T'Challa than Hunter did in the comics.

With all the heroes, villains, aliens, wizards, and Children of Thanos flying around, it's no surprise that Stan Lee wasn't the only clever cameo that snuck into Infinity War. There's another Marvel creative force who put in an appearance, but it's not surprising if you totally missed him. For one thing, he was heard and not seen. For another, it was before the first proper shot of the movie even started. 

As the opening Marvel Studios logo heralds the beginning of Infinity War and the coming of Thanos, we hear a distress call from the Asgardian refugee vessel (the call which will eventually catch the attention of the Guardians). The voice is none other than Kenneth Branagh, the actor/director famous not only for his cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare, but for directing the first Thor movie back in those halcyon days of Marvel's Phase 1.

Branagh went uncredited for his performance, but the filmmakers confirmed his presence on Infinity War's home video commentary track. It's fitting, especially given Branagh's role in helping to define the MCU, that the man who first brought the realm of the gods to the big screen be the one calling out in Asgard's darkest hour.