Deadpool 3 Has An Incredible Hulk Easter Egg Only Marvel Fanatics Caught
During the Super Bowl LVIII broadcast, the hotly anticipated first "Deadpool 3" trailer premiered, previewing Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman) Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. Fans likely noticed that there are plenty of small details in the "Deadpool & Wolverine" trailer, such as the return of the formerly deceased "Deadpool 2" hero Shatterstar (Lewis Tan). Among some of the preview's subtlest nuggets, intended for seriously dedicated Marvel devotees, is a nod to the 2008 film "The Incredible Hulk."
This "Incredible Hulk" Easter egg is hidden alongside another Easter egg; at about the trailer's 2:03 mark, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is prone on the ground, lying near an issue of the "Secret Wars" comic that serves as the source material for the upcoming Avengers film. Barely visible on top of the tattered comic book is a bottle of Pingo Doce soda.
As Marvel fanatics know, Bruce Banner's (Edward Norton) blood infects a bottle of Pingo Doce early on in "The Incredible Hulk." Stan Lee's character unknowingly drinks from it, and the gamma radiation that subsequently enters his bloodstream tips off Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) to the fact Banner is hiding out in Brazil. The soda bottle in the "Deadpool 3" trailer explicitly references this "Incredible Hulk" plot point.
Pingo Doce soda has a history in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
After Pingo Doce became canonical in the MCU in "The Incredible Hulk," ads for the drink have popped up in a few subsequent film and TV projects. These include "Ant-Man," "What If...?," and "I Am Groot."
However, arguably the biggest reason the fictional soda's footprint in the MCU is steadily growing is its prominence at the Avengers Campus sections of certain Disneyland theme parks. One of its attractions is the Pym Test Kitchen, a restaurant featuring menu items that appear to have been grown or shrunk in a lab. Pingo Doce is available in a standard soda cup courtesy of a modified Coca-Cola Freestyle machine or a large novelty Pingo Doce can.
So, while the Pingo Doce bottle in the "Deadpool & Wolverine" trailer is a fun Easter egg for big-time Marvel heads, Disney may also hope the reference sells a few more novelty cans at its theme parks.