‘Legends of Tomorrow’: Easter Eggs and References in “Wet Hot American Bummer”

Legends of Tomorrow sent our ragtag heroes to summer camp in the 1990s tonight and it was a journey not without some great Easter eggs and pop culture references along the way.

Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Legends of Tomorrow, “Wet Hot American Bummer”, below!

Fresh off their English punk rock adventures last week, the Legends made a trip to summer camp where they went undercover as camp counselors to try to track down what they assume is some sort of swamp monster. However, this is a Legends episode. That swamp monster ended up being something else entirely, some sort of magical creature that sucks the life out of kids, but that did stop The CW series from making some fun Swamp Thing references among others.

From Swamp Thing to horror movies to Jonathan Taylor Thomas to Romanian vampire mythology, “Wet Hot American Bummer” had a lot of great gems tucked into the episode. Read on for the ones we spotted and be sure to let us know what we’ve missed in the comments below.

Legends of Tomorrow airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

Swamp Thing

Legends managed to weave not one but two clever references to another DC Comics character into tonight’s episode — Swamp Thing. The first reference comes in the name of a cheesy horror movie Sara (Caity Lotz) and Ava (Jes McCallan) are watching that takes its name from a play on Swamp Thing. The second is a little more direct.

“I happen to know a Swamp Thing, but Maine is too far north for him,” Constanine (Matt Ryan) says at one point, a clever nod to the fact that in comics Constantine’s first appearance is in The Saga of Swamp Thing #25.

Camp Ogawa

If you were wondering where the summer camp the Legends infiltrated in tonight’s episode got its name then you were on the trail of another Easter egg. Camp Ogawa, it turns out, is named for Carl Ogawa who has served as a producer on all of the Arrowverse shows, Black Lightning, Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and even DC Universe’s Titans.

Bloody Mary

Another clever reference taps into a common “scare” game played by kids — in the 90s or otherwise. The whole “say the name three times” thing? That’s a reference to the legend of Bloody Mary.

The folklore legend holds that, by chanting the name Bloody Mary three times in a mirror — a ritual form of divination called captromancy — a spirit can be conjured that will reveal the future. In most versions of the legend, Bloody Mary is a malevolent being who steals the soul or outright kills the person who conjured them. Yikes.

Striga

In keeping with the creepy folklore theme we’ve got going, tonight’s magical foe was a striga, but you might recognize them as strigoi — the troubled spirits of the death that rise from the grave in Roman mythology, though they can also be living people with magical aspects.

In folklore, they have the ability to transform into an animal, be invisible, and drain a persons’ life force and vitality, usually through blood loss. If that sounds like a vampire to you, you’d be right. The strigoi are the myth that inspired Bram Stoker-style vampires.

Turning into kids

The trope of adults being turned into children for various purposes is honestly a nod to so many things in pop culture the list could go on forever, but it could also be a reference to a memorable episode of Young Justice and the villain Klarion the Witch Boy.

What makes this interesting in a broader sense is that fans have guessed that Klarion might play a role in Season 4, even going so far as to suggest that the upcoming episode “Legends of To-Meow-Meow” may have spoiled his arrival. In many adaptations, Klarion is usually accompanied by a cat named Teekl, who is his familiar, as well as is known for making cat puns.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Mario Lopez

What episode set at a summer camp in the 90s would be complete without some celebrity crushes for the girls and Legends absolutely delivered. While turned into kids themselves, Sara and Ava try to fit in with their fellow campers with Sara asking which teen heartthrob they more into: Jonathan Taylor Thomas or Mario Lopez.

For those who may not know, Jonathan Taylor Thomas were both major hearthrobs in the 90s with Thomas best known for his role as Randy Taylor on Home Improvement as well as the voice of young Simba in Disney’s The Lion King while Lopez is best known as the popular jock A.C. Slater in the cult classic Saved By the Bell.