Every Easter Egg in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’

Over the years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been known to hide quite a few Easter eggs throughout its films. From nods to the comics, to references of past movies, to surprising cameos, the MCU is legendary when it comes to Easter eggs.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Infinity War, the culmination of the entire MCU to date, is loaded with all kinds of clever ones.

Do you think you were able to spot every single hidden reference in Infinity War? Take a look through this list, as we compile all of the notable Easter eggs from Marvel’s latest blockbuster.

WARNING: Just in case you couldn’t tell, this article contains MASSIVE spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven’t seen the movie, and you don’t want to be spoiled, stop reading now. For everyone else, enjoy!

References to Infinity Gauntlet

Infinity War took influence from quite a few comics, but none more than Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet series. There were a ton of Easter eggs and callbacks to this book throughout the movie, so we thought it best to put them all in one place.

• When Hulk lands in the Sanctum Santorum at the beginning of the movie, it’s identical to Silver Surfer’s arrival on Earth in the comic. After fighting with Thanos, Surfer crashes into Earth to warn them about the evil that’s coming.
• In the comics, Adam Warlock was the character who had the knowledge of how all of Thanos’ attack would play out. He knew that there was one chance to defeat Thanos, and he made everyone sit back and wait for the right moment, even as the Mad Titan wiped out half the universe. This is the role Doctor Strange is actively playing at the end of Infinity War.
• Thanos took joy in torturing Nebula throughout this comic series, as he did in the movie. However, things looked a little different in the source material, given that Nebula was made of flesh and bone.
• When Thanos fights the Guardians on Knowhere, he uses the Reality Stone to stretch Mantis into a long strand of curls while also turning Drax into a pile of blocks. This is the same defense he uses against Nebula and Eros in Infinity Gauntlet. 
• In the big fight on Titan, Spider-Man shoots a web right in Thanos’ face, just as he does in the comic.
• When The Avengers try to fight Thanos in Infinity Gauntlet, he rips Vision’s core out of his chest and kills him. He does the same to Vision in the movie, but he pulled out the Mind Stone.
• At the beginning of the movie, Ebony Maw says to Thanos, “My humble personage bows before your grandeur.” Mephisto says the same thing to the Mad Titan in Infinity Gauntlet.

The Snap

While we tried to keep most of the Infinity Gauntlet Easter eggs in the previous list, there are two that are totally worth mentioning on their own.

First and foremost, we’ve got Thanos snapping with the gauntlet at the end of the movie. Of course, as Gamora mentioned earlier in the film, this causes half of the universe to be wiped from existence. 

This is exactly what Thanos does at the end of the first issue of Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet series. With a smile on his face, Thanos snaps his fingers, and people in New York City disappear before Spider-Man’s eyes.

 

The Final Shot (Farmer Thanos)

The other massive scene in Infinity War taken from Infinity Gauntlet comes at the very end of the movie. 

Just before the camera cuts to the credits, Thanos is seen sitting on his front steps looking out over a simple, serene landscape. He seems to finally be at peace. This image was pulled directly from the final frame Infinity Gauntlet comic series.

The big difference between these scenes is what happened to Thanos before he got there. In the comics, he had been defeated, and later visited, by Adam Warlock. This new, simple life was Thanos’ way of staying out of sight for a while.

Of course, in Infinity War, his scene came after Thanos claimed victory over the entire universe.

“This Is My Choice”

When Tony is on Maw’s ship heading away from Earth, he gets a call from Pepper, demanding he get off and come home immediately. Despite her desperate pleas, Tony tells her that this is something he needs to do, and the phone is soon cut off.

This scene is reminiscent of their conversation when Tony flies into the wormhole in the original Avengers, but the music playing in the background is what truly makes it heartbreaking.

During this conversation, the music you hear is from the score to Captain America: The First Avenger. The specific track is called “This Is My Choice.”

This is the same track playing when Steve Rogers has decided he needs to fly the Valkyrie into the arctic himself, and Peggy Carter calls him to try and talk him out of it. Steve insists that he needs to do accomplish the mission, even though it comes at the cost of them not being together.

Pepper got the same speech from Tony, along with a similar result.

Stan Lee Cameo

Marvel fans have known to expect and look out for the Stan Lee cameo in each and every MCU movie, and Avengers: Infinity War didn’t keep anyone waiting for very long.

At the beginning of the movie, when the ship containing Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian floats above New York City, Peter Parker and his classmates take notice fairly quickly. As Peter flees the bus to go offer his assistance, the rest of the teenagers flood to one side of the vehicle to catch a glimpse of what’s happening above the city.

The iconic Stan Lee is the bus driver who calls back to the riders, “What’s the matter? You kids never seen a spaceship before?”

Thor Easter Eggs

Each and every major character in Avengers: Infinity War had some kind of reference to their past, but none as much as the God of Thunder himself.

Here are all of the major Thor Easter eggs scattered throughout the film. 

• Thor director Kenneth Branagh reportedly voices the Asgardian distress signal heard by the Guardians.
• The weapon created by Eitri is an axe called Stormbreaker, which is wielded by Beta Ray Bill in the comics. Bill was also referenced in last year’s Thor: Ragnarok with one of the champion busts on the Grandmaster’s tower built in his recognizable horse-like image.
• Speaking of Eitri, he is a large part of Thor’s history, and it’s worth noting that his first comic appearance was actually in a Thor comic. Thor Annual #11
• Thor’s arrival in Jonathan Hickman’s Infinity mimicked his big move against Thanos in Infinity War. In the movie, he succeeded in puncturing the skin of the Mad Titan, only he was too late to stop him from snapping. In the comics, Thor’s attack was eventually brushed aside by Thanos.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy

Just like with Thor, the Guardians of the Galaxy have quite a few of their own Easter eggs and references. Let’s break ’em down:

• Not exactly an Easter egg per se, but many have been wondering what Groot is playing throughout the entire movie. He’s got a handheld version of the arcade game Defender, which was released in the early ’80s. It’s entirely likely that this was in young Peter Quill’s backpack when he was taken from Earth following the death of his mother.
• At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Quill receives a Zune music player that Yondu had bought for him a while back. This, as opposed to the mixtapes, will be the source of the soundtrack in the final Guardians movie. When the group first appears, they’re listening to “The Rubberband Man” by The Spinners, which is likely one of the songs on Peter’s Zune.
• Over the course of two Guardians movies, Rocket has made it clear that he’s obsessed with prosthetics, and that continues in Infinity War. He gives Thor an eye that he stole from someone, and tells Bucky that he’s going to eventually steal his arm.

Spider-Man References and Nods

There were two major things to note regarding Spider-Man’s character in the movie. One was a comic nod that everyone had been waiting for, while the other was a clever, yet heartbreaking nod to Spider-Man: Homecoming.

As the trailer showed us, Peter Parker has officially developed his Spidey-Sense, a trait from the comics that fans had hoped would make the jump to the big screen. This of course came in the beginning of the film when Peter was on the bus, and the hair on his arm stood up as soon as Ebony Maw’s ship arrived.

The callback to Homecoming arrives later in the movie, after Thanos snaps his fingers and young Peter Parker starts to fade away. It’s one of the saddest moments in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, made even sadder by the brokenness felt by Tony when he watches his protege die. Remember what Tony said to Peter back in Homecoming?

“What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? ‘Cause that’s on you,” Tony says. “And if you died, I feel like that’s on me. I don’t need that on my conscience.”

Callbacks to ‘The Avengers’

There are plenty of references to the original Avengers movie throughout Infinity War, considering it’s a continuation of the same series. However, there are two moments that stick out as true Easter eggs or clever callbacks.

First and foremost is Loki’s line to Thanos in the opening scene of the film. He says, “We have a Hulk,” just before the Hulk crashes into the room to fight Thanos one-on-one. 

Of course, this was one of the most popular lines from the original Avengers movie, and Tony delivers it to Loki himself, who is doing Thanos’ bidding as the villain of the film. This was certainly a way to bring the line full circle.

The other major connection to the first Avengers film comes in the form of a flashback scene. If you look carefully at the scene where Gamora’s home world is invaded by Thanos’ forces, he’s using the exact same tactics as Loki in Avengers. The Chitauri Leviathans enter the atmosphere over a major city, just as they did in New York City. The only difference between the two sequences is that Earth had the Avengers, so Thanos sent Loki in ahead of him, just in case things went south.

 

Other Movies and TV Shows

While most of the Easter eggs and references came from Marvel comics and other MCU movies, there were a few nods to other popular films and TV shows.

• Footloose: We all know Peter Quill loves Footloose. When he finally meets Spidey and learns he’s from Earth, Quill asks if Footloose is still the greatest movie ever made. Like we all would have, Peter Parker responded, “It never was.”
• Spider-Man is all about the movie references in Infinity War. He brought up another “old movie” when telling Tony his plan for defeating Ebony Maw. The duo took a page out of the Alien franchise handbook, blowing a hole in the side of the ship and watching as Maw flew out into space.
• When Ebony Maw tried to grab the Eye of Agamotto from around Strange’s neck, it burned his hand, just like the villain in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• There’s a slight SpongeBob SquarePants reference in the first act of Infinity War, as Tony Stark refers to Ebony Maw as Squidward.
• In the French dub of the movie, Tony actually calls Ebony Maw “Voldemort,” the notorious Harry Potter villain.
• When Thanos interrogates Benicio del Toro’s Collector to try and get his hands on the Reality Stone, he repeats the phrase, “Where is the stone?” This is a subtle reference to the movie Snatch, which features one of del Toro’s most popular performances. At the beginning of the film, his character repeats the same line while trying to find the location of a diamond.
• When Peter begins to fade away at the end of the movie, he tells Tony that he’s “not ready” and that he “doesn’t want to go.” Fans of Doctor Who immediately recognized these lines as the parting words of David Tenant’s Tenth Doctor, just before regenerating.

Finally, there’s Arrested Development, and this one gets its own paragraph. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo made a name for themselves when directing episodes of Ron Howard’s fan-favorite TV series, and they mentioned that they would hide an Easter Egg to the show in Infinity War. That moment came when the Guardians walked through Collector’s tattered museum on Knowhere. Tobias Funke (played in the series by David Cross) can be seen as part of the collection, donning his blue, full-body paint and cut-off jean shorts.

Yelena Belova and Black Widow

Heading into Infinity War, both Captain America and Black Widow underwent some major style changes, which makes sense considering they have both been in hiding. Steve Rogers now dons a full beard, while Natasha Romanoff has left her iconic red hair behind in favor of a short, blonde cut.

This new hairstyle is actually a nod to the other, lesser-known Black Widow from Marvel Comics.

Yelena Belova first appeared as Black Widow as a part of the Marvel Knights imprint in 1999. She has always had short, blonde hair, making her look vastly different from Natasha’s.

“I’ll Do it Myself”

Up until Infinity War arrived, Thanos only had a few lines in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The most popular came during the post-credits scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron, where Thanos grabbed the Infinity Gauntlet and said, “I’ll do it myself.”

At the end of Infinity War, another character uttered that exact same line.

When Bruce Banner was in the Hulkbuster armor and fighting Cull Obsidian, he tried desperately to get Hulk to take over and fight. However, the Big Guy continued resist. Banner eventually gave up on getting help from Hulk, saying, “I’ll do it myself.”

Morgan Stark

At the beginning of Infinity War, Tony is walking with Pepper through Central Park and the two are talking about their future. Tony mentions that he had a dream about their child and be believes that it’s a premonition of what’s to come.

Stark claims that, in his dream, he and Pepper named their baby Morgan, after what Tony refers to as his “eccentric uncle.”

In the comics, Morgan Stark is actually a cousin of Tony, who felt like he was robbed of his part of the family business. This turned Morgan into an adversary of Tony’s for some time.

Red Skull

One of the big reveals in Avengers: Infinity War that no one saw coming was the return of Red Skull, the villain of Captain America: The First Avenger.

In that film, Red Skull (played by Hugo Weaving) was seemingly destroyed by the power of the Tesseract, which we later learn is the Space Stone. However, as some fans speculated over the last seven years, Red Skull was actually transported by the stone into space.

Thanos and Gamora encounter a hooded figure on the planet Vormir, who reveals himself to be the Red Skull. He says that he was put there to watch over the Soul Stone, and tells Thanos what he needs to do in order to gain its power.

What you may not have noticed is that Hugo Weaving didn’t return as the character. Red Skull was instead played by The Walking Dead star Ross Marquand.

The Eternals

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige recently confirmed that their have been conversations regarding a potential Eternals movie, based on the powerful cosmic characters from the comics.

While these are just conversations, and they in no way indicate that an Eternals movie is actively in development, Infinity War did provide the first mention of any characters from the property.

When Thanos and Gamora arrive on Vormir, Red Skull calls the Mad Titan “Thanos, son of A’lars.” 

If you’re not familiar, A’lars, better known as Mentor, is a member of the Eternals, in addition to being the father of Thanos and Starfox.

“On Your Left”

One of the most subtle, but arguably most clever MCU references in Avengers: Infinity War came in the big battle for Wakanda in the third act of the film.

When T’Challa finally decided to open one section of the shield surrounding the city, allowing the Outriders to funnel in through a single spot, the entire army took off at a dead sprint to meet the creatures in battle. As everyone ran, Black Panther stormed out ahead of the pack, but Captain America quickly caught up with him.

If you watch as the two heroes sprint out in front of everyone else, Cap comes up on the left of T’Challa. 

Think back to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, when Steve Rogers first met Sam Wilson. The two were running throughout Washington D.C., and Steve kept passing Sam with his enhanced speed. Each and every time, Steve would say, “On your left,” as he ran by Sam, and it became a joke throughout the film.

It’s only fitting that, when Steve passes T’Challa in a race to stop the end of the world, he passes him on the left.

Captain Marvel Post-Credits Scene

In the sole post-credits scene of Avengers: Infinity War, Nick Fury is seen making a desperate call for help in his final moments before being wiped from existence. He puts out a signal on a pager, dropping it as he disappears.

The camera zooms in on the pager to reveal the recognizable insignia of Captain Marvel.

As we all know by now, Captain Marvel is one of the next movies on the MCU slate, scheduled to hit theaters on March 8, 2019. The film takes place in the ’90s and stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers.

Additionally, the film features Sam Jackson, playing a younger Nick Fury, one that still has both of his eyes.

This is the scene that ties the films together. Fury knows Danvers, and understands that she will be necessary in defeating Thanos and restoring order to the universe. The Captain Marvel movie will introduce the hero and establish her relationship with Nick Fury, allowing her to come in and save the day in Avengers 4.