‘Supernatural’: Easter Eggs and References in “Mint Condition”

Supernatural aired its latest Halloween-themed episode tonight — and it may have just been its nerdiest yet.

Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Supernatural, “Mint Condition”, below!

The episode saw Sam and Dean investigating a pretty peculiar sort of mystery, where a comic book store employee claimed he was being attacked by possessed action figures.

As one would expect, that set-up proved to be a sort of treasure trove of nerdy references and Easter eggs — to where there were almost too many to count. But thankfully, we’re here to break down the biggest and weirdest of those Easter eggs.

A Ton of DC Comics Things

Okay, first and foremost — a lot of DC Comics content made its way into tonight’s episode.

From official Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman merchandise, to several characters sporting Batman clothing, to an array of DC Rebirth issues being placed in an arguably disorganized display — there really was a lot.

Seeing as Supernatural calls The CW home, this probably shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Between the network’s array of DC Comics-themed shows, and a similar sort of product placement happening on shows like Riverdale, this certainly isn’t the first or last time that this would probably be the case.

Panthro

The inciting incident of the episode also had super nerdy ties, as a Panthro figure was the first to become possessed and attack. 

A Panthro 14 inch Collectible Figure from Mezco Toyz, to be exact. 

Considering the weird place that Thundercats currently has in our pop culture, this certainly felt like a fairly nerdy pull. And hey, the figure proved to be surprisingly menacing when animated to life.

Hatchet Man

At the center of the episode was Hatchet Man, a rather nasty-looking horror movie villain, whose life-size figure later becomes possessed.

In a way, Hatchet Man feels like an amalgam of a bunch of different horror movie villains. He has the mask of Hannibal Lecter, the axe of Jason, and a face that simultaneously evokes both Freddy Kruger and Michael Meyers.

Throughout the episode, fans were also treated to several clips of the movies Hatchet Man was in — one of which featured an appearance from iZombie‘s Nathan Barrett.

Wonder Twins

Once Sam and Dean begin to investigate the mystery, they’re taken to a comic book store, where they meet Samantha Juarez.

Almost instantly, Dean jokes that Samantha and Sam have a lot in common, down to the way they both tuck their hair behind their ears. As Dean puts it, Samantha is Sam’s “Wonder Twin”.

Of course, this is a reference to the Wonder Twins, a pair of siblings with magical powers who fans have been wanting to see on the big screen for quite some time.

Red Hood

Perhaps the most topical of the Easter eggs can be seen in the background of the comic book shop, where a lifesize Red Hood figure can be seen in the background.

Of course, Jensen Ackles previously voiced the character in Batman: Under the Red Hood, and recently dressed as the character for Halloween. While it doesn’t look like this is exactly the same as Ackles’ costume, it probably caught a lot of fans’ attentions nonetheless. 

‘Fist of the North Star’

As Samantha explains, two of the comic book store’s employees had a fight over a very particular nerdy thing — Fist of the North Star. 

The ’80s manga series eventually became two anime series and several video games, and was recently crowned the 18th-most popular media franchise of 2018.

As you would expect, the argument started over whether or not the dubbed version was better — something that has proved to be a pretty hot point of contention amongst the anime community.

Fortnite

Of course, you can’t quite do a 2018 episode about nerd culture without mentioning Fortnite.

Considering the whole recently-possessed thing, Dean doesn’t have the biggest idea of what the game is. But the offscreen rage-quit that could be heard during the episode made it relatively easy to detect.

As one line in the episode puts it, Fortnite isn’t just “a game”, it’s “the game”.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Later on in the episode, Dean sees firsthand just how deadly possession of action figures can get, and it all centers around The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

While admiring a poster for the film, Dean conveniently gets attacked by some sort of toy chainsaw, setting up the eventual showdown with Hatchet Man.

Scooby-Doo

While trying to get the angry comic book store owner ghost out of the Hatchet Man figure, Sam and Samantha resort to some pretty creative means.

At one point, Sam needs to fill some sort of receptacle with sand, as a way to protect the entrance to the room they’re in. He proceeds to dump the sand in a Scooby-Doo lunch box.

Later on in the episode, when Sam and Dean are trying to figure out how to celebrate next Halloween, Dean throws out “Scooby and Shaggy” as a costume suggestion for them.

As anyone who even passively follows Supernatural knows, these Easter eggs are significant for one pretty major reason.

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What was your favorite Easter egg in tonight’s Supernatural? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.