Highlights
- Marvel's cinematic franchise excels at creating weird and unexpected Easter eggs that add depth to the movies.
- From a fake Infinity Gauntlet to a Thanos-copter, Marvel includes unique and unconventional references for fans to discover.
- The MCU's Phase Two pays homage to Star Wars by featuring multiple characters losing their hands or arms, similar to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back.
Marvel has led the charge for comic book movies since the first Iron Man movie in 2008. Whilst Marvel might be faltering at the moment with the MCU releases, no one can deny that the ever-growing cinematic franchise knows what they are doing when it comes to creating some incredible easter eggs, even if said easter eggs are known to get pretty weird and aren’t the usual hero or villain tease expected in a Marvel post-credits scene.
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Marvel has enjoyed decades of live-action movies, and whether it’s detailed in the background, or at the focus of the scene, there are many amazingly weird Marvel easter eggs for fans to enjoy, especially when other audiences might not understand what exactly they are looking at.
7 Fake Infinity Gauntlet
Thor (2011) & Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Way back before Thanos wiped out half of life in the universe, there was Thor (2011), and the suspected Infinity Gauntlet, housing the Infinity Stones, was kept preciously locked away within Odin’s Vault. However, keen-eyed fans would be able to note that this Infinity Gauntlet was a fake, due to the fact that it was for the right hand, whereas the real Infinity Gauntlet was for the left.
This fake Infinity Gauntlet was also knocked over and berated by Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, thus confirming suspicions that Thanos would have to locate an Infinity Gauntlet from scratch, without the aid of Odin’s Vault. It’s a weird addition, due to how significant it has become in the MCU, despite it being introduced years prior.
6 Thanos-Copter
Loki Season 1, Episode 5
Loki fully embraces the weirder aspects of the MCU and makes great use of the Disney Plus platform. Within the first season, Loki gets “pruned”, essentially bringing him to The Void, where all things that get hit with a “prune” go to live their days without impacting the timeline. One of the most notable things to be pruned here wasn’t just Throg, the frog version of Thor, proving that Thor isn’t the only one worthy of wielding Mjolnir.
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The best thing to be pruned in Loki was the Thanos-Copter, which is exactly what it sounds like. Audiences were able to spot a yellow helicopter with a bold font reading “THANOS”. This comes from Spidey Super Stories #39.
5 Phase Two’s Hand Dilemma
MCU Phase Two (2013 - 2015)
Kevin Feige has made it no secret that he’s a massive Star Wars fan. As such, The MCU’s Phase Two saw at least one character have their hand or arm removed in homage to Star WarsEpisode 5: The Empire Strikes Back. In the most famed Star Wars film, Luke Skywalker’s hand is cut off by Darth Vader. As such, many characters have their hands or arms cut off or removed throughout MCU’s Phase Two. Here’s a list of these characters and their movies:
- Aldrich Killian (Iron Man 3) – Killian’s arm is cut off by Tony Stark using the Silver Centurion’s blade.
- Thor (Thor: The Dark World) – Loki uses illusions to cut off Thor’s hand.
- Bucky Barnes (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) – After his alleged demise, Bucky is alive (but not well) and has his arm removed, and replaced by metal by HYDRA.
- Groot & Nebula (Guardians of the Galaxy) – Groot has his arms cut off by Groot, and Nebula has her own hand shot off to free herself from the Battle of Xandar.
- Ulysses Klaue (Avengers: Age of Ultron) – Ultron rips off Black Panther villain Ulysses’ arm after being compared with Tony Stark.
- Darren Cross (Ant-Man) – The first part of Darren’s body to shrink before his implosion is his right arm.
4 Stan Lee Watches The Watchers
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Before the world lost Stan Lee, he would cameo in every Marvel movie and perhaps even a cheeky DC Comics movie. Stan Lee is no stranger to some weird Marvel cameos, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 basically takes the cake for the weirdest cameo, especially since it includes the character, somehow, on a floating rock interacting with The Watchers.
Dropping iconic Marvel characters such as The Watchers in a post-credits cameo is beyond bizarre, but completely brilliant for the MCU. The Watchers are known for watching everything in the universe, and multiverse, but never interfering, and to see Stan Lee with them is what makes it even better.
3 Sam Raimi’s Oldsmobile Delta 88
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Sam Raimi loves his classic car, and the Oldsmobile Delta 88 has featured in all of Sam Raimi’s films, even from his very first stint at professional directing with The Evil Dead. Despite many fans of the MCU noticing that filmmakers aren’t exactly allowed the most creative freedom, it wouldn’t stop Sam Raimi from embracing his unique style, and even including his Oldsmobile Delta 88. Whilst it might not be easy to spot, and it’s certainly not obvious to fans outside of Sam Raimi’s movies and style, it’s still a weird one to mention.
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The Oldsmobile Delta 88 features twice in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, with one of them featuring inside the home of Wanda Maximoff from Earth-838 in the shape of a toy monster truck. The other, features in the background when Doctor Strange and America Chavez watch a dying Earth and a swirling tornado suck the vehicle into the sky.
2 Beta Ray Bill’s Monument
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
One of the ruling and popular champions who won the Contest of Champions of Sakaar, Beta Ray Bill must have won his freedom from this war world after an imprisonment from the Grandmaster. As a champion, Beta Ray Bill was blessed with an immortal sculpture in the Grandmaster’s palace, featuring as one of the champions.
Beta Ray Bill and his horse shape may be the most famed on the tower for comic fans, due to Beta Ray Bill’s importance to Thor in the comics as another character who could wield Mjolnir. It’s a weird easter egg to feature, due to the physique of Beta Ray Bill, and the fact that such an important character to the storyline didn’t even feature in the flesh.
1 K.E.V.I.N.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Season 1, Episode 9)
K.E.V.I.N., also known as “Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus” is exactly what some fans might think it is. Featuring in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s finale, K.E.V.I.N. is revealed to be the one that makes the creative decisions regarding the MCU. It’s obvious that this robot is Kevin Feige, the famed producer who has helmed the MCU for over 10 years.
From the hat to the name and the decisions, K.E.V.I.N. is vitally important but adds some truly weird fourth-wall-breaking bouts to the MCU that were otherwise unexpected. K.E.V.I.N. is the author of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and his importance may matter most behind the scenes, but it begs the question of whether audiences will see this machine again.
