As with any Marvel movie, Avengers: Endgame was packed with Easter eggs, and nods to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe and comics.
Even with multiple viewings of Endgame already under our belts, we’re still not entirely convinced that we caught every single Easter egg and reference. But, we’re going to do our best to run down some of the ones we spotted throughout the movie, er, you know… when we weren’t completely and utterly sobbing our eyes out.
Warning: Significant spoilers for Avengers: Endgame below.
41 ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Easter eggs and references you might have missed
- In the opening scene of Endgame, when the camera pans out a little, you can spot an ankle monitor on Clint Barton. This is a leftover from Civil War. When Clint cut a deal after violating the Sokovia Accords, in order to return home, he was placed on house arrest — the ankle monitor was just part of that.
- “Good job, Hawkeye,” Clint says to his daughter, after she manages to hit the target dead-center with her arrow. Clint is not the only Hawkeye in the comics, with the mantle also belonging to Kate Bishop, a character who is rumored to be getting a series on Disney+. This is likely a nod to Hawkeye’s willingness to share his title.
- When the Marvel Studios logo appears — after Clint’s family has been dusted — only the characters who survived the snap appear.
- While stranded in space, Tony leaves a message for Pepper, and refers to his companion — Nebula — as the “blue meanie.” This is a reference to the villains of the animated Beatles movie Yellow Submarine.
- “Blue meanie” isn’t the only nickname that Tony has for some of the newer additions to the Avengers. When he returns to Earth, he called Rocket Build-a-Bear, referring to the popular stuffed-toy store.
- When the Avengers find Thanos, he has set up his iconic armor as a scarecrow. This is a direct callback to the Marvel comics, specifically the Infinity War run, where he does the exact same thing.
- After Thor failed to stop Thanos in Infinity War, Thanos told him, “You should’ve aimed for the head.” Thor does not make that same mistake twice, lopping it off using Stormbreaker, before walking away.
- Director Joe Russo has a cameo in Steve’s support meeting, as a gay man dating for the first time since the Snap. This is not Joe Russo’s first cameo, as he also played a doctor in Winter Soldier. (It is unclear if these two characters are one and the same, however.)
- In the same scene, Jim Starlin makes his own cameo. Starlin created Thanos and the Infinity Stones during the Infinity Gauntlet series for Marvel.
- As has become tradition in Russo-directed Marvel movies, two more Community alums made an appearance in Endgame. Ken Jeong played a security guard at the storage facility where Scott’s van is being held, while Yvette Nicole Brown is an eagle-eyed employee at the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility Steve and Tony infiltrate when they travel back to 1970.
- The storage unit that Scott Lang’s van is being held is number 616 — the same number that is used to mark the main continuity of Marvel comics. Each separate universe has its own number designation.
- Tony and Pepper’s daughter, Morgan Stark, is named for another Stark in the comics. The Morgan of the Marvel comics, who made his debut in 1965’s Tales of Suspense, is Tony’s cousin — and he’s not exactly… reputable. We prefer the MCU version of Morgan Stark.
- Several time-travel movies are name-dropped during Endgame. Off the top of our heads we can recall Back to the Future, A Wrinkle in Time, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Time After Time, Terminator, Time Cop, and Hot Tub Time Machine. But definitely not Die Hard.
- The location of New Asgard is in Tønsberg, Norway. The same location where Red Skull first discovered the Tesseract, and Odin remarked would be a good place to settle down in Ragnarok.
- Popular video game Fortnite is still going strong in the future, and is what Thor, Korg, and Meek were playing when Hulk and Rocket attempt to convince Thor to return with them.
- Another Tony nickname, this time for Thor: The Big Lebowski. This references the Jeff Bridges movie of the same name, and is in reference to Thor’s new aesthetic, which is strikingly similar to the Dude. It also works two-fold, as Bridges also played Obadiah Stane, the first ever MCU villain, in Iron Man.
- Two more Tony nicknames that make an appearance are reserved for Scott Lang. Tony calls Scott Thumbelina and Stuart Little, both character who are known for their diminutive size.
- While back in 2012, Loki transforms himself into Steve, a nod to a similar moment from Thor: The Dark World, where Loki pulled a similar stunt.
- In order to get Loki’s scepter without incident in the elevator at Stark Tower, Steve whispers “Hail Hydra” to Agent Jasper Sitwell. This is both a reference to Sitwell’s true allegiance, as discovered in Winter Soldier, but also the recent Secret Empire run of comics, where Steve’s history was rewritten to make him loyal to Hydra.
- The elevator scene itself is also a nod to Winter Soldier. Though it doesn’t end up in a confined fight, it is deliberately set up to give a direct call back to that moment.
- When Steve encounters his 2012 self, the two face off against each other, and 2012 Steve utters the now-iconic “I can do this all day” line. 2023 Steve responds with an exasperated “I know,” providing an amusing, self-aware moment.
- Stan Lee appears in a cameo when Steve and Tony travel to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in 1970. He drives by, and tells the soldiers standing guard to “make love, not war.” We’re really going to miss these Stan Lee cameos.
- The maintenance uniform that Steve dons has the nametag “Roscoe.” Roscoe Simons was a minor character who briefly took on the Captain America mantle in the ’70s.
- The helmet in Hank Pym’s office is a nod to the classic Ant-Man design from the characters’ debut in the 1960s.
- While Rhodey and Nebula are watching Star-Lord do his thing on Morag, Rhodey refers to him as a “dumb Indiana Jones,” calling back to Harrison Ford’s iconic character. Both true and also hilarious.
- As they are travelling to Vormir, Clint remarks to Natasha that, “This is a long way from Budapest.” This is the second reference to Budapest in relation to these characters. In Avengers, Clint and Natasha share an exchange that prompts Clint to say, “You and I remember Budapest very differently.” Here’s hoping we’ll find out what happened there. One day.
- After all of the people snapped out of existence return, the first words said to Steve by Sam is, “on your left.” This is a callback to their first meeting in Winter Soldier, where Steve kept lapping Sam while they were running, saying the same phrase each time he passed by.
- When Peter returns, he activates “instant kill” mode in his Spider-Man suit. This is in reference to his solo movie, Homecoming, where he almost accidentally activates it, after removing the “parental controls” Tony had installed.
- Though Steve being able to wield Mjölnir has been foreshadowed as early as Age of Ultron, it has happened several times in the comics. He lifted it in 1988’s The Mighty Thor No. 390, as well as 2011’s Fear Itself, and Secret Empire.
- Pepper Potts finally got to suit up! The armor is taken directly from the comics, and is known as Rescue. While it had largely defensive capabilities in the comics, the MCU version allowed Tony and Pepper to team up and kick ass together.
- When Carol takes the gauntlet from Peter, there is a moment where all of the female heroes appear and fall into formation. This is reminiscent of the A-Force run of comics: a team made up solely of Marvel’s female heroes. (And it felt really damn good to see them all together.)
- “I am Iron Man.” Tony’s declaration before he snapped Thanos from existence wasn’t just a fantastic clap-back, it was also a reference to his first solo movie, where he outs himself as being the armored superhero. Ending where the entire universe began.
- At Tony’s memorial service, his first ever arc reactor is nestled amongst flowers, and floated out onto the lake. The inscription says “proof that Tony Stark has a heart,” and was gifted to Tony by Pepper. We’re not crying, you’re crying.
- You may not have recognized one of the characters present at Tony’s funeral, but we have met him before. That mysterious teenager is Harley, who helped Tony out when he was stranded in Tennessee in Iron Man 3.
- After Tony’s funeral, there is a touching moment between Happy and Morgan. Morgan requests a cheeseburger, the same thing Tony asked for when he returned, alive, from Afghanistan.
- In a moment that throws back all the way to First Avenger, when Steve is about to head back into the past to return all of the stones, he tells Bucky not to do anything stupid until he gets back. To which Bucky responds, “How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.” It is the exact exchange the two had before Bucky left to serve on the front lines in World War II, in the ’40s.
- Steve returns to 2023, significantly older than when he left. Old Man Cap isn’t anything new. In 2014’s Captain America No. 22, Steve’s super soldier serum is neutralized by an enemy, and he ages significantly. We’re not sure the cause here, but it’s certainly a nod back to that comic storyline.
- In the same run of comics, Steve hands over his shield to Sam Wilson, making him the new Captain America. The same thing happens at the end of Endgame. (Of note is that Bucky has also taken the mantle up in the comics, and both Sam and Bucky will share a co-titled Disney+ series.)
- When Steve returns to the ’40s, he can be seen dancing with Peggy Carter in the sitting room of her home. That is another nod back to First Avenger. The two promised a dance, before Steve crashed his plane, and it has been a recurring theme across each of his movies ever since.
- When Thor joins the Guardians on their ship, he jokingly calls them the Asgardians of the Galaxy. This is another Marvel comic, as well as a hilarious pun, though Thor was a frog during its run. Comics, man.
- At the end of the Endgame credits, a distinct hammering sound can be heard. This is a sound clip of Tony creating his first ever Iron Man suit from a box of scraps, all the way back in his first ever solo movie, providing a heartfelt reminder of where everything began.
