Marvel Cinematic Universe: 50 Geeky Spots and Easter Eggs

The Marvel cinematic universe is practically built with geeks in mind. Even when you've seen the films once or twice, there are tons of hidden details and references left to spot. To prove it, we've looked at all of the Marvel cinematic universe films to date and picked out the 50 geekiest references we could find: every in-joke, homage and visual gag, as well as sly nods to Marvel's comic universe that even the most hardcore fan might've missed. If you managed to spot all of these first time around, give yourself a gold star and go straight to the head of the Avengers.

Please note: this article inevitably contains spoilers for each of the films concerned.

Iron Man

1. Interpretations of the theme song from the 1966Iron Mancartoon are heard several times in the film. It's Rhodey's ringtone, it's part of Stark's wake-up sequence in his bedroom, at the Apogee Award ceremony and there's a jazz version being played in the casino.

2. The song "We Celebrate" by Ghostface Killah appears in the movie when Stark holds a party with the hostesses on the plane. Ghostface Killah is a hip-hop artist who sometimes uses the aliases "Ironman" and "Tony Starks". He almost cameoed in the film, but his scenes were cut.

3. When the armour's HUD locks onto a target, it plays the sound of a laser cannon firing from the original 1978 Space Invaders.

4. The piano piece Obadiah Stane plays is by 18th Century composer, Antonio Salieri. Salieri is known (though not necessarily fairly) for having a jealous relationship with the more brilliant Mozart, and is even sometimes said to have murdered him. This intentionally parallels Stane and Stark's relationship.

5. At the end of the film, Stark is shown reading a newspaper which contains an unclear, amateur image of Iron Man. This is actually a still from a video which was shot on set by members of the public and leaked online prior to the film's release.

6. A Vanity Fair reporter, played by Leslie Bibb, makes a memorable appearance in the first two Iron Manfilms. The character's name is Christine Everhart, and she's actually a pre-existing Marvel creation – although in the comics she works for the Daily Bugle. She might even be the most obscure Marvel character to be translated to the cinematic universe, having appeared in a just handful of issues in 2004 (Iron Man Vol. 3 #75-78).

There's also a bonus geeky moment when Stark accidentally addresses her as "Carrie," confusing her name, which shares a title with a Stephen King novel, for one of King's other novels.

7. When Pepper Potts is looking through the records on Stark's computer to expose Stane's double-dealing, some of the text contains references to The Big Lebowski. The missiles were transported on the MSC Lebowski, and the small print contains references to the film's dialogue including "the keeping of an amphibious rodent, without a permit, within county limits, is also illegal" and "in accordance with league bylaws, the game will be forfeit"– amongst others!

8. When Stark begins to upload firmware to his armour, we can briefly see some code on screen. The code is written in C, a popular programming language, and actually comes from an open source firmware download utility written by Kekoa Proudfoot in 1998. It was actually designed to upload firmware to the RCX Lego system!

The Incredible Hulk

9. The name Sterns uses during his correspondence with Banner – Mr. Blue – is taken from Bruce Jones' run on the Hulk comics, where the alias was used, unbeknownst to Banner, by Betty Ross to communicate with him while he was on the run.

10. After the Hulk fights General Ross and the powered-up Blonsky on the campus of Culver University, a news broadcast is shown interviewing student eyewitnesses. Two of the students they speak to are called Jack McGee and Jim Wilson. Jack McGee was the name of the journalist who chased Banner through over half the episodes of the 70s TV show, and Jim Wilson was the nephew of The Falcon, a friend and sidekick of the Hulk who died of AIDS in Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #420.

11. Stanley, the man who owns the pizza shop where Banner hides, is played by Paul Soles. Soles voiced Banner in the 1966 Hulkcartoon, as well as fellow Marvel hero Spider-Man in his cartoon.

12. When General Ross gives Blonsky the formula that'll turn him into a super-soldier, the label reads "Dr. Reinstein". In the comics, Josef Reinstein was an alias used by Abraham Erskine, the creator of the Super Soldier formula. Several Marvel characters have received their powers through attempts to recreate Erskine's lost serum, and this movie mirrors Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates, in that the Hulk was partially born out of an attempt to recreate the formula.

13. There are numerous references to the old Incredible Hulk TV show, big and small, found throughout The Incredible Hulk. The name of Culver University references the Culver Institute, where "David" Banner first exposed himself to Gamma radiation in the TV series, and the intro shows Banner exposing himself to radiation in equipment that closely resembles that seen in the TV series origin. At one point a package arrives for Banner addressed to his alias, "David B.", referencing the fact that Banner would give himself a different surname beginning with B in each episode of the TV series. The composer, Craig Armstrong, worked the hugely recognisable sad piano theme ("The Lonely Man") from the TV series into the movie's score.

And, of course, the TV series' principal actors both feature. The late Bill Bixby appears courtesy of a scene from the movie The Courtship of Eddie's Father, which is visible on a TV screen in the background, while the original screen-Hulk, Lou Ferrigno, makes a cameo as a security guard and provides the Hulk's voice as he has done in multiple incarnations.

14. If you're wondering about the film's pre-credits stinger, where Tony Stark approaches General Ross with the apparent intention of including him in the Avengers Initiative, this is eventually cleared up in the first ever Marvel One-Shot. "The Consultant" is found on the ThorBlu-Ray, and shows Agents Coulson and Sitwell trying to keep Emil Blonsky out of The Avengers Initiative despite being ordered by the World Security Council to include him. After some deliberation, they eventually decide to send "The Consultant"– Tony Stark – to approach Ross over the matter, knowing that he'll be so annoying that Ross will reject his offer outright. The plan works, and Blonsky remains in US custody.

15. At one point, while fighting Blonsky, the Hulk tears a police car in half and uses them like boxing gloves. This ability was first seen in the popular video game, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, which was released in 2005.

Iron Man 2

16. Senator Stern, who appears in both this film and Captain America 2, is named for the DJ Howard Stern, as well as being played by one of Stern's favorite actors, Garry Shandling.

17. When he is called to speak before Stern in the film's opening sequence, Stark tells him he'd gladly accept the position of Secretary of Defense. This actually did happen once in the comics, in the 2004 storyline, "The Best Defense". It lasted until 2005, when he stepped down from the position during the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline.

18. Howard Stark's presentation of "The city of tomorrow" is closely modelled on Walt Disney's presentation of Epcot, which was planned as a city – the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" - before being turned into a theme park. Similarly, the layout of the Stark Expo is based on the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. The building Stark picks up when playing with the model is the Bell System Pavillion.

19. At one point, Stark refers to the government as the "Freak Brothers." This is a reference to one of the seminal works of the underground comix movement, The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.

20. When Stark goes through his father's papers, you can see an issue of Captain America Comics #1 amongst them. As we later learn, Howard Stark was one of the men in the SSR, who helped Captain America go on his first mission and later founded SHIELD alongside Peggy Carter.

21. The man Stark calls "The oracle of Oracle" is actually Larry Ellison, the CEO of the Oracle Corporation.

22. Justin Hammer mentions that his "Ex-Wife" smart missile is so smart that if it wrote a book, it'd make Ulysseslook like it was written in crayon. When James Joyce wrote Ulysses, he was near the end of his life and his eyesight was failing. For that reason, he actually did write in large letters using a red crayon, so that he could make out his own work.