Since its release in May 2018, fans from around the world have been pouring in the various details that enrich the Infinity War movie. Be they in the form of comic book or pop culture references or even a subtle nod to the other 20 movies in the franchise; we have compiled the top 15 Avengers Infinity War easter eggs that you may have missed out on in the first watch of the film. However, if you are one of the few unfortunate fans who still haven’t watched it, major spoilers are ahead.
15. Scales Set in Perfect Balance
The imbalance in the universe is the root cause of all problems – at least that’s what Thanos believes. The Mad Titan’s quest for the Infinity Stones was to restore balance by eliminating half the universe’s population. And as genocidal as it may be, he made sure he succeeded.
The irony though is the movie poster. Of the 24 characters featured up there (excluding Hawkeye and Antman), half of them survive. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. The survivors include Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Bruce Banner, Thor, War Machine, Nebula, Rocket, Shuri, Wong, Okoe, and of course, Thanos.
14. Blood to Spare
The Children of Thanos aka Black Order are extremely powerful in the comics, though not so much in the movie. Ebony Maw, one of Titan’s Children, is obsessed with the concept of death and is the official hype-builder for Thanos. An interesting aspect to note is that in the comics, death has been presented as a physical entity (Lady Death) for whose love Thanos kills half of the universe. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, death has been presented as an intangible concept, which is inevitable for maintaining balance in the universe.
Willing to carry out the Titan’s commands, even in death, is the army of Outriders. These multilegged, rabid creatures were the major opponents in the battle of Wakanda. We also see the Chitauri army, from the battle of New York in “The Avengers”, at the epicenter of the destruction of Gamora’s homeland in a flashback. Even without the Infinity Stones, Thanos had several armies at his command.
13. We Have a Hulk, Don’t We?
In the first few minutes of the movie, we witness Thanos and his Children kill around half of the Asgardian refugees. When handing over the Space Stone to the big bad, Loki uses the punchline, “We have a Hulk”, soon after which the majestic green avenger charges at Thanos. This was a nod to The Avengers movie, where Stark uses the same punchline on Loki, after which Hulk thrashed him around like a ragged doll. In this case, however, Hulk is the one being beaten to the ground by the villain and soon transported to Earth by Heimdall.
The scene featuring Hulk’s crash-landing into Strange’s sanctum bears a remarkable resemblance to that in the comics, where it was the Silver Surfer who comes to warn them of Thanos instead of Hulk and whose rights Marvel does not yet have.
Despite making a grand entrance, in the beginning, we don’t see much of Hulk later in the movie. The green guy is tired of being Banner’s handyman, or so the directors say, and not scared of Thanos as theorized by several fans.
12. Squidward vs Strange
Stark is on point in his observations – Ebony Maw does bear an uncanny resemblance to SpongeBob’s Squidward! Bleak, creepy, and weirdly obsessed with death, Ebony goes after Strange’s Time Stone. The torture scene, aboard the doughnut ship, is much like the comic, where Ebony is shown to get into Strange’s head.
Since he possesses the ability to use people’s fears against them, the glass shards Strange is probably tortured with, are a physical manifestation of his fear.
11. White Wolf
Image Source: screenrant.com
Bucky had been cured by Shuri at the end of Captain America: Civil War. As of Infinity War, the Winter Soldier has transitioned into the White Wolf. White Wolf was an adoptive brother to Black Panther in the comics, taken in after his family died in a plane crash.
Given the time Barnes has spent in Wakanda in the movies, he may as well be a part of the family now. Cap’s going to be super jealous!
10. Iron Man’s a Family Man
Although not shown on-screen, Stark had proposed to Pepper at the end of Spiderman: Homecoming. Our first glimpse of the two is when Tony is relaying a dream where Pepper is pregnant with Morgan, his child named after her eccentric uncle.
In the comics, however, Morgan Stark is Tony’s cousin, who even tries to steal Stark Industries from him. Tony’s child being dream-named after this sketchy character may be a mystery but cannot be a coincidence.
9. Spidey’s All Grown Up
Working on building his own family, Tony views Parker as a protégé if not his son. With Peter rejecting the Iron Spider suit at the end of Spiderman: Homecoming, we finally see the enhanced capabilities of both the suit and the man underneath during several events in Infinity War.
In the comics, however, the suit was given to Spiderman much earlier, during the Civil War. Tony even “knights” him as an Avenger aboard the doughnut ship! How adorable is that?
8. Reality is Disappointing
Image Source: screenrant.com
Let’s face it, Thanos is twisted. Deceiving his daughter into thinking she had finally managed to kill him – that’s dark, man. In control of the Reality Stone, we see Thanos turn Drax into cubes and Mantis into ribbons, which is another comic book reference where he did the same to Nebula and Starfox (brother to Thanos), all in his devotion to Lady Death.
We see Quill’s gunshots and Gamora’s dagger turn into bubbles too, which was another cruel play and a possible reference to a hit video game, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, where every fight with Thanos ends in tiny bubbles.
7. Vision and Witch’s Romance
Vision and Witch’s love story is an original from the comic and beautifully depicted in the movie. We witness the extent of the Scarlet Witch’s powers and the heartbreaking end of Vision. With Thanos plucking the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead by his sheer force, our hero loses all color. His grayish form resembles the West Coast Avengers comics, where he is captured and put together again by the government, losing all emotional sensitivity.
Vision is killed off by Thanos in the comics as well, and that too, in a similar way. And though we know he was more than just the Stone, it is less likely for him to recover from that terrible fate. Unless, of course, there’s time travel involved.
6. Aim for the Head
After losing his beloved Mjolnir against Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, Thor travels to Nidavellir in search of an even more powerful weapon to kill the Mad Titan. Enter, the Storm-breaker. The name given is that of Beta Ray Bill’s weapon in the comics, which was a copy of Mjolnir gifted to him by Odin when the alien proved worthy of wielding its powers. The weapon in the movie, however, bears a strong resemblance to Thor’s Mjolnir in the Ultimate Comics line.
The half-hammer half-ax is strong enough to summon even the Bifrost and was an absolute beauty in battle. The kill shot, however, should have been aimed at the Titan’s head, or maybe his arm. But a 1500-year-old grieving god may ask, where’s the honor in that?
5. Soul for a Soul
The Soul Stone was finally revealed to be hidden on Vormir (an obscure planet in the comics), the path to which was guided by Red Skull. The Nazi antagonist to Captain America was previously presumed dead but had been banished to Vormir by the Space Stone at the end of Captain America: First Avenger.
Anyway, after Thanos finally snaps his fingers to kill off half of the universe, we see him transported into the Soul World, as identified by its orangish tinge. Here, Gamora’s soul now lives after being sacrificed for the stone. How this detail pans out in the next movie is honestly quite intriguing to watch!
4. Waste of Parts
Image Source: metro.co.uk
Thanos may be great at being a villain, but he is terrible at being a father. Sacrificing his favorite daughter for a Stone, and torturing another for blackmail isn’t exactly Parenting 101. The “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies have established how Thanos replaced Nebula’s parts with artificial ones every time she lost to Gamora. If that wasn’t cruel enough, he had her dismantled in Infinity War to blackmail Gamora into giving up the location of the Soul Stone.
Regardless, Nebula’s torture was also a part of the comics, where she was suspended in a painful zombie-like state. Though not as gruesome, the addition of this scene in the movie suggests that she may play a similar (read: important) role as in the comics.
3. Doctor Strange’s Powers
Strange has displayed his power in each battle, throwing even Thanos off his feet (not literally). One such display was the use of the Images of Ikonn, which allowed him to create an illusion of multiple clones. Another spell was of Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, which are unbreakable and can conquer any opponent and have been behind the power of Juggernaut (notorious X-men villain) in the comics.
Strange’s Cloak of Levitation, being the loyal piece of outerwear that it is, played an equally important role as its wearer. We came across another powerful artifact in the movie, the Cauldron of Cosmos, which allows the sorcerer to view different realities and timelines, along with quick access to information. Having it casually mentioned in the movie cannot be a mere coincidence, especially when time travel is supposedly going to be involved.
Another interesting detail is the phrase, “We are in the endgame now”, said Strange after handing over the Time Stone to Thanos. Remember that Stark had previously mentioned the avenger’s endgame to be stopping alien invasions, in Avengers: Age of Ultron. These subtle references are the reason we love the MCU this much!
2. Watching the Sun Rise on a Grateful Universe
After the dreadful snap, we witness Thanos in a village, peacefully watching the sunset, a smile spread across his face. True, he had lost (read: killed) the only thing he loved (Gamora, if you can believe it), but had successfully fulfilled his calling. You can also see his armor hung on a scarecrow, marking the end of his conquest.
This is a direct reference to the comics, where the Mad Titan retires after having lost his mission. He finally comes to recognize that ultimate power is not what he is after, and only did whatever he did for Lady Death’s approval. The Farmer Thanos of the movie and the comic, therefore, are quite different in their mindset and timeline settings.
1. Captain Marvel to the Rescue?
In the post-credit scene, right before Nick Fury turns to dust, we see him reach for an old beeper of sorts, sending out a distress call to none other than Captain Marvel herself. Being the strongest Avenger and Marvel’s most powerful character, Carol Danvers may be humanity’s last chance at survival and revenge. Her solo movie comes out early next year.
The iconic red and blue sash, which we believe was only introduced in that very scene may, however, have been there in the movie all along. Cull Obsidian of the Black Order, characterized by a bulky form and an equally terrifying hammer-ax, drops the first clue. There is a piece of fabric hanging by his waist, which matches the colors and design of Captain Marvel’s costume. Coincidence? We think not. With various theories already speculating the relation between the two, we’ll be sure to cover those in another article!
These were the few memorable details in the Infinity War movie, that may significantly impact the plot of future movies! Apart from these, there are other worth mentioning easter eggs as well:
- Steve Rogers’s new look may be inspired by “Nomad” in the comics
- Secret Avengers of the comics may be a thing in the movie too
- Groot loves the 1980s video-game, “Defenders”, which has a similar plot to Infinity War
Did we miss out on any Avengers Infinity War easter eggs that you think are important? Let us know in the comments below!
