Avengers: Endgame Easter eggs you missed

Marvel’s superhero extravaganza Avengers: Endgame has given a perfect closure to the story arcs of all its original Avengers. But more than anything else, the film throws several Easter eggs at us, giving a recall to its decade long timeline and previous 21 films.

Here is a list of all the major Easter eggs in Avengers: Endgame:

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

1. Kate Bishop tease?

The film opens with Clint Barton aka Hawkeye teaching archery to his daughter Lila Barton. At one point, Clint calls her ‘Hawkeye’. This might be a tease towards the character of Kate Bishop, who was first introduced in 2005’s ‘Young Avengers #1’. While Clint became her mentor, Kate later took on the mantle of Hawkeye. Though the film does not do anything beyond Clint’s address to Lila, this might hint at an original series based on Hawkeye comic series. (Trivia: Director Joe Russo’s daughter Ava played Lila Barton in Avengers: Endgame!)

2. Hail Hydra

When Steve Rogers time travels to the Battle of New York to obtain the scepter, with the Mind Stone, from Loki, the entire elevator scene from The Winter Soldier is recreated shot-by-shot. But only this time, Cap had his way. Standing next to Hydra operatives in the cover of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Cap whispers “Hail Hydra”. Point to note is, until then, nobody knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. actually worked for Hydra. This is also a straight tribute to the controversial Marvel Comics event Secret Empire that showed Captain America as a Hydra agent.

3. Ant-Man’s Vintage Helmet

Hank Pym, played by a young Michael Douglas, makes a small appearance when Tony Stark time travels to 1970 to obtain the Tesseract, that had the Space Stone. On Hank’s desk, we see Ant-Man’s original helmet. The shot has left fans wondering whether there can be a probable Ant-Man spin-off, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas, exploring the adventures of the original tiny superheroes in a retro setting.

4. Camp Lehigh

Tony and Steve arrive at Camp Lehigh in New Jersey in search of the Space Stone and Pym particles. Camp Lehigh is the place where Captain America was ‘born’, after Steve was injected with the super-serum. It is also the place where Cap, Bucky and Black Widow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier find out that villain Armin Zola’s consciousness is uploaded into a computer.

5. Loki’s disappearance

In the time travel sequence, Loki steals the Tesseract from Tony Stark and disappears. While we know he died in Infinity War and Thanos said he cannot be resurrected, hence, a Loki-centric TV series for Disney+ only left us guessing. But after the plot twist in Endgame, all this makes sense. The series will probably show what happened to Loki post his disappearance in the film.

6. “I can do this all day”

When Captain America of 2012 bumps into the Captain America who has time travelled to New York, the former mistakes him for Loki. This connects with Thor: The Dark World, when Loki took Captain’s form. The 2012 version also speaks his famous “I can do this all day”, as the present-day Captain America says, “I know!”

7. Tønsberg, Norway

Five years after the death of Thanos, Thor is found in Norwegian city of Tønsberg. The “New Asgard” is on the lines of Odin’s advice to Thor from Ragnarok, to create a safe haven for Asgardian refugees in Norway. The new home has a Norse mythology connection with Asgard. Norway is also the place on Earth where Odin battled against the Frost Giants.

8. “On your left”

Just when Thanos had almost defeated Captain America, Cap receives a message – “On you left” in the voice of Sam. Moments later, we see the entire entourage of the resurrected superheroes arriving. “On your left” were the first words Steve Rogers said to Sam Wilson aka Falcon in Winter Soldier as the two were jogging in Washington, D.C. It was an interesting callback to their friendship for the fans.

9. Iron Man’s vision

After returning to earth, a lanky Tony Stark is seen reminding Steve of his visions which he got in Age of Ultron, where Tony sees all the Avengers dead. The prophecy wasn’t really wrong. We saw how Thanos almost shattered Cap’s shield into pieces with his sword. Tony’s visions were perhaps one of the 14 million attempts Doctor Strange saw in Infinity War.

10. Captain America and Mjolnir

Perhaps the best moment in Endgame was when Cap picks, flips and hits Thanos with Thor’s Mjolnir. It is known that only those worthy of it can lift the Mjolnir. And while Cap kept his fellow superheroes and even the audience in the dark that he was indeed worthy of it, we may remember the light moment in Age of Ultron when all the Avengers try to lift Thor’s hammer. While Vision managed to lift it up, Cap did manage to move it a little. But only if everyone could notice that back in 2015.

11. Avengers Assemble

In the final fight against Thanos, Captain America commands – Avengers Assemble! The battle cry is picked from Marvel Comics, giving Cap fans the moment they had been waiting for. Avengers Assemble was also speculated to be the initial title of Endgame.

12. “I am Iron Man”

During the combat between Thanos and Iron Man, Thanos screams, “I am inevitable”. After Doctor Strange gestures Tony that this is the only chance to take down the Mad Titan, Tony says – “I am Iron Man” before snapping his fingers. Tony’s final words in the MCU were also his last line from 2008 film Iron Man, where he reveals to the world that he is Iron Man.

13. Harley Keener

The lake side funeral of Tony Stark was more like a send-off for him from the MCU. While we saw all the surviving superheroes and their family members mourning Tony’s death, a silent teenager standing among the attendees did leave many confused. The boy is none other than Harley Keener, the kid who helped Tony in Iron Man 3, when he arrived at the former’s house. The role was played by the same actor Ty Simpkins. Is it a subtle sweet hint that Tony was in touch with Harley all these years?

14. Cheeseburgers

Post Tony’s funeral, his daughter Morgan is sitting with Happy Hogan, when the latter asks her if she was hungry. She quickly says she wants cheeseburgers. Tony himself was fond of cheeseburgers as that’s the food he wanted to eat after he returned home from captivity in Afghanistan in Iron Man (2008). “Your dad liked cheeseburgers too,” Happy tells Morgan.

15. “Don’t do anything stupid”

Before getting into the Quantum Realm again to return the six Infinity Stones, Steve tells his best friend Bucky Barnes – “Don’t do anything stupid.” This is a recall to Captain America: The First Avenger, when Cap says the same line to Bucky before he heads off to war.

16.  The dance

Captain America goes back in time to place the stones back in their exact timeline. But instead of returning, he prefers to spend his life with Peggy Carter, going further back in time, presumably in the 1940s, marrying her and getting that promised dance. This was a completion of his story arc as Cap couldn’t do that at the end of the First Avenger, because he had to crash a Hydra plane, to stop it from destroying New York. They are dancing to the same song that Nick Fury played in Steve’s apartment in The Winter Soldier to mask their conversation from Hydra.

17. Post credits

Instead of a post-credit scene, all we get at the end of Avenges: Endgame is the sound of metal being hammered, reminding us of the time when Tony Stark made the Mark 1 Iron Man suit in 2008 film Iron Man, which had also kicked off the MCU. A returning reference indeed brought the entire timeline, full circle.