Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* is an incredible story about depression, healing, and the power of connection. As with any Marvel outing there are loads of Marvel easter eggs and callbacks. From Avengers Tower to Songbird, here are all the Thunderbolts Easter Eggs you may have missed.
Spoilers ahead if you have not seen Thunderbolts*
Thunderbolts Easter Eggs
The Marvel Studios logo is filled with Thunderbolts comic strips until they slowly disappear thanks to The Void's powers.
After Yelena jumps off the building she is involved in an epic hallway fight scene.
de Fontaine's company is called OXE Group. The O.X.E. Group debuted in Marvel Comics Thunderbolts (Vol. 5) #1.
“Project Sentry” – in the comics, Robert Reynolds aka Bob got his powers from the Golden Sentry Serum as part of Project: Sentry. Project Sentry was a joint American/Canadian government operation that wanted to re-create the Super-Soldier Serum and magnify its effects. This is why later on, several characters reference the super soldier serum given to Steve Rogers.
During her impeachment hearing, de Fontaine references what happened when President Ross turned into the Red Hulk in Captain America Brave New World.
Mel, de Fontaine's assistant, is actually Melissa Gold aka Songbird, a member of the Thunderbolts in the comics. Although not confirmed in the film, Mel works closely with Bucky Barnes and she is seen wearing a necklace with a songbird on it.
Alexei has Red Guardian posters on the wall at his house.
Yelena is wearing the Black Widow belt that Natasha has worn in several films.
Valentina has a fundraiser with artifacts from the “Battle of New York.” Some of the artifacts include: Chitauri handcuffs, the “A” from Stark Tower, and a replica of Loki's Scepter.
In the Vault, US Agent John Walker says On Your Left.
To get out of the Vault, they all link arms and climb up the wall. Probably not a reference to The Emperor's New Groove but that's what I thought of when I saw it.
Unlike the comics, the Thunderbolts name comes from the perfect losing season soccer team Yelena played on as a child: The Westchester Big Valley Thunderbolts.
The Winter Soldier theme can be briefly heard when Bucky decides to let the others go in order to stop Bob.
Val is the new owner of Avengers Tower. She pours herself a drink from the same bar Tony did when facing Loki in Avengers. She calls it the Watch Tower. In the comics, the Watchtower was the home and base of Sentry.
Bob's Sentry outfit is similar to his comic book look. The way Val speaks to him in this scene is reminiscent of Emperor Palpatine talking to Anakin/Darth Vader.
As Sentry begins to go rogue on Val, he says if he's stronger than all the Avengers combined that includes at least one god. He is referring to Thor.
She wants to call Sentry “Earth's Mightiest Hero.” The Avengers were Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
At the end of the film, Val introduces the Thunderbolts to the world and calls the New Avengers. The Avengers theme can be heard playing as the credits roll.
In the comics, the New Avengers at one time or another consisted of: Captain Marvel, Luke Cage, Ronin, Captain America, Iron Man, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Echo, Jessica Jones, Sentry, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Thing, and more.
Thunderbolts Post-Credit Scenes
In the mid-credit scene, Red Guardian is at the grocery star excited for everyone to see the Thunderbolts* on the Wheaties box. During the film he really wanted them to be featured on the cereal and now they are.
During the post-credit scene we learn that Sam is not a fan of the New Avengers and has filed a copyright for the name. But also there is a “space threat.” That threat is an unidentified ship entering Earth's atmosphere. The ship belongs to the Fantastic Four who have clearly escaped their timeline and made it to the sacred one.
The ship looks similar to the Marvel-1, the same ship that we can see in the Fantastic Four First Steps trailer.
Thunderbolts* is in theaters now. It is rated PG-13 for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references with a runtime of 2 hours and 6 minutes.
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