As you may or may not know, a movie “Easter egg” is a joke or reference cleverly hidden in a scene. Luckily, for decades, filmmakers have been working hard to sneak in clever little nods and references into their movies to reward the keen-eyed viewer, without ruining the movie for anyone not in on the joke. The very fact that they can come in any form – from a throwaway piece of dialogue to some well-placed set dressing – makes it all the more pleasing when they’re spotted. And to celebrate those little touches that filmmakers give us, here’s our list of some of cinema’s most smartest and enjoyable Easter eggs to date. Here are 7 Easter Eggs that you have probably missed:
1. King Kong
As the ship approaches Skull Island, a message is received in morse code, supposedly announcing a warrant for Jack Black’s arrest. However, this isn’t actually what the code translates to – what it actually says is, “Show me the monkey!”.
2. The Incredible Hulk
Whilst flicking through TV channels towards the beginning of the film, Bruce Banner flicks past an episode of The Courtship of Eddie’s Father – a ‘70s TV show featuring Bill Bixby, the man who played Bruce Banner opposite Lou Ferrigno’s Hulk.
3. Jurassic World
Jeff Goldblum might not have reprised his role as Ian Malcolm, but his spirit is there with God Creates Dinosaurs, written by none-other than everyone’s favourite ‘Chaos Theory’ mathematician. It appears twice: on the desks of Jurassic Park geek Lowery (Jake Johnson) and in the hands of Zara (Katie McGrath). We hope she finished it before her unfortunate encounter with the Mosasaurus.
4. Watchmen
The first scene in the superlative opening montage is crammed to the brim with Batman references. First of all, there are the old-school Batman posters on the wall. Then on the top-left of the theatre’s notice board, the word Gotham is clearly legible. Finally, the production showing at the theatre is shown to be Die Fledermaus. Translation? “The Bat.” It actually goes deeper than that. Supposedly, the goon that Night Owl is punching out is none other than Joe Chill. That startled-looking couple on the left are Mr. and Mrs. Wayne.
5. Kill Bill Vol 1
The Bride’s real name in Kill Bill Vol. 2, but you’d be wrong. It’s actually displayed on the plane ticket she buys to Okinawa, revealing the moniker “Beatrix Kiddo” to anyone sad enough to have paused it at exactly the right moment. It isn’t the only time QT wafts the Bride’s real identity under his audience’s nose. Bill calls her “Kiddo” in one of the movie’s first scenes, but the obvious assumption is that this is just a term of endearment. Albeit rather an odd one, given that he’s just shot her!
6. I Am Legend
Amongst the ruins of NYC, a movie poster can be spotted featuring the Superman logo within the bat symbol. Whilst the poster sent fanboys everywhere into a state of frenzy, it turned out not to be a canny piece of viral marketing but rather a throwaway gag from producer Akiva Goldsman, who was at one time involved with a Superman/Batman crossover film. Imagine a world where the only piece of marketing for Batman v Superman was a poster.
7. Deadpool
In a movie positively brimming with references, easter eggs and meta-gags, a scene involving Deadpool’s old colleague Bob is possibly the cheekiest. The two come face-to-face during the climax and is a reference to Deadpool comic book character Bob, Agent of HYDRA. The only problem? Marvel Studios owns the rights to HYDRA so he’s just a guy called Bob in the movie. But he’s definitely HYDRA Bob. Well, unless Marvel asks about him.
