Movies

50 Marvel Easter Eggs & References in Thunderbolts*

BBG News

Heed this notice! This write-up encompasses SPOILERS for Thunderbolts – Marvel’s Thunderbolts. Packed with intriguing Easter eggs and nods, this story introduces a fresh squad of recognizable faces from the MCU who strive to prove their heroic mettle. The thrilling escapade in Thunderbolts offers a blend of high-octane action and profound character development. As you read along, you’ll encounter delightful links to the source comics and the broader cinematic universe – making it an engaging journey for fans!

Under the direction of Jake Schreier, the film titled “Thunderbolts*” features Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Lewis Pullman portraying Bob (Sentry), Wyatt Russell playing John Walker, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the role of Valentina Allegrea de Fontaine, and Geraldine Viswanathan as Mel. By uniting these well-known Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) characters, along with Bob, “Thunderbolts*” boasts numerous connections to the broader MCU. With this in mind, here are the top 50 most intriguing Easter eggs and references we discovered in Thunderbolts*.

Note: *The actual title of the movie might vary from “Thunderbolts” as stated above.

  • The Void Takes Over The Classic MCU Opening – While Thunderbolts* opens as usual with the opening fanfare and Marvel Studios logo, the music gradually becomes distorted and all the color is overtaken by black shadows, foreshadowing the Void.
  • O.X.E. Group – In the comics, the mysterious O.X.E. Group was a company technically founded by Valentina in the comics (specifically her Life Model Decoy).
  • Bucky Representing Brooklyn – First established in Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts* confirms Bucky is a congressional representative representing Brooklyn, where he and Steve Rogers grew up.
  • Rogue Nations With Advanced Tech – During her impeachment proceedings, Valentina references her concerns over multiple rogue nations with advanced technology, nations like Wakanda and Talokan with their stores of vibranium (Val was last seen in 2022’s Wakanda Forever).
  • The Red Hulk – Val also mentions that their last president recently turned into “a giant red superhuman rage monster”, referencing Brave New World’s President Ross and his transformation into The Red Hulk.
  • “The Avengers Not Walking Through Those Doors” – Valentina confirms it’s been quite some time since the MCU has had its Avengers, and that they’ve yet to reassemble by the start of this new movie.
  • Red Guardian‘s Glory Days – When Yelena visits Alexei at his home, the Red Guardian is watching old footage from the Soviet Union where he’s shown standing next to Stalin during a parade. Multiple Red Guardian propaganda posters can also be seen all over Alexei’s home.
  • Project Sentry Costume Designs – Inside the O.X.E Group’s vault, Yelena finds hair and various costume design ideas for the Sentry, and one of the “S” logos is exactly as its depicted in the original comics.
  • Honoring NYC Heroes – Valentina holds a gala “Honoring NYC Heroes”. Multiple artifacts from the Battle of New York are shown, including promotional banners featuring Captain America’s shield, Iron Man’s helmet, and more.
  • Loki’s Scepter – A notable piece on display at the gala is Loki’s scepter. Once used by the God of Mischief during 2012’s Avengers, the scepter was later revealed to house the Mind Stone as seen in Age of Ultron.
  • Chitauri Cuffs – A pair of Chitauri cuffs is also on display. Bucky later uses these same cuffs on Ghost to keep her contained despite her powers.
  • The Big Avengers A – The biggest item on display at the gala is the giant letter “A” from Stark Tower, the only letter still attached to the future Avengers Tower following the Battle of New York.
  • A SHIELD Reject – Ghost is referred to as “a SHIELD reject”, referencing her past when she worked as a covert agent for SHIELD (first mentioned in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp).
  • “Blew Up Budapest” – Taskmaster’s history with Yelena and Natasha Romanov’s Black Widow is referenced, specifically their conflict in Budapest as was seen in 2020’s Black Widow.
  • Dime Store Cap – John Walker’s past as Captain America is also referenced as a diss, speaking to his brief time wielding the iconic shield before he used it to publicly execute a man in broad daylight.
  • “On Your Left” – While trying to break out of the O.X.E. vault, Walker uses his shield to break the sonic weapon keeping Ghost from escaping, inadvertently calling back to Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson with a classic “On Your Left“.
  • “I Was In High School When The Aliens Came” – Mel shares with Bucky just how long it’s been since the Avengers first assembled, and how strange it’s been that they’re no longer around.
  • A Nod To Emperor’s New Groove? – Bob gets the idea that everyone should go back-to-back and start climbing up the shaft with their legs. However, it’s really hard not to think of The Emperor’s New Groove when Kuzco and Pacha had to do the same thing to avoid falling into a river full of crocodiles.
  • “He’s Had a Rough Go” – Mel confirms Bob’s history, citing his delusions of grandeur, depression, abusive parents, and, most notably, his history of addiction. This mirrors the comics when Bob Reybolds was also a down-on-his-luck drug addict before drinking the “Golden Sentry Serum”.
  • The Classic Disguise Trope – A classic movie trope, Yelena, Bob, and John wearing the uniforms of O.X.E agents to escape the vault brings to mind scenes like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo disguised as stormtroopers in A New Hope, or Dorothy’s friends dressing up as guards in The Wizard of Oz.
  • The Power Of 1000 Suns/Golden Guardian of Good – The lines read aloud by Yelena from the Project Sentry files come straight from the original Marvel Comics, citing Bob’s incredible strength and intended heroism.
  • Disposable Delinquents – Ghost refers to this new MCU group as “Disposable Delinquents,” which feels like a subtle nod to DC’s Suicide Squad, a similar team of anti-heroes.
  • The Thunderbolts’ Hilarious Namesake – The new MCU movie confirms the Thunderbolts’ name comes from Yelena’s Pee Wee soccer team from when she was a kid: The West Chesapeake Bay Thunderbolts.
  • Bucky Goes Full Terminator – Bucky’s arrival and saving the Thunderbolts must be an intentional reference to The Terminator. How could it not when Bucky is riding a motorcycle, uses a shotgun, and is wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses?
  • Winter Soldier’s Disc Grenades – Bucky also uses his classic disc grenade launcher, a weapon he first used during his Hydra agent debut in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, having been ordered to kill Nick Fury.
  • The Watchtower – Valentina confirms she’s renamed Avengers Tower to “The Watchtower”. This is a reference to the original comics where Sentry’s Watchtower was built on top of Avengers Tower.
  • The Steve Rogers Serum Argument – Unsure about Bob and his power, Mel makes the same argument heard several times in the MCU’s past about how you only get a hero like Captain America using something like the Super Soldier Serum when you have someone like Steve Rogers, enhancing what was already there to begin with.
  • Mel’s Necklace – While surprisingly not outright confirmed in Thunderbolts*, Mel is shown wearing a bird necklace, supporting the idea that she’s the MCU’s Melissa Gold aka Songbird, an original Thunderbolt in the comics.
  • Alexei and Bucky: Co-Leaders – Alexei pointing out his similarities with Bucky and his desire to become co-leaders with the Winter Soldier feels like a fun nod to their animated team-up episode in Marvel’s What If…? season 3.
  • Bucky Using A Truck Door As A Shield – Crashing into the front doors of the Watchtower, Bucky uses one of the truck’s doors as a shield, mirroring Steve Rogers’ public debut as Captain America in 2011’s The First Avenger.
  • “All The Monumental Fights That Happened Here” – Waiting for the Thunderbolts’ at the tower’s top floor, Val references the building’s past when it was still the Avengers’ base of operations, calling back to their fights with Loki, Ultron, and even their party where the heroes took turns trying to lift Thor’s hammer.
  • Val Kept The Avengers’ Bar – Humorously, Val kept the bar that once belonged to the Avengers, despite having renovated nearly everything else in the building.
  • “Earth’s Mightiest Hero” – Val refers to Sentry as “Earth’s Mightiest Hero”, a singular term typically applied to the Avengers.
  • Bucky’s Signature Knife Flip – While attempting to fight The Sentry, Bucky uses his signature knife flip move, first seen fighting Steve Rogers in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and in Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
  • “At Least One God” – Wondering why he has to listen to Val when he’s a god, Bob says Val herself told him he’s more powerful than all the Avengers combined, which did have “at least one god“, the god in question naturally being Thor.
  • “I Lost My Sister Twice” – Yelena tells Alexei she lost her sister twice. The first was seen in Black Widow when they were separated as children to be trained as assassins, while the second was after Natasha sacrificed herself in Avengers: Endgame.
  • Red Room – Yelena also references her dark past in the Red Room, the Soviet Union program that trained young girls to become some of the world’s most deadly killers.
  • Yelena Mirros Natasha With Classic Avengers Move – When Sentry becomes the Void and begins attacking New York, Alexei gives Yelena a boost to help her jump and save nearby civilians, mirroring when Rogers’ Captain America did the same for Natasha in 2012’s Avengers so she could hijack a Chitauri hovercraft.
  • The Void Attack New York – The Void’s all-consuming attack on New York mirrors one of its debut emergencies in the comics, when the dark persona was responsible for killing over a million New Yorkers. While still brutal, the MCU’s Void doesn’t score nearly as many kills, as its power was to send civilians to a dark shadow realm, trapping them in their darkest moments and traumas.
  • The New Avengers – Saving her own neck, Valentina publicly declares the Thunderbolts to be her “New Avengers”, explaining the title’s asterisk while also making the group another classic comics team entirely.
  • Avengers Theme – Appearing before the public as the New Avengers, Alan Silvestri’s classic Avengers theme can be heard as the movie cuts to the credits.
  • An Actual Wheaties Box – The first Thunderbolts* post-credits scene sees Red Guardian at a grocery store trying to convince a lady to buy a box of Wheaties that has the New Avengers faces on it, calling back to his dream from earlier in the movie.
  • “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” – The music playing in the grocery store is Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”, which transitions straight into the rest of the credits. The same song was also used in the movie’s first trailer.
  • Sam Wilson Isn’t Happy – In the second Thunderbolts* post-credits scene, Yelena and Bucky confirm that Sam Wilson’s Captain America isn’t too happy that they’re now known as the New Avengers, especially considering that he apparently has his own team (and humorously has the “Avengers” name copyrighted), connecting to Captain America: Brave New World which ended with Sam intending to reassemble Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
  • “Space Crisis” – Yelena says no one is telling them about an ongoing “space crisis”, which likely has to do with the multiversal conflict that will soon be imminent in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
  • New Avengers Logo – A brand-new Avengers logo can be seen used by the New Avengers, and it almost looks similar to the design used for John Walker’s “A” when he was briefly Captain America in Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
  • Bucky’s New Suit Revolution – Bucky finally gets his own official costume in the MCU, and it looks like it might have been inspired by Barnes’ recent “Revolution” outfit in the comics.
  • Sponsors On Supersuits – Red Guardian has a horrible “New Avengerz” suit with multiple sponsors on the front and back. This is not unlike Chris Evans’ Human Torch who had a similar idea in 2007’s The Rise of the Silver Surfer, which is ironic considering the final reveal of the Thunderbolts* post-credits scene.
  • “Can’t Have Sentry Without The Other Guy” – Bob is still with the New Avengers, though he’s without his powers due to concerns that he can’t become The Sentry without risking the emergence of The Void, similar to the comics.
  • The Fantastic Four’s Rocket and Theme – An extragalactic spacecraft is shown with a big number “4” logo as Michael Giacchino’s Fantastic Four: First Steps theme plays, teeing up the next MCU movie releasing in July, while also hinting at how the movie will end with Marvel’s First Famliy traveling to Earth-616.

Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters from Marvel Studios.

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2025-05-02 10:29

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