Yes, Thunderbolts Has Easter Eggs… But They’re Actually the *Good* Kind

This nonfiction contains spoilers for Thunderbolts.

This isn’t conscionable the MCU’s fault, but Marvel and different modern comic publication franchises person turned america into Easter ovum hunters, the equivalent of the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme successful existent life. You spot that nametag identifying Commander Dunphy (William Mark McCullough) successful Captain America: Brave New World? Get acceptable for an mentation of D-Man, the stateless superhero dressed arsenic Wolverine and Daredevil. A licence sheet that says “63A5M-3” successful Spider-Man: No Way Home? You stake that’s a notation to 1963’s Amazing Spider-Man #3, the archetypal quality of Doctor Octopus. But the astir caller Marvel movie, Thunderbolts, takes a precise antithetic way with its “Easter eggs,” arsenic they don’t acceptable the modern explanation of Easter eggs astatine all… They’re much existent references that enrich the texture and viewing of the movie successful the discourse of the greater MCU, alternatively than being needle-scratches, bringing the enactment to a halt.

The constituent being that implicit the past 4th century, Easter eggs connected film, and successful Marvel movies successful particular, person shifted from being a literal bug to being a feature. Maybe the feature. They are analyzed connected YouTube videos, breached down successful breathless articles, and shockingly often the main constituent of treatment of a movie the play it opens is the Easter eggs… Not the existent contented of the movie itself.

So it feels similar a revelation to ticker the astir caller MCU movie and spot moments that are wide nods to erstwhile MCU movies, bash not bring the movie to a grinding halt, and alternatively are utilized by manager Jake Schreier and screenwriters Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo to stress and opposition the squad successful the movie against other, erstwhile teams and individuals successful the universe.

The astir evident of these is mounting astir of the 3rd enactment of the movie successful and astir Avengers Tower, present named The Watchtower nether its caller owner, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). To beryllium clear, Avengers Tower is not an Easter egg; it is simply a determination successful the film. However, compared to the Avengers, who concisely called the gathering their location base, the Thunderbolts are mostly retired of spot there. The gathering is half-finished, with lone what mightiness beryllium Tony Stark’s barroom mostly intact (but possibly successful the incorrect spot? Or was it the barroom wherever Nat and Bruce flirted successful Age of Ultron?). It is, successful and of itself, utilized arsenic a mode of delineating the Thunderbolts arsenic a squad that has to instrumentality the elevator, not alert retired successful a Quinjet. They, themselves, aren’t finished yet; they person a batch of enactment to bash individually and arsenic a group.

And that expands outwards to their last fight, which takes spot successful Midtown, astir Grand Central Station. Unlike the squad successful The Avengers, who stood connected the elevated roadworthy implicit Grand Central, got a heroic spinning shot, and fought backmost an alien army, the Thunderbolts are nether the bridge… They’re down, not up. And their heroic infinitesimal isn’t astir facing down the Chitauri; it’s flipping implicit a portion of concrete.

There are moments passim this “fight” country that telephone to caput the extremity of Avengers, arsenic well. Yelena (Florence Pugh) is tossed successful the air, a la her sister Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) successful Avengers. A small miss who is saved is framed astir precisely the aforesaid mode Beth the waitress (Ashley Johnson) was aft she was saved successful the 2012 film. Heck, erstwhile the squad is named the New Avengers, the people plays a mentation of the Avengers taxable music, but with respective notes inverted. It’s each a small off. It’s not rather right. And purposefully so, due to the fact that this is simply a team, arsenic we’re instantly shown successful the extremity credits, that is not comfy with being Avengers, and neither is the world. The extremity credits parade of dubious headlines from quality outlets is different reference, this clip to the breathless, affirmative headlines astir Iron Man implicit the opening of Iron Man 2. The satellite saw his coming retired arsenic the dawn of a caller property of heroes. For the Thunderbolts, present Avengers, this mightiness beryllium the end.

All of these instantly telephone to caput erstwhile movies, conscionable similar an Easter ovum would, and opposition with what we’re seeing connected screen. But they’re not distracting; they’re enlightening successful presumption of what the filmmakers intended, if you prime up connected them. And isn’t that the mode things are expected to be? Rather than the Easter Egg Industrial Complex (EEIC) that exists today, wherever the specified notation of things successful a trailer oregon movie are deemed Easter eggs – “Did you announcement Yelena Belova from Black Widow is successful Thunderbolts” for example, is not an Easter egg; it’s a quality that appears successful the movie – layering successful textures successful your movie makes for a better, richer repetition acquisition than simply returning to work a database of names connected a computer, a la X2.

Is it hyperbole to accidental this is the way guardant for the MCU? Maybe. But for a movie different devoid of Easter eggs, the references are much thrilling and absorbing than immoderate comic publication namedrop. Unless determination was one, and we missed it. In that case, we’ll person to caput backmost to the theatre and check.