If you haven’t seen Ant-Man yet there are spoilers ahead!
[toggler title=”TL;DR” ]There are plenty of Easter Eggs in Ant-Man, from Darren Cross (Corey Stroll) calling the myth of Ant-Man “tales to astonish”, to Luis (Michael Pena) whistling the Disney song “It’s a Small World (After All)”. If you’re interested in more Easter Eggs in Ant-Man, keeping on reading![/toggler]
[dropcap size=small]I[/dropcap]f you’ve seen any Marvel movie by now, then you surely know that each and every movie comes with plenty of easter eggs/references to other films and/or comics. Ant-Man is no exception to this and while most of the references were fairly obviously, some of them can be very hard to spot even for those of you who are well versed in the Marvel Universe comics. That being said, here is a list of easter eggs that were made in Ant-Man!
In the very beginning of Ant-Man we are introduced to a verbal argument taking place at S.H.I.E.L.D. between Peggy Carter, Howard Stark and Hank Pym that quickly escalates into a physical scuffle between Mitchell Carson and Hank Pym. Later on in the movie Mitchell Carson turns out to be a HYDRA agent, but those of you who have read the comics now that this was coming. In the comics, Mitch Carson was actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that obsessively hunted down Ant-Man after he was disfigured by the superhero in a fight. He turns out to be a corrupt agent at the end of the comic.
Corey Stoll’s character Darren Cross (Yellow Jacket) reveals classified footage showing Hank Pym’s Ant-Man adventures. Darren Cross admits that the possibility of a miniature hero isn’t very possible and probably was a rumor started by Soviet troops during the Cold War, calling it “tales to astonish”. This is a reference to the comic book series Tales to Astonish that Marvel released. The comic series first introduced Hank Pym in Issue #27 and the emergence of Ant-Man in Issue #35.
When Scott Lang loses his job at Baskin Robbins, he returns to the apartment that he shares with his friend Luis. The apartment building that he is staying in is called The Milgrom Hotel. The name of this hotel is a reference to comic book writer, artist and editor Al Milgrom, who is responsible for many popular Marvel titles before he took over as publisher. He is best known for his The West Coast Avengers series.
Scott Lang, at heart, is a good person. Yes, he is an ex-convict, but the man had a good reason for the crime he committed. With that being said, it makes sense that he would use the Ant-Man suit so that the world is a safer place for his daughter, Cassie. While Cassie is quite a ways away from being an adult, eventually she will follow in her father’s footsteps. Cassie ends up exposing herself to the mysterious Pym Particles in secret until one day she has the ability to grown and shrink in size. She ends up taking on the name “Stature” and joins the Young Avengers.
When it comes to celebrity cameos, there weren’t that many aside from Stan Lee, who we’ll get to later. However, if you’re a fan of Saturday Night Live and 2 Broke Girls than you probably noticed that the car that Scott Lang falls on belongs to the comedian/actor Garett Morris. Garrett Morris actually portrayed Ant-Man at a superhero costume party skit that took place on Saturday Night Live.
Probably one of the biggest easter eggs/references that took place in Ant-Man was the hardest to spot. After Scott escapes from jail and is riding on his flying ant Antony, the pair lands on a commuter’s newspaper in a streetcar. Scott Lang and Antony are quickly swatted away, but if you looked very closely at the newspaper it has a title that says, “Who’s to Blame for Sokovia?” The title is a reference to the events that transpired in Avengers: Age of Ultron. This hints at the growing anti-superhero sentiment that is growing around the world and it lays the ground work for Captain America: Civil War.
During Scott Lang’s training, Hope eventually convinces Hank Pym to explain what really happened to her mother Janet. Hank Pym eventually explains that during a mission back in 1987, Janet van Dyne was working alongside him as the superheroine Wasp. However, Hank was unable to get inside the ICBM’s computer and that was carrying a nuke that was headed for the United States. Janet ends up sacrificing herself and shrinks herself down to the “quantum realm”. In the comics Janet actually does disappear during the Secret Invasion series. Hank Pym later learns that his wife did not die, but entered the Microverse.
If you go back to the very first Iron Man, you will recall that the group responsible for kidnapping Tony Stark, and the group headed by the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, was called The Ten Rings. During Darren Cross’ presentation to possible buyers of his Yellowjacket suit, one man within the group can be seen having the group’s logo tattooed onto his neck. Will the terrorist group be making a come back in the upcoming movies? It’s hard to say at this point, but there is potential for the group to a part of something in Captain America: Civil War or the Infinity Wars.
This one is less of an easter egg and more of a reference and a connection to the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. When Scott Lang is given the job to break into Hank Pym’s old, storage facility in Upstate New York he quickly finds out that the storage facility is actually in use by S.H.I.E.L.D. Scott Lang ends up getting into a scuffle with Falcon and it is possible Cap, the Vision, War Machine, and Scarlet Witch could have seen/heard Falcon get his butt kicked by a tiny man in a suit.
While Darren Cross did seem to take pride for calling his new suit the Yellowjacket, the name actually belongs to Hank Pym. In the comics, Hank Pym goes through many different name changes, and this is because of the personality disorder he suffers from in the comics. He possibly also made a reference to this when he tells Darren Cross that he saw “too much of himself” in him. The character also had a substance abuse problem, which could explain the bottle of pills Hank Pym seems to always be carrying around with him.
If you’ve ever been to Disney World or Disney Land, than you probably caught this reference right away. When Luis is assigned the duty of posing as a Pym Tech security guard, he begins whistling the tune “It’s a Small World (After All)”, which is the infamous water ride that is at every major Disney park.
As with nearly every Marvel movie, Stan Lee made his usual cameo. This time he appeared as a bartender in the closing scene towards the end of the movie, with Luis doing a comical voice over of him. What makes his cameo special is that Stan Lee created Ant-Man himself, and the character took a while to catch on with comic book fans. It must be very special moment for Stan Lee to see another one of his creations become a popular movie.
During Luis’ story at the end of the film, a character mentions several superheroes that are existent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The character specifically mentions one who can jump, one who can swing, and one who “crawls on walls”. While Kevin Feige has stated that the descriptions were intentionally generic, the description of one who “crawls on walls” is, in the eyes of many fans, a nod to Spider-Man finally becoming a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
After spending most of the movie demanding that she wear the Ant-Man suit herself, Hope is given a far better and well-fitting suit during the film’s mid-credit sequence. Hank Pym reveals to Hope that both her mother and himself were developing a suit called the “Wasp” so that Hope could follow in her mother’s footsteps. However, the suit that is shown isn’t similar to the comic book version. The suit is red, yellow and blue instead of black and yellow. It does have wings however, which sets the Wasp suit apart from the Ant-Man suit.
If you stayed to the very end of Ant-Man than you were treated to a twist that no one saw coming. The after-credit ending is a possible scene taken from the upcoming Captain America: Civil War movie. The scene shows Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers finally capturing the Winter Soldier a.k.a. Bucky Barnes. Whether or not the scene will fit into Captain America: Civil War is unknown at this time.
In the same after-credit ending, Falcon and Steve play around with the idea of bringing Tony Stark in on their discovery. The duo decide against it immediately, knowing that even if Tony Stark was able to offer his assistance he would unable to do so because “the accords” would not allow it. The accords could be a legislation or ruling that keeps Steve Rogers, who is technically a multi-government soldier, from working with Tony Stark, a civilian, from working together in a matter of international affairs. This is just another reference to the upcoming Captain America: Civil War film which will pit multiple superheroes against one another.
There you have it, those are all of the easter eggs and references that we know of (so far). Did you find any other easter eggs or references? Let us know in the comment section below!
