Top 10 Guardians of the Galaxy Easter Eggs

#10: The Celestials

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In the comics, these cosmic juggernauts are an all-powerful race of giant, armored humanoids that have come into contact with the likes of Thor and the Guardians on various occasions. From the looks of things, they appear to be long dead in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nevertheless, their presence can still be felt. One of their skulls is used as the haunting spaceport known as Knowhere, and we even see one of them using an Infinity Stone in a brief flashback. Guess those gems are something even Space Gods can’t handle.

#9: Cameos

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Unless you have quite the ear for voices, then chances are you missed a few surprise cameos scattered throughout this film. Director James Gunn plays the mask-less Sakaaran that Yondu ends up cutting through with his arrow. The voice behind the big, blue monstrous inmate that wanted to make Star-Lord his girlfriend is none other than “Firefly” star Nathan Fillion. And for those with impeccable hearing, you might be able to pick up that the Ravager Navigator has the voice of heavy metal singer Rob Zombie. Yep, even he’s got some of that Marvel money.

#8: 12

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One of the many long running inside jokes of the MCU, the number 12 is constantly popping up. For example, Tony Stark gives 12% of the credit to Pepper in “The Avengers” and there’s a 12 minute difference between the Maximoff twins in “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” In “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Star-Lord comes up with 12% of a plan to take down Ronan. As you can tell from that small percentage, it’s really not much of a plan. Fortunately for the Guardians, 12 seems to be the lucky number for Marvel superheroes.

#7: Star-Lord’s Father

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As of 2016, we all became aware that the identity of Peter Quill’s alien father is none other than Kurt Russell, who seems to be playing a much more human-looking version of Ego the Living Planet. Back when the original film came out, however, all we had to go on was the analysis from Nova Prime that showed that Star-Lord was only half human and that his father was an ancient being - and apparently a jackass if you go by Yondu’s description. Fans finally got a good look at Papa Star-Lord in the trailer for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” getting everybody excited for the father son reunion.

Yondu Udonta sure has gone through some changes since he was first put on the page. Before he was rewritten as the leader of a group of space pirates known as the Ravagers, he was actually a founding member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy, complete with a slick red Mohawk… fin… thing, as well as being one hell of an archer. All of these changes aside, this big screen interpretation still paid homage to the character’s archery roots. As you might recall, Yondu came equipped with a handy little arrow that replied to his whistles. Boy could that thing do some damage!

It’s hard to say if the golden helmeted hero will ever get a cinematic outing of his own. Even if he doesn’t, at least he got something of a mention in the form of the elite squadron that protects Xandar: the Nova Corps. With a color palette, name, and uniforms to match the iconic Marvel character, it’s pretty clear who they’re referencing. When it came to the battle against the Dark Aster, they certainly pulled their weight. Huh, maybe John C. Reilly’s in with a chance.

Wonder why the Collector had a dog in a space suit among his prized possessions? While it may not be as impressive as a Chitari corpse, this space-faring canine was actually sent up by the Soviets and ended up drifting right into the hands of Taneleer Tivan. Since we see Cosmo is alive and well in the aftermath of the Collector’s museum being blown to pieces, we can only hope that he will one day end up joining the Guardians like he did in in the comics. After all, you can never have too many furry mascots with this team!

#3: Howard the Duck

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Why was there a talking duck voiced by Seth Green at the end of the film? Well, that’s Howard, a rather brazen and foul-mouthed feathered ally of many a Marvel hero. You may remember him from that 1986 abomination, which involved duck-boobs and almost-bestiality. We’re happy to say that in this version, in the couple of seconds he’s on screen, Howard gets a much-needed makeover. Actually, we’d be totally on board for a “Howard the Duck” movie set in the MCU. Of course even if he never makes another appearance again, at least Howard got some form of redemption here.

And the references keep on rolling in, one of the most significant being the name of Peter Quill’s beloved ship: the Milano. Instead of being a call-back to the comics, the ship was actually named after Star-Lord’s childhood crush: actress Alyssa Milano, best known from shows like “Charmed” and “Who’s the Boss?” As random as this might seem, it perfectly fits in with the character’s obsession with old school media. It does make the whole thing kind of dirty, though, especially now that we know what Quill has been up to…

#1: The Empire Strikes Again

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Yet another running theme throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe is its unusual, yet awesome, tribute to “Star Wars.” Across the Phase Two films, characters frequently lose a hand or arm, similar to Luke Skywalker in “The Empire Strikes Back.” Killian lost his hand in “Iron Man 3,” Thor lost an illusionary hand in “The Dark World,” and “The Winter Soldier”… well that speaks for itself. In this case, there are two examples to speak of. In order to escape, Nebula cuts off one of her mechanical hands. And then there’s Groot, who loses both his arms. Sure, he can grow them back, but Gamora certainly didn’t know that when she was hacking away at him.