This film was the culmination of 10 years worth of effort – and it was jam-packed with goodies.

Let’s look at fun easter eggs, knowing nods and subtle references found in “Avengers: Infinity War”.

Warning: this contains major spoilers.

“Thanos is coming!”

As you’re likely aware, the third Avengers film was inspired by a series of comic book miniseries: “The Infinity Gauntlet” and its sequel, “The Infinity War”. In a nice little homage to the source material, the film recreates a scene from the opening of “Infinity Gauntlet”, in which the Silver Surfer comes crashing through the roof of Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, loudly proclaiming in a panic “Thanos is coming”. Now, Silver Surfer didn’t factor into “Avengers: Infinity War” for legal reasons, but Bruce Banner was tapped to fill his shoes and did so quite nicely.

The Blue Man

Honestly, this easter egg was so subtle, you were more likely to see its acknowledgement in the credits than the reference itself. As the credits roll at the of the film, there’s a line that thanks 20th Century Fox for the use of an Arrested Development character. Huh?! It turns out that the Russo Brothers thought a particular member of the extended Bluth family was the perfect fit for the Collector’s museum, and so a blue man sporting a moustache, glasses and cut off jeans shorts can be spotted in one of the glass cases. It’s not Tobias Funke actor David Cross, but it still makes for a wonderfully odd and specific easter egg.

An Eye for a God

At the end of “Thor: Ragnarok,” the titular God of Thunder regained his power and mojo. But… he lost an eye in the process. Apparently the good folks at Marvel Studios weren’t interested in having one-eyed hero for long (apart from Nick Fury), and so Thor was almost immediately offered a high quality replacement by his new friend and ally, Rocket Raccoon. But why did Rocket have a spare eye on hand? Well, as you might recall, he’s got a bit of a habit of collecting spare limbs, and we actually saw him acquire it from a Ravager called Vorker in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Gotta love a raccoon with hobbies!

Bubbles

When bubbles are being used by an extraplanetary being trying to change the universe as we know it, they tend to stand out. In one of the film’s most dramatic moments, Chris Pratt’s Starlord is forced to make an impossible choice when Gamora asks him to kill her rather than let her be taken prisoner by Thanos. Robbing them of all agency however, the reality-stone wielding Thanos turns Pratt’s blaster into a harmless bubble gun. But why bubbles? Well… in the hugely popular fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Thanos’ attacks – for some strange reason – often involved bubbles. Regardless of the in-game logic, it was a nice touch within the film.

What’s your favorite easter egg in “Avengers: Infinity War”?