SPOILER ALERT: Do not proceed if you haven’t watched the film. 

Captain Marvel released this Friday to great response from both the audience and the critics. And although the movie greatly differs from its actual source materials, it has thrown a bone or two to the comic book nerds in the form of multiple easter eggs.

1. Captain Marvel is filled with references from classic action movies from the 90s like Top Gun, True Lies and The Right Stuff.

After she crashes into the Blockbuster store, Carol Danvers shoots the head of an Arnold cardboard cut out of the film True Lies. She then proceeds to pick up Tom Cruise’s The Right Stuff, which is a flick about an air force pilot travelling into space. 

Variety

Speaking of Tom Cruise, Goose, the cat (not really) is named after a character from Top Gun. 

Monsters and critics

2. Since the film released after Stan Lee’s death, the flick gave us a little more than a guest appearance. 

When the Marvel Studios logo appears at the beginning of the film, it shows us the various cameos that Stan Lee played in the MCU. 

Heroic Holywood

When Carol gets on a train to hunt down a Skrull, we see Stan reading a script called Mallrats, repeating the line, ‘trust me, true believer’ over and over.

Polygon

Most of us would be too young to remember this but Stan Lee had appeared in a Kevin Smith movie of the same name in 1995, the same year, Captain Marvel is set in. Which means, for the very first time, since Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Stan Lee was actually playing himself.

3. Torfa, the planet that gives refuge to the Skrulls is one of the few planets with an abundance of vibranium.

Comic book fans would know this. Torfa is rich is vibranium and is mined on a regular basis. 

Iron Man Wiki

4. Goose, the Flerken swallowing the Tesseract is a shoutout to the scene from The Avengers when Black Widow recruits Bruce Banner to find the space stone.

Goose has access to pocket dimensions where it can hide anything he likes. So he swallows the Tesseract to protect it. 

Maidhianta

In The Avengers, when Romanoff goes to Kolkata to recruit Bruce Banner and tells him about the missing Tesseract, Banner asks if Fury wants him to swallow it.

5. Monica Rambeau, daughter of Maria Rambeau is the first Captain Marvel in the comics. 

Carol’s best friend Maria might have been a badass pilot in the film, but she isn’t remotely as important as her daughter. In the comics, Monica Rambeau has the honour of being the first Captain Marvel. 

Newsarama

6. If the ‘The Avengers Initiative’ was named after the real nickname of Captain Marvel in the comics, it wouldn’t have sounded as effective.

You don’t need any explanation about ‘The Avengers Initiative’. However, we find out in Captain Marvel that Fury planned to call it ‘The Protectors Initiative’, but changed it in accordance with Carol Denver’s nickname in the air force.

Uproxx

That being said, in the comics, her nickname was ‘Cheeseburger’. So imagine how that would have worked out. We would all be watching ‘Cheeseburgers: Endgame’, come April. 

7. You might have also missed Captain Marvel‘s writer Kelly Sue Deconnick’s cameo in the film.

Given that MCU used her version of the superhero in the film, it was justified that she got to be part of the fun ride as well. 

Vanity fair

After Carol follows the passenger train, she walks out into the crowds of passing commuters, brushing against Kelly. Actually, she is the first person Carol sees when she steps off the train. She gives Carol a suspicious nod, which is then happily returned.

Bounding into Comics

8. Captain Marvel pays tribute to the comics with the different colour variations of her suit!

After the reveal of the Kree betrayal, Carol no longer wants to wear their colours and asks Monica to choose one for her.



ESPN

The first colour shift results in a suit of red, yellow and black, the same colour scheme of the original Mar-vell and Carol Danvers in her Ms. Marvel persona. The black suit similarly is a shout out to Jonathan Hickman’s S.H.I.E.L.D variant. 

comic vine

The second last combo of green and white is best remembered by comic books fans as it was the first uniform worn by Mar-Vell upon his arrival on Earth, 

9. Captain Marvel finally confirms the theory of the universal translators!

Creatures in the MCU come from different worlds. So it is obviously unusual to see them all speak in English. And while GoTG 1 established that there are universal translators were installed on the bodies of these creatures, it was never spoken of again. 

Reddit

Until Carol tries to talk to the security officer outside the Blockbuster store, he gets all confused and she asks him if her translator was functional or not. 

10. The scene when Yon-Rogg asks Carol to stop the fireworks and face him without her powers is a shout out to Indians Jones & Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Well, Carol just blasts him to hell and tells him that she doesn’t need to prove anything. In the Indian Jones movie, this swordsman challenges Jones to a fight, but after careful deliberation, Jones just shoots him!

Range 365

11. The Quadjet that Maria Rambeau flies in the film is an earlier version of the Quinjet, Hulk uses to fly to Sakaar!

The Quadjet is a more compact aircraft fitted with four engines. Although, it could not venture into space until the Skrulls modified it accordingly. The jet was likely improved by S.H.I.E.L.D while designing its successor.

Screen rant

If there are any easter eggs we might have overlooked, let us know.