Turns Out Marvel Snuck A Black Panther Easter Egg Into Iron Man 2

There’s more to Wakanda than meets the eye.

Sure, Marvel’s isolated utopia rests on a large deposit of vibranium and is home to the Dora Milaje, but Black Panther‘s rich and bustling habitat is much more than your typical movie setting.

It’s a beautiful microcosm that exists on the cutting edge of weapons technology, though it’s only at the tail-end of Ryan Coogler’s standalone Black Panther movie that T’Challa decides to be a bit more liberal with Wakanda’s riches and cooperate with the outside world.

That post-credits scene dovetails nicely with Avengers: Infinity War, which heralds the moment when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes come together in the face of Thanos. But it seems Joe and Anthony Russo’s blockbuster epic isn’t the only MCU movie with ties to Black Panther, as an existing photo (seen below) has reaffirmed that Wakanda was briefly referenced during Iron Man 2…eight whole years ago.

In case you can’t spot it, Wakanda is marked as a “hot-spot” on the holographic map behind Tony, who’s discussing his formal integration into the Avengers Initiative with Nick Fury in this scene. Of course, a number of seasoned Marvel fans picked up on the Wakanda Easter egg right away and began salivating over the thought of a solo movie for T’Challa. Now, that dream is about to become a reality.

If nothing else, this image is a pointed reminder of the kind of world-building and forward-thinking that has made the MCU so successful. We’ve been following many of these characters for close to a decade, after all, so it’s small wonder why Avengers: Infinity War has generated the hype that it has.

And it all continues when Black Panther pounces into theaters on February 16th. Word is it’ll rack up around $165 million across its four-day weekend in North America, which would cement its status as February’s biggest ever domestic opening – easily trumping Deadpool‘s haul of $132 million from 2016.