10 Awesome Easter Eggs From The LEGO Batman Movie

The LEGO Batman Movie has followed on from 2014's The LEGO Movie in being a huge critical and commercial success. They both share a fast-paced energy, quick wit and big dollop of metafictional humour. In The LEGO Movie, that took the form of presenting the characters and their world as the creation of a little boy, while LEGO Batman is full of winks and nods at the Caped Crusader's history. In particular, LEGO Batman acts as a celebration of the Dark Knight's long track record of screen adaptations, from the 1940s movie serials to the 1960s TV show right up to Ben Affleck's Batman of the DCEU. Many of them are obvious, but some might have completely passed you by amongst all the ceaseless jokes. For instance, the cameos from 39 villains from Batman's rogues gallery likely wasn't something that many people caught. Or at least, they probably didn't catch all of them. Have no fear, though, as we've collected the 10 best easter eggs and references from The LEGO Batman Movie for your reading pleasure. As always, if you think we've missed anything significant, feel free to let us know by commenting in the usual place! 10) Director's Cameo The movie's director, Chris McKa,y makes a couple of vocal cameos here. The most notable is his appearance as the pilot that has the misfortune of encountering Zack Galifianakis' Joker at the beginning of the film. His second is harder to spot, though, as he actually provided Batman's laugh. Speaking of that opening scene on the plane though, the air traffic control guy on the intercom mentions that it's part of Macguffin Airlines. A Macguffin is a thinly-veiled plot device that drives the narrative. And that's exactly what the plane - which is handily filled with all kinds of explosives - is. In the same scene, we also see a sign marked Ferris Air. DC comics fans will know this as the company that test pilot Hal Jordan works for before becoming Green Lantern. 9) Batman (1989) Anyone of a certain vintage will enjoy the many callbacks to Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie and its 1992 sequel Batman Returns. There are so many, in fact, that we'll just bullet-point them, lest we be here all day: The pilot mentions the Joker's previous exploits - one of which is "the parade with the Prince music," referencing the climax of Burton's movie. Joker refers to Batman's gadgets as "wonderful toys" - just like Jack Nicholson's Clown Prince. "You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts," says Batman during a fight with his enemies. This exact phrase was said by Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne. Harley Quinn is seen wearing a Smylex T-shirt - the deadly Joker venom made by Nicholson's Mr. J. The Penguin is seen riding a giant Rubber Duck - as in Batman Returns. Shreck's Department Store can be seen in the Gotham skyline - a reference to Christopher Walken's Max Shreck in Returns. Batman and Robin nearly run over an old woman crossing the road in a Batmobile. Which also nearly happens in Returns. Last but not least, Billy Dee Williams reprises his role as Harvey Dent/Two-Face from 1989. 8) The Dark Knight Trilogy The LEGO Batman Movie doesn't just favour the classics, though, as it also includes several callbacks to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. First of all, the logo used in the film's title card is the version of the Batsymbol used by Bale's Batman, only rendered in LEGO. In the opening credits, the Warner Bros. logo with a blue hue is used, just as it was in Nolan's movies. In the actual film itself, LEGO Bane might have the luchador mask and venom tubes of the comic book iteration, but his fur-lined coat and British accent are ripped straight from Tom Hardy's version in The Dark Knight Rises. Naturally, there are many nods to Heath Ledger's iconic take on the Joker in The Dark Knight as well. During the movie, we learn that Batman enjoys a good romcom. At one point. he's seen watching Jerry McGuire and bursts out laughing when Tom Cruise utters the famous line, "you complete me." This line was, of course, also uttered by Ledger's Joker. The Joker's famous pencil-based "magic trick" scene is referenced here, too - not once, but twice. In the Joker's cell at Arkham Asylum, a poster reads "no stationary." Later, Batgirl knocks the nail (or pencil) on the head by saying, "you wanna see a magic trick?" to a villain she's fighting. 7) Super Friends The people behind The LEGO Batman Movie are clearly as much fans of classic Superman adaptations as they are of Batman's own films. The Phantom Zone - an important part of the Man of Steel's lore - features heavily in this movie and there are several other easter eggs, too. When Batman travels to Superman's Fortress of Solitude, it highly resembles the version from 1978's Superman. Sure enough, the doorbell for the Fortress is John Williams' iconic theme from the movie. Inside, he finds the Justice League having a party without him. The banner above them reads "Happy 57th birthday, Justice League" - referencing the fact that the JLA was created 57 years ago, in 1960. Amongst the heroes at the gathering are D-listers like Samurai, El Dorado, Apache Chief and Black Vulcan. When they pose for a photo, the team shouts "Superfriends!" This is the title of the long-running cartoon series from the 1970s/80s. A creation of that show, Wonder Dog, also serves as the DJ of the party. 6) Batman '66 The previous iteration of the Caped Crusader that LEGO Batman has the most in common with is Batman '66, so it's no surprise that there are many callbacks to it. There are obvious ones, like the use of "bam/smack/pow" SFX in the final fight and a cameo from the infamous Shark Repellent Bat-Spray, but there are also some more easily-missed ones, too. Commissioner Gordon's right-hand woman in the movie is O'Hara. Presumably, she's a gender-swapped, non-Irish version of Chief O'Hara, Gordon's chief of police from the 1960s show. Furthermore, when the Batmobile is ready to ride, 'Puter says: "Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed." This is what Robin always used to say when Batman started up the car in the TV show. Speaking of the 60s Batmobile, at one point, Bruce is reading a magazine with the advert "Barris Automobiles." This references George Barris - who designed the car from the series. 5) Robin Becomes Nightwing Michael Cera's adorable version of Dick Grayson might be very different from any other version of the character, but he is used to reference different iterations of the hero several times. For starters, his civilian get-up is a geeky shirt and sweater combo and blue jeans - just like Burt Ward's Dick in Batman '66. On the other hand, his Robin costume contains a pair of green goggles with a red and green unitard and a yellow cape. This look is identical to Carrie Kelly, the female Robin from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. Later, Robin attempts to be like Batman and go at it alone. He then gets a new dark costume from the Batcave. This is labelled Nightwing - the superhero identity Grayson dons when he gets older in the comics. Nightwing's usual hunting ground of Bludhaven is also referenced several times throughout the movie. 4) DCEU The LEGO Batman Movie isn't afraid to take a swipe at the contemporary DC Extended Universe, and they're all executed rather well. Of course, there are more than a couple of references to Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. For starters, Batman's glowing blue eyes recall those of Batfleck in his anti-Superman armour. Joker is also confused when Batman describes Superman as one of his greatest enemies, because the Man of Steel isn't even a villain - a good-natured dig at the contrivances of BvS's plot. It's the Suicide Squad who get the brunt of LEGO Batman's jabs, though. At the start of the movie, Killer Croc swims under the city and arms Joker's mega-bomb. When he does so, he says, "hooray! I did something!" A nod to how a similar act was the only thing Croc did of consequence in SS. Later on, Babs suggests Batman should create a team of criminals to fight the criminals, which Batman thinks is a terrible idea. 3) Classic (And Obscure) Movie References It's not just Batman (and the odd Superman) movies that are referenced in LEGO Batman, however, as there are some fun nods to classic - and not-so-classic - cinema as well. A boxing-themed Batsuit in the Batcave, for instance, is labelled Raging Bat - a take on the Robert DeNiro film Raging Bull. Another with Wolverine type claws is called Clawed Rains. This is a slightly more obscure nod to Claude Rains, the classic Hollywood actor who appeared in such films as Casablanca. Further on in the film, Batman lists off superhero teams. One of these is Fox Force Five, the name of the TV pilot that Uma Thurman's Mia starred in in Pulp Fiction. By far the most oblique reference in the movie though occurs when Robin builds a makeshift skateboard and Batman tells him to "gleam the cube." Gleaming the Cube is a 1990 skateboard film starring Christian Slater. We're not sure how many of the LEGO-loving kids in the audience appreciated these jokes, but we imagine that the film buffs out there got a kick out of them. 2) Bat-Alfred The likes of Batman V Superman and Gotham have skirted with the idea of Alfred helping Batman in the field before, but LEGO Batman goes the full hog and sees the character as an active part of the Bat-family. One of the skills he shows is shooting down enemies with the Scuttler's guns. Alfred mentions that he's got experience with this sort of thing - referencing the character's stint in the Royal Air Force in the comics. He gets to don two different costumes in the film as well. One is a LEGO version of the 60s Batman costume, complete with silver eyebrows on the cowl. This is lamp-shaded by Alfred saying to Batman that he "misses the sixties." His other costume is a chauffeur's cap, buttoned-up black jacket and domino mask. Minus the Batsymbols decorating it, this outfit is heavily reminiscent of that worn by Kato - as played by Bruce Lee - in the 1966 Green Hornet TV show (a spinoff of the Batman series). 1) Batman Through Time When Batman is in a particular funk, Alfred mentions that he's seen his master go through this on several occasions: namely 2016, 2011, 2008, 2005, 1998, 1995, 1992, 1989 and 1966. These are also the years of every previous Batman movie, complete with a LEGO recreation of a scene from each. Except 1966, where a clip of Adam West doing the Batusi is used. A less obvious homage to Batman's screen history occurs when Barbara Gordon speaks about the Dark Knight's career during her first speech as commissioner. Behind her are shown several posters and iconic images of Batman over the years, only recreated in LEGO. These include nods to Batman: The Animated Series, The Dark Knight Returns (again), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, the 1943 serial and finally, Batman's debut in Detective Comics #27. At another point, all of the previous movie Batmobiles can be seen within the Batcave. Speaking of which, Batman mentions how he's been "doing this for 78 years." Much like the Justice League birthday sign, this alludes to his creation in the comics back in 1939. Like LEGO Batman says, "he has aged beautifully."