10 Easter Eggs To Watch Out For In Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining MCU films to date, and a big reason why is because it's busting with ideas, with the movie acting as a kind of blend of various different comic book storylines. Apart from dealing with the events of Ragnarok, there's a lot of Planet Hulk in it, too, as well as bits of recent Thor comics from writer Jason Aaron. With the net cast so wide for comic book inspiration, then, it's not surprising that the threequel is stuffed full of easter eggs, callbacks and references to a huge variety of Marvel characters, creators and stories. Not only that, but director Taika Waititi couldn't resist sneaking in the odd nod to his favourite songs, comedy movies and even his own past work as well. And that's not even mentioning the two post-credits scenes and the glut of awesome cameos. Suffice it to say, there's a lot for fans to enjoy here. So, on that note, take a look at our rundown of 10 awesome easter eggs from Thor: Ragnarok that you need to see. It should go without saying, but spoilers will follow. The Immigrant Song Featured in Thor: Ragnarok - and heavily used in its marketing - is Led Zeppelin's "The Immigrant Song." It's not just a cool-sounding track that works well when played over images of Thor punching people, though, as the lyrics actually fit with the content of the film almost perfectly. Take a look at the first verse below, for example: We come from the land of the ice and snow From the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow The hammer of the gods We'll drive our ships to new lands To fight the horde, and sing and cry Valhalla, I am coming The reference to "the hammer of the gods" and "Valhalla. I am coming" speak for themselves, but the fourth line is an eerie match to the climax of Ragnarok, which sees Thor lead a refugee ship full of Asgardians to find a new home. It turns out that "The Immigrant Song" was key in Taika Waititi landing the job as the movie's director as well. Marvel chief Kevin Feige explained that the filmmaker used it in his initial pitch: "Filmmakers sometimes will say, using clips of other movies, ‘Here’s what I have in mind.’ And sometimes they’re not good. Most of the times, they’re okay. His was amazing, and was scored to that Led Zeppelin song. So from the beginning, that song kind of defined what Taika was going to do with this. That it’s in the trailer, that it’s in the film – all from that first meeting, and from one of his first instincts of this movie, is very impressive.” Thor's Costume Callbacks As the marketing for the movie made clear, Thor gets a new look in Ragnarok, which means that Chris Hemsworth gets to go without his long blonde wig for the first time. The short hair look is also a reference to recent developments in the Marvel comics universe. After being deemed no longer worthy to lift Mjolnir, Thor lost his powers and took to calling himself Odinson. With this revamp came a haircut as well and Thor lost his locks. Just like in that storyline, he loses his hammer in Ragnarok, so the nod to Odinson is a clever callback. The character's revamped armour also hues closer to Odinson's get-up in the comics. There's still a nod to his classic look in Ragnarok, though. The helmet he wears while battling Hulk is a homage to the winged helmet the God of Thunder always wears on the page but hasn't donned in the films since the beginning of 2011's Thor. Shady Acres When Thor and Loki travel to Earth to locate Odin, they come to the demolished Shady Acres retirement home in New York. Depending on your tastes, this name may seem familiar, as it's frequently used in comedy movies and TV shows. The first reference to it we could find is in 1994's Ace Ventura Pet Detective in which Jim Carrey's protagonist infiltrates the Shady Acres psychiatric facility. Then in 1996's Adam Sandler vehicle Happy Gilmore, Happy's grandma is moved to Shady Acres Retirement Home. Shady Acres is probably most recognizable from South Park though, where it's the name of the establishment in which Stan Marsh's grandpa lives. Weirdly, the building is also referenced a few times in the GTA: Vice City video game. The origins of the easter egg come from movie producer and director Tom Shadyac, who runs a company called Shady Acres Productions. Somewhere along the line, it must mean something to Taika Waititi, too, hence the reference in Thor: Ragnarok. Beta Ray Bill And Friends Though Hulk is the Grandmaster's current favourite gladiator, the faces carved into his tower on Sakaar reveal that his previous champions included some familiar Marvel comics characters. There's Hulk villain Bi-Beast, Ares (not the Wonder Woman version) and even Man-Thing (no idea how the swamp creature ended up on Sakaar). The one that will really excite fans, though, is Beta Ray Bill. The horse-headed Korbinite is a beloved cult character from the comics. In fact, he was the very first one who was worthy enough to lift Mjolnir apart from Thor. Initially, the pair had a rivalry over who should wield the hammer, but once Bill got his hands on his own weapon called Stormbreaker, Thor and Bill became staunch allies. Hopefully this nod means he could be on the cards for Thor 4. It's also worth mentioning that the Grandmaster's gladiatorial battles are dubbed the Contest of Champions. This name will ring a bell to anyone who's played Marvel's Contest of Champions, a mobile fighting game. It's also loosely based on a comic miniseries featuring the Grandmaster forcing heroes to do battle. Sound familiar? Jack Kirby Influence Sticking with Sakaar, Kevin Feige and director Taika Waititi have been upfront about how much Thor: Ragnarok was influenced by the unique visual style of Jack Kirby. And that's no more obvious than in the sequences set on Sakaar, what with its bright colour scheme and eclectic alien citizens. In particular, a piece of Kirby's artwork can be seen on the wall of the Grandmaster's viewing room. Those with eagle-eyes and an encylopaedic knowledge of Marvel comics might recognize the complex design from Fantastic Four #64 (July 1967). A street on the planet is also labelled "Kirby Way." Last but not least, the film's final logo is a deliberate homage to Kirby's lettering style. https://twitter.com/Kevfeige/status/902238077426343936?ref_srctwsrc%5Etfw&ref_urlhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.radiotimes.com%2Fnews%2F2017-10-26%2Fthe-13-best-easter-eggs-callbacks-and-hidden-references-in-thor-ragnarok%2F Waititi said the following recently about how Kirby influenced the movie: “He’s a huge hero to all of us. Kirby created so many incredible characters and designs and ships and costumes. We’re heavily influenced by a lot of what he did. He really blazed the trail and the tribute to him in our film was a huge honor. ” Hela Comic Book Inspirations Though Hela is a part of Thor's comic book universe, the version brilliantly played by Cate Blanchett in Ragnarok is a blend of various different characters. First up, it's revealed surprisingly early on in the movie that Hela is actually Thor and Loki's sister and Odin's first-born. This is a change from the comics (and Norse mythology), in which Hela is Loki's daughter. Instead, Thor and Loki's secret sister in the comics is Angela, a character originally created by Neil Gaiman for Image Comics' Spawn universe before Gaiman sold her off to Marvel. Hela also owes a lot to Cul, Odin's brother from the comics. Like Cul, Hela was a warrior from Asgard's ancient times who was imprisoned by Odin but later escapes in the modern day. On the page, Cul destroys Captain America's shield, which is somewhat like how Hela atomizes Mjolnir in Ragnarok. Speaking of weapons, Hela wields the All-Black Necrosword in Ragnarok. In the comic, this belonged to Gorr, the God Butcher. Hela also borrows his mocking line to Thor: "What are you the God of (again)?" Last but not least, there's a bit of Enchantress, a fellow Thor villainess, in Hela as well. In particular, her henchman in the movie usually stands at Enchantress' side in the comics... Skurge's Last Stand And just who is this henchman? Karl Urban plays Skurge in Thor: Ragnarok (with a weird shaky cockney accent, but we'll pass over that for the moment) and his character arc in the movie pays lip service to his most famous moment from the comics. Initially Heimdall's replacement as the guardian of the Bifrost, Skurge swears his loyalty to Hela once she arrives to take over Asgard. By the end of the movie, though, his conscience gets the better of him and Skurge sacrifices himself in order to protect the people of Asgard and take Hela down. In the comics, Skurge plays the same role for the Enchantress. Just like in the film, he had a change of heart in The Mighty Thor #362 and goes out all guns blazing with a pair of machine guns in place of his usual axe. Skurge's comic book nickname The Executioner is also alluded to in the film when Hela appoints him her official executioner. Even if he doesn't actually kill anyone in the movie. The Revengers In Thor: Ragnarok, the God of Thunder decides to form his own ragtag team of heroes to battle against Hela and stop her from taking over Asgard. In a fun scene, he ad-libs a name and comes up with "The Revengers," much to the disdain of teammate Valkyrie. Though this might sound like a jokey riff on the Avengers that was made up for the movie, the Revengers are actually a legitimate superhero team in the Marvel comics universe. The first Revengers were a supervillain group who opposed A-Next, the next generation of Avengers from the MC2 universe. The Revengers was also the name of the Avengers from the Cancerverse who were corrupted and turned into living corpses. The Revengers that Thor's team most resembles, though, is the one formed by Simon Williams/Wonder Man. Featuring the likes of Anti-Venom, Goliath and Atlas, this Revengers was a union of lesser-known Marvel heroes created for those who were disillusioned with the Avengers. The Fake Infinity Gauntlet And A Real Infinity Stone Once in control of Asgard, Hela journeys into the vaults full of its most dangerous treasures under the Valhalla palace. The scene takes the time to clear up one of the MCU's most perplexing past easter eggs as well. Back in the first Thor, the Infinity Gauntlet could be glimpsed on display on Asgard. While it was a fun nod, it confused fans as Thanos was later seen to already have the glove in his possession. Despite Kevin Feige having waved it away as a possible second gauntlet, Thor: Ragnarok - or, more specifically, Hela - explains that it was just a copy of the original. Speaking of the Infinity Stones, though, they do get a couple of references in this movie. At the beginning of the film, Thor tells us that he's been searching the galaxy for any of the powerful gems but has failed to find any. Back home at Asgard, though, we see that the Tesseract's still in Odin's vaults. At least it was, until the climax, when it looks like Loki pinches it. No doubt this moment will prove to be highly important when Thanos comes looking for the cube in Avengers: Infinity War. The Avengers Callbacks We're pretty sure that The Avengers must be Taika Waititi's favourite Marvel movie, as Thor: Ragnarok is stuffed full of callbacks to the first MCU team-up event. All those homages seems to have paid off, too, as Avengers director Joss Whedon has taken to Twitter to gush over Waititi's threequel. One of the most obvious - and hilarious - is Loki's reaction to seeing Hulk again during the Grandmaster's gladiator battles. Remembering how the Jade Giant beat him to a pulp at the end of The Avengers, Loki looks terrified when Hulk arrives and cries, "I have to get off this planet!" Later on, when Hulk slams Thor around the arena, Loki excitingly says "Yes! That's how that feels!" Meanwhile, when Thor's trying to get the Grandmaster to release him, he tries to convince Jeff Goldblum's character that he and Loki are brothers. Loki waves away any connection and says he's "adopted." This is, of course, a reference to one of Thor's best lines from The Avengers. There's one other callback to The Avengers' dialogue, too, in Ragnarok. When Thor's attempting to fly the Quinjet off Sakaar, the system won't accept him unless he gives the right codename. Eventually, he realizes it's "Point Break" and mutters "Damn you, Stark." Back in The Avengers, Tony Stark taps Thor on the shoulder at one point and says "No hard feelings, Point Break, you've got a mean swing." Apparently, Tony liked this nickname so much he programmed it into S.H.I.E.L.D. computers. Point Break, by the way, is a 1991 surfing movie which features Patrick Swayze with long blonde Thor-like locks. That does it for our article, but be sure to catch Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok when it smashes into US theatres on November 3rd.