While fans of all things Marvel have been waiting what feels like a lifetime for one of the most anticipated games of the year to finally see the light of day, it has only taken a fraction of the time for gamers to uncover some of the most surprising, exciting, and strange Easter eggs the game has to offer.
There’s nothing like a well-executed Easter egg in video games, and with the deep history and different timelines in the Marvel lore, it wouldn’t be surprising if some of the subtle references go over players’ heads. Though it’s likely that there are dozens of Easter eggs yet to be discovered in Marvel’s Avengers, most of them have already been found, and they have fans wondering which ones are just fun gags and which ones are teasers for DLC.
10 Secret Avengers Memorabilia
In the story mission To Find Olympia, players are led into an old Avengers building, and in a secret area of the building is a museum-like room with multiple surprises encased in glass. Here players can find gold belonging to Stark, presumably for a prototype Iron Man suit, a giant pint glass made of wood and Norse metals that is undoubtedly Thor’s, and Captain America’s first shield that he used back when he was nothing but a spokesperson for World War II. These are just a few examples as this area is riddled with Easter eggs.
9 Captain Marvel
Though the Superman of Marvel isn’t a playable character or an NPC, she is the character who is referenced the most, whether she is mentioned in passing by other characters or by featuring on some kind of Avengers merchandise. At one point in the game, Kamala wears a Captain Marvel T-Shirt, and later on, she even uses a phone that bears Danvers’ iconic insignia.
The character is also posted all over the arcade in her classic outfit, and there’s even a poster of Cap. Marvel in Kamala’s room that looks a lot like an in-game character model, hinting that we could see Danvers as a playable character down the line.
8 Daily Bugle
Just to nip this in the bud before players get excited, there is no J. Jonah Jameson appearance, not even a single mention of the outspoken critic of Spider-Man. However, the Daily Bugle news channel can be found while aboard the Avengers helicarrier. And The Daily Bugle headquarters can be found on the streets as well, though it isn’t possible to enter the building.
7 Phil Sheldon
Phil Sheldon might not ring a bell to many fans of Marvel, and the character hasn’t even featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Sheldon is an extremely prominent character and it’s worth noting that he features in Marvel’s Avengers. In the comics, he is an aspiring photographer just like Spidey, snapping pics of some of the web-slinger’s most powerful villains. In the game, Sheldon has risen through the ranks, as now he can be seen reporting the news on TV for the Bugle.
6 S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents
Nick Fury isn’t the end-all-be-all of S.H.I.E.L.D. as there is an array of agents who live in his shadow but have enough personality and strange looks about them to be memorable. Though they don’t feature much in the game, there are subtle Easter eggs that give reference to them, the best of them all being a confirmation of Jimmy Woo’s existence in the game. The character was re-imagined as an FBI agent in Ant-Man and the Wasp, and played excellently by Randall Park, but in the game, he has returned back to his roots, as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
5 Daisy Johnson / Quake
Though many fans have speculated which villains should and shouldn’t make the cut in the game, few have talked about the heroes. In the game, there is a sign on a cell with the name ‘D. Johnson,’ which isn’t a reference to movie star Dwayne Johnson, but the superhero Daisy Johnson, also known as Quake. Though this could be looked at as just an Easter egg, it does elude to the idea of Quake potentially being a playable character in downloadable content down the line.
4 Wielding Thor’s Mjolnir
In a scene towards the end of the game, there is somewhat of a reference to Avengers: Age of Ultron. Early in the movie, there is a scene where each member of The Avengers take it turns to try and lift Thor’s hammer. Thor laughs through the whole scene as each character tries and fails miserably.
However, there’s one moment when Thor looks worried, and that’s when Captain America tries to lift Mjolnir. In the game, Captain America secretly enters Thor’s room on the helicarrier and tries to pick up the hammer. When he does try, he is able to make the hammer move slightly.
3 Hero and Villain Drawings
Throughout the game, whether it’s in laboratories or in the heroes’ personal rooms, there a drawings of various Marvel characters that don’t appear in the game. There are drawings of Dr. Strange and Spider-Man, and there’s a sketch of Dr. Doom. Whether or not that means anything about the future of the game is inconclusive, but it’s a great touch none the less. And next to the sketch of Dr. Doom, there’s even a plush doll of the Winter Soldier!
2 Hawkeye’s Absence
The bow and arrow donning hero might get a lot of heat from fans for being the weakest Avenger by far, but it’s undeniable that the character’s absence was felt during the game, as he was one the original heroes in the cinematic universe. However, it has been announced that he will be a playable character in later DLC. With this photo that players can find of Hawkeye and his fellow Avengers in a secret room in the vault, it begs the question, what happened to Hawkeye?
1 She-Hulk
It may come as a surprise that a Hulk game is one of the 10 best games of the 2000s according to Metacritic, but the hero who doesn’t get enough attention is She-Hulk. Finally, the character gets a nod in Marvel’s Avengers, even if it is only fleeting. James David, who is a James Dean-type movie star in the Marvel universe, was a major villain in She-Hulk comics in the 1990s, and a poster of one of his movies can be found in the game.