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Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is rapidly approaching, and here at Examiner, we’re pretty excited. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) blossomed from a superb “Iron Man” film with a perfectly cast Robert Downey Jr., into a living entity of intricately interwoven films and TV series. As “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” proved, Marvel isn’t lying with their slogan, “It’s all connected.” With the imminent “Age of Ultron,” we figured the entire MCU up until this point warranted another look, with Easter Eggs in mind. Here’s what we found:
Even before the First Avenger hit the big screen officially, he briefly appeared in “Iron Man.” Rather, his iconic shield did. Look closely in Tony Stark’s (Downey Jr.) lab/man cave, and you can clearly see Cap’s shield lurking in the background. There’s a reference to War Machine when Lt. Col. James Rhodes (Terrence Howard) stares longingly at Tony’s extra Iron Man suit and says “Maybe next time.” Ironically, though War Machine did appear in “Iron Man 2,” Don Cheadle took the reins, replacing Howard.
The post credits scene, which shows Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) for the first time is quite pivotal, and his words transcend the moment. When he explains “Mr. Stark, you’ve become part of a bigger universe, you just don’t know it,” he’s of course alluding to the MCU, and accordingly the stellar string of superhero flicks which formed like Voltron into an epic patchwork of interrelated worlds. It’s not a Marvel production without a Stan Lee cameo, and Lee’s “Iron Man” appearance can’t be topped in our opinion. In a hilarious scene, Lee plays Hugh Hefner attending one of Stark’s galas. Seriously, it’s one of the greatest shots in any Marvel film. It’s hard to cover every hidden gem, so we’ve only hit the highlights, but you can check out more here. Stay tuned for more coverage as we continue our “Age of Ultron” marathon.
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