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Ant-Man And The Wasp: All The MCU And Infinity War References And Easter Eggs We Caug
Ant-Man and the Wasp spoilers ahead!
You know the drill by now: A brand new Marvel movie has hit theaters which means we've got a brand new clutch of Eggs and references to sort through. Ant-Man and the Wasp may not have been the most serious entry into the MCU's timeline, especially in the wake of Thanos and the snap heard round the universe. But from obscure D-list comic book villains to decade-old MCU deep cuts, it still managed to pack in some winks and nods for the dedicated fan.
We've broken down a list of them here--how many were you able to catch?
When you're done, check out our full Ant-Man and the Wasp review, the post-credits scenes explained, whether we'll get another Ant-Man sequel, and all the Infinity War Easter eggs and references you could ever want.
1. House Arrested
We join Scott this time around while he's under house arrest--a consequence he's suffering from his involvement in Captain America: Civil War. Scott teamed up with Cap to fight against the signing of the Sokovia Accords, which landed him right into the heart of a black site prison called The Raft. Rather than deal with life on the run, Scott elected to take a plea deal and go back to his family, which included a two year house arrest clause.
2. X-Con Security
Scott may be confined under house arrest post-Civil War, but he's been hard at work with a brand new day job. He and the crew--Luis, Dave, and Kurt--have started up a brand new security consulting business called, appropriately, X-Con Security. This is actually a reference to some recent Ant-Man comics where Scott does just that in Miami, Florida.
The comics version of X-Con is called Ant-Man Security Solutions, and it's populated not by other ex-cons, but with a small group of D-list costumed villains (Grizzly and Machinesmith making up the core of the group). But the basic principles are still the same.
3. The Orb
During Scott's heist playtime with Cassie, he has her pull out a "special contact" to disable one of their imaginary security systems. The contact, in this case, is just a paper plate painted like a giant eye that takes up Cassie's entire face for a moment. Of course, this is about 80% sight gag but that remaining 20% is a pretty clever nod to one of Marvel's weirdest (and most persistent) villains, a man called The Orb. Orb's most notable feature is his head, which, as you might guess, is a giant, spherical eyeball.
4. Animal House
Blink and you might miss Animal House playing on TV. But it's there, and it couldn't be more appropriate--it's Donald Sutherland talking about entire universes existing in one tiny atom, which, you know, is literally what the Quantum Realm is.
5. Sleight of hand
During his house arrest, Scott takes up close-up magic from an online course as a way to pass the time. He even gets pretty good at it! On top of just being yet another goofy layer to Scott's boredom, dealing with magic has been kind of a thing for the Ant-Man legacy. One of Hank Pym's oldest costumed enemies was a man called the Magician, who faced off against him back in the early 60s during his Giant-Man days.
6. Baba Yaga
This one isn't so much a comics reference as a wink to actual folklore. When discussing Ghost for the first time, Kurt wistfully explains that she sounds just like "Baba Yaga," a witch who could magically show up and eat children. He's not totally wrong, nor is he just making this up--the Baba Yaga is a myth-slash-cautionary tale told in Slavic countries about a terrifying old woman (or sometimes a trio of old women) who served, depending on the story, as a benevolent helper or a malicious villain. In that way, the reference fits very well.
7. "I was talking about me…"
Scott's daughter Cassie makes a very earnest pitch to him about needing a partner, but she's not talking about Hope's Wasp--she's talking about herself. It's a pretty heart warming and adorably child-like moment, all things considered, but the truth of the matter is, she's actually not wrong. Cassie in the comics becomes a superhero named Stature, able to use Pym Particles to manipulate her size just like her father. She goes on to join teams like the Young Avengers--obviously not when she's like, 10 years old, but hey! Who knows? Maybe a few years from now when Cassie's in her teens, she'll get to totally live out her dreams on the big screen.
8. Masters of Disguise
During their trip to visit Bill Foster on his campus while, hopefully, avoiding the eyes of the FBI, Hope, Scott and Hank go "under cover." Under cover in this case means they put sunglasses and baseball hats on. During their daring stealth mission, Scott comments that he can't believe anyone would be fooled by this because, really, they just look like themselves at a baseball game.
He's not wrong--but he's also not just talking about their little ragtag team in that moment. The MCU has become pretty infamous for putting heroes in the same style of "disguise"--hats and glasses and not much else, to the point that it's become something of an inside joke for fans. Really, who isn't going to realize Captain America's standing right next to them just because he's got a pair of glasses and a hat on? Nobody, that's who.
9. Centurion
The FBI has it out for Hank Pym in more ways than one. They're hunting down Pym Tech for Scott's flagrant violation of the Sokovia Accords, sure--but there's some personal gain thrown into the mix. Agent Geoffrey Ballard is Sonny Burch's man on the inside for this particular mission, and steals Pym's lab from FBI custody during their their raid on its new woodland location. This lines up with Ballard's comics incarnation, Centurion, a Z-list villian and thief who is known for taking odd jobs that pay well.
10. The Goliath Project
Bill Foster talks briefly about he and Hank's work together back in the good ol' days on a project called "Goliath," which it turns out is more than just a catchy name. Bill's comic book counterpart has a superhero alter-ego all his own, the (surprise!) size manipulating Goliath, who had basically the same story on screen and off. Apparently, no matter what universe he's in, Bill's destined to be Hank's ex-assistant. Maybe eventually we'll get to see Laurence Fishburne suit up, but until then, a formerly Pym particle empowered Bill is the best we've got.
11. Jimmy Woo
The closest thing Scott has to a personal nemesis through the entirety of Ant-Man & The Wasp is Officer Jimmy Woo, the FBI agent in charge of overseeing Scott's house arrest and parole. We don't get too much in the way of a backstory for Jimmy on camera, but he's not a newly created character for the movies. In the comics, Jimmy has a decades long history as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and hero in his own right, most famously as a member of the Agents of Atlas.
What we're saying is, don't count out Jimmy Woo just because Scott completed his house arrest sentence. There's still plenty of potential for Agent Woo to return in the future, maybe with a whole team behind him.
12. Wassup???
Luis, bless his heart, makes a pretty dated joke to a truly vintage meme: the Budweiser "wassup??" commercial from the '90s. In the days before the internet truly took hold, this was pretty much the peak of comedy for several months after it first aired. Unfortunately for Luis, Scott and Hope don't seem to be as nostalgic about pop culture as he is.
13. Ava's Family
In describing the accident that knocked her body out of phase with the universe, Ava explains that her father was a man named Elihas Starr, a scientist who used to work with Hank Pym before he went rogue. Like Project Goliath, that name isn't just a random grab. Over in the comics, Elihas Starr is a scientist super villain known, appropriately, as Egghead, who dates all the way back to the early 60s.
Unfortunately, it seems MCU Egghead will never truly be considering Starr's untimely death during the explosion that transformed his daughter into Ghost. But hey, who's to say there aren't more flashbacks in Ava's future that could flesh out her father's history a bit more?
14. Spot Stan
Of course Stan Lee has a cameo--this is an MCU movie, after all. This time around we catch Stan unlocking his car as the size-shifting chase barrels down the street. He makes a crack about how the '60s were fun but now he's paying for it--a two part joke about being a former hippie and also about founding Marvel. Ant-Man himself was introduced in 1962.
15. "It's Them!"
As the ants come marching in to save Hope, Scott, and Hank, Bill Foster has a moment straight out of the pulps of the '50s, announcing, "It's them!" It's a shout-out to the 1954 horror/scifi classic Them, which is, unsurprisingly, about giant ants. The reference comes full circle when Scott, Cassie, and Hope watch the movie for real while miniaturized at their very own "drive in."
16. Sonny Burch
Fan favorite Walton Goggins plays Sonny Burch, a sleazy businessman with his eyes set on Pym Tech--something he claims to be trying to purchase for a mysterious buyer, the likes of which is never seen or named on screen. In the comic, Sonny is basically the same, an on again, off again villainous CEO of a company called Cross Technologies that is traditionally a thorn in Tony Stark's side. His comic book connections actually run pretty deep, but most notably, he's had repeat dealings with Obadiah Stane, who you might remember as Iron Monger back from the very first Iron Man movie.
Wouldn't that be a crazy callback to make on screen somewhere down the line? Stranger things have happened, and it's not like Sonny was taken off the table here--so maybe keep an eye out.
17. Giant-Man
While Scott's antics are being broadcast on TV, a newscaster refers to him as "Giant-Man," likely because he's, well, a giant man. But significantly this tiny moment represents the first time the name Giant-Man has actually been used in canon in the MCU.
18. Tardigrades. They're real.
During his trip into the Quantum Realm, Hank Pym comes across a few massive, alien-like creatures at the subatomic level. They're called Tardigrades, or "water bears," and they're actually pretty important to the scientific community. They're known for their ability to withstand extreme environments and live in excess of a hundred years.
19. Tim Heidecker, Whale Boat Captain
Continuing the Ant-Man franchise's tradition of including offbeat comedian cameos, Tim Heidecker of Tom Goes To the Mayor and Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job appears briefly in the film as a whale watch boat tour captain--a slightly larger role than Neil Hamburger's "Dale" in the first Ant-Man movie.
20. Evolutionary
Jan describes the effects of her time in the Quantum Realm as a sort of evolution, rather than adaptation. Over in the comics, Jan is actually a mutant, which gives that line a whole new flavor. While mutants aren't exactly canon in the mainline MCU, this does present a backdoor into introducing them in earnest sometime down the line. Maybe quantum energy will have something to do with the emergence of the next step in human evolution.
21. The Snap
Of course we couldn't go an entire movie without acknowledging the finale of Infinity War. The post credits this time around include Hank, Hope, and Jan all mysteriously "vanishing" (crumbling into dust), leaving Scott stranded in the Quantum Realm--the work of the Infinity Gauntlet and Thanos.
More...
You know the drill by now: A brand new Marvel movie has hit theaters which means we've got a brand new clutch of Eggs and references to sort through. Ant-Man and the Wasp may not have been the most serious entry into the MCU's timeline, especially in the wake of Thanos and the snap heard round the universe. But from obscure D-list comic book villains to decade-old MCU deep cuts, it still managed to pack in some winks and nods for the dedicated fan.
We've broken down a list of them here--how many were you able to catch?
When you're done, check out our full Ant-Man and the Wasp review, the post-credits scenes explained, whether we'll get another Ant-Man sequel, and all the Infinity War Easter eggs and references you could ever want.
1. House Arrested
We join Scott this time around while he's under house arrest--a consequence he's suffering from his involvement in Captain America: Civil War. Scott teamed up with Cap to fight against the signing of the Sokovia Accords, which landed him right into the heart of a black site prison called The Raft. Rather than deal with life on the run, Scott elected to take a plea deal and go back to his family, which included a two year house arrest clause.
2. X-Con Security
Scott may be confined under house arrest post-Civil War, but he's been hard at work with a brand new day job. He and the crew--Luis, Dave, and Kurt--have started up a brand new security consulting business called, appropriately, X-Con Security. This is actually a reference to some recent Ant-Man comics where Scott does just that in Miami, Florida.
The comics version of X-Con is called Ant-Man Security Solutions, and it's populated not by other ex-cons, but with a small group of D-list costumed villains (Grizzly and Machinesmith making up the core of the group). But the basic principles are still the same.
3. The Orb
During Scott's heist playtime with Cassie, he has her pull out a "special contact" to disable one of their imaginary security systems. The contact, in this case, is just a paper plate painted like a giant eye that takes up Cassie's entire face for a moment. Of course, this is about 80% sight gag but that remaining 20% is a pretty clever nod to one of Marvel's weirdest (and most persistent) villains, a man called The Orb. Orb's most notable feature is his head, which, as you might guess, is a giant, spherical eyeball.
4. Animal House
Blink and you might miss Animal House playing on TV. But it's there, and it couldn't be more appropriate--it's Donald Sutherland talking about entire universes existing in one tiny atom, which, you know, is literally what the Quantum Realm is.
5. Sleight of hand
During his house arrest, Scott takes up close-up magic from an online course as a way to pass the time. He even gets pretty good at it! On top of just being yet another goofy layer to Scott's boredom, dealing with magic has been kind of a thing for the Ant-Man legacy. One of Hank Pym's oldest costumed enemies was a man called the Magician, who faced off against him back in the early 60s during his Giant-Man days.
6. Baba Yaga
This one isn't so much a comics reference as a wink to actual folklore. When discussing Ghost for the first time, Kurt wistfully explains that she sounds just like "Baba Yaga," a witch who could magically show up and eat children. He's not totally wrong, nor is he just making this up--the Baba Yaga is a myth-slash-cautionary tale told in Slavic countries about a terrifying old woman (or sometimes a trio of old women) who served, depending on the story, as a benevolent helper or a malicious villain. In that way, the reference fits very well.
7. "I was talking about me…"
Scott's daughter Cassie makes a very earnest pitch to him about needing a partner, but she's not talking about Hope's Wasp--she's talking about herself. It's a pretty heart warming and adorably child-like moment, all things considered, but the truth of the matter is, she's actually not wrong. Cassie in the comics becomes a superhero named Stature, able to use Pym Particles to manipulate her size just like her father. She goes on to join teams like the Young Avengers--obviously not when she's like, 10 years old, but hey! Who knows? Maybe a few years from now when Cassie's in her teens, she'll get to totally live out her dreams on the big screen.
8. Masters of Disguise
During their trip to visit Bill Foster on his campus while, hopefully, avoiding the eyes of the FBI, Hope, Scott and Hank go "under cover." Under cover in this case means they put sunglasses and baseball hats on. During their daring stealth mission, Scott comments that he can't believe anyone would be fooled by this because, really, they just look like themselves at a baseball game.
He's not wrong--but he's also not just talking about their little ragtag team in that moment. The MCU has become pretty infamous for putting heroes in the same style of "disguise"--hats and glasses and not much else, to the point that it's become something of an inside joke for fans. Really, who isn't going to realize Captain America's standing right next to them just because he's got a pair of glasses and a hat on? Nobody, that's who.
9. Centurion
The FBI has it out for Hank Pym in more ways than one. They're hunting down Pym Tech for Scott's flagrant violation of the Sokovia Accords, sure--but there's some personal gain thrown into the mix. Agent Geoffrey Ballard is Sonny Burch's man on the inside for this particular mission, and steals Pym's lab from FBI custody during their their raid on its new woodland location. This lines up with Ballard's comics incarnation, Centurion, a Z-list villian and thief who is known for taking odd jobs that pay well.
10. The Goliath Project
Bill Foster talks briefly about he and Hank's work together back in the good ol' days on a project called "Goliath," which it turns out is more than just a catchy name. Bill's comic book counterpart has a superhero alter-ego all his own, the (surprise!) size manipulating Goliath, who had basically the same story on screen and off. Apparently, no matter what universe he's in, Bill's destined to be Hank's ex-assistant. Maybe eventually we'll get to see Laurence Fishburne suit up, but until then, a formerly Pym particle empowered Bill is the best we've got.
11. Jimmy Woo
The closest thing Scott has to a personal nemesis through the entirety of Ant-Man & The Wasp is Officer Jimmy Woo, the FBI agent in charge of overseeing Scott's house arrest and parole. We don't get too much in the way of a backstory for Jimmy on camera, but he's not a newly created character for the movies. In the comics, Jimmy has a decades long history as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and hero in his own right, most famously as a member of the Agents of Atlas.
What we're saying is, don't count out Jimmy Woo just because Scott completed his house arrest sentence. There's still plenty of potential for Agent Woo to return in the future, maybe with a whole team behind him.
12. Wassup???
Luis, bless his heart, makes a pretty dated joke to a truly vintage meme: the Budweiser "wassup??" commercial from the '90s. In the days before the internet truly took hold, this was pretty much the peak of comedy for several months after it first aired. Unfortunately for Luis, Scott and Hope don't seem to be as nostalgic about pop culture as he is.
13. Ava's Family
In describing the accident that knocked her body out of phase with the universe, Ava explains that her father was a man named Elihas Starr, a scientist who used to work with Hank Pym before he went rogue. Like Project Goliath, that name isn't just a random grab. Over in the comics, Elihas Starr is a scientist super villain known, appropriately, as Egghead, who dates all the way back to the early 60s.
Unfortunately, it seems MCU Egghead will never truly be considering Starr's untimely death during the explosion that transformed his daughter into Ghost. But hey, who's to say there aren't more flashbacks in Ava's future that could flesh out her father's history a bit more?
14. Spot Stan
Of course Stan Lee has a cameo--this is an MCU movie, after all. This time around we catch Stan unlocking his car as the size-shifting chase barrels down the street. He makes a crack about how the '60s were fun but now he's paying for it--a two part joke about being a former hippie and also about founding Marvel. Ant-Man himself was introduced in 1962.
15. "It's Them!"
As the ants come marching in to save Hope, Scott, and Hank, Bill Foster has a moment straight out of the pulps of the '50s, announcing, "It's them!" It's a shout-out to the 1954 horror/scifi classic Them, which is, unsurprisingly, about giant ants. The reference comes full circle when Scott, Cassie, and Hope watch the movie for real while miniaturized at their very own "drive in."
16. Sonny Burch
Fan favorite Walton Goggins plays Sonny Burch, a sleazy businessman with his eyes set on Pym Tech--something he claims to be trying to purchase for a mysterious buyer, the likes of which is never seen or named on screen. In the comic, Sonny is basically the same, an on again, off again villainous CEO of a company called Cross Technologies that is traditionally a thorn in Tony Stark's side. His comic book connections actually run pretty deep, but most notably, he's had repeat dealings with Obadiah Stane, who you might remember as Iron Monger back from the very first Iron Man movie.
Wouldn't that be a crazy callback to make on screen somewhere down the line? Stranger things have happened, and it's not like Sonny was taken off the table here--so maybe keep an eye out.
17. Giant-Man
While Scott's antics are being broadcast on TV, a newscaster refers to him as "Giant-Man," likely because he's, well, a giant man. But significantly this tiny moment represents the first time the name Giant-Man has actually been used in canon in the MCU.
18. Tardigrades. They're real.
During his trip into the Quantum Realm, Hank Pym comes across a few massive, alien-like creatures at the subatomic level. They're called Tardigrades, or "water bears," and they're actually pretty important to the scientific community. They're known for their ability to withstand extreme environments and live in excess of a hundred years.
19. Tim Heidecker, Whale Boat Captain
Continuing the Ant-Man franchise's tradition of including offbeat comedian cameos, Tim Heidecker of Tom Goes To the Mayor and Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job appears briefly in the film as a whale watch boat tour captain--a slightly larger role than Neil Hamburger's "Dale" in the first Ant-Man movie.
20. Evolutionary
Jan describes the effects of her time in the Quantum Realm as a sort of evolution, rather than adaptation. Over in the comics, Jan is actually a mutant, which gives that line a whole new flavor. While mutants aren't exactly canon in the mainline MCU, this does present a backdoor into introducing them in earnest sometime down the line. Maybe quantum energy will have something to do with the emergence of the next step in human evolution.
21. The Snap
Of course we couldn't go an entire movie without acknowledging the finale of Infinity War. The post credits this time around include Hank, Hope, and Jan all mysteriously "vanishing" (crumbling into dust), leaving Scott stranded in the Quantum Realm--the work of the Infinity Gauntlet and Thanos.
More...