BLACK WIDOW Spoilers: 10 Awesome Easter Eggs, References, And Cameos You Need To See

Black Widow just had a huge opening weekend in theaters and on Disney+, but did you catch these awesome Easter Eggs, Marvel Cinematic Universe references, and cameos? Check them out after the jump...

By JoshWilding - Jul 12, 2021 11:07 AM EST

Filed Under: Black Widow

Black Widow is now playing in theaters and on Disney+, and there's still plenty to discuss when it comes to the first Phase 4 movie. We've broken down what did and didn't work along with the ways it sets up the MCU's future, but it's now time to take a deep dive into the biggest and best Easter Eggs.

This movie may have been set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, but that doesn't mean Black Widow fails to reference the wider MCU and comic books.

Between that and some cool cameos, Cate Shortland's Marvel Studios debut doesn't disappoint, and we're pretty sure that at least some of them ended up passing you by. However, with Black Widow available on Disney+, we've let you know where to find them so you can go back and check these out!

To take a look through this feature, all you guys need to do is click on the "Next" button below!

10. Incredible Hulk #258

We're kicking things off with a real deep cut Easter Egg here as the plane the young Natasha and her "family" escape from S.H.I.E.L.D./HYDRA on has the number 258 on it.

This is almost certainly a reference to Incredible Hulk #258, the comic book that first introduced us to a team of Soviet Super Soldiers. They would later be named The Winter Guard, a team created by Russia to rival The Avengers that (a different) Red Guardian was once part of.

He wasn't an original member, though Crimson Dynamo, Darkstar, Ursa Major, and Vanguard were.

While it's a shame the team doesn't appear in Black Widow, there is a very cool Ursa Easter Egg that we're going to get to a little later in this feature!

9. Another Pose Joke

A running gag in the movie sees Marvel Studios take aim at the sexualised pose Black Widow has frequently used in the MCU and the fact it doesn't really make any sense from a fighting standpoint.

Needless to say, we're not expecting Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova to make use of that moving forward, but there's actually another "pose" joke you may have missed in Black Widow that comes when Melina (disguised as Natasha) wakes up in her cell aboard the Red Room.

She's lying in the exact same way Scarlet Johansson posed for one of the Captain America: The Winter Soldier posters, a stance many fans argued at the time was nonsensical.

It's a cool touch, and a pointed way to reference a past mistake!

8. Ursa

Red Guardian proves to be a massively entertaining part of Black Widow, though we only get to spend a small amount of time with him behind bars.

There, the Russian Super Soldier challenges many of his fellow prisoners to arm-wrestling contests and makes short work of them. However, the huge guy whose arm he breaks is named Ursa and quite possibly meant to be the aforementioned Ursa Major.

In the comic books, he's a mutant who transformed into a walking, talking bear. That explains why Alexei makes that bear crack when they face-off, though we're guessing this Ursa is powerless.

It's a fun Easter Egg, but one that suggests there are no real plans for the character moving forward.

7. A Subtle X-Men Tease?

We're all desperate to see the X-Men in the MCU, so perhaps this is a reach!

However, when Melina mentions that Natasha was chosen for her "genetic" potential (which is a big part of why she was such a successful Black Widow), we can't help but wonder if this is a tease for something bigger. We know that HYDRA unlocked something within Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, and while the former's powers seem to be magic-based, that doesn't explain Quicksilver's speed.

Regardless, later in the movie, Dreykov also talks about searching for the "genetic potential in infants," so could this be a subtle hint that the mutant X-Gene already exists in the MCU?

Something else might be needed to activate it, but in the meantime, science and magic might be enough to at least tap into that and unleash dormant superpowers.

6. Iron Maiden's Mask

We thought we spotted this in an early trailer for Black Widow, but a closer look at this key scene confirms that, yes, Melina really does have Iron Maiden's mask locked away in her armoury.

The MCU's version of the character is a fairly significant departure from her comic book counterpart, but it seems she may have once donned Iron Maiden's mask as one of Dreykov's Red Room assassins.

It's possible that it's meant to be a very early version of the technology Natasha later uses to disguise herself (that we first saw in Captain America: The Winter Soldier), but this is still a fun Easter Egg.

Perhaps Melina can don the mask if and when she makes her return?

5. Crimson Dynamo

Yelena pointedly refers to Red Guardian as "Crimson Dynamo" at one point. While it could have been her way of showing she doesn't care about his superhero persona, we can't help but hope there is a Crimson Dynamo somewhere in the MCU.

The Iron Man villain was Anton Vanko, the old man we met at the beginning of Iron Man 2. His son was Ivan, that movie's lead villain - played by Mickey Rourke - a character who ended up being a weird cross between Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo.

Perhaps Anton once worked for the Red Room, but there's definitely room to make use of this character.

Marvel Studios will likely want to avoid getting too political with any Russian heroes or villains, but we'd love to see this armoured baddie in Armor Wars or Ironheart.

4. Hawkeye's Voice Cameo

Black Widow finally pulls back the curtain on what happened with Natasha and Clint Barton in Budapest, though we don't ever get to see much of that mission.

There are hints - like arrow holes in the wall of Natasha's apartment where the two clearly fought - but that's about it until Jeremy Renner lends his voice to the movie. That moment comes when Natasha is about to blow Dreykov up, and as cool as it was to get a cameo like this, we can't help but wish it had been a little more significant.

Director Cate Shortland has said they didn't want to rely on male characters here, and that's absolutely fair enough, but seeing the two fighting side-by-side would have been awesome.

We'd like to think it's being saved for elsewhere, but don't bank on it!

3. "Thank You For Your Cooperation"

In 2012's The Avengers, a captured Loki taunted Black Widow about the red in her ledger and mentioned Dreykov's daughter. That was explained here when a flashback shows us that, in order to defect to S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha had to blow the villainous leader of the Red Room up and used his daughter to verify he was there.

Ultimately, Natasha would outsmart the God of Mischief by figuring out he had plans for The Hulk. It was at that point she said, "Thank you for your cooperation."

After outsmarting Dreykov, Black Widow reels off the exact same line.

It's a fun throwback and probably the closest the MCU's version of the character has to a catchphrase!

2. The Raft Breakout

While the movie jumps very quickly from General "Thunderbolt" Ross closing in on Black Widow to her having dyed her hair ready for Avengers: Infinity War, the latter scene puts a completely different spin on Captain America: Civil War.

At the end of the 2016 movie, we saw Steve Rogers breaking into The Raft to set his friends free.

However, this movie reveals that he was able to get there on a Quinjet thanks to Black Widow, while strongly hinting that Natasha was right by his side when Cap freed the likes of Sam Wilson, Scott Lang, and Wanda Maximoff.

Revealing Natasha was aligned with Steve from the start is a cool touch and emphasises her importance in the MCU.

1. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

Black Widow's post-credits scene brings back The Falcon and The Winter Soldier's mysterious Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. She was supposed to debut here first, of course, but the shift in release dates doesn't really matter.

Sending a mourning Yelena after her sister's "killer," Clint Barton, it seems Val - or whoever she reports to if she's not the person in charge - wants Hawkeye dead for reasons which aren't entirely clear. Now, this plot point will obviously be picked up on in the Hawkeye TV series coming to Disney+.

It sounds like Yelena has been working for Val for a while, and between recruiting a Black Widow and her own Captain America in U.S. Agent, it feels like the villain could be assembling a team.

The Dark Avengers, perhaps?

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47 Comments

1 2

WeaponXCII - 7/12/2021, 11:45 AM

It would be cool if Ursa was the MCU’s first canonical mutant- especially since it would help to differentiate themselves from Fox. I hope they do have plans for him.

DartOfHarkness - 7/12/2021, 11:46 AM

Sorry, The North Institute was a way cooler reference than your imaginary X-Men reference.

Moriakum - 7/12/2021, 11:50 AM

Henchman4Hire - 7/12/2021, 11:59 AM

My favorite Easter Egg is the fact that they took a throwaway line from Loki from the first Avengers movie and fleshed it out into an entire backstory/character. Kind of a retroactive Easter Egg.

I love the first Avengers film as much as the next fan, but even I didn't memorize every little thing Loki mentioned to taunt Black Widow. But sure enough, he says "Dreykov's daughter?" during his taunting way back then.

Hoot3 - 7/12/2021, 1:01 PM

@Henchman4Hire - yea, the only Loki taunt I remembered was "mewling quim".

LSHF - 7/12/2021, 1:31 PM

@Henchman4Hire - When I first heard "Dreykov's daughter", I assumed that her father was named Dreykov, and he was just addressing her like someone would call Thor, "Odinson".

So glad the BW film explained this.

bkmeijer2 - 7/12/2021, 2:58 PM

@Henchman4Hire - I looked it up and Loki said "Dreykov's daughter, Sao Poalo, the burning hospital" when referring to the red in her ledger. Could take it as one event, but this kovie showed they're seperate events. So, there's even more possible retroactive fleshing out

Godzillakartttt - 7/12/2021, 12:02 PM

Can't wait to see the Hawkeye series! That and Ms Marvel are two of my most anticipated

TheRationalNerd - 7/12/2021, 12:06 PM

Movie was a 7.5/10 for me. The chemistry was fun, action was decent (minus the unbelievable action sequences where BW brushed them off like it was nothing lol) Taskmaster was cool but felt kinda wasted similar to Ghost in Ant-Man and the Wasp. The CGI in the finale was terrible. I think the film (similar to black panther tried to go too big in the finale action wise) could've been more grounded. The grounded action sequences were better and looked way more authentic. It just felt like it could've been a D+ series instead.

DeaconFrostBite - 7/12/2021, 1:00 PM

@TheRationalNerd - 100% agree

inkniron - 7/12/2021, 12:09 PM

Why do you keep insisting that Cap broke Scott out? Pretty sure in another article you said the same about Clint as well. They stayed and cut deals yo.

bkmeijer2 - 7/12/2021, 2:59 PM

@inkniron - I'm assuming, especially based on the timeline of this movie, Scott and Clint were home already with a bracelet around the ankle

ElvenKingSlayer - 7/12/2021, 12:17 PM

Nat also wears the necklace with the arrow we first saw in CA: Winter Soldier

ElvenKingSlayer - 7/12/2021, 12:18 PM

@ElvenKingSlayer - and she of course gets the vest se wears in Infinity War

nibs - 7/12/2021, 1:41 PM

i thought i saw taskmaster do a wolverine claw pose

Moriakum - 7/12/2021, 3:46 PM

@nibs - No. It was a Black Panther claw pose.

marvel72 - 7/12/2021, 1:55 PM

Iron Maiden should have been the villain and not Taskmaster. Actually give Natasha to go after her because of what did to all those young girls.

You could have easily removed Taskmaster from the movie and she wouldn't have been missed.

Taskmaster could have turned up in Hawkeye,Seeing him fight Hawkeye in Winter Soldier style action,would have been awesome.

soberchimera - 7/12/2021, 2:20 PM

@marvel72 - Melina helped Dreykov develope the technology to brainwash girls for years and Natasha was like...

1 2

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BLACK WIDOW Spoilers: 10 Awesome Easter Eggs, References, And Cameos You Need To See

Black Widow just had a huge opening weekend in theaters and on Disney+, but did you catch these awesome Easter Eggs, Marvel Cinematic Universe references, and cameos? Check them out after the jump...

10. Incredible Hulk #258

9. Another Pose Joke

8. Ursa

7. A Subtle X-Men Tease?

6. Iron Maiden's Mask

5. Crimson Dynamo

4. Hawkeye's Voice Cameo

3. "Thank You For Your Cooperation"

2. The Raft Breakout

1. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

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Ray Winstone Reflects On "Soul-Destroying" BLACK WIDOW Role: "It's Like Being Kicked In The Balls"

BLACK WIDOW: Saoirse Ronan Reportedly Turned Down Yelena Belova Role In 2021 MCU Movie

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Ray Winstone Reflects On "Soul-Destroying" BLACK WIDOW Role: "It's Like Being Kicked In The Balls"

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