Our recap of the Easter eggs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues with the second entry in the entire MCU, The Incredible Hulk! Check them all out in the gallery below.
RELATED: All of the Easter Eggs in Iron Man Movies
The Incredible Hulk was the second feature film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was released just six weeks after Iron Man debuted in theaters, and it would be the last MCU movie until Iron Man 2 in 2010. The movie also arrived five years after Ang Lee’s movie Hulk was released in theaters.
The film starred Edward Norton as the title hero along with Liv Tyler as his love interest, Betty Brant; William Hurt as her father, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross; with Tim Blake Nelson as Bruce Banner’s ally, Samuel Sterns; and Tim Roth as antagonist Emil Blonsky, aka Abomination.
French filmmaker Louis Leterrier directed the movie, having made the first two Transporter films with Jason Statham beforehand. The movie went on to make just $263 million at the worldwide box office, making it the lowest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, but outgrossing 2003’s Hulk by just $18 million.
Despite the ending of the film that serves as prime sequel bait, The Hulk would stay dormant from the big screen until 2012’s The Avengers where Mark Ruffalo would take on the role from Norton.
Marvel Movie Easter Eggs: The Incredible Hulk
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The Incredible Hulk
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Stark Industries
Shown in the opening credits are the blueprints for the weapons we later see deployed against The Hulk which were created by Tony Stark.
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Nick Fury
The credits are filled with Easter eggs including a brief reference to Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury.
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Dr. Samson
Later seen in the film played by Ty Burrell, Doc Samson is another character in the Marvel universe who was capable of fighting The Hulk.
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Rick Jones
A friend of Bruce Banner's in the comic books, Rick Jones is one of the reasons that Banner originally was struck by the gamma bomb that turned him into The Hulk. Jones also turned into a super-strong hero himself, A-Bomb.
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Stan Lee
Stan Lee's cameo in the film is as a man that drinks the tainted soda bottle. We'll never know what happened to him either.
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'Lonely Man' Theme
The theme from the classic Incredible Hulk TV series, titled "The Lonely Man," plays during this section of the film.
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Stanley's
Stanley's. Stan Lee's. Stan Lee. He co-created The Hulk you know?
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Paul Soles
The man who plays the owner of Stanley's is Paul Soles, who previously provided the voice for The Hulk in the 1966 animated series The Marvel Superheroes.
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Lou Ferrigno
Lou Ferrigno previously portrayed The Hulk in the 1970s.
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The Star Spangled Man
General Ross is a noted fan of Captain America and even has a picture of him hanging in his office.
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Dr. Reinstein
The container that includes the chemicals for the Super Soldier Serum includes the name of Dr. Reinstein, the alias of Abraham Erskine from Captain America: The First Avenger.
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Purple Pants
This is of course in reference to The Hulk's trademark purple pants.
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Jack McGee and Jim Wilson
The two characters interviewed on the news report about The Hulk's attack have a history with the character. Jack McGee was a character from the original TV series, while Jim Wilson was first in the comics, befriending the green giant.
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'An Abomination'
Blonsky's transformation into a monster is noted as potentially being "an abomination" by Dr. Sterns, which is fitting since The Abomination was the character's name in the comic books.
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The Leader
This fourth wall breaking tease hints at a villainous future for Sterns who was the giant-headed villain The Leader in the source material.
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'David'
The package to Bruce from Betty is addresed to David B., a reference to The Hulk's name change in the TV series where he was called David instead of Bruce.
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Tony's back
Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark, for some reason speaking to General Ross about recruiting The Hulk for The Avengers.
