Captain Marvel Easter eggs

Hilarious image stolen from hilarious interwebs.

Heads up. This is spoiler country.

I'm going to tell you about some of the specific nerdy foiled-wrapped chocolate nuggs Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, their co-writers, and their Marvel overlords left behind for you to find in Captain Marvel. I'll admit that some of these aren't technically "Easter eggs" but are rather "nerdy comic book details loosely related to things I saw in the movie", which is way less catchy than "Easter eggs".

So if you stumbled in here by accident, you can still leave now without doing yourself a spoiler-related injury. I'm just padding out this top bit of the article in case you did stumble in here by accident. It happens all the time on the internet.

If you were looking for an actual review, here's one I prepared earlier. It's so spoiler-free I haven't even named Brie Larson's character in it. Shop around - you won't get a better deal than that.

Pictured: The Woman Without A Name.

Ok, still padding.

You still have time to leave. How about reading this ranking of all the MCU movies?

Oh, you're still here.

Ok, here we go then.

Monica Rambeau

Carol Danvers' best bud in the film is Maria Rambeau, but it's her daughter Monica Rambeau that you need to keep an eye on. Played by awesomely named youngster Akira Akbar, Monica grows up in the comics to be a character called Photon. You know, just like her mum's nickname, as painted on the side of her mum's jet. When Monica Rambeau was introduced in the comics, she was known as Captain Marvel. Then she became Photon. Oh, and Pulsar, Daystar, Sceptre, Lady of Light, Monica Marvel, Sun Goddess, and Spectrum. Just pick a name already. Anyway, she's got some serious powers in the comics.

Photon isn't the only kid floating around in the MCU destined to become a superhero. Cassie Lang, AKA daughter of Scott "Ant-Man" Lang, is known as Stature in the comics, and shares Ant-Man's size-changing abilities.

Goose the Flerken

In one of the best running jokes in the film, Goose the Cat is actually Goose the Flerken. According to the comics, a Flerken is an alien species that just happens to look like a cat. Flerkens are a somewhat rare race of creatures that contain pocket realities, which makes them somewhat like the Tardis - their insides are bigger than their outsides. And aside from the tentacles that can extend from their mouths (as seen in the film) they can lay up to 117 eggs. Makes you look at your cat a bit differently now, right? Also, it's pretty fair to assume Goose (renamed from Chewie in the comics) is named after the Top Gun character, given the film has a real Top Gun vibe at times.

Stan Lee's cameo

Stan Lee's cameo in Captain Marvel sees Stan Lee playing... Stan Lee. He's sitting on a bus reading the script for Mallrats, the comic book-loving Kevin Smith movie from 1995 that Stan Lee cameoed in... as Stan Lee. Kevin Smith subsequently tweeted that he wept tears of joy at this nod to his own oeuvre, partly because it means technically his films exist in the MCU.  It's a sweet gesture not only to Lee, but to Smith, who is a massive comic book nerd. Smith loves this shit, and it means the world to him. Watch him talking about it (and tearing up about it) here:

His humility and passion is a beautiful thing. He seems like a wonderful man. And so was Stan Lee, and this film not only pays homage to the Marvel icon via a cameo, but also through the opening Marvel logo and a nice acknowledgement.

The Supreme Intelligence

The Kree ruler in the film, as it is in the comics, is known as the Supreme Intelligence. In the film, the Supreme Intelligence appears differently to different people, kinda like the Wizard of Oz in L. Frank Baum's original book. But in the comics, the Supreme Intelligence is basically a fat ugly head floating in a jar. Why did they change this for the film? Two reasons (probably). Firstly, it allowed them to plant a seed about the mysteries of Captain Marvel's past - why is this woman appearing in Captain Marvel's dreams and why is she the personification of Captain Marvel's version of the Supreme Intelligence? But secondly, this was probably changed because the Supreme Intelligence is a fat ugly head floating in a jar. And that's fucking weird.

Mar-Vell

The first Captain Marvel in the comics was known by many names. His true Kree name was Mar-Vell, and his Earth identity was Dr Walter Lawson. In the film, he becomes a she, with Annette Bening playing Mar-Vell AKA Dr Wendy Lawson. Don't expect Mar-Vell to get her own origin story or spin-off - it might be too confusing to have a Mar-Vell movie and a Captain Marvel movie. But it's a nice nod to the character that kicked off the whole "Captain Marvel".

Secret Invasion

Firstly, some spoilerific stuff I couldn't mention in my Captain Marvel review. As a comic book fan, I actually like what they did with the Skrulls in the film, ie. made them not the bad guys. While obviously not straight-up-and-down good, the flip of making them victims meant the film had some surprises, even for the most well-read Marvel fans. It's great that these films can still keep us guessing. 

The introduction of the Skrulls means were probably going to get one of the biggest Marvel comic events in film form at some point soon - Secret Invasion. The basic premise is that Skrulls invade Earth by impersonating a few superheroes. It's the ultimate "who can you trust?" storyline. In fact, there are already fan theories floating around that this character or that character is probably already a Skrull and has been for several films. Expect plenty more of that in the future. Which isn't a good thing.

The mid-credits sequence

Does this even need explaining? Ok, fine. Nick Fury used his final act before turning to dust in Avengers: Infinity War to summon Captain Marvel with the quasi-futuristic pager she gave him in Captain Marvel. So that's her showing up (or responding to the page as it were) and meeting the unsuspecting Avengers in the mid-credits sequence. Got it? Good.