Iron Man 2 Easter eggs: which ones only pay off later in the MCU?

Iron Man 2 is often cited as one of the weakest entries in the MCU, but I think that, as part of the whole, it works brilliantly. It introduces new characters, sets up things to come, and shows Tony at his most vulnerable. After going back through the MCU, I definitely think the film improves in several ways, and the Easter eggs scattered through it don't pay off until much later in the franchise.

Iron Man 2 (2010) stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Mickey Rourke. This isn't every Easter egg in the film, but there are many here that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere. Heavy spoilers follow for all 23 films of the Infinity Saga.

Justin Hammer and Vanko reflect two sides of Tony Stark

Iron Man 2 is often criticized for lackluster antagonists, but both villains serve the plot in several ways and also reflect aspects of Tony's personality. Justin Hammer is a self obsessed businessman who uses charm and charisma to further his career. He's a womanizing scoundrel, and don't you just love him. He's building his own version of the Iron Man suit and copies Tony in several ways, to his own detriment.

Unlike Tony, Hammer is unwilling to put himself in the firing line. Where Tony spends hours in his workshop innovating new designs and technology, Hammer simply steals them from others. Nowhere is this shown more than when Hammer meets Vanko to discuss their plans. Hammer orders food and says he likes to eat dessert first. As I covered in my breakdown of Get Out, food in films is often chosen specifically for characters. In Get Out, Rose ate cereal separate from milk, showing she didn't like colors mixing with her idea of whiteness.

Here, Hammer eating dessert first shows he wants instant gratification and pleasure without having to work for it. He's the arrogant side of Tony without the talent to back it up. That doesn't mean Tony is perfect. Similar to Killian in Iron Man 3, Hammer initially wanted to work with Tony but was brushed aside, and that created a rivalry. On the other side of the coin, Vanko is a genius reduced to almost nothing who, like Tony in Iron Man, used his skills to come back and build something new. Vengeance overtook him, though, and he succumbed to it.

Tony inherited his first villains from Howard Stark, like Peter Parker later did

A common misconception I've seen around both Iron Man and Spider-Man is that their villains in the MCU were created by Tony. This criticism is often leveled at the Spider-Man films, as Peter tends to deal with the repercussions of Tony's actions. In this film, though, we learn that Tony inherited his initial two villains, similar to how Spider-Man does later down the line.

Both Stane and Vanko were created by Howard Stark, and Tony had to deal with the sins of the father. Tony is a father figure to Peter, so this repetition of inheriting his first two villains is a nice carry over.

Tony Stark and Thanos mirror each other more than it first seems

Something I didn't notice until this rewatch is how much Thanos and Tony mirror one another. Both are heavily concerned with resources and sustaining life in the long run. Tony wishes to use the arc reactor to make clean, sustainable energy for the planet. We see this journey continue through the MCU to the point where he believes he's saving the Earth by creating Ultron. Ultron ends up dooming the world, much like Thanos believed he was saving the universe with the snap, but as Endgame shows, it left all life in a state of despair.

Both had good intentions but went about it the wrong way. Tony was able to come back and do the right thing, whereas Thanos was not. In Iron Man, Tony says the best weapon is the one you only have to fire once, and that's what Thanos does with the snap. Stark also has a weapon we learn he can only fire once: a laser beam that takes out all of the drones. That laser is used only once in Civil War, when Tony fights Bucky and Cap, and in the final battle of Endgame.

There's also an incredible line from Vanko after he fights Tony at the Grand Prix: "if he can make God bleed people will cease to believe in him." Thanos was thought to be godlike in Infinity War and almost unbeatable. Loki at one point told him he would never become a god, but after completing his six tasks and resting on the metaphorical seventh, it seemed he had. Yet in Infinity War, Tony made Thanos bleed, and Thanos even acknowledged it, saying all that for a drop of blood. If you've seen 300, you'll know how that film ends, and similarly, this shows it's possible to beat Thanos.

Nick Fury's bigger universe line echoes in Spider-Man: Far From Home

The film opens in the wake of the Iron Man press conference. Not long after it, Tony met Nick Fury in his home, who told him he'd become part of a bigger universe, he just didn't know it yet. That was mirrored in Far From Home, where Spider-Man is told he's part of a multiverse. So Iron Man was told he was part of a bigger universe, and Spider-Man was told he was part of multiple universes. Tony and Peter are also the only Marvel characters to get two films in the same phase, cementing that Spider-Man will indeed be taking over the reins of the franchise going forward.

Vanko sees the Stark press conference on TV as his father passes away. Angered by the treachery of the Starks, who left his family to die in poverty, he begins to build. It's been pointed out to me that this scene echoes the cave scene from the first film. Vanko hammers away and creates his own version of the suit using arc reactor technology, which we learn his father co-created with Howard Stark.

There's also a shot of bread and butter over a blueprint, perhaps symbolizing that they made their bread and butter through the arc reactor. We learn that after Howard discovered Vanko's father only wanted the reactor to get rich, he had him deported, so the bread and butter could be linked to that. That's a reach, but you know me. We're also introduced to Vanko's bird, best bird in the MCU.

The Stark Expo, AC/DC and the Senate hearing set up later films

We cut to Tony dropping in on the Stark Expo to Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC. In Iron Man, we were introduced to Stark through Back in Black by the same band, and this is a nice progression for the character. I don't know if it's intentional, but the dancers surrounding a hero and almost parading him remind me a lot of the Star Spangled Man from the first Captain America movie.

We learn Tony has palladium poisoning. This is due to the arc reactor in his chest, but it could also have been pushed into overdrive by Pepper releasing palladium gas in Iron Man in order to destroy the reactor. We also see a presentation by Howard Stark meant to resemble Walt Disney's Epcot presentation.

Tony is called to a Senate hearing led by Senator Stern, who we learn is a Hydra agent in The Winter Soldier. We also meet Justin Hammer, who says Tony has created a sword that he says is a shield. This could be a reference to Captain America, who primarily uses a shield as a weapon, but it could also be a nod to the groups S.W.O.R.D. and S.H.I.E.L.D. from the comics. Tony hijacks the feed and plays a Hammer demonstration in which someone gets twisted in a suit, and yikes, that looks like it hurts.

In Doctor Strange, Strange turns down the case of a 35 year old Air Force colonel who severely damaged his spine in experimental armor. That was often thought to be Rhodey, but Marvel denied it, so it's possible it's the person we see in this Hammer test. Tony's phone also shows an app for the Illuminati, a superhero group in Marvel Comics.

Peace signs and Tony's words to Pepper return in Age of Ultron and Endgame

Tony throws up a peace sign, which shows how far he's come from the first film, where he made fun of someone throwing one up in the Humvee, then threw one up to signal a helicopter after leaving the cave. Peace reappears in Age of Ultron, when Tony says all he wants is peace in our time, and it's also what he says to Cap when trying to bridge the gap with him in Endgame.

In the workshop we see versions of the Iron Man suits, and above the Mark 1 we can see that it's a reconstruction, since it was badly destroyed in the first film. Tony hangs up an Iron Man picture that plays on the Obama image, and we see this being sold at the end of The Avengers.

He appoints Pepper as CEO, and she asks if he's been drinking, to which he replies chlorophyll. This counteracts his palladium poisoning and its effects on his body. Explaining his choice, he says he tried to figure out his successor and drops the line "it's you, it's always been you." That line reappears in Endgame, in his farewell message to Pepper when he believes his time is up. We also get a hint of the Iron Man suitcase, nicknamed the football, a reference to the presidential briefcase that holds the nuclear launch codes.

Monaco, the Ten Rings and Natasha's resume

Vanko meets with a member of the Ten Rings, the villains from the first film, who are led by the Mandarin. Happy Hogan practices boxing with Tony, a callback to his origin story as a boxer. Tony scrolls through Natalie's resume, and we can see Hammer Industries on it, which could show she was also trying to infiltrate his company.

In Monaco, they meet Elon Musk, who says he has an idea for an electric jet. In the next scene we see Tony has already invented one, beating him to the punch. Christine Everhart from Iron Man shows up doing a big spread on Justin, just as she did on Tony in the first movie. The photographer takes a picture that appears in The Avengers in Stark Tower.

Vanko shows up and Tony gets the suit. Someone pointed out to me that the suitcase has a foothold on the other side, so Tony could deploy it either way. Vanko attacks the suit with electricity, causing many problems. Tony learns from his mistakes, and he clearly puts measures in place to absorb this in the future. That's why, when Thor attacks him in The Avengers, it overpowers the suit instead of wrecking it. This was also used to attack Thanos in Endgame.

Justin Hammer's benefactor line and drones point down the line

Tony beats Vanko, who is saved by Hammer and taken to meet him at Elon Musk's SpaceX facility. Hammer refers to himself as a benefactor, which is why many people believe he may be the mysterious operator behind the scenes in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Also, give the man his bird. He just wanted his bird. He begins building drones for Hammer and says he loves drones. Tony doesn't do this initially, but in Iron Man 3 his suits gain drone capabilities.

At Tony's party, he and War Machine fight it out. When they come back down through the ceiling, Natasha almost blows her cover by adopting a martial arts stance, showing she's ready for a fight. They cross the streams, which plays into how they defeat Vanko at the end. Rhodey flies to an Air Force base, where we see the soldier from the first film, Allen.

Tony meets Nick Fury and Black Widow's cover is revealed. At his Malibu home, Tony sits in the same robe a young Howard wore in Agent Carter. Hammer sells weapons to build War Machine, which is how Vanko infiltrates its systems. We also see a missile known as the Ex Wife, and Hammer says it would make Ulysses look like it was written in crayon. That shows Hammer's lack of knowledge, as Ulysses was written in crayon to help James Joyce see it.

Howard Stark's projector message mirrors Tony's goodbye to Morgan in Endgame

Tony goes through a briefcase left by his father, which includes a copy of Captain America issue 1. He plays a film reel containing Howard's final message to an adult Tony. The projector setup and Howard's final stance echo Tony's own final message in Endgame, played on a projector within the helmet and left for his child Morgan, much as Howard left this for Tony.

I would love it if the series revisited that Endgame moment with Morgan and showed she had a secret message from Tony too, as it would symbolize the passing of the torch. A message from both characters from beyond the grave is very poetic and shows how Marvel loves to carry symbolism across. In Howard's manual we also see a cube, the Tesseract, which Howard found at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, and which we learn in Endgame he'd been working on when Tony travels back in time.

At a roadside stop with a man selling strawberries, Tony says he doesn't like being handed things. That motif has stuck with the character, including in The Avengers when he meets Coulson, and the only time he doesn't seem to mind is with his father in Endgame. It's also been pointed out that the wristwatch Tony trades for strawberries is the one Obadiah gave him in the first movie.

Captain America's shield and Tony's new element

We see a cameo from Bill O'Reilly, who slams Pepper, and this scene has not aged well. There's also a Fortune magazine cover featuring a young Tony, echoing the award show presentation in the first film.

When Tony creates a new element, we see the Captain America shield from the prior film. It was behind Tony as the suit was dismantled, and here it's used to prop up a pipe. No wonder these guys fell out in Civil War. Tony also dons a black vest while working, a callback to Iron Man in the cave and to Endgame when he was working with Nebula.

Peter Parker at the Stark Expo and Black Widow's Taskmaster tie in

At the Stark Expo, Justin Hammer presents his drones. The Hammer logo looks a lot like the kingdom of Asgard's, and with the company also called Hammer, that could be a very subtle nod. The drones go haywire and attack people, and when the War Machine armor is hacked, its writing changes to Russian. The boy wearing an Iron Man mask is indeed Peter Parker, which was confirmed by Kevin Feige.

Black Widow and Happy head to Hammer Industries, where Natasha takes down multiple security guards. In the Black Widow trailer, we can see Taskmaster studying a tape of this to learn her fighting styles and moves. Widow reboots the War Machine armor, and Tony does the missile dodge we saw him do against the tank in the first Iron Man film. Hammer is arrested and tells Pepper he'll be seeing her again soon, which could be setting up the benefactor role down the line.

The Avengers Initiative map ends Iron Man 2 by pointing to the future

Tony and Rhodey fight Vanko, and Stark uses the smaller shoulder rockets he used in Iron Man. They take the villain out by crossing the streams, and Tony saves Pepper after the drones trigger a self destruct. In Iron Man, Tony and Pepper shared a balcony scene where they didn't kiss, but here they do, bringing that scene full circle.

The film ends with Tony seeing the Avengers Initiative as he meets Fury. A map in the background marks Malibu for Tony, New Mexico for Thor, Greenland for Captain America and Virginia for the Incredible Hulk, and Wakanda, home of Black Panther, is hinted at. Senator Stern gives Tony and Rhodey a medal, and AC/DC's Highway to Hell plays over the credits. That could be hinting at what's in store for Tony down the line, or it could just be because it's an awesome song. Either way, as part of the whole saga, Iron Man 2 works brilliantly.