10 Marvel Cinematic Universe Easter Eggs That Led Nowhere
Every scrambled egg in one basket.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe loves to tease its fans by leaving hints of what's to come lying around, from subtle foreshadowing to blatant post-credits stingers.
In most cases, the trail of breadcrumbs the comic book giant has left behind leads to a major reveal in the next movie, but there are also instances where certain Easter eggs have turned out to be herrings redder than Johann Schmidt's face.
With a decade's worth of continuity to weave together, the House of M's celluloid arm can be forgiven for allowing the occasional minor plot thread to dangle, but there are times when it was perhaps guilty of trolling the fans.
Marvel has hinted that certain heroes and villains may be at large in the MCU, yet failed to follow through on these nuanced teasers, leading to the conclusion that some of these Easter eggs are no more than empty promises wrapped in novelty packaging.
These teasers that ultimately went nowhere have been around since Phase One of the MCU, and they aren't going anywhere, and some of them were just plain misleading...
10. Tony Stark's Post-Hulk Cameo
Tony Stark's cheeky cameo in The Incredible Hulk's post-credits scene almost painted Marvel Studios into a corner just two movies into its cinematic universe construction and, in hindsight, it feels weirdly at odds with the continuity of the other films.
Robert Downey Jr's roguish billionaire shows up at a bar where a disgraced General Ross is drinking and tells him about a team he's helping assemble, and if you've only watched the films, the whole thing reeks of WTF.
Presumably said team is The Avengers, but what does that have to do with Thunderbolt Ross? He disappeared off the MCU radar for years before popping up for cameo in Captain America: Civil War and wasn't part of the Avengers Initiative, while Stark was a reluctant recruit in Joss Whedon's first team-up movie. What gives?
Although this looks like an Easter egg that went absolutely nowhere, it's actually a case of Marvel having to nix a plot thread due to Edward Norton's Hulk being sidelined in favour of Mark Ruffalo's Green Goliath.
Marvel explained Stark's presence in the bar in its One-Shot The Consultant, which revealed that Iron Man was sent by SHIELD to sabotage a meeting involving Ross that could have seen The Abomination released from custody. The whole thing smacked of 'let's just sweep this under the rug forever'.