10 Obscure MCU Movie Secrets That Took Years To Discover

Taika Waititi's secret cameo in Thor: Ragnarok went undiscovered for years.

Thor Ragnarok Korg Taika Waititi
Marvel Studios

There's no single movie franchise that's been more obsessively pored over than the Marvel Cinematic Universe - it's basically bigger than God at this point, so that's not terribly surprising.

The second the latest MCU flick hits VOD, every last frame will be scrutinised by fans keen to uncover every last possible Easter egg and morsel of information.

That said, even the most hardcore fans can't catch everything right away, and so these ridiculously obscure, left-field secrets, references, and Easter eggs went largely undiscovered for years and years.

It fell to a single person to basically stumble upon them by accident and post their findings online - most often to the glorious sub /r/MovieDetails - where each sneakily hidden surprise went viral with the wider fanbase.

But given that some of these secrets weren't found for almost an entire decade, it begs the question - how many other impossibly well-hidden Easter eggs are just waiting to be discovered in some of the MCU's more recent movies? As ever, time will tell.

For now, though, these are the mind-bogglingly obscure MCU secrets which went unseen for an absurdly long time...

10. Tony Stark's Illuminati Phone App - Iron Man 2

Thor Ragnarok Korg Taika Waititi
Marvel Studios

Back in 2017, Redditor bowj discovered a devilishly well-hidden Easter egg in Iron Man 2, so cleverly concealed that it took someone almost eight years to find it.

When Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is attending a Senate hearing and starts tinkering around on his phone, look closely - very closely, that is - and alongside apps for S.H.I.E.L.D. and his various prototypes, you might notice an app labelled "Illuminati."

The app's logo even matches that of the secret superhero organisation's logo from the comics, and while this was clearly just a fun wink-wink nod to comic book fans, it is an interesting discovery in light of the Illuminati's first "proper" MCU appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (albeit on an alternate version of Earth).

Given that Tony's phone screen is shown for mere fractions of a second and the text is extremely hard to read amid the screen's movement, it's not terribly surprising that it took someone so many years to find it.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.