10 Subtle MCU Gags Everybody Missed At First
4. Obadiah Is The Dude! (Iron Man)
Just like Ant-Man and the Wasp referencing Laurence Fishburne's most iconic role, the first Iron Man movie did something similar with star Jeff Bridges, calling out his legendary turn as "The Dude" in 1998's The Big Lebowski.
And in this case, the nod was so subtle that it's a minor miracle fans even found it.
During the scene where Pepper Potts hacks the Stark Industries computer and discovers evidence of Obadiah Stane's plot to kill Tony, countless documents fly onto the screen at a rapid pace, each of them visible for a few frames each.
On one of these documents - a shipping manifest - eagle-eyed viewers spotted that one of the vessels was called "MSC Lebowski", an easter egg honouring Bridges' beloved turn in that aforementioned Coen Brothers comedy.
On that same manifest, people also spotted lines like "rugs that tie the room together” and “parlance of our times”, both direct homages to lines in The Big Lebowski.
Even if you did somehow spot these words and phrases while watching the movie, those unfamiliar with The Big Lebowski wouldn't have got the gag. But for those who were? Chef's kiss, Marvel Studios. Chef's kiss.