Kong: Skull Island - 25 Easter Eggs & References You Must See

19. Akira

On top of his appreciation for video games and monster movies, the director is also an anime fan, and one of the biggest Easter Eggs is a reference to Akira.

John C. Reilly's Hank Marlow wears an iconic leather jacket, emblazoned with the phrase “good for your health”, which fans of Reilly’s ‘Dr. Steve Brule’ character in Tim & Eric believed was a nod to his catchphrase (“For your health!”). It turns out, it's actually a tribute to Akira, as the whole insignia reads "Good for your health… Bad for education” , which was taken from Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic Akira.

The director revealed to Moviefone that the reference to Brule was just a coincidence:

[Laughs] Ironically, it is a Steve Brule Easter egg but it was originally designed as a reference to "Akira" and the jacket they wear in "Akira." It just happened to brilliantly coincide with the "For Your Health" Steve Brule reference. I remember when I showed the jacket to John he said, "You know that's a Steve Brule thing, too?" And I said, "Yeah and it's also an 'Akira' thing." So he said, "All right, well people are going to go nutty for this." I said, "All right." In a normal world, my instinct would have been, Ah,that's too close. But I thought, No, this is perfect. The fact that the original "Akira" reference lines up with this thing in John C. Reilly's life is too good to pass up.