Marvel Cinematic Universe: Definitive Guide To Easter Eggs, In-Jokes And Foreshadowing

Iron Man 2

18. Stan Lee Cameo

Following on from his appearance as a Hugh Hefner lookalike in the first film, Stan Lee cameos as a man a delirious Tony Stark mistakes for Larry King. It's just a cameo, so not worth reading much into it, but wouldn't it be funny if "Larry" and "Hugh" were the same high flyer who Tony just can't seem to remember.

17. Tony References His Secretary Of Defence Role In the Comics

During the length Senate hearing (which comes with an out-there cameo from Garry Shandling), the notion of working Tony Stark (and thus Iron Man) into the US military comes up, to which he retorts "I'll consider Secretary of Defense, if you ask nicely". Although it's played as an example of Stark's cockiness, it's actually another of the series' sly nods to the comics - Tony became Secretary of Defense after revealing his identity and clashing with the government over the use of his technology. The scene also touches on topics incredibly close to the responsibility of heroes issue that will be pushed to the fore in Captain America: Civil War

16. Black Widow's Alias Homages The Comics

Black Widow has so many aliases the filmmakers could easily change her name for the MCU to Natasha Romanoff without much upset. That didn't stop Jon Favreau from taking time to acknowledge her original name, however; when first introduced Romanoff's going by the pseudonym Natalie Rushman, a mixture of the comic character's real name (Natalia Romanova) and one of her common covers (Nancy Rushman).