Marvel Cinematic Universe: Definitive Guide To Easter Eggs, In-Jokes And Foreshadowing
The Avengers
24. Project Pegasus
The name of the project studying the Tesseract, revealed on a background sign, is Project Pegasus (oddly in lower case - it's actually an acronym for Potential Energy Group Alternate Sources United States), which is likewise in the comics a group of scientists investigating groundbreaking energy methods (and previously referenced briefly in Iron Man 2). Confirmed in auxiliary material, Pegasus was disbanded (as it was pretty much pointless) when the Tesseract was taken back to Asgard.
23. Life Model Decoy
To get out of talking to Agent Coulson (why?) Tony Stark pretends to be a life model decoy of himself. While it's a pretty funny joke that reminds everyone of Stark's jokey disregard for others, it's also a sly wink to a major part of Marvel comics. LMD's are pretty much what they sound like - robots that replicate people - used most often to fake killing off heroes. Let's hope they don't make the leap across to the movies proper - there's enough skirting of death as it is.
22. Tony Thinking Coulsons Name Is Agent Is A Behind-The-Scenes Joke
Tony mistaking Phil Coulson's first name for Agent is ostensibly setting up his quip to Loki later in the film, but it also serves as a little in-joke to the development of the first Iron Man. Originally, Coulson was going to be a minor character in that one film, known only as Agent. It was only when Jon Favreau saw just how great Clark Gregg's chemistry with other actors was that he bumped up the role to a proper supporting player. Good thing too - Coulson's proved so popular he's now got his own TV series.
21. Project 42 Reference
The S.H.I.E.L.D. file on the Tesseract is numbered 42, a likely reference to Project 42, a prison in the Negative Zone created during the Superhero Civil War to hold non-registered heroes. Or maybe Joss Whedon just really likes The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
