Marvel Cinematic Universe: Definitive Guide To Easter Eggs, In-Jokes And Foreshadowing
Iron Man
8. Captain America's Shield
When Tony's suiting down after his afternoon jaunt to Afghanistan, a partially constructed approximation of Captain America's shield can be seen in the background on his work desk. Obviously this isn't Cap's actual shield (that's made of Vibranium and frozen in the Arctic with Steve Rogers), but it serves as acknowledgement of the wider universe.
7. "Next Time, Baby"
After Iron Man flies off to confront Stane, Rhodey takes a look at the Mark II before uttering, "next time, baby", a clear promise to fans that War Machine would appear in a sequel. Somewhat humorously, while James Rhodes would indeed become War Machine in Iron Man 2 (and Iron Patriot in Iron Man 3), it would be with the guise of Don Cheadle, rather than Terrence Howard, due to a still hazy confrontation between studio and star. Actor aside, however, the continuity here is pretty strong - that armour is indeed the one that gets modified for military purposes.
6. Roxxon Corporation Building
Although their climactic battle centres around Stark Industries, the skirmish between Iron Man and Iron Monger goes close to the headquarters of another big company - the Roxxon Corportation. Roxxon Oil/Energy were behind various criminal schemes in the comics, most nefariously the death of Howard and Maria Stark. That's something that was appropriated to Hydra in the MCU, with Roxxon kept as background winks to the fans. Interestingly, the only movies in the series to feature the company are Iron Man's, a nice nod to their prominence in his stories.
5. An On-Location Photo Was Used For Newspaper
The front of The Chronicle Tony Stark reads may seem like just another fake newspaper made for a movie, but it was actually a pretty cool Easter egg (at least it was for a while). In the theatrical release, the image was a photograph taken by a bystander when the fight was shot on location. Despite clearly being a fan of Iron Man, Ronnie Adams wasn't too flattered by being used uncredited and forced Marvel to change the picture for home video.
