X-Men: Dark Phoenix - 21 Easter Eggs & References Explained

16. X-Men 4Eva

When the X-Men return to Earth after the NASA incident, they're greeted like rock stars with children amassed to cheer their arrival, including one with a Mystique action figure and an actual child holding a sign asking one of them to marry him.

More intriguing is the sign that reads X-Men 4Eva in cutesy writing, which is a nice little call-back to the series of the same name of three comics. The last two, released in 2009 and 2010 were written by Chris Claremont, which he saw as an opportunity to continue storylines left hanging in 1991 when he resigned from Marvel.

Crucially, the series was also a free swing for him - in his own words - to kill characters and have them stay dead because the other mainline Uncanny X-Men series already had them all alive. It's very much appropriate for what happens to Mystique.