Marvel Fans Spotted a Hidden 'Avengers' Easter Egg in 2011's Thor

Photo credit: Marvel Studios
Photo credit: Marvel Studios

From Men's Health

Stop! Hammer time! Eagle-eyed fans have spotted a great nod to the Avengers hiding in Kenneth Branagh's original Thor.

With so many people in self-isolation rewatching the Marvel Cinematic Universe's back catalogue and viewing the Infinity Saga in all its glory, it was inevitable new sightings would crop up.

Following in the footsteps of an X-Men Easter egg lurking in Thor: The Dark World, it looks like we've all missed the Avengers reference in Thor. The 2011 movie saw the debut of MCU staples like Loki, Hawkeye and (of course) Chris Hemsworth's muscular God of Thunder.

While the post-credit scene of Jon Favreau's Iron Man 2 teased Thor's imminent arrival, Thor neatly led into the all-star ensemble of Joss Whedon's The Avengers. Posting on Reddit, u/Kiefer_XJ highlighted the visual imagery of Mjölnir being wedged in the ground and the Avengers "A" appearing around it.

The scene played out as Thor barged his way through the dusty plains of the New Mexico desert and infiltrated a high-security SHIELD facility being guarded by Clark Gregg's Phil Coulson.

MCU overseer Kevin Feige has made no secret about the fact he plans the franchise's future installments years in advance, meaning Thor was already well on the way to 2012's The Avengers.

Although Captain America: The First Avenger came in between Thor and The Avengers, Branagh put the pieces in place for Earth's Mightiest Heroes uniting against a common cause.

The end of Thor teased the plot of The Avengers as Nick Fury tasked Erik Selvig with investigating the Tesseract. The blue box that houses the Space Stone ended up being a major part of the 2012 ensemble and Loki's villainous intentions.

Of course, the Avengers "A" became the de facto logo of the team and famously stood atop Stark Tower after the Battle of New York to become the Avengers Tower.

Even in recent movies like Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the logo was used as part of the ever-expanding team.

In fact, the encircled A has become a beacon for the MCU as a whole and notably featured as part of Avengers: Endgame's "Avenge the Fallen" marketing campaign.

Considering Marvel fans are usually so quick on the uptake when it comes to Easter eggs, it's amazing to think this one has remained buried in the depths of the Nine realms since 2011.

Perhaps viewers were too distracted by the arrival of Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye in Thor to notice the synonymous Avengers "A" hiding in plain sight?

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