by Marvel VFX Studio Perception discussed why it’s difficult to integrate concealed MCU Easter eggs.
Fans frequently search for MCU Easter eggs, especially following the release of new trailers and when watching the most recent Marvel productions.
Some people have gone as far as to tie Easter eggs with prior events in order to predict what the MCU will do next.
Reflections from Marvel VFX Artists on MCU Easter Eggs
The difficulties in coming up with and concealing Easter eggs for MCU productions were discussed by VFX Studio Perception in an exclusive conversation with The Direct.
For the past 15 years, Perception has collaborated with Marvel Studios on over 20 projects, such as WandaVision, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Endgame, and most recently, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Doug Appleton, the chief creative officer at Perception, acknowledged that they try to be “very sensitive” about any Easter eggs they place in the Marvel films they’ve worked on because of fans who “look at every single frame of everything and rip it apart:”
“We do put easter eggs and things from time to time. We also try and be very sensitive about what Easter eggs we put in there. Because we know there are people like [New Rockstars] and Ryan Arey [of ScreenCrush], that will look at every single frame of everything and rip it apart.”
After that, Appleton emphasised the need for caution when choosing Easter eggs since the team doesn’t want to “start some wild speculation” about the MCU’s future:
“And so, especially with this stuff, we try and be sensitive to not put anything in there that might start some wild speculation about the future of the MCU. And we’re just like, ‘Oh, we just thought it was cool to put this costume in that you know, something like that.’ There’s stuff that we’ve done.”
The Perception executive also gave examples of things they attempt to put on MCU productions, including themselves, comic book issues, and issue numbers:
“Anytime we need numbers for something we might do like comic book issues, release dates, and issue numbers and stuff like that to kind of throw in there. Sometimes the Easter eggs we put in there are just for us where we’ve put ourselves in these movies. [In] ‘Captain America Winter Soldier,’ there’s a whole scene where they’re talking about these hydra scientists that are working for SHIELD now, and like every one of those scientists is someone from our office.”
Director of Production for Perception, Eric Daly, cited The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s final title sequence as an illustration of how the Sokovia Accords contain dates and information “that mean something in the MCU:”
“In ‘[The] Falcon and the Winter Soldier,’ we did the opening title sequence for that. And when the names come on in there, they’ve been redacted and when they unredact in that animation, there’s often like additional little pieces of information that when they become unredacted and so one of them is the document. The Sokovia Accords. There are pieces of that. One of them is the date from the security footage of Howard Stark getting killed. There are all those little things that, once they get redacted, there’s like a couple of frames of a flash of a piece of information or a date or something like that, that means something in the MCU.”
Daly also discussed a specific scene from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in which the High Evolutionary’s test subjects were seen in the background playing a hologram memory game.
Perception worked on the game’s aesthetics and established the rules for its gameplay, noticing the significance of the following small scene in the film:
“So there was a little bit of importance [there]. Okay, we can’t just make gibberish here, we have to make some set of rules. So we spent some time working with their VFX supervisor and their team over there, proposing, ‘What if the rules were this? What if the rules were this and then create solutions of like, ‘Okay, maybe the way that you know, the system is set up is, and this thing pops up from here, and then you see something above their heads, and they hit it.'”
While avoiding “drawing the focus away” from what the High Evolutionary claims is the “challenge” for the crew, Daly described the arduous process of working with Marvel to polish the sequence:
“And over the course of a few different reviews, kind of whittling it down to, ‘Okay, what’s the cleanest, simplest, most clear way to communicate that something’s going on here, without drawing the focus away from what the High Evolutionary say, to some people going what’s happening with that game in the background, because like, we didn’t want to steal the focus, we just wanted to provide additional depth behind it. So I think making rules and logic out of seemingly nothing and chaos was a bit of a challenge there.”
Easter eggs in the MCU: Why They Still Matter
There is no doubting that since the beginning of the franchise, Easter eggs have been a staple of Marvel fans’ viewing experiences in the MCU.
Given that one incorrect placement might spark innumerable ideas about the MCU’s future, it is interesting to learn that VFX Studios like Perception are conscious of and sensitive to the hidden Easter eggs that they aim to incorporate in the film.
While some Marvel Easter eggs have deeper implications, the remarks from the Perception team show that there are other references that don’t add to the MCU’s overall storyline.
In reality, fan theories about Mephisto’s participation during WandaVision’s weekly run on Disney+ have previously occurred in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, several viewers were disappointed that the villain didn’t appear.
Nevertheless, there are some amusing references that can be observed in the background that solidify how far the MCU has come in developing its world. A notable example is Perception’s work on the hologram memorization game since it had a significant and interesting goal that, despite being in the background, made spectators think.
In theatres everywhere is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
