franchise to thank: Iron Man. When the Robert Downey Jr.-starring action flick debuted in

2008, no one could've predicted the effect it would have on movies for years afterwards.

Marvel Studios and director Jon Favreau laid the early groundwork for the Marvel Cinematic

Universe by stuffing in as many Easter eggs and hidden references as they could, so for

obsessive comic fans, the Iron Man franchise can be summed up in one word: Marvelous.

The Dude survives

Jeff Bridges' performance as bad guy Obadiah Stane in the original Iron Man may have been

just fine, but everyone knows it wasn't the role for which he'll always be known. No,

that distinction belongs to The Dude from The Big Lebowski. As it turns out, the effects

guys on Iron Man agreed, and added small tributes to The Dude in Stane's secret computer files,

which feature fine-print dialogue from The Big Lebowski. Additionally, the weapons Stane

sent to the bad guys went on a ship called "Lebowski." Those details really tied the

scene together, man.

Urdu, or don't

In the beginning of Iron Man, Tony Stark is kidnapped by a terrorist group known as The

Ten Rings. Stark's captors discuss their plan, and their secret partnership with Tony's friend,

Stane, right in front of him, spoiling the whole movie before it can even really begin…but

only if you speak Urdu, the national language of Pakistan. Most Western audiences were none

the wiser. Speaking of the Ten Rings…

Ten Rings to rule them all

The first Iron Man flick would eventually spawn a franchise, but the filmmakers didn't

know that at the time. There was no way to know when, or if, we'd ever really get to

see longtime magic- ring-wearing Iron Man villain Mandarin make it to the big screen.

So instead of featuring the bad guy with handfuls of bling, the filmmakers instead decided to

pay tribute to the Mandarin by naming the terrorists after him. Which is way less cool

than having a street named after you or something.

That song rings a bell...

Still on the subject of rings, when Tony's pal Rhodey gets a call from him on his cell

phone, we can hear a very unique ringtone. That little tune is actually the theme song

from the 1966 Iron Man cartoon. Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" probably would've been a little

more badass...

...but maybe a little too on-the-nose.

O Captain! My Captain!

Fans saw the first big hints at a larger Marvel Cinematic Universe when they spotted a familiar

sight on Tony Stark's work bench. Sitting along with unfinished projects and other junk

is none other than Captain America's famous patriotic shield. The shield shows up again

in Iron Man 2, while a couple of Captain America comic books also make an appearance in Howard

Stark's trunk. Both movies predate the legendary superhero's first cinematic appearance in

2011's Captain America: The First Avenger.

Bambi Arbogast

In the comics, Bambina "Bambi" Arbogast has been a valued Stark employee for decades.

During her first appearance in 1979, she helps Iron Man defeat Whirlwind in the middle of

her own job interview, before going on to play a key role in a number of other storylines.

You can spot Bambi, played by Margy Moore, in Iron Man 2, when she’s seen working for

Pepper Potts, the new CEO of Stark Industries. Bambi's also the one who ends up unwittingly

hiring Black Widow, for which we can all be grateful. She's also heard offscreen in Iron

Man 3, reminding Pepper of her appointment with ultra-creep Aldrich Killian.

Say hello, Stan

Spotting Stan Lee's cameos has become a favorite pastime for Marvel Movie fans, and his appearances

in the Iron Man movies are some of the best. In the first film, he shows up as "Hugh Hefner,"

with a beautiful woman on each arm. In Iron Man 2, he can be glimpsed as a pretty uncanny

stand-in for legendary talk show host Larry King. And in Iron Man 3, it's back to the

babes, as Lee pops up for a moment as a very, uh, enthusiastic beauty pageant judge. Those

were probably all way better for his health than some of his other Marvel Movie cameos...y'know,

like all those times he almost got killed.

Lady Man-Thing

In Iron Man 3, Ellen Brandt is a war veteran recruited into Aldrich Killian's army of Extremis

soldiers, and, spoiler alert, she’s killed in an explosion after attempting to get some

sensitive documents from Tony Stark. It's a fairly minor role, but hardcore Marvel fans

might have recognized Brandt's name from the comics, where she's the ex-wife of Ted Sallis,

better known as the Man-Thing. In the original story, the duplicitous Brandt is actually

responsible for Sallis' swampy transformation, who attacks and disfigures her in retaliation,

a detail nodded to in the movie with the scars on her cheek. Most Marvel fans would agree,

though, that Ellen Brandt is a pretty obscure reference. But it's still probably a good

thing Iron Man 3's screenwriters didn't just call her Mrs. Man-Thing.

Mapping the future of Marvel

When Tony meets with Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man 2 to discuss the emerging Avengers

Initiative, viewers can see a map marking S.H.I.E.L.D.’s locations of interest in

the background. It's the kind of thing you need to pause and zoom to really get a good

look at, but it's loaded with pretty obvious references to the comics.

These spots include...

...a location in Africa near the fictional Wakanda, home of the Black Panther...

...one near Norway where the Tesseract is found by the Red Skull in Captain America:

The First Avenger...

...another near Greenland where Cap crashes the Skull's ship…

...and one in New Mexico, where Thor's hammer had just turned up.

All of this was way back in 2010, before Marvel really started rolling out its Marvel Cinematic

Universe Phases, so it proves that Marvel’s planning has been tighter than Black Widow’s

outfit all along.

Hulking out

During the same meeting between Stark and Fury in Iron Man 2, particularly observant

viewers can see a television in the background, tuned to a news report being delivered live

from the campus at Culver University. Not coincidentally, Culver is where the Hulk faced

off against Thunderbolt Ross and Emil Blonsky in The Incredible Hulk, which puts the events

of that film as happening in the same time frame as Iron Man 2 in the Marvel Movie timeline...

but still a few years before Tony would deliver the ol’ Hulkbuster jackhammer to Hulk’s face.

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