Of all the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy movies are easily the most fan service-y. Despite being somewhat obscure characters before their cinematic debut, the team's films are chock full of Easter eggs and references to other elements in Marvel's vast comic book universe. Being a true comic nerd, James Gunn cuts deep and buries Easter eggs where only the most meticulous of fans can find them, and even then, only through a painstaking search, armed with a vast wealth of comic book knowledge. Even now, going on four years since its release, fans are still discovering Easter eggs in the original Guardians of the Galaxy and James Gunn just confirmed another one that's connected to Marvel legend Stan Lee. You see, the alien text next to him in Guardians of the Galaxy translates to the writer's catchphrase. Take a look below.
It's pretty amazing that this original Guardians Easter egg actually comes during a Stan Lee cameo. You would think that Stan Lee's cameos had been poured over more than a lot of other scenes, but it is clear these eggs were intentionally made difficult to find. Of course, the Easter egg was written in Skrull, which I don't even know how one would go about translating such a thing. The Skrull text gleaned from Rocket Raccoon's scan reads "Excelsior!", which is of course is Stan Lee's famous motto as well as being the name of a magical sword created by the Kree/Skrull hybrid Dorrek Supreme in the comics. That is quite the confluence of geeky knowledge and a really cool tribute to Stan Lee in his cameo.
This is an amazing find and a really cool deep cut and as James Gunn says on his Twitter post, proof that both Guardians films still have Easter eggs that remain unfound. James Gunn also notes that while this Easter egg was hidden until now, it is still not the Easter egg: the notorious, huge, super-secret one that remains an enigma. This Easter egg has been the subject of much speculation for years now since James Gunn confirmed its existence. What's especially compelling about this mystery is that James Gunn has referred to this Easter egg as a really big one. The director has said that he wouldn't reveal the big Easter egg until a while after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 at the earliest, so I'd say we probably still have a ways to go.
Perhaps this latest discovery will give hope to those who doubted the existence of more Easter eggs that there is still gold to be mined in this treasure trove of comic book miscellany. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is one of the only MCU movies confirmed for Phase 4, and it is aiming for a 2020 release date, so maybe this mystery may finally be unraveled by then. Oh, and apparently Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 also has a huge, impossible to find Easter egg as well. So happy hunting!
