Warning: Some spoilers ahead for Avengers: Infinity War! Read ahead at your own risk! Seriously, turn around now if you haven't seen the movie.
Joe and Anthony Russo are responsible for some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's best films, but they are also not afraid to look back on their earlier years in television and drop in some awesome references. We saw this with the inclusion of Danny Pudi and Jim Rash in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, respectively, and that idea was hammered home even further with the inclusion of The Bluth Company's stair car in Civil War's airport battle. Now, with the release of Avengers: Infinity War, we stuck our pretty little noses into the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster, and we discovered an Arrested Development Easter egg in the form of blue, Never Nude Tobias Funke in The Collector's lair.
Pull up a plate of chicken fingers with club sauce and allow us to explain this delightful Arrested Development deep cut. The scene in question comes when The Guardians team goes to Knowhere in an attempt to retrieve The Aether from The Collector and return the reality-bending Infinity Stone from whence it came. Guardians of the Galaxy established some bizarre items in The Collector's possession (such as Cosmo the Space Dog), and now in Infinity War, it looks like the Celestial has gotten his hands on the world's first analrapist. Specifically, Tobias Funke (though it is not actually David Cross as the character) appears in one of The Collector's glass containers, wearing Never Nude cutoffs and the blue paint from his audition for The Blue Man Group.
Of course, you would be forgiven for not noticing the Tobias Easter egg on your first viewing of Avengers: Infinity War. It's one of those blink-and-you-miss-it moments that the Russos have become exceedingly good at, and it occurs during one of the film's most intense scenes. Now, it's just a matter of wondering how long Tobias has been in there. Probably as long as we've been waiting for Season 5, but that's neither here nor there.
Now for the real question: What Easter egg will Joe and Anthony Russo include, next? So far the duo has added something from their TV years in all of their Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, which means we could definitely see another Arrested Development joke (or, at the very least, a Community joke) in Avengers 4, as well. Could Thanos' secluded hut have a Cornballer in its kitchen? Could GOB and Franklin Delano Bluth show up to replenish the depleted Avengers ranks (after all, with Stephen Strange gone, The Avengers need a new magician)? We have no idea, but we are dying to know what The Russos will do next.
Avengers: Infinity War is now in theaters. If you are looking for more information about the film, check out our in-depth review and our review roundup, as well as our comprehensive To 3D guide to figure out the right ticket to buy.
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