50 Easter Eggs And Hidden Details From Popular Films, As Shared In This Group (New Pics)

To get to know more about the significance of hidden details and Easter eggs in movies, we reached out to Michael W. Boyce, Ph.D., writer, educator, administrator and host of the podcast, Geek 4.

As it is written on his website, Dr. Michael Boyce has taught a wide selection of literature and film courses, including Film History, British Film, Religion and Popular Culture, Fantasy Literature, and Television Studies, Film Adaptation, Film Noir and Film Genre. He writes, speaks, and tweets about literature, film, media, TV, comics, and multiple aspects of popular culture.

Firstly, we wanted to know what value Easter eggs add to a movie. Boyce thinks it’s a matter of rewarding fans of these films for spotting something – usually visual references to other works – that other people don’t notice. "This is especially true with large-budget superhero films with highly invested and passionate fandoms who will pay to see a film multiple times to spot as many of these Easter eggs as possible. Many people enjoy that kind of secret knowledge, whether to feel like they’re a better audience member for noticing the minutia of a scene or that they’re a more avid fan of a film than the average filmgoer."

Due to the trickiness of Easter eggs, sometimes it's hard to rule out their authenticity. Boyce told us that most generally accepted eggs have a number of people agree that it is indeed an Easter egg. "That typically means the more obvious ones (i.e. the Star Wars references found in the early Indiana Jones or a blue Tobias Funke in Guardians of the Galaxy), more often than not, modern filmmakers are more than happy to confirm them. If the reference seems obscure – a shot that looks a little like a shot from another movie – you could always consider whether the filmmaker has claimed to love that other film and has a history of including such Easter eggs."

But why do filmmakers hide some details that are not necessarily contributing to the plot? Dr. Boyce explained that many modern filmmakers are passionate fans themselves and are the sort of moviegoers that like searching out Easter eggs. "They grew up as rapid consumers of popular culture and their work reflects that love. Also, do it, it seems, to directly appeal to those fans, fans who would be willing to pay for multiple trips to the theatre and (sometimes various versions of) collector’s edition DVDs and Blu-rays."

Lastly, Boyce shared that superhero films seem to have an abundance of Easter eggs and probably the most Easter eggs on average right now, in part because of the passion of the fan base and the wealth of material to reference (comics, television adaptation, previous film versions)."