Let's go on an easter egg hunt! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re unearthing the most intriguing easter eggs in animated DC movies. This list will also unearth spoilers, so consider this your warning!
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00:00 I'm the Batman.
00:01 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're
00:03 unearthing the most intriguing Easter
00:05 eggs in animated DC movies.
00:08 This list will also unearth spoilers,
00:10 so consider this your warning.
00:12 Mickey, Minnie, and Mighty, rest in peace.
00:16 A rodent nation salutes you.
00:19 Number 10, O'Neil and Adams.
00:22 Batman, Mask of the Phantasm.
00:24 In the critically acclaimed Mask of the Phantasm,
00:27 Batman attempts to stop the killer vigilante
00:29 known as the Phantasm.
00:31 And while combing through data on the Batcomputer,
00:33 viewers can briefly spot two corporations listed
00:36 as O'Neil Funding Corp and Adams Tool and Dye.
00:40 O'Neil Funding Corporation, Adams Tool and Dye.
00:44 This is a reference to Denny O'Neil and Neil Adams.
00:47 This writer-artist duo was instrumental to expanding
00:50 much of the Batman mythos during the Silver Age of comics.
00:54 When you think of Batman, you likely think
00:56 of this dark gothic figure.
00:58 - I didn't count on being happy.
01:00 - And O'Neil and Adams were huge parts
01:02 in bringing that version of the character to life.
01:05 (laughing)
01:07 Number nine, Earth-22, Injustice.
01:16 - All hostilities will stop, or I will stop them.
01:21 No one has the right to take innocent lives.
01:24 No one.
01:25 It's over.
01:27 - During the Injustice movie, the dystopian world
01:30 where Superman became a tyrant is referred to as Earth-22
01:33 by the Earth-1 Superman.
01:35 - Actually, we're Earth-1.
01:37 - What are we?
01:38 - 22.
01:39 - While specific Earth numbers don't always matter,
01:41 Earth-22 is definitely one of the more noteworthy ones.
01:45 In the comics, Earth-22 belongs
01:47 to the world of Kingdom Come.
01:49 The 1996 Eisner Award-winning Kingdom Come miniseries
01:52 was created by Mark Waid and Alex Ross.
01:55 And it was another story that featured heroes
01:57 in the midst of a deeply personal conflict.
02:00 This time with Superman taking aim
02:02 against the next generation of younger,
02:04 darker superheroes who have entered the fold.
02:08 - No, I will not let you hurt anyone.
02:11 - Number eight, Year One Callback, The Batman Vs. Dracula.
02:16 This action-packed movie's got more references
02:19 to the larger Batman mythos than you might expect.
02:22 - I'm the Batman.
02:24 - After Batman experiences a gruesome beating from Dracula,
02:27 he recovers in Wayne Manor.
02:29 And during a nightmare, he dreams of a bat
02:31 shattering through his bedroom window.
02:34 This is a callback to Frank Miller's Year One.
02:36 - You've eaten Gotham's wealth, its spirit,
02:40 but your feast is nearly over.
02:42 From this moment on, none of you are safe.
02:48 - In that comic, the fledgling vigilante Bruce Wayne
02:50 is inspired to call himself Batman
02:53 after the bat breaks in,
02:54 Bruce is joined by the literal Batman persona.
02:57 The nightmare apparition then bears fangs
03:07 and lunges for Bruce.
03:08 This Batman's monstrous form is reminiscent
03:11 of the vampire Batman from the Red Rain comic.
03:15 Number seven, Will Magnus' Mice,
03:17 Justice League, Gods and Monsters.
03:20 When running a set of tests for his experiments,
03:22 Dr. William Magnus disposes of several lab mice.
03:26 The mice are named Mickey, Minnie, and Mighty.
03:29 - Mickey, Minnie, and Mighty, rest in peace.
03:33 A rodent nation salutes you.
03:34 - Besides the references to Mickey and Minnie Mouse,
03:38 there's also the last mouse called Jerry.
03:40 - You're the mouse that scored.
03:42 - It's a neat nod to the Tom and Jerry cartoon franchise.
03:46 The name's also fitting,
03:47 since Jerry's known for surviving
03:49 whatever danger Tom puts him in.
03:51 And here, Jerry is the only survivor
03:53 of Magnus' experiments.
03:55 So does this make Will Magnus the Tom
03:58 of Justice League, Gods and Monsters?
04:00 We'll let you guys decide.
04:01 - Go ahead.
04:02 - Bet you taste like crap.
04:08 - Number six, Billboard Jokes,
04:10 DC League of Super Pets.
04:13 During the midst of their battle with the evil Lulu,
04:16 the fight takes the League of Super Pets
04:17 to just outside of the Daily Planet,
04:20 where viewers can spot billboards
04:21 advertising some unique things.
04:24 There's ads for the popular fast food chain,
04:26 Big Belly Burger, a Cats parody called Catwoman,
04:30 even Bruce Swain's own line of professional suits.
04:33 We also see a billboard for Ferris Aircraft,
04:36 and a true deep cut with a sign for Jingled Soda.
04:39 This is a beverage made with Jingo,
04:41 the mysterious fruit which gave
04:43 the elongated man his powers.
04:45 Besides being neat Easter eggs,
04:47 the billboards are also pretty effective
04:49 marketing tools.
04:50 Seriously, anyone else craving some Big Belly Burger now?
04:53 ♪ Big Belly Burgers are grillin' ♪
04:56 - Number five, Greek Gods, Justice League, War.
05:00 By the end of Justice League, War,
05:02 the League has become a true team.
05:04 Wonder Woman even goes so far
05:07 as to compare her new teammates
05:08 to mythological gods from the Greek pantheon.
05:11 - How do you mean?
05:12 - Hades, Apollo, Hermes, Hephaestus, Zeus,
05:17 each a god in their own right.
05:19 - I am a president. - And me?
05:21 - I have never met anyone like you, Superman.
05:25 - Batman gets Hades, which is so fitting.
05:27 - Well, they're just fine, you know,
05:29 a little dark, a little gloomy,
05:30 and there's always, hey, full of dead people.
05:33 What are you gonna do?
05:34 - Green Lantern is Apollo, Flash is Hermes,
05:37 Cyborg is Hephaestus, and Shazam is Zeus.
05:40 They all seem like pretty apt comparisons,
05:42 and only reinforce the idea many fans have
05:45 that the League are gods trying to be men.
05:47 Superman's the only one she doesn't make a comparison for,
05:51 claiming he's not like any she's ever met.
05:54 That seems fair, given Superman has often been perceived
05:57 as a Christ-like character.
06:00 (speaking in foreign language)
06:03 But it also kind of feels like Wonder Woman
06:16 is putting the moves on Superman, smooth.
06:19 Number four, looking into the abyss.
06:22 Justice League, Crisis on Two Earths.
06:25 When Batman and Owlman fought on Earth Prime
06:28 in a battle to determine the fate of the entire multiverse,
06:31 it was a pure spectacle.
06:33 - Man is a cancer, and I've chosen to cut out the disease.
06:37 - As Owlman masterfully counters
06:39 every one of Batman's moves and overpowers him,
06:42 Batman offers a few words of wisdom to him.
06:45 - We both looked into the abyss,
06:47 but when it looked back at us, you blinked.
06:54 - His comments about looking into the abyss
06:57 are an allusion to Friedrich Nietzsche.
06:59 Nietzsche was a famous philosopher who said,
07:02 "When you gaze long into an abyss,
07:04 the abyss will gaze back into you."
07:06 And that's pretty much what happened to Owlman.
07:08 Both individuals experienced darkness in their lives,
07:12 but while Batman overcame it,
07:14 Owlman gave into the darkness
07:16 and became the monster he is now.
07:18 Hey, it's not a superhero movie
07:20 without a little existential dread.
07:22 - It doesn't matter.
07:23 - Number three, The Monarch Theater,
07:25 Batman Under the Red Hood.
07:27 Batman Under the Red Hood was a highly personal film
07:31 that pitted Batman against his former Robin Jason Todd,
07:34 who found himself back from the dead.
07:36 And shortly before the two have their final fight,
07:39 The Monarch Theater can be seen briefly in the background.
07:42 Longtime Batman fans can recognize this
07:44 as the theater Bruce and his parents went to
07:47 the night the Waynes were killed.
07:49 Having The Monarch Theater in the movie
07:51 is kind of symbolic if you think about it.
07:53 The first time the theater ever really came into play,
07:56 Bruce lost his family.
07:57 And when it appears briefly again now,
08:00 Bruce is about to lose family again through losing Jason.
08:03 But hey, that's just our two cents on it.
08:06 - This ends tonight.
08:07 - Number two, Marty McFly's house.
08:10 Justice League, The Flashpoint Paradox.
08:12 It's not a time travel movie if you don't try to pay homage
08:20 to Back to the Future at least once.
08:23 The opening scene to Justice League, The Flashpoint Paradox
08:25 has a young Barry Allen rushing home
08:28 where he eventually discovers the grisly sight
08:30 of his mother's murder.
08:31 The Allen residence bears a particularly strong resemblance
08:35 to Marty McFly's own house from Back to the Future.
08:38 (dramatic music)
08:41 Marty McFly and Barry Allen have more in common
08:47 than just their houses though.
08:49 Both characters create alternate timelines
08:52 that inadvertently mess everything up for them.
08:54 It also then becomes their responsibility to fix things
08:58 before it's inevitably too late.
09:00 We've all wanted to change the past,
09:02 but the consequences just aren't worth it.
09:05 (dramatic music)
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09:31 Number one, The New 52, Justice League War.
09:35 DC loves the number 52.
09:37 It was the name of their year-long comic book event in 2006
09:41 and has also been a reference sprinkled
09:43 across numerous shows and movies.
09:45 - You bruise, but you don't kill.
09:47 Do you, Clark?
09:49 - You've made your point, Bruce Wayne.
09:58 - So it should come as no surprise
10:00 that the number shows up during Justice League War.
10:03 When a gravely injured Victor Stone
10:05 is tended to at STAR Labs,
10:07 his heart rate is shown on a screen as 52 beats per minute.
10:11 - He's going into cardiac arrest.
10:13 It's racing up his spinal cord.
10:15 - Besides being the title of their 2006 event,
10:17 the number 52 also refers to DC's mass scale reboot,
10:22 The New 52, that occurred in 2011.
10:25 It brought DC's heroes back to square one
10:27 and while divisive, still created many iconic stories.
10:32 Justice League War is even a direct adaptation
10:35 of The New 52's first Justice League arc.
10:38 Are there some super secret references we missed?
10:46 Let's put on our thinking caps in the comments.
10:49 - Not good, never good.
10:52 After all, I'm only human.
10:55 - Did you enjoy this video?
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