Spoilersahead forReady Player One.
Time will tell ifSteven Spielberg’s adaptation of Wade Watts' search for Halliday’s Easter Egg inReady Player Oneis as engaging asErnest Cline’s original novel, but one thing’s for sure: When it comes to the movie, there’splentyof hidden Easter eggs for fans to find. Pop culture touchstones and feel-good nostalgia references were the hooks that made the story a bestseller and a highly sought after property for adaptation, and they’re some of the best parts of both versions of the tale.
But boy are there a lot of references to pick up on … like, alot. They get a little easier to spot if you actually lived through the 80s and 90s, or, if like Wade Watts himself, you have rabidly researched and studied the decades and all of their many pop culture contributions. And while some are easier to pick up on than others–it’s hard to miss a massive Tyrannosaurus rex and King Kong wreaking havoc across the New York City skyline–and others areliterallydoled out to you as exposition, even the most diehard Gunter might not be able to catch ‘em all. (There’s a good chance thatwehaven’t spotted them all either, at least not in this first go-round, so feel free to let us know what we missed in the comments and we’ll add them accordingly!)
So what follows is a handy guide to all ofReady Player One’s Easter eggs in the categories of Music, Movies, TV, Video Games, Comic Books and Miscellaneous. If you want to check it out before seeingReady Player One(for a repeat viewing, we hope) so you’ll know what to keep an eye out for, or bookmark it as a viewing guide for the eventual Blu-ray release, that’d be aces. We’ll probably be refreshing this list once the flick arrive son home video, too, since it’ll give us a chance for a frame-by-frame analysis without having to break into the projectionist’s booth, which I’m told is frowned upon.
So follow along with our handy guide below and let us know what we invariably missed in the comments!
One benefit the movie version had over theReady Player Onebook is that it could actually allow 80s hit music to play over a scene rather than have Wade repeatedly tell us the title, year, artist and album. The downside is that viewers might not have picked up on every musical reference, so here’s what we’ve got so far:
PopSugarhas a solid list of 12 singles that drive the musical momentum ofReady Player Oneand they are as follows:
There’s aBilly Idolalbum cover in the early OASIS’ workshop office of Halliday and Morrow, which you can see in the image above.
A poster for"Rush 2112", the Canadian rock band’s fourth studio album, can be seen in Halliday’s boyhood home, or at least its recreation. Aech is also seen wearing a shirt with this album cover on it.
When Art3mis and Parzival are challenging each other on Halliday trivia, it turns out that the late programmer’s favorite song is“Video Killed the Radio Star”byThe Bugglesand his favorite music video is, rightly so,a-Ha’s“Take On Me.”But in a much more clever sort of Easter egg, as discovered byMike RyanofUproxx, Spielberg reverse-engineered the latter music video sequence into a chase scene in Art3mis' lair.That’show you hide an Easter egg!
One of Aech’s many patches is the DK logo for the 70s/80s American punk rock band,Dead Kennedys.
When Wade is choosing a costume for his avatar before heading to the zero-gravity dance club, the Distracted Glob, some of the choices he cycles through includeMichael Jackson’s"Thriller" getup(no, not the varsity letter jacket) andPrince’s"Purple Rain" outfit. The one he eventually settled on will be discussed a little further on down this list.
While at the dance club, the bartenders wore the unmistakable headgear of the rock bandDevo.
It’s also worth mentioning thatReady Player OnecomposerAlan Silvestrihas also worked withRobert Zemeckisquite often in his career, as well as a number of other high-profile directors like Spielberg,John McTiernan,James Cameron, and more who were the creative forces behind some of our favorite films of the 80s, 90s, 00s, and today.
If there’s one category you should start your Easter egg search with, it’s probably the movie references; they’re everywhere. We’ll get into the obvious and the obscure below, but first!
Spielberg wasagainst including references to many of his own worksin the film, save for a couple like the famousBack to the Futurevehicle the DeLorean, which serves as Wade’s main mode of in-game transport, and of course the rampaging T. rex during the early race sequence through a stylized New York City.
Theset-dressing crewmay have snuck thisJawsgraffitiby the director, but more than likely he just let it slide. Other graffiti includedThe FlashandGizmofromGremlins. (The box that Gizmo was originally transported in also appears in the movie.)
Here are a few that didn’t make it into the final film despite the crew’s best efforts:
But the crew eventually wore Spielberg down. Even if he nixed something in the principal photography phase, the visual artists in post-production kept at it. Spielberg admitted to noticing some little things, and he let some of them slide:
Probably the best sequence in the entire movie isThe Shiningset piece. It’s incredible.Stanley Kubrickis likely spinning in his grave / plotting some sort of other-worldly punishment for Spielberg, but it’s worth it. I’d imagineStephen Kinggot a kick out of it, too, or will whenever he gets around to checking it out.The Shiningitself is chock full of Easter eggs since Kubrick’s mastery of meaning and obscurity has driven decades of the filmmakers' fans to attempting to decipher everything his acclaimed work has to say.Ready Player Onedoes a fantastic job of having some meta fun with this idea and incorporates things like the twins, the iconic carpet, the Overlook Hotel’s “group photo”, the woman in Room 237 (or 217 if you’re a book purist), the ax attack, the bloody elevator and the hedge maze. It’s amazing.
The Iron Giant, the title titan of the 1999 animated classic by writer/directorBrad Bird, plays heavily into the movie’s plot throughout the film. Ultimately, the Iron Giant meets his match against an over-powered gun wielded by i-R0k, but before he melts down into slag, he gives a thumbs-up salute, itself an homage to the"death"ofArnold Schwarzenegger’s friendly T-800 model inTerminator 2: Judgment Day.
Another Schwarzenegger nod can briefly be seen on the theater marquee in the NYC race scene. It reads, “Jack Slater III”, a nod to the 1993 cult classic film,Last Action Hero.
Elsewhere in the race, you can clearly spot The Plymouth FuryChristinefromStephen King‘s novel/film adaptationand the Interceptor — the modified Ford Falcon driven byMel Gibsonin 1979’sMad Max.Art3mis also gets to drive Kaneda’s motorcycle fromAkira, which Aech later has to patch up.
While Aech, Art3mis, and Parzival get to race each other through NYC, Aech gets his own brief action sequence in a massive, planet-wide battle that features 80s horror icon Freddy Krueger fromA Nightmare on Elm Street.
In one of the movie’s final battles, a “wildcard” is played against the Sixers by unleashing the possessed 80s horror dollChucky, who goes on a rampage.
Wade channels the power ofCameron Crowe’sSay Anything…’s Lloyd Dobbler to rally the troops.
Less intense movie references include:
Also seen in the NYC racing sequence are the Mach 5 fromSpeed Racer, theLincoln Future Batmobilefrom the 1960sBatmanTV series, and the van from the 1983-87 TV seriesThe A-Team.
I was happy to see a few ofThunderCatsreferences scattered throughout the film. Two are obvious: Wade’s avatar Parzival rocks aThunderCatslogo belt buckle and Aech sports some Cheetara, Wilykit and Wilykat patches. For the other, however, sharp-eyed viewers may spot thisSnarf graffitibut I didn’t see it.
Sticking with the animated realm, Wade has aHe-Man and the Masters of the Universelunchbox in his junkyard hideout, along with someGarfieldstickers on the wall.
In the movie’s big battle scene, aFireflymodel transport ship–it ofJoss Whedon’s TV/movie-spanning sci-fi series–delivers Daito at a climactic moment. He uses an artifact to make a choice, piloting the famousGundamRX-78-2 modelin order to do battle with the aforementioned Mechagodzilla, piloted by Sorrento. It’s a fantastic, fan-favorite action sequence and it makes me want a live-actionGundammovie right now.
Video Games
The scene in which we’re introduced to Aech’s PVP-mastering gamer avatar, we also get a look at the OASIS' version of the 1982 video game,Joust. Another in-game video game reference found here is the one and onlyDuke Nukem, an early 90s title that may have taken its naming inspiration from a villain in the animated seriesCaptain Planet and the Planeteers.SagatofStreet Fighterfame can also be glimpsed here.
Elsewhere, in the NYC racing sequence an F-1 racecar can be spotted, pulled from either real-world racing obsessions or any number of Formula One video games. Lara Croft ofTomb Raiderfame also appears here.Street FighterRyu walks through the gathered vehicles, too. Oh, and it’s hard to miss the giant Atari stick emblazoned on Art3mis’Akira-inspired motorcycle.
In the big battle towards the end of the film, you can spot Tracer from the video gameOverwatch,Street Fighter’sChun-Li right there next to her, and Lara Croft over to the left somewhat in the background. TheBattletoadsandHalosoldiers also make an appearance in the massive charge against the Sixers.
You can also spotOverwatch,Halo,Borderlands, andDungeons & Dragonsads/merchant stalls when Wade is shopping within the OASIS.
Another poster that appears on the wall of a little girl’s bedroom (pretty everyone in this movie is tapped into the OASIS) features Nintendo’sDonkey Kong Jr.
A lot of Easter eggs are squirreled away in the vast amounts of graffiti scrawled over just about every surface in the real world. One such example includes the famousSpace Invaderscritters, which are also displayed on Halliday’s vintage t-shirt throughout the film.
In the early OASIS workshop/office, aMetroidposter featuring Samus can be seen in the background.
In Parzival and Art3mis' test about Halliday trivia, Wade says Halliday’s favorite game was the Nintendo 64 classic James Bond first-person shooter,GoldenEye. His favorite character?Oddjob, a much-maligned villain/bonus character introduced by Rare and available in multiplayer. The problem is that his short stature cannot be hit by the game’s auto-fire feature since the aim actually goes over his head, giving whoever is playing as Oddjob an unfair advantage. Halliday probably would have made a few casual enemies playing this way…
Before the N64, Halliday was stuck playing games likeAdventure,Pitfall,Centipede(and many others tested by IOI for the final key) on early consoles like the late 70s, early 80sAtari 2600. Later, in Halliday’s childhood room, you can clearly see the 1982 competitor consoleColecoVision, along with its iconic controllers.
Back in the 80s, when most kids still had to go to actual arcades to play video games,Robotron: 2084was one of the bigger successes. It’s why Sorrento namedrops it in his chat with Wade … that and the fact that his support team told him to.
Easily missed in the dance club scene is a pair ofStreet Fighterscharacters cutting a rug: the hulking Blanka dancing with the lithe Chun-Li.
AnotherStreet Fighterreference dropped when Parzival battles Sorrento near the movie’s end. Wade blasted the ne’er-do-well with a well-placed, fan-favoriteHadoken, a powerful attack from Ryu.
Art3mis' avatar disguise after Parzival’s newfound fame is Goro, a four-armed boss character from theMortal Kombatfighting game series. Another nod toMortal Kombatis seen in one of Daito’s patches.
The Legend of Zeldagets a couple of references: Halliday has a poster for the title in his childhood room and the IOI war room has Hyrule Castle listed on their whiteboard.
Comic Books
DC Comics characters Harley Quinn (who technically got her start onBatman: The Animated Series) and Deadshot pass by Wade on the way into the dance club. The Joker joins up with Harley a bit later on. Somewhere in this extensive scene, Gandalf is said to be dancing (though I’m not sure if perhaps someone confused Gandalf with Ogden “Og” Morrow’s DJ wizard from the book), along with a vast collection of Warner Bros. characters, according to Cline.
In the OASIS, you can evenclimb Mt. Everest with Batman!
In the big battle towards the end of the film, you’re able to spot comic book charactersTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(Yeah, remember they got their start in the comics?) and evenTodd McFarlane’sSpawnshows up! Deadshot also joins the party here.
Aech also wears a simple pin that reads, “Super Girl.”
Miscellaneous
There are some Easter eggs that don’t quite fit in the aforementioned categories, so you’ll find them here. Some of the most difficult references to spot are probably theuser-submitted avatarswhich weresupposedly added to the filmas part of a contest. Can you spot them?
Though the Bigfoot monster truck has appeared in a number of titles across all forms of media, we wanted to give the recognizable truck a shoutout here as Aech’s ride in the NYC race.
The same goes for the world-famous Sanrio characterHello Kittyand her pals, who can be seen early on in the OASIS.
T.J. Miller’s villainous comic relief version of i-R0k isn’t in the book, but the character itself is. He’s seen as a poseur and ultimately ends up inadvertently helping the Sixers in a misguided attempt at getting back at Aech and Parzival. In the movie, his avatar’s design is a weird combination of Skeletor, Doctor Doom, aResident EvilNemesis-like monstrosity, or something out ofSkeleton Warriors. Apparently he’sobsessed withStar Warsand inspired by Boba Fett.I’d imagine that his real-life persona looks and acts exactly like Miller.
BTW,Anorak, the name of Halliday’s avatar, is slang for a person obsessed with niche subjects.
Other items in Halliday’s childhood room that we haven’t talked about yet are a vintageView-Master toyand his multicolored pin that was a mini version of the electronic game,Simon. Aech sports a similar pin.
People rock some pretty cool patches in this movie, but Aech has at least one I can’t quite identify (Thanks but no thanks, Google Images search!) and another one that I think I can … thanks to Google Images search. Apparently it’s aYantra, a “mystical diagram from Tantric traditions of Indian religions.”
InWade’s hideout, you may see a WIRED magazine featuring Halliday tacked up just next to a stationary bike that Wade uses to get a bit of exercise and keep his cooling fans running and his VR-powering batteries charged. Other pop culture icons like the aforementionedMasters of the Universelunch box, plusGarbage Pail Kidsstickers decorate Wade’s hideout and add nice touches to the production. There even seems to be a Charleston Chew wrapped casually tossed on the ground.
Other food items include a bit of product placement for Brooklyn Brewery in Halliday and Morrow’s celebratory flashback scene, and, of course, a drone delivering some Pizza Hut.
Oh, in Aech’s hideout, there’s also aWil Wheatonposter. Pop culture/geek icon Wheaton is now known for a variety of roles, but in the book, he’s also a respected OASIS politician.
Madballs surprisingly makes a couple appearances inReady Player One: First, everyone’s favorite rubber 90s toy shows up as graffiti in the Stacks, and secondly, as a pretty big life-saver in one of the film’s final battles, a grenade shaped like a Madball is thrown into Sorrento’s Mecha-Godzilla cockpit by Daito, destroying it.
“Oasis Coin” is teased in a newspaper clipping, teasing the currency used in the Oasis. We’ll go ahead and assume it would be similar to Bitcoin and other blockchain currencies.
What Did We Miss?
We’re sure we missed a few here and there, so be sure to let us know what you spotted and we’ll do our best to get this list updated!
Now if someone could just explain this spider-leg poster …
