Guardians Of The Galaxy Easter Eggs And References
By Steve Lam
Homages
Sony TPS-L2 Walkman
The Sony TPS-L2 Walkman is still considered a historic revolution in music. Before the introduction of the Walkman, the concept of personalized music was almost unheard of. Without delving too deep into the history of this awesome piece of technology, I’ll tell you why Peter Quill’s Walkman is considered an homage.
Guardians of the Galaxy could’ve used any personal listening device dominant in the 1980s, but they chose this Walkman model that originally came out in 1979. On top of that, Sony is sort of a rival to Marvel Studios (every comics fan knows that Sony owns the rights to Spider-Man). So why did Marvel Studios make this decision? The answer is simple: the aliens and characters encountered by Peter seem to not have a concept of music or dancing. By introducing music with the exact object that introduced humans to a new experience, Peter has recreated what we experienced in the 1980s.
Adding to that, Back to the Future saw the use of Marty McFly’s Aiwa personal cassette player (I’m careful not to use “Walkman” because that word only refers to Sony’s trademarked brand of personal cassette players) as a way to threaten the “melting” of George McFly’s brain. It would’ve also been perceived as an exotic device in the 1950s. James Gunn has gone on record stating that he wanted to make movies that he loved as a kid — and those included Raiders of the Lost Ark and Back to the Future. I will make my bet now that people will soon pay ridiculous amounts of money for a vintage Walkman after seeing this movie. I’m looking at you, hipsters.
Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Maltese Falcon
There is no doubt that James Gunn was inspired by the famous opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones steals the golden head idol. When Peter Quill steals the orb in the opening scene of Guardians of the Galaxy, the only other things missing are booby traps and a giant boulder chasing him. Peter, at one point, actually describes the orb as having an “Ark of the Covenant, Maltese Falcon vibe.”
Looking closely at Peter’s wardrobe, you’ll also notice that he’s dressed in a leather jacket and carries a shoulder-slung
purse
(Rocket took over my keyboard just then) satchel — much like Indiana Jones.
The Dirty Dozen
The comic books based the Guardians of the Galaxy team on 1967’s The Dirty Dozen which itself was based on the novel of the same name by E.M. Nathanson. The Dirty Dozen was about a misfit band of soldiers who were on a suicide mission to kill Nazis. Sound familiar? If you’ve seen Guardians of the Galaxy, you know you can keep the “suicide” and replace “Nazis” with “Ronan” and “Sakaarans.”
Check out some more Guardians of the Galaxy Easter eggs and references: