Jon Favreau Confirms Black Panther Easter Egg in IRON MAN 2, Among Others

In one of the featurette videos contained within the Iron Man 2 Blu-Ray, the film's director shares more details about what several secretive scenes mean to the Marvel cinematic Universe.

Iron Man 2 will be released worldwide in DVD and Blu-Ray within the next few weeks, but several of the behind the scenes featurettes have already been popping up online. The latest shows the film's director, Jon Favreau, discussing the hidden messages (known to fans as Easter Eggs) which appeared towards the end of the movie; in particular, the scene that took place in the S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house. Several large television monitors acted as the backdrop for a conversation between Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). One of the monitors showcased destruction on a college campus, another displayed a crater in desert surrounding while the most interesting was of a world map; a map which pinpointed seven ambiguous locations:

"[The first is] from "The Incredible Hulk", which means ["Iron Man 2"] took place before "The Incredible Hulk." If you look you see the the crater on the other monitor, that's the "Thor" thing. That's where the hammer was recovered. This is just a geek heaven here.

"And if you think that anything on this monitors is not something we at Marvel didn't talk about for hours - you are crazy! See, there is a map up there, so... if you look at those maps, each one of those locations corresponds to something in the Marvel Universe. I'm not supposed to say that.

"And if you look on each one, and I know what they mean, but I'm not gonna say it, but I'm gonna say this: Two of them relate to "The First Avenger: Captain America," one of them relates to "Thor." The one in Africa relates to Black Panther."

The Black Panther is the King of Wakanda in the Marvel Comics Universe, and also an on-again-off-again member of The Avengers. Marvel fans have been sure of this Easter Egg for some time now, but official confirmation should further solidify the claim the studio has tentative plans for the character. Comments from the company's senior staff have hinted that Marvel Studios is pursuing a live-action Black Panther project, though it has yet to be revealed how soon one may come to fruition.

It is also interesting to note the areas in the Mid-Atlantic and Scandinavia; both could very well be associated with the upcoming Captain America film. The movie's antagonist, the Red Skull, spends a bit of time hunting for Asgardian artifacts in the Northern region of Europe; while a certain aquatic anti-hero may make a World War II appearance.