Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One is known for its hundreds of Easter eggs, and there are some that even the most observant fan could easily have missed. Based on Ernest Cline’s novel of the same name, Ready Player One‘s soundtrack and visuals are both packed with references to pop culture, especially movies and video games from the 1980s.
Ready Player Two is reportedly in the works, with Spielberg attached to the project once more. Still, there are dozens of hidden details in the original movie which most fans have looked over. Picking out all the references in Ready Player One is almost impossible, since every rewatch can reveal something new waiting to be discovered in the background.
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Doc Brown’s Background Cameo
The DeLorean Isn’t The Only Back To the Future Reference
Anyone can spot the DeLorean that Parzival uses in Ready Player One, but there are a couple of sneakier references to Back to the Future. As well as the “Zemeckis Cube” that turns back time and the musical cues taken from the trilogy, an avatar resembling Doc Brown can briefly be seen in the Oasis.
Doc Brown is sporting his futuristic outfit in Ready Player One.
Doc Brown is sporting his futuristic outfit in Ready Player One, with his long yellow coat, bright red shirt and silver wraparound glᴀsses. After Parzival talks about avatars dying and losing all their money, Doc Brown can be seen in the background as Parzival struts along with his new hairstyle.
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The Star Wars Rebel Alliance Patch
Star Wars Doesn’t Feature As Heavily As Some People Might Have Expected
For a movie all about nerd culture with a specific focus on the 1980s, it’s surprising that Star Wars doesn’t get as much attention as other big franchises. Still, there are a few Easter eggs for Star Wars fans to pick up on, and some are more subtle than Nolan’s mention of the Millennium Falcon.
When Aech is finally seen outside the Oasis, she often wears a jacket covered in patches which reference movies, TV shows, books and more. One conspicuous patch is a reference to the Rebel Alliance from the original Star Wars trilogy, which reflects High Five’s status as rebels fighting against Nolan and IOI.
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Lone Star’s Winnebago From Spaceballs
The Mel Brooks Movie Gets An Unexpected Shoutout
Star Wars fans might also pick up on a sneaky reference to one of the most popular parodies of the sci-fi franchise, Spaceballs. Mel Brooks’ 1987 comedy is also known for its sci-fi references, much like Ready Player One, and the upcoming Spaceballs sequel will likely continue this trend.
Lone Star’s Winnebago can briefly be seen in Aech’s hangar, alongside various other vehicles from popular movies and TV shows. The Iron Giant takes up most of the space in the workshop, but there are allusions to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Battlestar Galactica, Cowboy Bebop, Robocop and much more.
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Hello Kitty & Other San-Rio Characters
Hello Kitty’s Appearance Calls Into Question The Rules Of The Oasis
Early on, when Parzival is explaining the rules of the Oasis, he says that people can choose any kind of avatar they want, even changing their size, their species or their Sєx. A brief cameo from Marvin the Martian illustrates that people can become cartoon characters if they want.
The appearance of Hello Kitty and other San-Rio mascots is even more confusing, since Ready Player One never explains how people can control characters with such wildly different dimensions to their own, and how this affects their abilities in the Oasis. Hello Kitty can be seen twice, first when Parzival enters the Oasis and walks along a sunny boardwalk, and second when he enters the Halliday Journals.
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Ripley’s M41A Pulse Rifle From Aliens
There Are Plenty Of Iconic Movie Weapons In Ready Player One
Ready Player One has tons of recognizable weapons from movies and video games. There’s a strong chance that if one of the heroes is using a weapon, it’s been plucked from Halo, Judge Dredd, Eraser or something similar. Ripley’s pulse rifle from James Cameron’s Aliens also gets some screen time.
Some pop culture weapons are easy to identify in Ready Player One, like Monty Python and the Holy Grail‘s Holy Hand Grenade, but others draw less attention to themselves. Art3mis uses Ripley’s M41A Pulse Rifle in the nightclub shootout on the zero-gravity dancefloor, but only a hardcore Aliens fan would be able to spot it.
5
Lara Croft In The Race For The Key
The Starting Grid Is Filled With Famous Characters And Cars
The starting grid for the race through a twisted New York City is packed with even more pop culture references than most of Ready Player One. There are too many famous characters to name, all lining up alongside avatars and Sixers, but one who stands out is Tomb Raider‘s Lara Croft.
Lara Croft is seen standing next to the red Plymouth Fury that John Carpenter fans will recognize as Christine, the killer car from his Stephen King adaptation. Other iconic cars chasing after the key include the van from the A-Team, Max Rockatansky’s Pursuit Special and the Batmobile from the 1966 movie.
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A Subtle Reference To A Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
Ready Player One Brushes Past The Riddle For The Third Key
Ready Player One makes a few changes to the novel, and it has to condense the story a little. This means that it quickly moves past the puzzle that unlocks the path to the third and final key, but audiences can still figure it out for themselves, unearthing a Douglas Adams reference in the process.
Halliday’s riddle only works if the person trying to solve it understands that “the answer ultimate” refers to the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything in it in Adams’ sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. They must then divide this by the “magic number” 3 to progress.
3
Halliday Is Buried In Spock’s Coffin
Halliday’s Love Of Pop Culture Followed Him In Life And Death
When Halliday dies, he releases a video to the users of the Oasis which sets out the rules of his Easter egg hunt. In dramatic fashion, he delivers a part of his speech from his own coffin, which Star Trek fans might recognize as the same one which belongs to Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.
Halliday’s Easter egg hunt in Ready Player One is packed with references to his favorite pop culture, like King Kong and the T. Rex from Jurᴀssic Park appearing in the race. It’s fitting that his funeral pays just as much attention to pop culture with several Star Trek references.
2
ᴅᴇᴀᴅsH๏τ’s Cameo In The Final Battle
The Final Showdown Overflows With Famous Characters
In the epic final battle, Ready Player One‘s pop culture references kick into overdrive. There are tons of iconic characters from movies, video games and TV shows who join the fight, along with some recognizable weapons and vehicles too. Among the new fighters is ᴅᴇᴀᴅsH๏τ, from DC’s Suicide Squad.
For anyone keen on finding the less obvious Easter eggs in Ready Player One, the final battle is a good place to start. While most people can spot references to Overwatch, Gundam and Chucky, there are dozens more which only flash on the screen briefly.
1
Ready Player One’s Logo Easter Egg
One Of Ready Player One’s Smartest Easter Eggs Is Staring Audiences In The Face
Ready Player One is all about an Easter egg hunt, and it encourages audiences to have a hunt of their own. To reflect the spirit of the story, the logo of Ready Player One also conceals an Easter egg. The logo is a maze, with an egg in the middle of the letter “O”.
The logo Easter egg is a little different, since it requires people to look at the same thing in a different way.
Ready Player One reveals more to its audience with each rewatch, but most of the Easter eggs are just about paying attention to what’s going on in the background. The logo Easter egg is a little different, since it requires people to look at the same thing in a different way. This is exactly what Parzival discovers in the quest for the final key.
