Shockwaves rippled through the online fan community Monday as the directors of Avengers: Endgame revealed possibly the film’s biggest secret yet. Look closely and you may see for yourself.
In a clip from Wired, the Russo Brothers were asked why none of the Nova Corps, who were seen in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, showed up to fight Thanos at the end of Endgame. “Look closely at that scene again,” Joe Russo said. “You will see Richard Rider in the background of a shot. Easter egg.”
Rider, of course, is better known as his superhero name Nova, a very popular cosmic Marvel character who has long been discussed as a worthy addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — but, as of yet, has not been.
The Gizmodo team quickly went to work. We grabbed every image of the final battle of Endgame we could find. Went frame by frame through the digital copy. Enhanced images using the best and most powerful technology imaginable. We’re talking CIA shit. Blade Runner shit. The best. And the results? Well, shocking isn’t quite strong enough. We’ll let the images speak for themselves.
But note, you may have to blow them up. Here goes.
See him? He’s on Ant-Man’s shoulder. We found again here too…
Somehow, he arrived before everyone else. He wasn’t snapped!
We found him in this epic action shot too…
Guess what? We thought, if Nova was actually there in the battle, could he have shown up earlier in the movie? The answer is YES!
Check out the area surrounding the Avengers’ base:
He was definitely in space too.
And he popped up before the time heist…
It’s almost as if… he was part of the team all along.
How did we miss this upon first viewing?
So Nova’s in there a lot. We had to go deeper. How long has Nova been popping up?
The battle of New York from The Avengers? Check!
How about the movie where the Nova Corps debuted, Guardians of the Galaxy? Absolutely. We can’t believe we missed this!
Actually, if you can believe it, he’s been there since the very, very beginning… lurking in the shadows.
Oh, wait. Did they say N-O-V-A?
Shit, sorry. We thought they said something else. Sorry about that.
Of course, a few hours after that quote first hit the web, Joe Russo clarified to ComicBook that he and his brother were joking. Obviously. The character is not in the film. But if you believed that, we think our theory is just as intriguing.
Avengers: Endgame is now available on Blu-ray.
Absolutely brilliant photoshop work by James Whitbrook.