Marvel's Avengers backgrounds released for video calls - here's every easter egg we could find
With some help from Newsarama's Chris Arrant (who did all the work admittedly)
You can now liven up your quarantine happy hours and virtual meetings by setting your background to Kamala Khan's bedroom from Marvel's Avengers, so naturally we took to feverishly scoping out every easter egg we could find.
We were fortunate enough to have our friend, Newsarama's Chris Arrant - who's been writing about comics professionally for nearly two decades - around to employ his considerable expertise in comics lore and add context to everything he could find. Keep in mind, this wasn't Chris's full-time job, but I'd say it's damn impressive for a quick scan. Leaving out some of the more obvious stuff (the Hulk pillow on her bed), here's everything we found hidden in Kamala's bedroom and how it connects to Marvel history.
- The hanging lights around the perimeter of the room are references to the white, Christmas-type lights hanging in Kamala's room in the comics.
- There's an Iron Man silhouette in the "X-ing" sign on the door.
- The Captain America beanbag in the corner of the first shot is something you can actually buy. You might have to look around a bit, but Chris is sure he's seen one just like it at the Disney Store.
- The prominent Captain Marvel poster above Kamala's bed is the in-game version, but it's a clear homage to the redesign by Jamie McKelvie.
- You can see Hawkeye in a tiny frame next to her bed. The framed picture is actually the comic book cover for Hawkeye #1 by David Aja, just cropped slightly.
- The little comics pinned to the wall include a real Thor comic book cover and the classic Jim Steranko cover for The Incredible Hulk Annual #1 from 1968, and there's a fun fact about that cover - the subtitle "Battles the Inhumans" could be referencing Kamala, who's an Inhuman in the comics but doesn't learn about it until later in life. The other four are probably fan comics drawn by Kamala, a hobby she takes up in the comics.
- The double photo next to Kamala's bed appears to include a shot of her father, Yusuf Khan, above a picture of Kamala and her brother, Aamir Khan.
- The key strap seems like an homage to Kamala's long flowing sash she has in the comics - which itself is a homage to the original Ms. Marvel - Carol Danvers' - sash.
- On the left side of the dresser drawer, there's a teeny-tiny sticker. That's the Super Soldier emblem from the Marvel comics, first used by Captain America and then by Nick Fury Jr. One version of it was co-opted for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
- The Captain Marvel poster on the left side of the second picture is ripped directly from the 2012 cover of Captain Marvel #1 by Ed McGuinness.
So there you have it - something about Chris's passion for comics makes me want to do nothing but pile into bed with a stack of classics and dive in. Anyway, you can download the animated versions here and here, which add lovely little moving dust particles suspended in light beams.
Marvel's Avengers launches on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia September 4.
Here's how the developers are making sure Marvel's Avengers is as accessible as possible.
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After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.