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Tucked near Dalaran's Antonidas Memorial is an ethereal vendor called Xur'ios, who deals exclusively in Curious Coins. It's a direct homage to Destiny's Xur, right down to selling items named after that game's gear, like 'Gjallar's Horn' and 'Krota's Shield.'
An early draft had a much darker beat where Thanos opens a portal to reveal he'd already been to the battlefield and tosses the head of the 2012 version of Captain America onto the ground in front of the heroes. Understandably, it never made it past the drawing board.
One of the game's special encounters is called Guardian of Forever, named for the time-travel portal from the classic Star Trek episode 'The City on the Edge of Forever.' If you talk to it, the Chosen One even mutters a line acknowledging that resistance is futile, borrowing the Borg's catchphrase from a completely different corner of Star Trek lore.
Rather than reactivating the original Halo Array and wiping out all sentient life in the galaxy, Cortana's actual plan hinges on a brand new, incomplete ring manufactured by the Ark specifically to counteract the Flood without triggering the genocidal effect of the other installations, a detail that reframes the entire climax once it's revealed.
Kingpin's enforcer Tombstone got a deliberately eerie makeover for this film. The artists pitched him as a kind of giant zombie, meant to work as a visual counterpart to the 1930s noir stylings of Spider-Man Noir, since both characters draw from that same vintage, monochrome era of pulp fiction.
Everyone knows Anne Hathaway is playing Catwoman, but listen closely and you'll notice the word never actually gets said in the film. She's Selina Kyle to the people who know her, and just 'the Cat' in the newspaper headlines about the mysterious burglar.
During the Universal Studios Japan summer shows, one piece of merchandise became a genuine must-have: the 'NAKAMA Towel.' It's actually used as a prop during the live stage performances to create a sense of crowd unity, and its popularity turned it into one of the event's best-selling souvenirs.
According to Jarman, Ledger would leave the room between takes on the pencil scene and only ever return to set already back in character as the Joker, never breaking it in front of the crew except that one moment he checked on his stunt partner.
When Robert Redford came back for his brief cameo, he apparently told the crew on set that this was going to be his last piece of on-camera acting before stepping away from the profession altogether.
The unsettling Mr. Handy unit that specialises in reattaching limbs (and taking a few in the process) is called Snip-Snip, and he's voiced by Matt Berry, best known for playing the vampire Laszlo on What We Do in the Shadows. His unmistakable voice makes the robot even creepier once you clock who's behind it.
