As a director, writer, and producer, JJ Abrams packs his films with Easter eggs. Not only has he taken science fiction and fantasy to the forefront of American culture, but he’s also revived franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek that were long thought to be dead. He’s also really good at putting references in his movies. One could even argue he build stories around the secrets he plans to drop into them.
This list is all about the coolest JJ Abrams Easter eggs. Some of these JJ Abrams universe Easter eggs are pretty easy to spot, but some of them are definitely going to make you want to pull out your magnifying glass and take a closer look at his oeuvre.
One of the coolest things about the Easter eggs in Abrams’s films is that he’s not just throwing them out there willy-nilly. For instance, in Super 8 characters don’t walk around saying, “I really love the number 47 and how it pertains to the concept of scientific proofs, did you know they use the number 47 in Star Trek a lot?” That would be awful. Each hidden reference in JJ Abrams movies is meticulously placed to give fans something to search for on repeat viewings - the references don’t take away from the film, they enhance it. After you finish reading about all of Abrams’ eggs, take to the comments and let us know which hidden references were your favorites.
22 JJ Abrams Universe Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed,
Too Sweet to Be Sour, Too Nice to Be Mean
One of the X-Wing pilots in The Force Awakens serves as an Easter egg for fans of both Beastie Boys and Lost. The pilot in question is named "Ello Asty," an obvious reference to the album Hello Nasty, and when spelled out his name is actually EL O aS Ty.
"It is for me. But I’d be lying if I said I came up with that name," Abrams told Yahoo. "It was suggested to me from the creature department. And I loved it for that reason, because it referenced the album, and also because it spells out Lost. And so both of those felt like, they were funny reasons to approve that name."
The Hosnian System Is Named After a Big Influence
In The Force Awakens, The First Order explodes a bunch of planets that are located in the Hosnian System which might sound like a bunch of hokum, but it's actually a reference to beloved film professor Jim Hosney, who taught for years at the Crossroads School for Arts & Science.
47, the Most Mysterious Number
Who knows why, but this number is near and dear to Abrams's heart. It's featured prominently in Alias, The Case (the movie within the movie in Super 8), and Fringe.
Dear H. Kelvin
The word "Kelvin" is referenced in just about every JJ Abrams property that's ever been produced. Why? Abrams' grandfather was named Harry Kelvin, and he was the man that gave Abrams his first camera. In The Force Awakens, storm troopers burn Kelvin Ridge, in Star Trek, Kirk is born on the USS Kelvin, and in Mission Impossible III, Ethan Hunt receives a postcard addressed to H. Kelvin.
There are at least four or five more Kelvin references out there - think you can find them?
Wrath of the Centaurian Slug
In Star Trek, Nemo shoves a Centaurian Slug into Captain Pike's dome, which is a nice throwback to the best Star Trek movie ever, The Wrath of Khan.
Operation Walking Distance
In Super 8, Abrams's love letter to the Spielbergian science fiction films of his youth, the military begins to carry out Operation Walking Distance. The name is a reference to his favorite Twilight Zone episode, which is actually kind of a version of Super 8.
Take it away JJ! "‘Walking Distance’ is maybe the show’s best episode. It’s about a businessman. He’s almost 40, he’s got a suit, and he hates his life. He’s miserable. The stress of work is just getting him down. And his car breaks down in the middle-of-nowhere countryside. He goes to the gas station to get his car fixed and he realizes that he grew up very close to where they are. It’s walking distance. So he says, ‘I’m just going to take a walk back to the town I grew up in.’"
"He gets there and he soon realizes he’s walked back not just to where he grew up, but when he grew up. He’s back in the time when he was a kid. And it’s just this beautiful story of a guy who, as an adult, wants to go back to his young self, and tell himself to be aware of what it is to be alive, to be young, and to enjoy that. And of course, you can never go back and tell yourself that."
Tagruato Industries Spans Centuries
The offshore drilling company serves as the parent company for everything bad, and that also awoke the Cloverfield monster is alive and well in the 23rd century. At least according to Star Trek.
Daddy Abrams
Did you know that JJ puts his dad in a lot of his movies? He's most obvious as an old guy sitting at a space bar in Star Trek, but he's also in The Force Awakens as Captain Cypress.
The Batmobile Is on the Millenium Falcon
Apparently JJ Abrams and Zack Snyder are buddies because during the production of The Force Awakens Abrams got into a Easter egg battle with the Batman v. Superman director. At one point, he even posted this video online that shows a model for the Batmobile (it looks most like the once from Christopher Nolan's films) built onto the Millennium Falcon. Cool?
Slusho
A fictional Japanese drink that's probably close to being a slushy from 7-11, this beverage appears across worlds, timelines, and films. There are even a bunch of conspiracy theories about the fictional drink.