WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
Just like the first movie, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is full of Easter eggs, references, and movie nods. See if you were able to spot all of these things hidden underneath the bricks, glitter, and awesomeness.
22 Jump Street Reference
When Emmet starts his day at the beginning of the film, he says hi to a long list of cats walking through the city. The last cat’s name is Jeff, which is a reference to Phil Lord’s other film, 22 Jump Street. In this movie, Channing Tatum’s character pretends to be a drug buyer named Jeff. When one of the dealers ask why Tatum isn’t talking, he oddly replies, “My name Jeff”.
Rex is a Combination of Chris Pratt’s Characters
Since Rex is the future version of Emmet, he’s also voiced by Chris Pratt. However, the character has a lot more in common with Pratt than just his voice. Rex is actually a montage of all of Pratt’s previous acting roles.
Rex’s ship is full of raptors, much like Chris Pratt’s character in Jurassic World. Rex even enters the ship saying “Clever girl” which is a direct reference to an iconic line in Jurassic Park.
During Rex’s montage of his past lives, he also says that he was a cowboy. Chris Pratt has played a cowboy named Josh Faraday in The Magnificent Seven and Grant Cutler in The Kid. At the end of Rex’s action-packed intro, he also says that he has chiseled features underneath his baby fat, a reference to Pratt’s extensive training routine as he prepared for his role in Guardians of the Galaxy. Rex also says that he listens to mixtapes with no regard for the future of his hearing, which is another reference to Pratt’s character Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy.
The Introduction of the Justice League
The first time we see the Justice League in the film, they’re heading off to fight the alien invasion. However, the scene isn’t only setting up the rest of the film, it’s also taking some jabs at the DC Universe.
When Green Lantern arrives to join the team, he tells them that they almost forgot him. This is a clear reference to the 2017 Justice League film. Although Green Lantern is an original member of the Justice League and many fans thought we would see him in the film, he was ultimately traded in for Cyborg.
The Justice League also says that Batman isn’t coming because he’s off on his own standalone mission. This is a jab at Batman and how he always tends to be separate from the League. It could also reference his new solo movie that’s in the works.
If you listen carefully to the voices of the Justice League members, you’ll also find that Aquaman and Wonder Woman are voiced by their DCEU counterparts, Jason Momoa and Gal Gadot. Superman is voiced by Channing Tatum and Green Lantern is Jonah Hill, the stars of Phil Lord’s other hit film, 21 Jump Street.
The News Ticker Reads Fake News
During the beginning of the film, we see a quick flash of a news report when the sister’s toys are attacking Bricksburg. If you paid attention to the ticker during the scene, you would’ve seen that it was scrolling through hilarious “fake news” and hoaxes. For example, one of them read that free tacos were a lie.
Batman’s Knightmare Introduction
When we see Batman, he’s in a very apocalyptic atmosphere that is very similar to the scene we see in his Knightmare during Batman v Superman. Later on in the film, Batman also makes another nod to the Knightmare scene by saying, “What fresh knightmare are they constructing here?”
The Mad Max References
When Bricksburg goes dark, there are very clear references to Mad Max. The wasteland scene looks very similar to the environment from the film and Batman even has his own fire-spitting guitar. The vehicles they use to fight off the Systar System invader also look exactly like those featured in Mad Max: Fury Road. The movie even makes a nod to the film when the LEGOs say “look upon our custom vehicles and despair”.
From Bricksburg to Icksburg
After the invasion of the sister’s foreign LEGOs, we get a glimpse of the destroyed Bricksburg sign and it has changed from “Bricksburg” to “Icksburg”. This is a clever way to show how the city has transformed into an “icky” and apocalyptic devastation.
The coffee shop in Bricksburg also goes through a name change during the apocalypse. In the first LEGO movie, the cafe is called “Coffee Chain” and now it’s called “Coffee Unchained”.
The Marvel Jab and the Citizens of Bricksburg
When Emmet is talking to the remaining citizens about a plan to save the people abducted by the aliens, we get a glimpse at some of the citizens of Bricksburg. We see Sheryl Swoops, Gary Payton, Harley Quinn, Cleopatra, Lincoln, Larry Poppins, and original Aquaman.
The last two, Larry Poppins and Aquaman are both referencing two movies that recently hit theaters. They have Larry Poppins who is the knockoff Mary Poppins (likely because they don’t have the rights to her) who makes everything better with a spoonful of salt. Then, they make fun of the original Aquaman since Jason Momoa’s character redefines Aquaman and turned him from a useless member of the Justice League to one of the fan favorites.
During this scene we also see Gandalf taking a jab at the MCU, by saying they have no one left and Marvel isn’t answering their calls – likely because half of their universe has been destroyed (or because Marvel didn’t want to be a part of the movie).
The Octan Logo and Airlock16+
Throughout the movie, you can see ads and logos for the company Octan. Octan is a fictional oil company that was created for Lego toy sets. Lego started featuring the company in their toys in 1992, and previously they used real-world oil companies such as Esso, Shell, and Exxon.
If you take a look at Rex’s ship, you’ll also find another Lego nod. On the side of his ship, 16+ and once Rex and Emmet enter, audiences see they came through “Airlock16+”. This is a reference to LEGO’s oldest playset, which is aimed for people over the age of 16.
The Stairgate
The stairgate is the door to the basement that holds the rest of Will Ferrell’s house. It’s also a reference to the Stargate movies. The door also looks a lot like the door from the Twilight Zone, and adds to the mystery of the unknown.
Shout out to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
When Emmet travels through “space” to save his friends, he goes through weird warping scenes. This is extremely reminiscent of the film, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Whenever the gang traveled in the movie, they were constantly warped into different universes such as the yarn universe.
The Sparkling Twilight Vampire
The vampire that we meet on the Systar System is an “attractive, non-threatening teen vampire” that likes talking about his feelings but not about “being together”, and he glitters. Does that sound familiar to you? This is a clear reference to the vampires in Twilight, and more specifically, Edward Cullen.
All of the Batman References
Just like The LEGO Batman Movie, this film doesn’t shy away from the Dark Knight references. In the film, Batman says “no one’s going to tie down this Batman forever” which is a clever reference to the Batman Forever.
Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi’s song about how she doesn’t like Batman also references many actors that have played Batman before. She says “Affleck-level hot”, “Val Kilmer lips”, and “I wasn’t even into you when you were Christian Bale”. Batman even responds to her negativity by saying “I used to wear tights, ask Adam West” to add one more Batman actor to the list.
Lastly, the film references a lot of Batman’s love interests. The Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi song references Vicki Vale and Selina Kyle. Also, at the beginning of the movie, Batman says that he’s always going to be alone because that’s what the fans want for him. This is a reference to his failed marriage to Catwoman.
Where Are My Pants?
At the end of the film, Will Ferrell or “The Man Upstairs” asks his wife, “Where are my pants?” This is a direct reference to the first Lego Movie. In the first film, Emmet watches a TV show called Where are my Pants where a man without pants asks his wife, where his pants are.
Bruce Willis Spends a lot of Time in Vents
One of the biggest gags of the movie was the constant reference to Bruce Willis. When Wyldstyle pops her hair off, she asks if she’s Bruce Willis now and we see the bald man himself chilling on the Systar planet.
Later, we also see Bruce Willis crawling through the vents. This is a reference to Bruce Willis’ infamous vent scene in Die Hard. If you take a look at the credits, you’ll also find that Willis voices himself so at least he’s joining in on the gag.
The Raptors’ Names Reference Sci-Fi and Stallone Movies
Rex calls some of his raptors by name and if you pay close attention, you’ll notice that you’ve probably already heard these names before. One of the Raptors is named Ripley, which references Ripley from Alien and another is named Connor in reference to John Connor from Terminator.
Sylvester Stallone is also immortalized through the raptors as one is named Cobra after his character in the film Cobra and another is named Rocky for his infamous role as the iconic boxer.
The Time Traveling Vessels
When Rex reveals his evil plan at the end of the movie, he talks about how he traveled through time to try and “save” Emmet and start “Our-mom-a-get-in”. During his rant, he mentions various iconic time-traveling devices used throughout movie history, such as the DeLorean from Back to the Future, the telephone booth from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, the TARDIS from Doctor Who, Skynet from Terminator, and the hot tub from Hot Tub Time Machine.
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Were you able to catch any other hidden references? Write it out in the comments!