Injustice 2 Easter Eggs

Injustice 2 has been the fighting game of the year. The DC Comics property allows players to take control of some legendary characters as they go head to head. But it’s not just a simple fight with no storyline or any additional content, no way. Injustice 2 takes place after Injustice: Gods Among Us, and Superman’s dictatorship has been defeated and Batman has to assemble a new team of heroes to battle the re-emergence of supervillains as well as a larger threat. The game allows players to customize and level up each character. And with specific gear sets for each fighter, the customizations are endless.

But as well as giving players a great storyline and intriguing ways of keeping the game fresh – the developers have hidden countless details within the game itself. A lot of them lie within the dialogue, and we’ve pulled some of the best lines together that reference things in the DC Universe and beyond. There are definitely some film buffs among the team, as well as some die hard DC fans. Some of the references slot in perfectly with specific characters. There’s a wide variety. Here are 15 Injustice 2 easter eggs only true fans would notice.

15 MORTAL KOMBAT

Injustice 2 has several subtle nods to the Mortal Kombat universe. Yes, we know that Scorpion was part of the first game and Sub-Zero and Raiden are both part of the sequel. But this reference is part of a background scene that the player has to unlock in a very certain kind of way.

In the Gotham stage, if you knock your opponent into the cinema’s billboard, it will bash the letters away from the sign. ‘FINAL WISH 2’ and ‘HIDDEN CRIMES’ are knocked away to become ‘FINISH HIM’ across the board. It’s a great nod to the line from the Mortal Kombat games, since the developers also worked on Mortal Kombat. Although it doesn’t really work if you’re fighting one of the female characters. Oops.

14 NIGHTWING

For fans of the first Injustice game, seeing that Nightwing aka Dick Grayson wasn’t going to return for the sequel was pretty disappointing. And that’s because in the comics, Nightwing is killed by Damian accidentally when he throws a baton at his head. He breaks his neck as he hits a rock on the ground. Ouch.

But during a fight between Batman and his son Damian, the younger Robin reminds Batman that he’s his only son. With Bruce retaliating by saying “Dick was my son too”. It’s a surprisingly emotional retort from Batman, who’s best known for his stoic nature. But it speaks volumes about how Bruce felt about his connection to his first protégé. It’s just a shame that Damian made the wrong choice by siding with Superman.

13 TED KORD

Oh Ted Kord, the beloved classic Blue Beetle was left out of the original Injustice game but mainly holds a place in many comic fans hearts. His partnership with futuristic hero Booster Gold had plenty of depth but also managed to be quite lighthearted too. But the most emotional moment came during the Injustice 2 comics in which Ted Kord had his arm cut off and then murdered by Orca. But not before Booster got the chance to say goodbye to his best friend.

But during the game if you initiate a fight between Black Canary and the new Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, Dinah says “I keep thinking you’re Ted Kord” before the two face off. It’s hard to tell if she’s making fun of Jaime or just calling back to the name. Regardless, that hurts Dinah, that just hurts.

12 TWO-FACE

One of the most legendary Batman villains, Two-Face is visually haunting due to the scarred side of his face. He’s been around for decades and we’ve seen a few different live-action portrayals of the character. The most recent has been on Gotham, but they haven’t debuted his villainous transformation on the show just yet.

During the game, Supergirl questions Catwoman before a fight, telling her that “People say you’re two faced”. Since she’s sometimes seen as a villain and other times as an anti-hero, Supergirl has a point. But it’s Catwoman’s retort that references Harvey Dent; “Got your villains mixed up, kid”. Two Face can actually be seen in the background of some of the Arkham scenes, so he does exist in the Injustice world.

11 JURASSIC PARK

We know what you’re thinking. Jurassic Park has nothing to do with DC Comics, surely there can’t be a reference? Well, tough, there is. One of Poison Ivy’s lines of dialogue going up against Batman calls back to a classic line from the Spielberg film. Batman asks her how she got loose, and she responds “Life finds a way, Bats”.

She’s repeating the line spoken in the first film by the near legendary Doctor Ian Malcolm, played by Jeff Goldblum. And with Pamela Isely’s powers lying in nature and life itself, it’s quite an appropriate line from the villain. She’s even able to create a little life herself, in the form of a plant based monster that can hurt her opponents. After all, life finds a way.

10 THE MATRIX

One of the integral parts of the hero Firestorm, is that it’s the ‘Firestorm Matrix’ that brings the two users together. And although Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond might be the original version of the hero, the version used as part of Injustice 2 is Martin Stein and Jason Rusch.

But if he has a fight with The Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime has a witty remark about the hero; “You must have swallowed the red pill!”. With Firestorm replying “Completely different Matrix.” The Joker is obviously referencing the classic 1999 film, The Matrix -- when Morpheus offers Neo a red pill and a blue pill, the red pill bringing him out of The Matrix into reality. Obviously, Neo picked the red pill. And so did Firestorm apparently, especially with his red suit.

9 BLACK RACER

Pitting the same character against themselves in the game can be great fun, especially with the quip-filled intros and funny lines. But this moment is only available if you have the Reverse-Flash skin available in your game. If you initiate a clash during the fight, one version will taunt the other with “Don’t make me kill myself” only to be met by this reply; “The Black Racer is coming”.

For those not in the know, the Black Racer is the speedster’s version of the Grim Reaper. He’s also associated with the New Gods, and has been featured in legendary storylines like "Kingdom Come" and "Final Crisis". If a New God is killed, the Racer comes to collect them, so it’s not just speedsters that he’s in charge of.

8 TED GRANT

Who is Ted Grant? We hear you ask. He’s a character from the Justice Society of America and is a world class boxer as well as having nine lives from a magical spell. His costume is black with claws and a cat like cowl, revealing only his mouth. He’s also known as the teacher to Dinah Lance, the Black Canary. We even saw part of that relationship during Arrow season three -- although without the classic costume.

But if Batman takes out one bar of Black Canary’s health during Injustice 2, he insults her with; “What has Wildcat been teaching you?” It looks like Bruce Wayne doesn’t think much of Ted Grant’s training skills as he beats up Black Canary. Maybe we need some Wildcat DLC so that Ted can show Bats what he can do.

7 STREAKY THE SUPERCAT

When it was announced that Atrocitus was going to be a part of Injustice 2, fans were immediately treated with the fact that his fellow Lantern, Dex Starr would be coming too. Don’t know who Dex Starr is? Well, he’s a Red Lantern, who’s also a cat of course. He’s Atrocitus’ character bonus -- and can be used against opponents. But what about heroic cats? If Supergirl beats Atrocitus -- she says “Streaky is Better Than Dex Starr!”

Streaky is Supergirl’s super powered cat – who gained his abilities after being exposed to a certain strain of Kryptonite. He can fly, has super strength, invulnerability and even x-ray vision. Although why a cat needs x-ray vision is beyond us. It might be one of the weirder insults from a character in the game, but hey, we’re not complaining.

6 SHAZAM

Shazam originally fought for Superman during the first Injustice game, but was killed by the Man of Steel for standing against some of the tactics he was using as part of the Regime. There’s always been a rivalry between the two heroes, since he was originally created by Fawcett Comics as their version of Superman. Shazam can transform from 12-year-old Billy Batson to the superhero when he says his own name.

But before a fight between Cyborg and The Flash, Cyborg says that he knows they did the right thing as part of the regime. But The Flash doesn’t think so, as he simply replies: “Two words, Billy Batson”. After all, Superman did murder a child. Yes, he killed him when he was in his heroic form -- but it was still Billy.

5 PLANET OF THE APES

We did say that Injustice 2 references many franchises across the entire game. And one legendary science fiction adventure they mention, is Planet of the Apes. The film sees the Ape society shocked when Taylor can talk after shouting “Take your stinkin’ paws off me, you damn dirty ape!”

But in the game after he and Black Canary beat Bane, Green Arrow asks “Where’s that damn dirty ape? He’s actually referring to Gorilla Grodd, who is also an intelligent ape, although he has psychic powers as well as being able to talk. Funnily enough though, there is a society of super intelligent Gorillas, aptly named ‘Gorilla City’ that Grodd is a part of. Looks like someone at DC Comics was a Planet of the Apes fan.

4 LORD OF THE RINGS

The legendary trilogy of stories written by J.R. Tolkien have been referenced across various different franchises, films,TV shows and games. Injustice 2 joins the list as Green Arrow references a vital character from the story. When Bruce introduces Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance to Brother Eye, a collection of satellites, Ollie replies that it’s “More like the Eye of Sauron”. And in fact, Ollie isn’t far from the truth. Sauron was an all-seeing, all-hearing entity that could both withstand and take a lot of damage.

Brother Eye was taken over by Brainiac and helped him in his assault on planet Earth. Luckily, the computer system was restored to its’ original form and was used against Brainiac in the game’s ending. Although fortunately Catwoman and Cyborg didn’t need to drop a ring into a volcano to stop Brother Eye.

3 GHOSTBUSTERS

Clearly there are some movie fans on the Injustice 2 development team. There’s even a sneaky Ghostbusters reference during an exchange between Jason Todd and The Joker. Because The Joker’s fight in the game takes place during a hallucination, much of his dialogue refers to that fact. And when he tells Jason that he’s “Here to Haunt Your Every Dream”, the former Robin has a brilliantly swift reply; “I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost”. Fantastic.

Especially when you remember the history between the two. There’s that brutal moment where The Joker beat Jason up with a crowbar and then left him to die in an explosion, ringing any bells? Well after Jason’s subsequent resurrection, he goes on a rage fueled quest for revenge after Batman and The Joker -- so he really isn’t afraid of no ghost.

2 BATMAN RETURNS

We’ve seen a few different versions of Catwoman over the years, from the Adam West series all the way up to Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises. But She was given a design with flair during Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, and Injustice 2 pays homage to Michelle Pfeiffer in the role with one particular line. When you deplete a gray bar -- the villain will purr the line “I feel so much yummier now”.

It’s a reference to a line said by Pfeiffer when she wore the tight latext suit in the ‘80s. Her version of the character truly showed off Catwoman’s ability to be both seductive and dangerous -- something very clear in Injustice 2. Surely there’s some gear in the game that looks similar to the suit from Batman Returns…

1 FELICITY SMOAK

Before the Arrowverse fans get too excited, no Felicity Smoak doesn’t make an appearance in the game. Although she does get namedropped by The Flash if he takes out the first bar of bar of Green Arrow’s health. He firmly states; “That’s for breaking Felicity’s heart”. Fans of the show will know that Oliver and Felicity have had a turbulent relationship, they’ve had to endure evil exes, terrorist attacks and even a secret son across their time together.

Not to mention all the usual superheroics. But The Flash and Felicity shared an affinity for one another, and clearly care about each other deeply. So it’s no surprise that Barry would want to dish out a beating if Felicity was hurt by Ollie. And we can’t say we blame him, Oliver Queen does have a womanizing reputation.

Which of these easter eggs is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!