'Guardians of the Galaxy' Easter Eggs & Other Hidden Marvel Gems Explained in Montage That Spans 75 Years — VIDEO

Despite the bumpy road to Ant-Man, Marvel's got a pretty good thing going for it. In fact, they've constructed an extended, sprawling franchise so detailed and interconnected they've already claimed their stake in cinematic history. So with Guardians of the Galaxy blowing an intergalactic hole in the box office — aka doing really, really well — it is once again time to look closely at Marvel and that (sorry) marvelously interconnected history.

Luckily for us, MTV's Josh Horowitz has taken a break from his usual schedule of having sleepovers and pillow fights with Tom Hiddleston to narrate a video explaining every single one of Marvel's "easter eggs." Every shout-out, allusion, Stan Lee appearance (so many!), and general incorporation of 75 years of Marvel.

There are an overwhelming number of fun facts in this video, ranging from the incredibly obvious — Coulson's bouncing between films based on which superhero needs him at that particular moment — to the things only hardcore comics fans might catch — like the many shout-outs to comic book writers and to villains unlikely to make an official big screen appearance. There's also a great Captain America shout-out in the first Iron Man movie that I'd never caught before. Avengers also has its share of shout-outs to the Civil War storyline, which makes me very nervous.

Soak in the impressive mythology for yourself:

And here's a more general Marvel-is-awesome reel they showed at San Diego Comic-Con:

Bless.

Image: Marvel