Ready Player One’s trailer references Overwatch, Battletoads and the Joker

Ready Player One is a book built around references.

It’s unsurprising that Ready Player One’s trailer also plays into author Ernest Cline’s obsession with the nostalgia for relics of pop culture past. Unlike Cline’s book, however, the trailer taps into entertainment and games of more recent years to help liven up the atmosphere. Although the inclusion of numerous references Cline makes in the book have become subject to debate over how integral they are to the story, when translated to film, it’s kind of cool to see popular characters from different franchises mingling with one another. Fan fiction! It’s popular for a reason.

Overwatch’s Tracer and a character from Gearbox Software’s Battleborn can both be seen in the trailer, along with a couple notable characters such as Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft and Batman’s Joker standing opposite Harley Quinn. For those who love to spend their days catching Easter eggs and references to other media, the Ready Player One trailer was a treasure chest of opportunity. Here are some of the best references that people found.

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This is just the beginning. We’ll get plenty more trailers and TV spots before the movie is released, so keep your mind sharp and your beloved genre properties close to your heart.

Ready Player One will be released on March 30, 2018.