Every Community + Arrested Development Easter Egg in the Russo Brothers’ MCU Films (2024)

The four Marvel Cinematic Universefilms directed by Anthony and Joseph Russo (Captain America: Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: End Game) are full of these easter eggs, including those paying homage to two of the Russo Brothers’ most famous works - Arrested Development, a sitcom from the Early 2000s with several episodes directed by the duo, and Community, a late 2000s sitcom also featuring a variety of episodes directed by the pair.

We’ll be focusing on those Easter Eggs for this article, breaking down, chronologically, the Community cameos and the Arrested Development Easter eggs.

Related: These Are the Best Episodes of Television Directed by the Russo Brothers

Community Easter Egg: Aaron Himelstein - Captain America: The Winter Solider

The first Community cameo is harder to spot, but eagle-eyed fans will recognize Aaron Himelstein as the same actor who played Greendale’s rival student from City College that Jeff and Annie faced off against at the debate tournament.

This time, however, instead of sporting a ponytail and a snobby attitude, Himelstein’s Agent Klein stands up to Rumlow when Steve Rogers sends out the broadcast asking the agents to stop the H.Y.D.R.A Helicarriers during the Battle at the Triskelion. This character, S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Cameron Klein, is a character original to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

You can see him again in Avengers: Age of Ultron and the character is also mentioned in Avengers: Infinity War. It's a big jump from cameo to in-universe staple, and we'll be keeping an eye out for more of Agent Klein in upcoming MCU films.

Community Easter Egg: D.C. Pierson - Captain America: The Winter Solider

While not the most recognizable face from the show, it’s important to mention this Greendale Student’s appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. D.C. Pierson, having played a member of the Greendale Gazette named Mark Millot, cameos here as the annoying Apple support tech Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff have to deal with while on the run. His last appearance in Community, as a member of Troy's forces in the season three episode "Digital Exploration of Interior Design," was just two years before the film was released.

Community Easter Egg: Danny Pudi - Captain America: The Winter Solider

This next Community Cameo was much easier to spot, with the actor being one from the main cast. During the scene in The Winter Soldier when Steve Rogers breaks in to make his announcement, the terrified S.H.I.E.L.D communications officer is Danny Pudi - most recognizable as Abed, the neurodivergent film lover from the Greendale seven.

Here, he plays a film stereotype his Community counterpart would be pointing out and ridiculing - the infamous “I’ll check it out” guy. Community was still running at this point, so who knows? We might've gotten an MCU reference in the show and not even noticed!

Community Easter Egg: Jim Rash - Captain America: Civil War

Moving forward to the next Captain America film in the franchise, this Community actor is also considered a main character by many, though not one of the Greendale seven. In a character not too different from his role on the show, if a little toned down, actor and writer Jim Rash plays The M.I.T liaison that’s very excited to tell a distracted Tony Stark about his new self-cooking hotdog idea.

Rash's role in Community was Dean Craig Pelton, a character that isn't hard to imagine inviting Iron Man to speak at his school and explaining to him his nonsensical plans to squander money. Somehow, he's moved up in the world from a Community College to a prestigious private University. Maybe all those sponsorships weren't so crazy after all.

Arrested Development Easter Egg: The Stair Car - Captain America: Civil War

While the Community easter eggs are more prevalent, being cameos from the actors, the arrested development easter eggs are a little bit more hard to spot. The first comes during the airport scene in Captain America: Civil War.

If you look closely, you’ll notice a strange looking vehicle in the background. Fans of the 2003 sitcom will recognize it as the Bluth family’s stair car, used multiple times throughout the series' run.

How it got from Newport Beach, California to Schkeuditz, Saxony is anyone's guess, but one thing's for sure - all the discontent in this MCU film would've been over much quicker if Gene Parmesan was on the case.

Arrested Development Easter Egg: Tobias Fünke - Avengers: Infinity War

Another difficult-to-spot but rewarding-once-found hidden treat referencing Arrested Development comes in the Russo Brother's MCU film after Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War. If you look in the background during the scene with the Guardians of the Galaxy, in one two-second blink and you'll miss it shot, you can see Tobias Fünke, our favorite never-nude and prospective actor, sitting in one of the collector's cages in full blue-ness and a pair of jean shorts.

Community Easter Egg: Ken Jeong - Avengers: Endgame

Moving forward a few movies in the MCU timeline, the next Community Cameo comes mid-way through the first third of Avengers: Endgame. Many fans will recognize Ken Jeong, a.k.a Ben Chang (or Kevin), the deranged Spanish teacher turned student turned math teacher at Greendale. He's the security guard completely startled by Scott Lang bursting out of a van after five years of being trapped in the Quantum Realm, kickstarting the Avengers' journey to try and 'Chang' the past.

Community Easter Egg: Yvette Nicole Brown - Avengers: Endgame

Our last Community Cameo comes during Tony and Steve’s trip to the past to get more pym particles. During one of his many elevator scenes, Captain America has a coy conversation about his employment status with an administrative employee - igniting her slow growing suspicion with the two time travelers and causing her to report them to S.H.I.E.L.D. This employee is played by Yvette Nicole Brown, who fans will recognize as the same actress who portrays Shirley Bennett - the good-natured, but rage-filled, Christian member of the study group. While this is one of the smaller cameos on our list, only having a few short lines, it's certainly memorable to those who recognized what the small role actually meant in the history of the Russo Brothers work.

That's every Community and Arrested Development Easter Egg and Cameo in the four Russo Brothers MCU films! Though there are more cameos and actor overlaps in non-Russo MCU films (and there are other Easter Eggs in Russo Brothers MCU films not related to the two shows), there's definitely more love and connection in the ones on this list, knowing the history behind them. Who knows? Maybe there could even be more like this, if the Russo Brothers ever return to the MCU!

Related: The Russo Brothers Reveal When They Would Like to Return to Marvel