39 of the biggest Borderlands movie Easter eggs and game references

As to be expected from the first cinematic trip to Pandora, the Borderlands movie is filled with references, Easter eggs, and nods to Gearbox’s iconic looter-shooter series.

From background details you almost missed to love letters to Borderlands past, we’re here to found up the biggest Easter eggs from the adaptation, which stars Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

You ready? Catch a ride and zip on down to our round-up of the biggest and best Borderlands Easter eggs. For more, check out our breakdown of the Borderlands ending and whether there’s a Borderlands post-credits scene.

Spoilers for the Borderlands movie follow. You have been warned! 

Borderlands Easter eggs

(Image credit: Lionsgate)

Borderlands characters

(Image credit: Lionsgate)

Some familiar faces crop up during the runtime of the Borderlands movie. Of course, the core gang of main characters from the series are all present (Lilith, Roland, Tannis, and Tiny Tina among them). But let’s go a little deeper.

One of the more obvious character cameos is Marcus, the munitions vendor found in practically every Borderlands title. In the movie, he gives Lilith a ride towards Fyrestone and later appears outside Marcus’ Munitions in Sanctuary.

Ellie and Scooter, both allies from the Borderlands titles, appear during the end celebrations on Sanctuary, though we catch a glimpse of a Scooter Truck earlier in the movie as the gang make their way out of the city.

Tailing the band of misfits is Knoxx, a commander of the Crimson Lance, played by Janina Gavankar (herself a prolific actor across several major video game franchises, including Star Wars Battlefront and God of War). The game version, however, is slightly different: General Knoxx was the antagonist of the Borderlands DLC pack ‘The Secret Armory of General Knoxx.’

While not exactly an Easter egg and, instead, a fully-fleshed out character, it was still nice to see Moxxi show up during the events on Sanctuary.

Mini Psychos are also present during Lilith’s hunt for the second vault key, while an even bigger problem poses itself in Borderlands’ as the black-helmeted Krom makes an appearance next to Atlas. The character looked markedly different in the film. In the games, is a prison warden and one of the first bosses players encounter in the original Borderlands.

In one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment on Sanctuary, there’s a wanted poster for Mick Zaford, the bowler hat-wearing leader of the Zaford clan from Borderlands 2.

And, yes, we’re counting Tiny Tina’s rabbit Mushy Snugglebites (here called Bob) as an Easter egg.

Borderlands locations

(Image credit: Lionsgate)

Some of Pandora’s finest (and not-so-fine) locales were explored in the Borderlands movie.

But, first up, a surprise trip to Promethea is where we first find Cate Blanchett’s Lilith. The neo-futuristic city is home to all sorts of villainy. It’s also a major location in Borderlands 3. While there, Lilith mentions she’s bringing in a bounty from a heist on what sounded like Lectra City. The location was found in Borderlands 3.

Once on Pandora, the film rattles through a handful of iconic locations. There’s Fyrestone and the first lead to find Tina. Fittingly, it’s also the first named location players will encounter in the Borderlands franchise.

From there, Lilith then finds Tannis in Sanctuary, a sprawling location seen in Borderlands 2. That also features Moxxi’s Bar. The mission to find three Vault Keys then sees the team head to Caustic Caverns, a Dahl mining operation that carries the same function in Borderlands 2.

Borderlands weapons and enemies

(Image credit: Lionsgate)

Of course, it’s not Borderlands without things that go boom. In that respect, the movie certainly packs a punch (and more than its fair share of explosions).

Lilith’s weapon of choice is a Vladof Infinity Pistol. Good luck getting that in-game: it’s only found as a legendary drop in a handful of locations. 

Tiny Tina, as to be expected, as her own litany of death-dealing weapons. There’s the Badonkadonk, which Tina makes players collect in the Borderlands 2 mission ‘A Train to Catch.’ Ariana Greenblatt’s foul-mouthed character also pulled out a Vladof RPG during an early showdown with Lilith. Several weapons manufacturers are also present throughout, including Maliwan, Hyperion, and, of course, Atlas.

We’ve already mentioned the Psychos but did you catch a reference to the Bloodshots and Raiders in Caustic Caverns? The former were found, infamously, in Borderlands 2’s Bloodshot Stronghold, a sharp difficulty spike for players.

And what are weapons without a few targets? Throughout the movie, there are skags, rakks, and most notably a Thresher roaming the wastes. Rakks are even a delicacy of choice at Sanctuary food stall Rakk’s Snacks.

Upon meeting Lilith, Claptrap tells her that she has an extremely high chance of being eaten by a Craw Maggot. She can count herself lucky that Crawmerax the Invincible never turned up.

Other Borderlands game references

(Image credit: Lionsgate)

Of course, there are plenty of singular references to the Borderlands games. You may have had a good chuckle at the return of Claptrap’s greatest enemy: stairs.

Other elements pulled directly from the games include the Borderlands money audio cue when Lilith is offered a bounty on Promethea; the ECHONet service; and an Outrunner vehicle.

Speaking of vehicles, Lilith says she needs to “catch a ride” on Pandora and, lo and behold, Marcus and his bus show up. That’s a cheeky nod to the games’ handy Catch-A-Ride service, which allows you to spawn any vehicle you own at certain locations.

Krieg’s quick, brutal one-liners are assuredly a nod to Psycho one-liners, as the mobs of low-level enemies taunt you across several Borderlands games. Our favorite? Krieg will “lick your spine clean”, apparently. Charming.

There’s also a welcome sight for any weary Vault Hunter: a gun vending machine. Jack Black’s Claptrap tries to flirt with it. Naturally. In the games, it’s where you can spend your hard-earned money on new weapons and upgrades.

Finally, the end of the movie makes good on its promise of the Eridians setup. Both in the movie and in the games, they’re presented as the galaxy’s forebears and a race that came equipped with advance technology, much of which was hidden away in the Vault on Pandora.

Much like the games, Lilith learns to Phasewalk (essentially a rapid teleport) and discovers she is a Firehawk and can open the Vault. That name is a nod to her alias in Borderlands 2, while her abilities closely resemble that of the game’s Siren powers.

She uses those powers to overcome Atlas (his shield is certainly a wink at the games’ rechargeable shields that players can use on top of their health) in the Vault. There, Lilith rescues Tina and allows Atlas to be consumed by a mysterious creature in the Vault who, we suspect, is The Destroyer.

For more from Borderlands, check out our chat with Ariana Greenblatt and Florian Munteanu about prepping for their roles, and an interview with Randy Pitchford about the pressure of making a live-action video game adaptation.

Then dive into the latest releases with our guide to upcoming video game movies.