An ‘Arrested Development’ Character Appears In ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
Before they became known as the directors of some of the biggest blockbusters in history,AnthonyandJoe Russowere two of the creative forces behindArrested Development, one of the funniest and most layered comedies in television history. The filmmakerhermanossnuck a reference to the show inCaptain America: Civil Warby dropping the famous stair car into that movie’s airport fight scene, so it’s no surprise that they included another shout-out to the series inAvengers: Infinity War. Did you catch the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference in the latest Marvel movie?
SpoilersforAvengers: Infinity Warahead.
The Russo Brothers directed theArrested Developmentpilot and four other episodes throughout the show’s early run, so it makes sense that they’d want to include a brief nod to the beloved comedy.
A clip fromInfinity Warleaked online last year, revealing the scene in which Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) confront Thanos (Josh Brolin) on Knowhere. They’re at The Collector’s (Benicio Del Toro) museum, and in the background, a certainArrested Developmentcharacter can briefly be seen in one of his cages (viaVulture):
Arrested Development easter egg in the leaked Avengers: Infinity War clip. A reference to Tobias Fünke after he auditioned for the Blue Man Group.pic.twitter.com/lyVi3NJ9Oh
— GuruKid (@FunWithGuru)August 10, 2025
That’s Tobias Fünke, the hilarious therapist/wannabe actor portrayed byDavid Crosson the show. I admittedly didn’t notice this cameo or see Cross’s name in the credits ofInfinity Waron my first viewing, so I can’t be sure that he reprised the role here, but I’ll keep a close eye out next time I see the movie and come back to update this article accordingly. However, the film’s credits did specifically include a thank you toArrested Developmentfor allowing the use of one of the show’s characters, so you can bet yourfeatherbottomsthat Tobias shows up in one of those Knowhere scenes.
Here’s the aspect that fascinates me the most: when the Guardians show up to Knowhere, they are seeing a fake projection of Thanos questioning The Collector that Thanos created utilizing the Reality Stone. If Tobias only shows up inthatsection of the movie, before Thanos reveals his trick, it’ll mean that Thanos is personally a hugeArrested Developmentfan and decided to include the Easter Egg for his own amusement.
Let us know if you spotted this cameo and when exactly Tobias Fünke shows up inAvengers: Infinity War.
