Along with the wild action and hilarious comedy, the various Bullet Train Easter eggs make it a hugely enjoyable ride. The movie stars Brad Pitt as Ladybug, a seasoned mercenary who’s assigned a job initially meant for another operative by his handler, Maria Beetle (Sandra Bullock). His mission: to retrieve a briefcase. The item, however, turns out to be highly coveted by various parties, all as well-trained as he is. Said interested parties are portrayed by a star-studded cast that includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King and Andrew Koji. With so many assassins working against each other, Ladybug's assignment quickly turns into a fight for survival that will test his newly found desire for inner peace.
Initially developed as a gritty action thriller, Bullet Train is a comedic and self-referential take on the action genre, which aptly fits its director's sensibilities. David Leitch has directed movies like Atomic Blonde, Hobbs & Shaw and Deadpool 2. Those projects have positioned him as a prominent name in the action genre due to his distinctive directing style, visual flair and often-irreverent comedy — Bullet Train continues in this tradition. Being a fun spin on action films, the movie includes multiple references to other franchises, as well as to Leitch’s own body of work.
Celebrity Cameos
Along with the star-studded main cast, Bullet Train's cameos add even more star-power to the movie. For starters, Ladybug’s handler — who’s mostly only heard throughout the film — is played by Sandra Bullock, who makes an appearance at the end of the film to rescue Pitt’s character. The Boys star Karen Fukuhara appears briefly as a train staff member who sells sparkling water to Ladybug in the midst of a fight between him and Tangerine.
Channing Tatum cameos as a clueless passenger whom Ladybug uses as a diversion for assassin Tangerine, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Fury star Logan Lerman is also featured (though mostly as a corpse) as the son of White Death, Bullet Train’s big bad, played by Michael Shannon. Arguably the most surprising Bullet Train cameo, however, comes from Ryan Reynolds. The Deadpool star makes his presence felt in a seconds-long appearance as Carver, an assassin with questionable morals responsible for killing White Death’s wife.
The Lost City
The Lost City, a 2022 action-comedy starring Sandra Bullock as writer Loretta Sage and Channing Tatum as model Alan Caprison, featured Pitt in a supporting role as Jack Trainer, a tracker who helps rescue Sage from a group of mercenaries. During the mission, Trainer is shot in the head and left for dead, but he makes an unexpected return. The Lost City's post-credit scene shows Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum's characters in a meditation class. Trainer appears behind them, and he tells them he is trying to work through his anger issues and resentment.
When Pitt's Ladybug is introduced in Bullet Train, he states he's trying to be a better person, wanting to let go of his anger and have a more positive outlook on life, which may serve as a subtle continuation of Trainer's path toward inner peace. The potential link between Pitt's two characters is made more noticeable by their shared skillset (both being trained killers) and by Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock's cameos in Bullet Train.
Thomas The Tank Engine
Thomas & Friends and its star, Thomas the Tank Engine, have a prominent presence in Bullet Train. The series is first brought up by the assassin Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry), who states he learned what he knows about life and people from the animated series. Lemon makes multiple references to Thomas & Friends as the story unfolds, but it isn't only a running gag. The assassin's encyclopedic knowledge of the children's franchise serves as a guide to Bullet Train's many twists and turns.
At one point, Lemon lists off the personalities of Thomas & Friends' main characters, which, as it's slowly revealed, correlate to the personalities of the film's main characters. For example, he uses the Devious Diesel engine to accurately identify Joey King's The Prince as a villain, and compares his brother Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to Thomas himself after he finds him dead.
An Unexpected Deadpool 2 Connection
As mentioned, Bullet Train features Ryan Reynolds as a remorseless assassin named Carver. The actor's appearance was brief, and that was by design, because it was meant to mirror Brad Pitt's role in Deadpool 2. The 2018 Deadpool sequel features a sequence in which the majority of Wade Wilson's X-Force teammates are killed while skydiving. One of the victims is Vanisher, an invisible mutant who's not shown on screen until he dies after accidentally landing on power lines. The shock turns him visible for a few seconds, revealing Brad Pitt as the actor behind the elusive mutant.
As Bullet Train director David Leitch explained to Entertainment Weekly, when he pitched Reynolds his role in the film, the actor agreed on the condition that his cameo be as short as Pitt's in Deadpool 2.
Percy Jackson
Logan Lerman rose to prominence playing the titular character in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and its 2013 sequel Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, and it seems Bullet Train makes a subtle reference to the actor's role in said movies. In the film, assassin brothers Lemon and Tangerine board the bullet train alongside White Death's son (Lerman) to deliver him to his father, having rescued him from a group of kidnappers.
The pair of assassins talk about the young man, and Lemon compares him to the Thomas & Friends character Percy, a kind and clumsy engine. Given the specificity of the mention, this was likely not only a reference to the animated series but also to Logan Lerman's aforementioned stint as Poseidon's son in the short-lived Percy Jackson franchise, which is becoming a Disney+ show.
Barry
A Bullet Train Easter eggs may also be a nod to HBO's hit series Barry. As he makes it clear on several occasions, Ladybug isn't content with his life. He strives to be less negative and to let go of his anger issues, something he works toward with the help of his therapist, Barry, whom the hitman talks about multiple times. Barry is never shown, but his constant mentions could be a reference to the title character in Barry.
The show centers on Barry (Bill Hader), an assassin who, while on an assignment in LA, gets introduced to the world of acting. Fascinated by the arts and tired of his violent job, he attempts to build a new life for himself as a performer. Ladybug's path to peace emulates Barry's journey — both being men who seek more peaceful and positive environments, yet, through circumstances outside of their control, who find themselves unable to break free from their violent occupations.
The Lucky One
As evidenced by Brad Pitt's Ladybug codename, luck is a recurring theme in Bullet Train. The movie's first scene, for example, opens with Yuichi Kimura (Andrew Koji) in a hospital room with a TV playing a show about a lucky cat, an animal who, alongside its series, makes its presence felt throughout the film.
The topic is also brought up prominently by Ladybug, who makes many references to his bad luck, and Joey King's The Prince, who boasts about her good fortune on different occasions. As the movie progresses, however, their situations are flipped. The Prince is shown gradually losing control of her master plan, being constantly discovered by different Bullet Train characters and failing her long-desired assassination attempt on her father, all culminating in her being run over by Lemon.
Ladybug's luck, on the other hand, gets progressively better, exemplified by him being injected with a lethal poison but quickly being able to find an antidote, surviving a horrific train crash and two subsequent assassination attempts through very specific circumstances (one of which involves being cushioned by a giant costume), and ultimately being rescued by his handler, Maria. Ladybug's luck shines through once again at the very end when Maria's car is destroyed before they leave the crash site, from which they get away safely right as the authorities arrive.
Do Bullet Trains Easter Eggs And Cameos Set Up A Future Movie?
The various Bullet Train Easter eggs and cameos add to the fun of the movie, but they might also set up some future adventures. The Bullet Train ending allows Ladybug to escape along with Maria, and though he is searching for a life of less violence, it is possible he could be drawn back into this world. It would continue Bullet Train's overall feel of The Big Lebowski mixed with John Wick with Ladybug a reluctant yet skilled participant in this world of assassins.
The cameos could also be setting up for the future. Sandra Bullock's Maria could have a bigger role in a Bullet Train sequel, further exploring the bond she shares with Ladybug. More interestingly, Ryan Reynolds' Carver seems to be set up as an antagonist in this world, a more ruthless assassin that Ladybug has particular disdain for. Time will tell if there is indeed a Bullet Train 2, but the seeds are planted for more.