Westworld paid homage to the original 1973 film with this Easter egg last night

Westworld is a show that’s full of Easter eggs. From BioShock to Fallout 4 references, the series isn’t one to shy away from placing hidden treasures for fans to notice.

Warning: The following contains some spoilers for both the Westworld series and original film.

Last night, the show paid homage to the 1973 film that it’s based on. In the film, Yul Brynner plays the main antagonist in the Western theme park, the Gunslinger. He ends up becoming infected with a curious virus that turns him into a killing machine. Whether or not that’s a storyline that the Westworld showrunners are going to bring to their own series — albeit without the Gunslinger — remains unseen, but he was so popular, the outline of his figure made it into last night’s episode.

Reddit user atavus68 noticed a lifeless, host-like statue resembling Brynner’s outline and posted the comparison photo seen below. In the episode, the scene takes place when Bernard heads down to the basement, an area with restricted access, to start digging for more information about the first generation of hosts in the park. Everything about the statue, standing in the back and to the left, resembles Brynner’s pose from the film.

Reddit/atavus68

Although there isn’t an exact version of the Gunslinger in the Westworld series, Ed Harris’ Man in Black does a pretty good job of taking on that main antagonistic role. Executive producer Jonathan Nolan has spoken before about paying homage to the original film. Nolan said that as much as he respects and adores Michael Crichton’s vision, they were going to do their own thing.

Westworld is currently more than halfway through its first season. The show airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.