Iron Man 2 Easter Egg (spoiler)

Via IO9:

LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW…

… Really.

If you stick around after the ending credits of Iron Man 2, you’ll get a surprise that expands the Marvel movie universe, just like with the first movie. We glimpsed this scene, and here’s what happens.

Maximum spoilers below!
Somehow, the “after credits” sequence from Iron Man 2 wound up on YouTube for a short while, and we had a chance to watch it before it was, not surprisingly, taken down.

Here’s what happens:

We see a desert landscape, with sandy dunes punctuated by the occasional bit of scrub. There are mountains off in the distance. A black car zooms across the screen, dust and exhaust in its wake. The car swerves and roars towards the camera, and we see its New Mexico license plate: 8RE 2Z1. A man steps out of the car, and then we see him standing on top of a tall hill with a single tree, looking down at something.

The man is revealed to be SHIELD agent Coulson, wearing dark glasses and a dark suit.

He’s looking down at a smoking crater, which is being circled by a bunch of cars, as feverish activity takes place around it. He turns away from the crater, and touches his earpiece. “Sir,” he says, “We’ve found it.” The camera pans back to show what’s in the crater — Thor’s hammer, looking much like it does in the comics.

Smash to black.

Update: Italian site EveryEye.It has a couple of screencaps from the scene (found via Collider) and here’s the money shot of the hammer:

The road to the Avengers film may have started with Sam Jackson as Nick Fury in Iron Man, but we are really getting down to business here with the appearance of Mjolnir in Iron Man 2. Marvel Studios impressed fans and non-fans of comic books alike with their first Iron Man film. Reviews are still very conflicted on Iron Man 2, some calling it a disjointed mess and others saying that it is the best superhero movie since Spider-Man 2 (high praise indeed!).

Even those who enjoyed the early screening of Iron Man 2 say that it worries them with regards to the quality of the upcoming Thor and Captain America films to arrive next Summer.

However, it is very exciting to see a continuation of the ‘shared Marvel Universe’ first glimpsed in the Incredible Hulk movie. In fact, rumors are circulating that the reboots of Spider-Man, X-Men and Ghost Rider may also include hints of the other Marvel characters which has comic book readers agog with glee.

Don’t expect this news to remain on line for long as the video footage has been posted then pulled from the web as of this morning.