Iron Man 2 screenwriter Justin Theroux recently confirmed that there would be an easter egg following the credits of the film just like the Samuel L. Jackson/Nick Fury cameo after the credits of the first Iron Man. Said Theroux:

No, [the easter egg's] got to be very specific because you can't...if it was all of a sudden Tony opens a tool box and there's a friggin' hammer in there, you can't bone the next guy. You know it's not like...you want to create possibilities.  So that's a very thought out piece. If the shield all of a sudden just falls out of the sky, whatever it is, whatever that thing is, you want to be very specific about it.

Images from the easter egg have now leaked.  If you want to be surprised, do not hit the jump.  This is going to ruin the easter egg and part of the enjoyment of seeing it in the theater.  That being said, we know a lot of people want to see them now so we're giving you the choice.  To see the leaked images and how they correspond to an earlier statement by Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige, hit the jump:

Comic geeks will instantly recognize one of the images as Thor's hammer, Mjolner.  It also appears that Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) is possibly talking to someone on the phone about said hammer (which may have something to do with that gigantic smoldering crater over Coulson's shoulder).  So it looks like it was Thor's hammer and not Captain America's shield that fell from the sky.

These images also relate back to what Feige said to us about how The Incredible Hulk happens around the same time as Iron Man 2.  Since we now see the hammer lying in the desert, we know that Thor happens within the same time frame as both Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk.  As Feige said, "just because it's 4-5 years between movies doesn't mean it's 4-5 years in movie time."

Thor hits theaters on May 6, 2011.

if you're sure you want to see the images....scroll down....

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are you sure?

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really sure?

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one last time...last chance...

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Images via everyeye.it