A Holy hand grenade, a Gundam, Batman and a Hadouken (or Kamekameha, it was hard to tell), Ready Player One has no shortage of moments meant to elicit a cheap pop from audiences recognizing their favorite nostalgic properties.
The ouroboros-like nature of Ready Player One’s story that is based on the culture around tons of other pre-existing stories is definitely something to consider.
Even the Honest Trailer does it; I totally forgot that Power Rangers wannabes the VR Troopers were a thing.
The way this trailer highlights the lack of creativity by the characters in a seemingly limitless virtual world is pretty spot on too.