Sticks' catchphrase, "No future in it", is exactly that of another laconic weapons master, James Coburn's knife master "Britt" from The Magnificent Seven, which is itself an homage to Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.

In "The Magnificent Seven", Coburn's knifeslinger is laconic and cynical, preferring to let his virtuosity with the switchblade speak for him. When he does speak, it's usually in answer to a direct question, and his answer is usually "No future in it".

Sticks is a well-known enforcer who comes aboard to help Vlad with a turf war. Britt is a well-known warrior who comes aboard to help Yul Brynner with a turf war too.

Sticks (Stadol) is described pretty much as Britt, too: "...taller and thinner than most, and carried himself as if every bone in his body were jelly...He had sandy hair, straight, and worn to his ears." (Image of Britt)