The 21 best Spider-Man: Homecoming Easter eggs, references and callbacks

Just in case that didn’t tingle your spider senses, Morales is the Peter Parker of the recent Spider-Man Ultimate Comics, the teen who transforms into the renowned wall-crawler. And according to creators Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli, Morales was partly inspired by Donald Glover after the actor declared his interest in the role.

In fact, Glover was a favourite to become the lead in The Amazing Spider-Man films, with fans launching a #Donald4Spiderman campaign. The role eventually went to Andrew Garfield, but Glover earned a role voicing the wall-crawler in cartoon series Ultimate Spider-Man. He even managed to try on the spider suit as part of a cheeky Easter egg stuffed into sitcom Community.

Ned = Ganke

Fun fact: Peter Parker’s lego-loving best friend is not actually called Ned. Well, not in the comics anyway. Instead, Jacob Batalon’s character shares many similarities to Ganke Lee, the Korean-American bestie of Miles Morales (wall-crawl above for his bio) in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. In those stories, Ganke is the first to discover Morales is Spider-Man and provides tech assistance to the young Web-slinger. In manners and ascetics, it’s all very familiar...

So, who is Ned? It’s likely the film character borrows his forename from Ned Leeds, a Daily Bugle reporter from the original comics. But just why isn’t clear; Ned Leeds is a colleague of Parker and a husband to Betty Brant, but after a dose of brainwashing becomes a version of villain Hobgoblin. All in all, it's a real web-head-scratcher.

Double fun fact: recent Spider-Man comics have made fun of the Ned/Ganke confusion. During one recent adventure (Spider-Man #16), Ganke has to adopt a pseudonym for a love interest. And, of course, he picks “Ned”.

Liz Allan's poor relations

It was a twist straight out of Crazy, Stupid, Love: Liz Allan – Parker’s homecoming date – is The Vulture’s daughter. However, it shouldn’t be too surprising a turn for comic-book fans. The character has a history of super-villain relations: she was unveiled as the stepbrother to Mark Raxton aka Molten Man.

Plus, she also ends us marrying Green Goblin, Harry Osborn, and birthing Normie Osborn, another future Goblin.

We’re not saying Liz is responsible for all those villains, but we will say Spidey did well swinging far away from her family tree.

Birds of a feather

Here’s a nice obvious Easter egg laid by The Vulture: the baddie’s coat isn’t only for keeping Michael Keaton warm during his windswept flights above NYC – it’s a hark back to the Vulture of the comic. Those hairy trimmings on Keaton's bomber jacket? Certainly a nod to the feather-ruff of the original villain.

Peter Parker’s Day Off

Not exactly a reference to another superhero film, but this is perhaps the best entry on the list. As Spidey’s sprint to catch up with Shocker takes him across the back gardens of his neighbourhood, John Hughes film Ferris Bueller's Day Off can be seen playing in one house.

MJ Watson – but not as we know her

More than a massive ostrich egg than simply an Easter one, it turns out Michelle – the sarcastic schoolgirl played by singer Zendaya – was revealed to be MJ Watson, Peter Parker’s normally red-headed love interest from the comics.

And that’s somewhat of a surprise after the Disney star previously denied that was her role. We would be angry, but Zendaya’s new sassy and offbeat interpretation has given the character new life (alongside a heavy dose of mordacity).

Of course, the character was previously brought to screen by Kirsten Dunst in Sam Raimi’s trilogy, but she was playing a slighter older MJ. Although Dunst and Zendaya were both aged 20 when they first played Watson, Dunst’s character was mainly portrayed as above graduation age, while Zendaya plays a 15-year-old version of MJ.

SM2-0563

Movie number-plates naturally lend themselves to numerical references and one car in Homecoming provides yet another comic-book nod. One fan has spotted that during Spidey’s fight on the ferry there’s a car giving a coded citation towards The Vulture’s first print appearance…

Kiss and tell

Remember when Spidey hung upside-down through the Washington Monument interior and voice suit Karen prompts Parker to kiss Liz? Well, that’s a callback to 2002’s Spider-Man if we ever saw one. The most memorable moment of that film (apart from the crazy-eyed William Defoe versus crazier-eyed William Defoe mirror face-off) was the scene where Spider-Man (Toby Maguire) saves Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) from a gang of thugs and receives a romantic reward in the rain: an upside-down smooch.

However, in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Parker plummets down a gigantic lift shaft instead of receiving a bottom-up kiss with Liz. Horrible for Spidey, but brilliantly fitting for the film’s (ironically) tongue-in-cheek take on the superhero.

Damage Control

In a Homecoming trailer we spotted that Tony Stark’s new company in Homecoming, Damage Control, was a great big reference to the late 1980s comic of the same name.

Damage Control was a sitcom-esque comic that explored the clean-up operation that followed every major superhero battle in New York City. And queen of that clean-up team? The ever-intimidating director Anne-Marie Hoag, a character that makes a slight cameo in Homecoming. Played by Tyne Daly, she’s the mean-spirited woman who loses Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes a major building contract.

I'm Batman!

As well as mocking other Spidey films (see 17), Homecoming also fired its web-shooters at superhero films outside the MCU. Yes, we’re talking Batman. Or to be more specific, Batman’s absurdly deep voice.

During the wall-crawler’s confrontation with Aaron Davis (Donald Glover), Spider-Man switches his suit to 'intimidation' mode, altering his voice to a low roar. Of course, the ploy fails to rattle Davis and the scene is largely played for laughs.

Thor buckles up

Just preceding the climactic battle aboard the invisible plane (it's a Wonder where they got they idea from), Spidey sidekick Ned makes a call to Stark sidekick Happy Hogan who drops a reference to Thor’s Magic Belt. As Hogan lists the last items being moved from the old Avengers tower, he lists items such as the Hulkbuster before stumbling on the "Megingjörð".

Megingjörð, literally meaning “power belt” in Old Norse, is part of Thor’s outfit – a garment that can double the Thunder god's strength when worn. Although it’s featured in several comics, this super-powered strap hasn’t yet popped up in the MCU, which leads to some interesting questions: Why does Stark have it? Could it appear in the upcoming Thor flick? And will anyone actually be able to pronounce ‘Megingjörð’ if he does?

Spider-Man: Civil War

Remember the scene when Ned discovers Parker’s Spider-Man secret and goes on to ask a lot of questions about his powers? It's here he queries whether Peter has the power to control an army of spiders. This can be seen as a reference to Ant-Man, a superhero who wields the power not only to shrink down to ant size, but also to command a colony of the insects. Because, erm, he can manipulate their brainwaves.

Don’t worry if you're not convinced by that science, Spider-Man looks to be prodding fun of Ant-Man’s dubious logic too.

Additional reporting by Huw Fullerton

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