If you're even slightly a fan of Spider-Man, you're in for a treat with Sony's new animated
movie.
There's enough hidden away inside the film to keep surprising viewers on their second,
third, or even fourth watches.
Here are just a few of the Easter eggs you might have missed in Spider-Man: Into the
Spider-Verse.
While Spider-Verse is ultimately an origin story for Miles Morales, the spotlight does
get shared with other Spider-People.
The first hero audiences are introduced to is the Peter Parker of Miles' universe.
The movie starts off with this Peter's narration, catching viewers up on the broad strokes of
the Spider-Man story.
During Peter's recounting of his exploits as a superhero, the movie revisits several
classic set pieces from the Sam Raimi Spider-movies, including Spider-Man's heroic train rescue,
the time Doctor Octopus threw a car through a window, and the much-derided sequence of
an evil Peter Parker strutting around in Spider-Man 3 shooting everyone some finger guns.
"So good."
Everyone knows that Marvel loves those classic Stan Lee cameos.
But some of the shoutouts to other important artists from the company's history can often
be harder to notice.
Spider-Verse provides a bit of a call-out for two other figures who were crucial to
Spider-Man's development.
When Miles is on the train shortly after discovering his powers, he pulls out his phone and scrolls
through the contacts, passing by a conspicuous entry for "B Bendis", a reference to Brian
Michael Bendis, who co-created Miles with artist Sara Pichelli in 2011.
Later, in a similar moment with Jefferson, Jeff scrolls by an entry for Steve Ditko,
who co-created the original Spider-Man with Stan Lee in 1962.
Though Miles is Brooklyn born and raised, he also seems to be a fan of the Chicago-based
MC Chance the Rapper, with a poster for his mixtape Coloring Book appearing in Miles'
room.
Amusingly, the distinctive baseball cap Chance wears on the real-life cover, with a number
3 on it indicating that the mixtape is his third release, has been changed in Miles'
alternate universe to the number 4.
The implication is that the Chance of this universe is slightly more prolific than the
version we know.
Maybe Miles' universe just put a lot more emphasis on the Lil B collaboration.
We all know that Spider-Man is more than just a character, he's a lucrative multi-media
property, and Into the Spider-Verse has fun with that fact.
Part of Peter Parker's intro to the movie focuses on the extensive library of Spider-Merch
that's been created over the course of his crimefighting career, with one of the most
amusing products being the Spider-Man Christmas album.
But this isn't a joke that was made for the movie, it's actually a joke from real life.
The album in the movie is a reference to a real Spider-Man album that was released in
1975, a rock opera from the label Lifesong Records called Spider-Man: Rock Reflections
of a Hero.
It sounds like Jefferson Airplane singing jaunty songs about how no one's got a crush
on Peter Parker.
It's kind of awesome, and in some alternate universe, it's probably a chart-topping hit.
There have been so many Spider-Man suit designs over the years at this point that you could
spend days putting together a list of your favorites.
Into the Spider-Verse showcases a number of alternate costumes inside of Aunt May's secret
Spider-Lair.
Several of the suits visible in the background are culled from Spidey's long comic book history,
and also show up in the Spider-Man PS4 game, particularly the advanced suit with the white
logo that was made just for the game.
You can also spot suits reminiscent of the black-and-green stealth "Big Time" suit, the
Electro-Proof suit, the black suit from "Secret War," and even a look similar to the black
Dusk suit.
And the most humorous suit, which features a clunky-looking superhero cape, originally
appeared in Marvel Comics' What If?
#19, published in 1980.
"I think this is a cape."
At separate points in the movie, both Peter Parker and Miles Morales take a break from
their crimefighting on the head of a panther-esque gargoyle, jutting off the side of some New
York City architecture.
Peter has some coffee and reads the newspaper, while Miles strikes a pose highly reminiscent
of another superhero: T'Challa himself, the Black Panther.
The movie features imagery that originally appeared on a poster for the Black Panther
movie released during the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con.
In that image, T'Challa can be seen in his full Black Panther suit, looking out over
the horizon under soft lighting as he flexes his glutes for the camera.
Do you think Miles' dimension has its own Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Miles' police officer father, Jefferson Davis, presents himself as a guy who likes law and
order.
So what better way to indicate his allegiances than with a reference to the TV show Law and
Order?
In the beginning of the movie, Miles gets a ride to the Visions boarding school on his
first day from Jefferson in his police car.
The license plate for Jeff's car is "RFD960," which is actually a reference to the detectives'
vehicles in the original Law and Order series, which always featured the same license plate
through the show's entire run.
Just like in real life, there's a lot going on in Spider-Verse's Time Square.
One billboard in the neighborhood is an advertisement for a Broadway show called Hi, Hello, which
is actually reference to some other work from a member of the movie's cast.
The advertisement is a take on the real-life show Oh, Hello on Broadway, which starred
comedians Nick Kroll and John Mulaney.
Mulaney, of course, is a part of the Spider-Verse movie as the voice actor of Peter Porker,
the spectacular Spider-Ham.
"I'm right here."
Shortly after all of the Spider-people converge, they meet for a pep talk inside of Miles'
dorm room, which he shares with a roommate.
When the roommate returns unexpectedly, they all dart up to the ceiling, shuffling around
the corners to avoid being seen while the roommate reads from a comic book.
You may notice that the comic book refers to a story called "Imagine that there was
more than one Spider-Man."
Imagine that, indeed.
While Marvel Comics never put out an "Imagine That" line of comics, the company does have
a series called What If.
This speculative line of comics, published since 1977, usually focuses on weird one-off
stories, allowing writers and readers to explore wild hypothetical scenarios such as "What
If Spider-Man had joined the Fantastic Four?"
Of course, something just like that actually happened many years later, so clearly the
idea was pretty good.
The post-credits scene for Spider-Verse thrillingly introduces one of the best and coolest Spider-People:
Miguel O'Hara, a.k.a. Spider-Man 2099.
At first, it seems as though the stinger will be setting up a futuristic Spider-Verse sequel,
but that notion quickly sails out the window when Miguel travels to the goofy alternate
universe of Earth-67.
In Marvel Comics canon, this world is the home of the cornball 1967 Spider-Man cartoon,
and the sequence quickly becomes a big joke.
When Miguel arrives, he immediately encounters the '67 Spider-Man, after which they proceed
to recreate the "Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man" meme for what feels like a full minute.
And then the movie ends.
It's arguably the weirdest, funniest post-credits scene in a genre that is full of them, and
the perfect way to send off this silly love letter of a movie.