Credit: Inside the MagicEaster Eggs are now an expected part of any superhero movie. Whether it is a subtle nod in the background of a shot or a line casually dropped by a character, fans around the globe are expecting cameos of and references to the characters and worlds they know and love. Spider-Man movies are no different.
But more so than any other superhero movie before it, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is chock full of cameos, Easter Eggs, and tributes that it actually feels like every possible Spider-Thing is referenced in the film. It genuinely feels like you can rewatch the movie ten times and find something new for each viewing. Therefore, it only seems fit to collect ten of the very best right here.
Before we continue, remember that since this is an article talking about what happens in a film that just came out, there will be spoilers. If you haven’t seen the movie yet and want it to be a complete surprise, do not read any further than this. In fact, you probably already know too much.
So grab your web shooters and make sure your uncle is doing alright; let’s dive into the ten best Easter Eggs in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
10. Doctor Strange and the “Nerd From Earth-199999“
Near the beginning during Gwen Stacy’s prologue, Spider-Gwen takes on a Leonardo Da Vinci-inspired version of The Vulture. In order to defeat the Italian villain, she receives help from Jessica Drew, AKA Spider-Woman, and Miguel O’Hara, AKA Spider-Man 2099.
After the fight, when Drew tries to convince O’Hara to let Stacy join the Spider Society, you can hear him protest, eventually shouting, “And don’t get me started about Doctor Strange and the nerd from Earth-199999!” This is in reference to Spider-Man’s most successful cinematic outing yet: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), where Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange try to fix the holes they created in the Multi-Verse.
While this is a subtle nod, it’s also a great way to connect the events of this movie as well as every other Marvel film, to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now the audience knows that there are endless possibilities for what can be done, including the potential of Shameik Moore as Miles Morales teaming up with Tom Holland. It’s an exciting prospect!
9. Green Goblin From the Atari Spider-Man Video Game
Related: Marvel Might Have Found Their Live-Action Miles Morales Spider-Man
It’s always important to remember your roots. Marvel Comics Spider-Man was initially conceived by Stan Lee to have his powers come from a magic ring, his first movie made his Spider-Sense literal x-ray vision, and his first video game was on the Atari, meaning that everything just looked like a bunch of squares.
Still, all of this is an integral part of the web-slinger’s history. And Across the Spider-Verse remembers this when Miles encounters the villains from multiple different universes. There’s Mooseterio from Spider-Ham’s world, a rhino that is just a rhino, and Donald Glover as The Prowler AKA Uncle Aaron Davis.
But arguably, the silliest is the Green Goblin from the 1982 Spider-Man video game on the Atari 2600. Including his glider, the Green Goblin is made up of just 35 pixels. While he can be tough to see in the game, he stands out clear as day amongst all the three-dimensional villains and a real-life human being.
8. Mrs. Chen & The Venom-Verse
While the Venom movies haven’t received the same critical acclaim as his arachnid adversary, both films have been wildly popular, garnering a combined $1,362,948,743. Since these films are also owned by Sony Pictures, it only makes sense that they’d also make an appearance in this movie.
But instead of getting to see Tom Hardy as Venom or Woody Harrelson as Carnage, Across the Spider-Verse fans were treated to Mrs. Chen: a convenience store owner played by Peggy Lu who befriends Eddie Brock and Venom. She appears in the film when The Spot travels into the Venom-Verse.
While the exchange is brief, it’s a lovely swap considering Miles Morales and Peter B. Parker had a cameo in Venom (2018). The duo appeared in a short clip at the end and proceeded with the phrase, “Meanwhile, in another universe.” This means that the Venom-Verse is canon in both the Spider-Verse series and the MCU.
7. J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson
Related: ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Can Do the Unthinkable and Win Best Picture
Across the Spider-Verse features plenty of clips and sounds from across the Spider-Man cinematic pantheon. All three modern live-action Spider-Men (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland) are in the movie at some point, and you can hear Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus say, “Hello, Peter.” But one of the biggest highlights is getting to hear J.K. Simmons reprise his role as J. Jonah Jameson.
One of the few actors that have been consistent throughout various Spider-Man canons, Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons is J. Jonah Jameson. I am genuinely convinced that even before he played the character, I imagined his voice when I read Spider-Man comics.
Simmons actually appears multiple times throughout the film since he voices Jameson in every single universe. We first hear him in the LEGO universe (more on that later), and finally, near the end, where he reports on the Sinister Six Cartel, another Easter Egg referencing Spider-Man’s most notorious villains. No matter where you go, J.K. Simmons is the only person who can do the character justice.
6. The Mary Janes
Music obviously plays an important role in Gwen Stacy’s life. While there are many aspects that she may be struggling with, her drumming is something that she can always connect with. And this is made even more apparent when she’s seen playing in the film’s prologue with her band, The Mary Janes.
Originally named MURDERFACE, The Mary Janes consisted of Gwen Stacy on drums, Em Jay Watson on vocals and guitar, Glory Grant on keyboards, and Betty Brant on bass. While none of these members seem to have made it into the movie, that’s probably for the best since they have an incredibly complicated history that would have distracted audiences from the main story.
The best part about The Mary Janes is that they actually have music that you can listen to. In order to promote the Spider-Gwen comic series, the creators hired the band Married With Sea Monsters to write and perform songs as The Mary Janes. They wound up creating an awesome song called “Face It, Tiger,” referencing classic Mary Jane’s nickname for Peter Parker.
5. The LEGO Spider-Verse
Before Phil Lord and Chris Miller were the producers behind the Spider-Verse movies, they had worked on a few projects together, including 21 Jump Street (2012) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009). But none were more beloved than The LEGO Movie (2014).
The first LEGO film was so successful that it inspired a sequel and a Batman-inspired spinoff. Therefore, it only seems natural that one of the Spider-Verses explored in this movie would be a LEGO one. But instead of getting the old crew back together, Lord and Miller turned to someone who was as green as you can get.
Preston Mutanga is a 14-year-old teenager who has been creating LEGO-inspired animations for a few years. Lord and Miller liked his work so much that they hired him to make the LEGO Spider-Verse solely on his own. So not only is the LEGO world a tribute to one of their most popular movie franchises, but it is also the beginning of a future titan of animation.
4. Insomniac’s Spider-Man
Related: Why Does Spider-Punk Look Like That In ‘Across the Spider-Verse?’
There are many tributes to various video game forms of the wall-crawler. While one of his earliest ventures in the medium was referred to earlier on this list, Spider-Man’s most recent adventures can be seen as well, with two references to Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018) by Insomniac Games.
The first time you get a glimpse of Inomniac’s Spider-Man is when Miles enters his dorm room at school. His roommate, a much less helpful Ganke Lee, is playing Marvel’s Spider-Man for the PS4. It’s a great blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment that actually had some people wondering if it was footage for the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (2023).
The second time we come across this version of Spider-Man, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, is with the Spider-Society when Miles is shown the villains that come from various dimensions. We see him wearing a unique, white-spider-branded costume that can only be found in the video game.
This is cool but also raises several questions. Is this version of Spider-Man a regular person or a video game character controlled by a player? And if it’s the latter, is he being controlled by Ganke Lee? And if Ganke is playing the spinoff game Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020), is he controlling his roommate? This just goes to show how confusing Multi-Verses can be.
3. Mayday’s Stuffed Versions of Spider-Man’s Adversaries
Of all the different Spider-People seen in Across the Spider-Verse, none are cuter than Mayday, the daughter of Peter B. Parker from the first movie. Named after Peter’s Aunt May, Mayday is the definition of adorable when she crawls and swings all over the place with her knit Spider-Man cap and curly red hair.
Not only is Mayday already a tribute to the awesome Spider-Girl, but she is also responsible for one of the coolest Easter Eggs in the film. When Peter puts Mayday down to bed with Mary Jane, you get a glimpse of some of the little tike’s stuffed animals, including a goofy version of Green Goblin and an octopus wearing a mask.
While the first stuffed animal is clearly a reference to Green Goblin, the octopus with the mask is meant to be a reference to Doctor “Liv” Octavius from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)— a precocious tribute to an excellent villain.
2. Tony Hawk’s Pro Spider-Man
Related: ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Rewrote an Entire Character at the Last Minute
As has been established in two previous entries, Spider-Man has appeared in numerous video games that are widely considered to be some of the greatest games ever made. However, the web-slinger hasn’t always been attending to his heroic duties in these interactive excursions. Sometimes, he just wants to skate, dude.
Back in the year 2000, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man found himself as an unlockable character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, often considered one of the greatest extreme sports games ever made. Not only did he catch the board with his web and swing across entire skate parks, but he paved the way for future recognizable secret characters like Wolverine, Darth Maul, Jango Fett, and Shrek.
In Across the Spider-Verse, there is a short but sweet tribute to the game in Miles Morales’ room. If you look closely, you can see a poster parodying the game series called “Top Skater.” Which begs the question, who are the unlockable secret characters in that game?
1. The ‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once’ Tribute Billboard
Across the Spider-Verse isn’t the first movie to take advantage of a Multi-Verse. In fact, Multi-Verses have kind of been a trend over the last few years because of the success found in the MCU. However, one movie has executed the idea better than any other film so far: Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022).
Oddy, enough, the Multi-Verse isn’t the only thing that Across the Spider-Verse shares with the Academy Award-winning film. Much like Everything Everywhere, a majority of the plot revolves around a bagel. While Everything Everywhere has an everything bagel with literally everything on it that could destroy the universe, Miles Morales created his villain, The Spot, by hitting him with a bagel near the beginning of the first film.
It’s clear that the team working on Across the Spider-Verse realized this and left a fitting tribute in the movie: a billboard with a bagel in the center and the phrase “All Of It Always All The Time” printed on it. It’s silly, it’s niche, and it’s the perfect Easter Egg.
Do you have a favorite Easter Egg that we missed? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!