Spider-Man: No Way Home Is Packed With Marvelous Easter Eggs

Devil's in the Details

As seen in the earliest teasers for the movie, there's at least one poster featuring Peter Parker (Tom Holland) with horns on it. Naturally, this led fans to think a cameo from Mephisto was in store—especially since the movie happened to be based in part on One More Day, the divisive Marvel tale featuring the world's version of the devil. Alas, Mephisto never did end up appearing in the movie...but Daredevil—or at least Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock—did.

A Legend

Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, first appearing in the duo's Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962. In one No Way Home shot, you can see "Ditko" spelled out in grafitti on the moving truck they keep Lizard held in.

Everyone Has a Saying

"You know, I'm something of a scientist myself," and "the power of the sun in the palm of my hand," are arguably the two most popular phrases from Sam Raim's Spider-Man trilogy. And fortunately enough, both sayings made it in the final cut of No Way Home. Dafoe's Green Goblin said the former both in the feature and the original Spider-Man movie while Alfred Molina's Doc Ock said the latter phrase in No Way Home and Spider-Man 2.

They Said It!

At long last, someone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe said it! The classic Spider-Man line, "With great power comes great responsibility" is one of the first lines that appeared in a Spider-Man comic, and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) was the first to say it in the MCU. She was then followed by Tobey Maguire quickly thereafter in one of the film's most heartbreaking moments...

Hobgoblin, Perhaps?

Everyone wants Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) to become Hobgoblin. Well, that may be a bit of a stretch, but the filmmakers at least know of the character's comic roots as the villainous character. While Need doesn't turn heel in No Way Home, they do seemingly set the character up for a turn eventually as he self-reflects the demise of the best friends of the Peter Parker's from outher unierses.

No More Broken Necks

Gwen Stacy dying in an accident indirectly caused by Peter Parker is one of the most iconic (and heartbreaking) scenes in the history of sequential storytelling. The moment was eventually adapted in live-action in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and finally, Andrew Garfields' Peter Parker got his redemption. As scaffolding around the Statue of Liberty began to crumble, Garfield's version of the web-slinger dove after Zendaya's MJ and eventually rescued here, much to the delight of audiences everywhere.

A Whole Lot of Villains

No Way Home was already chock full of villains, but it nearly had more. We know Green Goblin, Electro, Doc Ock, Lizard, and Sandman all had significant roles in the movie, but the climax of the flick threatened to pull more villains in. While the villains didn't appear in the flesh, their silhouettes began to appear in the rifts between universes, and some of Spidey's most iconic villains were teased, including comic-accurate versions of Rhino, Scorpion, and Kraven the Hunter.

Iconic Suit

As the movie begins to near its conclusion, it's revealed Parker has become his own hero once again. He's definitively not in the shadow of Tony Stark, Mysterio, Nick Fury, or any other of the multiversal Spider-Men. As such, the character has gone back to making his own suits, and we see he's sewn his own scarlet and blue suit—taking the character back to the basics.

Arrivederci, Iron Spider.

*****

Spider-Man: No Way Home is now in theaters.

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