Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's Hilarious Community Easter Egg Goes Viral

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has been out for almost two years now, but fans are still [...]

By Jenna Anderson

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has been out for almost two years now, but fans are still finding different layers and Easter eggs hidden within the film. With a groundbreaking visual style, there's certainly a lot in Spider-Verse for fans to take in -- and it looks like one long-speculated-about Easter egg is no exception. A tweet from Twitter user @nadirbarnes recently went viral, which showcases a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Easter egg in the scene where Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is training at his uncle Aaron's (Mahershala Ali) apartment. On a TV in the side of the frame is a pixelated version of a frame from Community's Season 2 premiere, "Anthropology 101", in which Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) is shown waking up in Spider-Man pajamas.

The original Community moment was a reference to a prolific fan campaign that came up in the late-2000s, which called for Glover to be cast as the wall-crawler in The Amazing Spider-Man. While Glover lost out on the role to Andrew Garfield, the moment ended up serving as inspiration for Miles Morales' appearance, when the character was first created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli.

"It's definitely a cutesy inside wink at the Donald Glover for Spider-Man campaign," Community creator Dan Harmon told Vulture in 2010. "[It's also a wink to] the curious eruption of a previously unknown demographic of racist comic-book readers [the Glover for Spider-Man campaign] ended up uncovering."

In the years since, Glover has had multiple connections to Miles' lore, including voicing the character in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series, and portraying Aaron Davis/Prowler in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man: Homecoming, with director Jon Watts reportedly saying that he would only include the character if Glover portrayed him.

As for this Easter egg, it actually was hinted at shortly before Spider-Verse's debut, although the film's creative team played coy about whether or not it would appear in the finished film.

"We just thought it was a neat little nod," producer Phil Lord said in a 2018 interview.

"It may or may not actually be in the movie," producer Chris Miller added, "You have to watch to find out."

What do you think of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's Donald Glover Easter egg? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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