All 31 ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Easter Eggs Explained
One of the things that has always been known about the Spider-Verse movies is that they give us a full dose of the Spider-Man experience. As such, there are a lot of different references from various Spider-Man movies, shows, comics, and games. And because ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ is even bigger than the first movie, it goes without saying that more references are made in this movie.
In that regard, there are a lot of different easter eggs in ‘Across the Spider-Verse,’ as the creators of this film pushed as many references as possible without giving too much fanservice. Most of the easter eggs in the movie were consistent with the storyline, so we didn’t feel like they were forced. So, with that said, let’s look at all of the different easter eggs in ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
1. Earth-65
We already know that Gwen Stacy in Into the Spider-Verse came from a different universe, and ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ didn’t waste time in introducing where she came from. This movie’s opening scenes allowed us to learn more about Gwen and what she had to go through in her own universe, as her character background is given more attention here.
She comes from a universe called Earth-65, wherein she is the Spider-Person instead of Peter Parker, who was her best friend. And she lives with Captain George Stacy, who raised her as a single father.
2. Comics Code Authority Logo
Back in ‘Into the Spider-Verse,’ we saw that the film opened up with a logo that comic book fans would surely be familiar with. This logo is that of the Comics Code Authority, which used to be a group that regulated the comic book world up to 2011. The fact that ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ showed the logo of the Comics Code Authority was a great way to pay homage to one of the many different organizations that made the world of comic books as good as it is today. It was also a respectful way to open up Across the Spider-Verse.
3. JK Simmons Returns as J. Jonah Jameson
We met JK Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson in the original Sony Spider-Man movies starring Tobey Maguire as the iconic Peter Parker. Since then, no one has been able to top or even come close to his performance as J. Jonah Jameson, as he has owned that role well enough to ensure that no one could ever replace him.
J.K. Simmons actually returned to his role as J. Jonah Jameson in ‘Across the Spider-Verse,’ as he was seen in Gwen’s Earth-65 to discuss the menace that Spider-Woman is after she became the prime suspect in Peter Parker’s murder. He once again returns in the LEGO universe visited by the Spot. And in the film’s final part, his iconic voice is heard on Earth-42, where Miles ends up after attempting to return to Earth-1610.
4. The Peter Parker of Earth-65
As mentioned, Gwen Stacy was the prime suspect in Peter Parker’s murder on Earth-65. But the truth was that Gwen and Peter were best friends in that universe and Captain Stacy loved the young man like his son. But Peter secretly knew that Spider-Woman and Gwen were the same people, and that was when he opted to become “special” himself by drinking a formula that turned him into the Lizard.
Gwen had to stop the Lizard from destroying her school when it attacked during prom. After defeating the beast, Gwen saw it turning back into Peter, and she was devastated about what had happened. Captain Stacy arrived on the scene to witness that Spider-Woman had Peter’s dead body in her arms, which made him peg her as the prime suspect for the young man’s death. As such, Peter Parker in Earth-65 was never Spider-Man but was actually the Lizard.
5. Renaissance Vulture
During the earlier part of the film, Captain Stacy receives a distress call about a villain attacking a museum. Spider-Woman answered the call and decided to fight the villain, which turned out to be an Italian Renaissance version of the Vulture using Da Vinci-era weapons that were quite powerful.
That means that this version of Adrian Toomes comes from an entirely different universe where technology was based on the Renaissance inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci. And this isn’t the first time that a variant of the Vulture ended up in a different universe, as we all know that the MCU’s Vulture crossed over to Sony’s Spider-Man universe.
6. Spider-Man 2099’s Nicknames
Gwen had a hard time dealing with the Vulture, and that was when Spider-Man 2099 appeared from a portal to help her defeat this villain. However, Gwen didn’t know who this Spider-Man was, as she thought of different nicknames for the man behind the mask. That was when she started calling him names, such as Blue Panther, Nacho Libre, and Dark Garfield (which could be a pun at Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man).
7. Yuri Watanabe
As mentioned, Captain Stacy answered a call about the Renaissance vulture terrorizing the art museum, and one of the officers that greeted him was named Yuri. We believe that this officer is Yuri Watanabe, one of the regulars of the many different Spider-Man comic books and storylines.
We also know that Watanabe recently appeared in the Spider-Man video game, where she plays a larger role. Meanwhile, in the comics, Yuri eventually becomes a vigilante named Wraith, who does the same things that Spider-Man does but more violently.
8. “Doctor Strange and that little nerd.”
During the scene involving Miguel O’Hara’s Spider-Man 2099 and Gwen Stacy, the older Spider-Man scolded Gwen about how her actions affected the multiverse. That was when he said she shouldn’t get him started on Doctor Strange and that little nerd back on Earth-199999. He was obviously referring to the events that transpired in the MCU’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home,’ wherein Doctor Strange tried to help Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, only for him to mess up a spell that nearly tore the fabrics of the multiverse.
9. Jessica Drew
While Miguel O’Hara did help Gwen to try to take down the Vulture, they actually struggled against the Renaissance villain. That was when Spider-Man 2099 called for backup, as Jessica Drew appeared from a portal. Gwen was starstruck at what she saw because of how cool Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman is.
In the comics, Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman is one of the few Spider-People with no relations with Peter Parker. Instead, she works with organizations such as SHIELD and SWORD. Nevertheless, she has the same powers as the other Spider-People. And let’s not forget that she rides a cool motorcycle.
10. Hammerspace
Hammerspace is basically a concept wherein characters tend to have an infinite supply of storage space. This is mostly seen in cartoon characters as they can store as many objects as possible within what seems to be a limited amount of storage space. This concept was explained when the Renaissance Vulture couldn’t run out of storage space, as it was clear that he had Hammerspace, which is something that Spider-Ham also has.
11. The Guy in the Chair
Back in the events of the MCU’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ we met Ned, the best friend of Peter Parker in that universe. Ned was one of the first people that Peter told about his secret identity as Spider-Man, and that was when Ned volunteered to be Peter’s “guy in the chair,” who is basically a guy who works remotely to assist the hero through the use of a computer.
In the events of ‘Across the Spider-Verse,’ Miles got the Spot tangled up as he went to his dorm room to get ready for a parent-teacher conference at school. He told his roommate, Ganke, to tell the police that there’s a villain that they should apprehend, only for Ganke to tell him that he isn’t Miles’ “guy in the chair.”
12. Ganke is Playing ‘Spider-Man’
As mentioned, Miles returned to his dorm room to prepare for his conference, only to see that Ganke lounged around playing video games. In fact, Ganke was actually playing the hit Spider-Man video game developed by Insomniac and PlayStation Studios. Of course, this game has an “expansion” called ‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’, which focuses more on the titular character than Peter Parker.
13. The Spot’s Origins
When he was introduced, the Spot was seemingly just the “villain of the week” because he was quite goofy and wasn’t entirely evil. On top of that, he didn’t even have full control over his powers, as he didn’t understand how they worked. However, when Miles confronts the Spot, the villain tries to tell him that they are arch-rivals because their origins are connected.
Of course, Miles was rushing to defeat him, so he didn’t try to give the Spot a chance to explain his origins. However, later in the film, he said that he was the product of the explosion of the Alchemax collider in the first movie. He also said that the spider that bit Miles was from an experiment he oversaw. That is why the origins of the Spot were connected to Miles’ superhero origins.
14. The Spot Travels to Different Universes
After the Spot lost to Miles, he absorbed himself into his own body, where he realized that his spots could open up portals to other dimensions. He tested the limits of his newfound abilities as he ended up in different dimensions, including the Amazing Fantasy comics, the LEGO world, and even the Sony Spider-Man world of Venom films. In that regard, it was clear that the Spot could visit other realities, regardless of how unique these universes were.
15. The Fate of all of the Gwens
Gwen visited Miles when she had to go to his universe to try to stop the Spot. During one of their conversations, she told Miles that the Gwen Stacy variants of the other universes almost always fell for the Spider-Man of those universes. However, she also found out that things didn’t always end well for Gwen in the alternate universes, as it was clear that she was afraid to fall for Miles because of what could possibly happen to her. Of course, we know that the Gwen Stacy of Andrew Garfield’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ films ended up dying.
16. Armadillo
There were quite a number of villains that made short appearances in ‘Across the Spider-Verse,’ and Armadillo was one of them. He appeared when Miles rushed home to get to his father’s party on time. While on the train, he ran into Armadillo, who was blocking the train tracks. Armadillo is often a joke character in the comics, even though he is still a threat due to his defensive capabilities. In ‘Across the Spider-Verse,’ however, Miles easily defeated him using his Venom shock.
17. Mumbatan
After Miles followed Gwen into the multiversal portal that she opened up to follow the Spot, who was hopping from one dimension to another, he ended up in Earth-50101, which hosts the city of Mumbatan, which is basically a combination of Mumbai and Manhattan. It is in this universe that he met Pavitr Prabhakar, who is the local Spider-Man of Mumbatan. Miles, Gwen, and Pavitr tried to stop the Spot from using the power of Mumbatan’s Alchemax collider.
18. Spider-Punk
When Gwen visits Miles, she can’t stop talking about Hobie, a Spider-Man variant that allows Gwen to crash into his universe a few times, as Miles immediately gets jealous. Of course, Hobie appeared in Mumbatan when he was called to assist Gwen in the issue involving the Spot. Hobie turns out to be Spider-Punk, a rebellious version of Spider-Man and someone who hates following the rules. But while Miles was jealous of Hobie, he actually became a valuable ally because he supported Miles’ attempt to go against fate.
19. Nueva York
Miles and his friends failed to stop the Spot from absorbing the power of the Mumbatan Collider, and that was when he and the others were summoned back to the headquarters of Miguel O’Hara, who is the local Spider-Man of Earth-928, which is Nueva York. We saw how advanced Nueva York is, considering that Miguel O’Hara is from a futuristic timeline with technology ahead of what we’ve seen in the other universes. As such, it makes sense that Nueva York would be the headquarters of the Spidey Task Force that Miguel assembled.
20. The Prisoners
The HQ in Nueva York isn’t only home to the different Spider-People that work together for the sake of the multiverse. That’s because it is also home to many prisoners that come from different dimensions, and there are many of them, including several variants of Doctor Octopus and Rhino. These villains are sent back to their own universes by a spider-like machine that scans the biology of the character for it to determine which universe it belongs to.
21. Scarlet Spider
It was already reported months ago that Andy Samberg would have a role in ‘Across the Spider-Verse,’ which means that he would likely be one of the Spider-People variants. In that regard, he made his Spider-Verse debut as Ben Reilly, also called the Scarlet Spider. This version of Spider-Man is actually a clone of Peter Parker and is known for having an existential crisis because he knows he is a clone. The funny part is that Samberg made fun of the character’s existential crisis as he became very angsty.
22. Donald Glover’s Prowler
We already met Donald Glover’s MCU character in the events of ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’, where he played Aaron Davis. In fact, he made a cameo appearance in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ when he was seen in the Nueva York HQ as one of the villains caught by the task force. He is shown as the Prowler of the MCU, as Miles immediately comes to him because he misses his own Uncle Aaron.
The fact that Glover is the Prowler in Across the Spider-Verse could mean that he might appear as the same character in the MCU sometime in the future.
23. Miguel’s New Suit
Miles eventually got to meet Miguel O’Hara in the Spidey HQ, as it was clear that a white Spider-Man 2099 suit was in construction in the background. This seems to be the same 2099 suit Peter Parker gave Miguel in the comics when he decided to retire. As such, there’s a good chance that Miguel will use this suit in the future, especially if it’s better than the one he’s currently using.
24. PlayStation’s Spider-Man Cameo
As mentioned, Ganke was seen playing the PlayStation Spider-Man video game earlier in the movie. However, we did get to see the very same Spider-Man in the Spidey HQ in Nueva York when Miles saw different versions of the Peter Parker Spider-Man. In fact, the PlayStation version of Miles Morales could also be seen with him, as it was clear that the Earth-1610 Miles Morales isn’t the only Miles Morales ‘Spider-Man in the Spider-Verse.’ Of course, the fact that both of these Spider-People appeared in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ is a subtle way of promoting the upcoming Spider-Man 2 game on PlayStation.
25. Canon Events
While the Spidey Task Force works to keep the multiverse safe from threats from other dimensions, the most important mission of this team is to preserve Canon Events, which are key events that every Spider-Person has to experience in their respective universes. The Canon Events can be anything common to every Spider-Person. In ‘Across the Spider-Verse’, the Canon Event that Miles wanted to prevent was the death of a police captain, as his father is about to become captain in his own universe.
26. Mayday
After Peter B. Parker returned to his own universe following the conclusion of Into the Spider-Verse, he reconciled with his universe’s Mary Jane. They ended up having a family, as Peter told Miles that he was the reason why he wanted to have a baby. The baby is nicknamed Mayday. In the comics, a Spider-Girl character also carried the Mayday nickname.
27. Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire Cameos
Of course, because the entire Spider-Verse movie franchise encompasses all of the different Spider-Man movies, shows, comics, and games, the respective Peter Parkers of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire appeared in the film. This happened when they were talking about Canon Events, as flashbacks of the deaths of the Uncle Bens of the respective universes of Garfield and Maguire were shown as Canon Events that they needed to experience. Of course, it was easy for Sony to include Garfield and Maguire in the movie because Sony owns their movies.
28. Alfred Molina’s Voice
Alfred Molina did a great job as Doctor Octopus in the original Sam Raimi ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ Of course, his voice made a cameo appearance in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ when different cutouts of Spider-Man villains were shown in the Spidey Task Force HQ. One of the villains was Molina’s Doctor Octopus, which said the iconic “Hello Peter” line.
29. Cartoon Spider-People
Even though the Spider-Verse movies focus more on the comic book and movie versions of the Spider-People, let’s not forget that the cartoon Spider-People are also part of the same Spider-Verse. That’s why there were actually cartoon versions of Spider-Man that appeared in the movie. This includes ‘The Spectacular Spider-Man,’ the Spider-Man from the 1960s cartoon, and the Spidey from Spider-Man: Unlimited.
30. The Meme
When Miguel attempted to keep Miles in check by holding him in the HQ until his father’s death, Miles managed to escape using the powers of his Venom. He ended up running away, only for Miguel to send out a broadcast for all of the Spider-People to capture Spider-Man. That was when the Spider-People started pointing at one another like the iconic Spider-Man meme.
31. Gwen’s New Task Force
After Gwen realized that Miles was not in Earth-1610, she formed her own “band,” as she always wanted to be in a band. This was an entirely new and different Spider-Man task force that didn’t agree with the original task force’s decision to allow Miles to experience his father’s death as part of a Canon Event. The new task force includes Gwen, Peter B. Parker, Mayday Parker, Spider-Punk, and Spider-Man India. We also saw some of their other friends, including Peni Parker, Spider-Man Noir, and Spider-Ham.
Noticed any other easter eggs? Let us know in the comments below!
