‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: Find all the Marvel Easter eggs here
Early box office numbers for Spider-Man: No Way Home make it one of the biggest openings for any Marvel movie, ever. Like many other Marvel Cinematic Universe films, crowdpleaser Spider-Man: No Way Home includes hidden treats for the watchful eyes of comic book lovers, a.k.a Easter eggs.
The film’s wild plot & surprise cameos have already been generating fandom press headlines. However, the painstaking Easter egg nods to the MCU & beyond in Spider-Man: No Way Home are on another level. As such, spoilers ahead! Don’t read on if you’ve yet to see Spider-Man: No Way Home and care about such things.
The Easter eggs in No Way Home run the gambit from recognition by casual fans to comic book aficionados. Additionally, with the inclusion of cameos from Sony’s Spider-Man films & The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, hints at previous Spidey films abound. Let’s run through some of the best Easter eggs found in No Way Home.
Other Marvel characters
Ever since the advent of the Avengers film franchise, cameos from other comic book characters have become standard in MCU movies. One of the early teasers for No Way Home features a poster showing Peter Parker (Tom Holland) with horns. This started a rumor among fans that Mephisto would appear in the film, since it’s partly based on One More Day.
While Mephisto, the Marvel version of Satan, made no appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, another devil did. Daredevil’s Charlie Cox jumped in on a cameo as his character Matt Murdock – but he wasn’t the only character from the MCU to make an appearance in No Way Home.
While Willem Dafoe & Alfred Molina reprise their roles as Green Goblin & Doctor Octopus, another figure from the Sony Spider-Man series makes an appearance: J.K. Simmons reprises his role as J. Jonah Jameson of The Daily Bugle, except that the newspaper has made the transition online.
Thomas Haden Church appears again as Sandman in No Way Home, along with Tom Hardy portraying Venom. All these nods to the early 2000s Spidey films sure did generate nostalgia. Yet reminiscence is to be found elsewhere in the film – if you look very hard.
Nod to the past
Spider-Man first appeared in Stan Lee & Steve Ditko’s Amazing Fantasy issue number 15 in 1962. No Way Home pays homage to one of the character’s co-creators when we see “Ditko” written in graffiti on a passing truck holding Lizard – a sign the team behind No Way Home recognizes the legacy of early Marvel.
Another reference to Peter Parker’s past comes when Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) delivers a famous line from an early Spider-Man comic. While most people remember “With great power comes great responsibility” from the Tobey Maguire films, it actually first appeared in print.
Other nostalgic phrases were uttered again in No Way Home. It pays homage to the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy with Green Goblin & Dr. Octopus’s famous catchphrases: “You know, I’m something of a scientist myself” was also featured in Spider-Man (2002).
Alfred Molina echoes this blast from the past by repurposing his line from Spider-Man 2: “The power of the sun in the palm of my hand.”
These are just a few of the references to past Spider-Man films & comics in No Way Home. If you want to catch the rest, just go catch the film at the cinema!
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Spider-Man: No Way Home has been running up the score at the box office. This is due in part to all the Easter eggs packed into the film, which is doubling the sentimentality fans feel for the franchise. What’s your favorite Easter egg in No Way Home? Let us know in the comment section!
