From the first time that Stan Lee appeared in the first X-Men movie and Cyclops joked about yellow spandex, it seems that any movie based on a comic book property was going to be full of easter eggs and references to the source material the movie is based on, as well as the larger comic, or in this case, film, universe. Spider-Man: Far From Home was certainly no exception.
However, while Far From Home included a lot of references to the MCU, as well as Spider-Man's broader history in comics, there were honestly so many easter eggs for fans to catch that it's unlikely that even the biggest fan caught them all. Some of these were quite obscure or hidden in far from obvious places, but thanks to the new Blu-ray release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, we now know of a few great Spider-Man shoutouts we missed the first time around.
The fact that we can now go frame-by-frame through Spider-Man: Far From Home means no easter egg is safe, but easier than that, the Blu-ray special feature point out a few extra obscure references that lots of fans probably missed. Here are a few of our favorites.
Spider-Man's Writers
Throughout Spider-Man's 50+ years in comic books, he's had a host of great creative people telling his stories. While Stan Lee always got a cameo moment in previous Spider-Man films, Far From Home did not let the fact that Lee was no longer with us keep them from thanking the people who made Spider-Man great in the comics.
On the Venice set of Spider-Man: Far From Home, a collection of signs were created that paid homage to some of Spider-Man's great writers. The hotel where Peter Parker and friends stay is called the Hotel DeMatteis, though the sign is hidden by the construction being done. J.M. DeMatteis is probably better known for his work with DC, but he also worked on Spider-Man throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. In addition, in the image above, the names of five of Spider-Man's writers can be seen. From left to right, Gerry Conway, Brian Michael Bendis, David Michellini, Roger Stern and Dan Slott.
Molten Man's First Appearance
In addition to Mysterio, Spider-Man: Far From Home contains four other villains created in the Spider-Man comics: Cyclone, Sandman, Hydro Man and Molten Man. While, in the movie, the characters are actually fictional creations of Quentin Beck, in the comics each of them was a very real threat. Cyclone is only seen briefly in the film, and if you're a comic book fan, you likely caught the reference to the comic origin story of Hydro Man, but unless you like reading license plates very closely, you probably didn't catch the Sandman and Molten Man references.
Regarding Sandman, Nick Fury and Maria Hill are near a destroyed car when they first discover him at the beginning of Spider-Man: Far From Home, and the only visible part of the license plate reads 463. This refers to 1963's Amazing Spider-Man #4, Sandman's first appearance. As for Molten Man, you would have guessed that early if you had noticed the license plate on Nick Fury's car in Prague reads ASM 28965, which is a reference to Amazing Spider-Man #28 from 1965, which happened to be the character's first appearance.
An Homage To Iron Man
Spider-Man: Far From Home was the official end to Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and as such it was the movie that mourned the loss of Iron Man. The character of Tony Stark was a major influence on this Peter Parker, and Tom Holland says that he specifically worked to insert an homage to Stark in the new film.
Near the end of Far From Home, Peter Parker designs himself a brand new Spider-Man costume, using some of Tony Stark's equipment. Holland reveals in the special features of the Far From Home Blu-ray that he specifically tried to mimic Robert Downey Jr.'s movements designing his costume in the first Iron Man, as a nod to the movie where the MCU was born.
Teasing Phase 4
As mentioned, Spider-Man: Far From Home was the end of Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while we now know a lot about what Marvel Studios has planned for Phase 4, when this movie came out, we didn't have a clue. It seems even the movie itself was teasing us with what was to come.
In the final moments of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spidey swings past a billboard advertising construction. It's a fairly normal thing in New York. However, if you look closely, the sign is referencing three phases of completed construction, with a question mark representing the unknown of what is to come. The sign actually references that Phase 3 has ended, but that more is on the way. Of course, the fact that Spider-Man himself would even be a part of the future of the MCU was a big question for a bit. Luckily, that's all been resolved and we know we'll be seeing the Web-Head in the MCU once again.
The Twist Was Given Away
From the very beginning of the marketing of Spider-Man: Far From Home, there were some pretty big questions regarding Mysterio's role in the movie. The advertising presented him as a hero, but comic fans knew that Mysterio was all about misdirection, and that he was always a bad guy in the Spider-Man books. However, it wasn't until the midpoint of the movie that we were absolutely sure of Quentin Beck's true intentions.
Or, actually, it wasn't. It turns out that if you were paying attention to the background of the scenes in Venice, you would have seen a decidedly un-Mysterio-looking Quentin Beck, (that's Jake Gyllenhaal in the background above), as well as some of his crew with their eyes already on Peter Parker. This was in the moments leading up the appearance of Hydro Man, so of course Beck was going to be close by, but it turns out we actually saw his accomplices up to no good long before the movie made their allegiances clear.
These are far from the only easter eggs hidden in Spider-Man: Far From Home, and they're likely also not the only obscure ones. There's likely a lot more where these came from.
Did you spot any of these easter eggs? Did you spot any others that everybody else probably missed? Let us know in the comments below, and you can pick up Spider-Man: Far From Home on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow.
