All 30 Easter Eggs And References Explained

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episodes 1 & 2The first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are here, featuring several exciting Easter eggs and references. Set in an alternate yet very adjacent timeline, this new animated series features some very cool parallels and deviations from what’s been established in the main live-action MCU. To that end, these premiere episodes feature several ties and nods to Tom Holland’s MCU debut as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War.

Rather than attending Midtown High as he does in the main MCU, this new version of Peter Parker was transferred to another school after Midtown was attacked during a battle between Doctor Strange and a familiar-looking alien monster. Although this kickstarted a new branched timeline from what’s been seen in the past, there are still several twists and references to Spider-Man’s primary MCU timeline even as key changes are made to the Webslinger’s story. To that end, here are 30 of the biggest Easter eggs, references, comic characters, and MCU parallels to be found in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episodes 1 & 2.

The Biggest Easter Eggs and References In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episodes 1 & 2

“Amazing Fantasy” & “The Parker Luck”

• Avengers Tower – Avengers Tower can be seen in the background during the premiere episode’s opening sequence.
• Russo Brothers Styled Location Card – A large “Queens” location title card is shown, just like in the Russo Brothers’ Civil War and more of their MCU-directed movies.
• Iron Man Car Ornament – An Iron Man car ornament can be seen in Aunt May’s car while she drives Peter to his high school orientation at Midtown High.
• A Surprising Uncle Ben Reveal – It’s confirmed that Uncle Ben is already gone, before Peter got his spider powers.
• A New Kind of Venom? – A monstrous alien appears from a portal in front of Midtown, resembling the Venom symbiote.
• Doctor Strange Theme – When Doctor Strange arrives to fight the alien, his MCU theme from composer Michael Giacchino plays. Strange himself looks to be heavily inspired by Steve Ditko’s original art as well.
• The Eye of Agamotto (Time Stone) – Taking place before the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Strange still wields the Eye of Agamotto/Time Stone, which he uses during his fight with the monster.
• Nico Minoru – Peter meets Nico Minoru right before he gets bitten by the spider that also came from the portal. In the comics, Nico is the daughter of dark wizards and a member of the Runaways. She’s also the wielder of the Staff of One.
• Peter Parker’s Room Mirrors Civil War – Months after getting his powers, Peter is shown waking up for class at Rockford High, and his room has the same layout seen in Civil War.
• Pearl Pangan (aka Wave) – Peter has a crush on his classmate Pearl Pangan. In the comics, Pearl is the Filipino superhero known as Wave who can manipulate water.
• Peter’s Spider-Man Drawings (Bagley) – Doodling costume ideas during class, one of Peter’s drawings resembles Mark Bagley’s artwork, particularly his work on the original Ultimate Spider-Man comics.
• Klev! – Just before Spider-Man stops two criminals from crashing their van into the side of a bus, he jumps over none other than Klev. Played by Zach Cherry in live-action, Klev was the guy who told Spider-Man to do a flip in Spider-Man: Homecoming and live-streamed Shang-Chi’s bus fight against Razor Fist.
• Spider-Man’s Car Catch Video – Spider-Man stopping the van mirrors the car catch video that put him on Tony Stark’s radar, as seen in Civil War.
• Lonnie Lincoln (aka Tombstone) – Peter Parker’s new science partner is revealed to be Lonnie Lincoln, Rockford’s star quarterback (and Pearl’s new boyfriend). In the comics, Lonnie is a New York gang leader with super strength and durable skin named Tombstone.
• Daily Bugle Newspaper – A Daily Bugle newspaper is seen as Lonnie’s house, and the front page is of Spider-Man saving Harry Osborn, while also mirroring the first Spider-Man comic cover Amazing Fantasy #15.
• Dumpster Diving DVD Player “Crazy Car Out Front” – After returning a pizza restaurant’s stolen money, Peter finds a perfectly good DVD player on a dumpster, just like Tom Holland’s Peter said he did in Civil War before he came home to find Tony Stark in his apartment.
• alt-J’s “Left Hand Free” – “Left Hand Free” was the song that played during Peter Parker’s live-action MCU debut in Civil War.
• Norman Osborn instead of Stark – While the scene is perfectly mirrored to Civil War, Norman Osborn is the man waiting for Peter with Aunt May, instead of Iron Man. In the comics, Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin, one of Spider-Man’s core arch-foes.
• Oscorp Internship – At the beginning of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 2, Norman invites Peter to join the Oscorp internship program. This is revealed to be a real program, while the Stark Internship was just a cover, a means for Peter to be recruited by Iron Man and go out as Spider-Man in the main MCU.
• Roxxon Oil – Nico references Roxxon Oil, one the most corrupt corporations in both the MCU and in the comics’ Marvel Universe.
• Asha from Wakanda – Peter meets his fellow interns in episode 2, and this includes Asha, who hails from the isolated African nation of Wakanda. Asha is a gifted young scientist in the original Marvel comics as well.
• Amadeus Cho – Amadeus Cho is also part of the program, presumably the son of Helen Cho who made her MCU debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron. In the comics, Amadeus became a brand-new Hulk and a member of the Champions. He currently goes by the codename Brawn.
• Jean Focault – Jean is the last member of the intern team. In the comics, Jean is known by the name Finesse, a vigilante with the ability to master any skill incredibly quickly, not unlike the villain Taskmaster who’s allegedly her father.
• Doctor Bentley Wittman – Overseeing the intern program, Doctor Bentley Wittman is known in the comics as Wizard, a founder of the villain team known as the Frightful Four.
• “Nothing Gets By You, Hawkeye” – Wittman sarcastically refers to Peter as Hawkeye while working with a microscope.
• Doctor Carla Connors – Peter is placed on a project with Doctor Carla Connors, who appears to be a new take on Curt Connors aka The Lizard.
• Stark Arc Reactor – Peter and Carla are working on creating a new kind of self-sustaining battery, not unlike the patented Stark Arc Reactor that powers Iron Man’s suits and Avengers Tower.
• Crusher Hogan – Crusher Hogan is shown on television, the wrestler Peter fought during his earliest days as Spider-Man in the comics.
• Butane – Spider-Man fights a pyromaniac with advanced weaponry named Butane in a pet store at the end of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 2. In the comics, Butane belonged to a race known as Warpies. Metallic and purple, Butane could fly and shoot fire.
• Captain America Photo – Summoned to Norman Osborn’s office at the end of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 2, a framed photo can be seen right outside the door of Norman shaking hands with Captain America.

New episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man release Wednesdays on Disney+.

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