Look out, because here comes the Spider-Man! Just like the hero arrives just in time at the scene of a crime, he also swings onto the small screen at the perfect moment courtesy of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. The latest Disney Plus series shines the spotlight on a new variant of Peter Parker who didn't have the chance to attend Midtown High or be under the tutelage of Tony Stark as it happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead, this parallel reality sees the super-powered teenager team up with Nico Minoru and earn an internship at Oscorp Industries (yeah, nothing bad is going to come out of that one).
The first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are finally out, and they're nothing short of spectacular. Audiences are in for a thrilling ride that sees Peter earn his superpowers in a very unexpected way, while also giving away his secret identity to his archnemessis. But perhaps more exciting enough, is the amount of secrets and Easter Eggs hidden in every episode.
It's clear the show was made with love by Spider-Man fans, for Spider-Man fans. It's impossible not to pause almost every five minutes to spot a little secret hiding in the background of a scene. With that in mind, we gathered every hidden reference we could find, and now it's the perfect time to break them all down!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 1 Easter Eggs
Right from the get-go, audiences are treated to a nice little detail at the 11-second mark in the first episode. Just as the camera pans across Queens, you'll be able to see the Avengers Tower in the background (which — considering the show's timeline — should still be owned by Tony Stark). Furthermore, at the 19-second mark, we see Peter wake up after falling asleep reading a very specific comic book: Amazing Fantasy Vol. 1 #14. It's a very special issue, especially because its follow-up (number 15) was Spider-Man's first-ever appearance. So what the scene implies is that Peter just finished reading issue 14 of Amazing Fantasy and audiences are about to witness the events of issue 15 (which covers the origin story of the wall-crawler) in this show.
At the 1:20 mark, we're treated to a not-so-subtle Iron Man air freshener hanging from the rearview of Aunt May's car. Now, let's go all the way to the 8:11 mark, where we see a recreation of the cover of Amazing Fantasy #15 — the issue in which Spidey made his debut. It seems every episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will recreate a beloved comic book moment as further exemplified by episode two of the show (but more on that later).
Here's another Easter Egg that might not sit well with Marvel fans (especially those who played Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4). When the wall-crawler stopped the thugs chasing Harry Osborn at the 11:24 mark, we see one user commenting on the thugs' livestream under the name of Screwball — you know, the evil internet personality with annoying missions in Insomniac's video game. But on a more positive note; at the 13:05 mark, we hear Pearl Pangan call Peter Parker "Petey" — a nickname also used by Liz Allen back in the original Steve Ditko and Stan Lee comic book run.
Next on the list, he have a lot of MCU references:
- At the 15:17 mark, we see Zach Cherry's character Klev from Spider-Man: Homecoming. During the opening moments of the movie, he asked the web-slinger to do a backflip. His other MCU appearance came in 2021's Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings.
- At the 16:25 mark, we see a perfect recreation of Spider-Man's first-ever scene in the MCU in which he stops a car from crashing into a bus during the events of Captain America: Civil War.
- The final sequence of the first episode, in which Peter returns home to be greeted by a visitor in his apartment, is a perfect recreation of Peter Parker's first-ever scene in the MCU. Even the song (Left Hand Free by alt-J) is the same.
Last, but not least, at the 17:46 mark audiences discover the identity of Peter's new class partner, and it's none other than Lonnie Lincoln. If that sounds familiar, it's because he's the supervillain Tombstone in comic book pages. With that in mind, things are looking grim for this new version of the character.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 2 Easter Eggs
Episode 2 was a little bit lighter on the "Easter Eggs" side of things. However, that doesn't mean there weren't any cool references hiding in plain sight. Case in point: At the 1:54 mark, we see a perfect recreation of The Amazing Spider-Man #546 cover — better known as the first issue in the Brand New Day storyline. Just a bit after, at the 2:33 mark, we see Peter was given a certificate of excellence by the STARK Jr. Science Fair. Yes, we're talking about that Stark.
When Peter's new colleagues at the Oscorp Internship introduce themselves at the 10:07 mark, we discover many of them already have a history in comic book pages. Asha is a Wakandan who helped in the battle against Thanos' troops during the events of Infinity: The Hunt. Furthermore, Amadeus Cho is better known for being the Totally Awesome Hulk in the comic book world. Finally, Dr. Wittman has every chance to be The Wizard, a Marvel supervillain known for his high intelligence.
Last but not least, we get a glimpse of Crusher Hogan at the 15:21 mark. Now, while it might be disappointing to know his appearance was relegated to a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo, it's worth highlighting the character had a bigger role to play in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2024) #2. That's right, the show has its very own tie-in comic book series that shows how Peter came up with his suit and fought the wrestling star. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend doing so. But you can get up to date about everything the first issues had to offer right here.
The first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are streaming on Disney Plus.