“Spider-Man: Homecoming” has finally hit theaters, so it’s about time for a deluge of obligatory MCU-film Easter egg roundups to clutter your preferred social media feed. You may have noticed that the term “Easter egg” is being used pretty fast and loose these days. One of Time’s “20 Easter Eggs You Probably Didn’t Notice in Spider-Man: Homecoming,” for instance, is literally just the fact that there is a running gag in the film involving Captain America starring in high-school PSAs. This is simply recounting a joke from the film and calling it an “Easter egg” so as to bring the total number of “Easter eggs” up to a nice, round 20. Like, really, Time? Is the fact that the movie ends with a “Spider-Man will return” title card a hidden Easter egg that I probably didn’t notice? That said, here’s what you need to know on the “Easter egg” front.
Just to get this out of the way up top, Stan Lee does have a cameo. It makes for the worst ten seconds of the movie.
My favorite easter egg (ugh) in the film is the bigger, blockbuster version of the classic 1960s Spider-Man theme that plays over the now-traditional Marvel Cinematic Universe opening logo. It gets you in the proper headspace for a Spider-Man flick right off the bat, and, with the fierce power of nostalgia, will soften the heart of even the most cynical Marvel critic.
READ MORE: Ranking The Best ‘Spider-Man’ Movie Characters
Here’s something: Kenneth Choi plays the lead administrator at Peter Parker’s high school, one Principal Morita. He’d previously played Jim Morita, a member of the Howling Commandos (yeah, I didn’t know who or what the Howling Commandos were either, here’s a link for you to read up on them if you’re so inclined) in “The Avengers” as well as on Marvel’s ABC shows. His “Spider-Man” character is (presumably) the son of his “Avengers” character. There’s a genuine Easter egg for ya!
This one’s the tiniest bit spoilery. Donald Glover’s participation in the film has been public knowledge since this time last year, and now we know how he ties into the larger cinematic universe. Glover plays a character by the name of Aaron Davis, who, in the comics, is the uncle of Miles Morales: a later, notably African-American Spider-Man alter-ego. I’m genuinely curious as to how the Morales extended family will play into the future of the MCU’s Spider-Man, given that Tom Holland seems likely to stick around as Spidey for, what, a decade’s worth of Spider-Man films? Are we truly setting up a potential passing-of-the-torch Spider-Man fivequel for fifteen years down the line? This whole MCU thing is getting outta hand, folks.
Michael Mando, who has been so quietly fantastic on “Better Call Saul” for years — he deserves so much more attention for that performance than he gets — plays a minor comics villain called The Scorpion. Significantly, he shows up in the end-credits scene to say some stuff about how he’s gonna get his revenge on Spider-Man yada yada yada. Does this mean we’ll be seeing more of Mando in future Spider-Man movies, perhaps taking on a larger role as a true nemesis for our hero? I’ll tell you this for free, Mando’s is an incomparably more interesting performance than Michael Keaton’s as “Homecoming”’s big bad. I for one would be thrilled to see The Scorpion return in future Spider-Man films.
For more, hit up The Independent and for an even further deep dive, check out Mr. Sunday Movies extensive look at everything packed into “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”
