Spider-Man is all people have been talking about over the past few months, whether it’s about the latest release No Way Home, Tom Holland and Zendaya’s on and off-screen romance or, when animated movie Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is going to be released.
That movie will be a sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which introduced the character of Miles Morales, who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gets powers similar to those of past Spider-Men.
When the space time continuum is ripped open, Morales is introduced to Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey, a Spider-Woman from a different universe.
But what did audiences miss from the animated movie? Have a read to see how well you know the film or, check to see what you missed before the release of the sequel later this year...
The late Stan Lee makes a few cameo appearances
Blink and you miss it, but yes, the iconic comic book writer and ultimately the person responsible for the Marvel universe does make quite a few cameos in Into the Spider-Verse.
But there’s nothing new there, Lee made a brief appearance in a multitude of Marvel film and TV projects before his death in 2019, his last being in Avengers: Endgame.
Pause the film and, there’s a good chance you’ll spot an animated Stan Lee.
There are tributes to Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man movies
Sam Raimi created the Spider-Man trilogy between 2002 and 2007 when Tobey Maguire played Peter Parker, and there was A LOT of iconic moments which fans still remember to this day.
The upside-down kiss with Mary Jane, dancing down the street, the car crashing through a restaurant window and Spider-Man singlehandedly trying to stop a moving train all originated during that five-year period, and tribute was paid to all of that here.
The Miles Morales film paid homage to these legendary scenes as there’s a little nod to each of them in this animated version of Spider-Man.
Gwen and Miles save one another from falling
This is a moment where Into the Spider-Verse departs from the comics and previous films in order not to recreate a heartbreaking scene.
Any Spider-Man fan will remember when Gwen, played by Emma Stone, fell to her death in Andrew Garfield’s The Amazing Spider Man 2 (and a tribute was even paid to this moment in the latest Tom Holland release Spider-Man: No Way Home.)
However, in this animated version, Spider-Gwen and Miles save each other from falling on several occasions, a happy little twist which probably went unnoticed by some.
Spider-Gwen's band The Mary Janes
In every single Spider-Man universe without fail there is a Mary Jane, she even pops up in the PlayStation 4 exclusive game, and this was no different in Into the Spider-Verse.
Although Mary Jane was in the film playing a minor part, some members of the audience might have let a big MJ detail pass them by.
In the movie, Spider-Gwen confessed that she’d joined a band when she obtained her powers, but what fans of the comic books would have known is that the band is called The Mary Janes – what a cute nod to the women of Spider-Man.
The out of register colours
In some scenes in the animated Into the Spider-Verse there is a red and blue hue in the background, most notably at the start of the film, and of course this wasn’t just an accident with no meaning.
It’s in fact a reference to the comic books and when the colours would go ‘out of register.’
For those who aren’t familiar with the classic printing of comic books, when the Spider-Man comics were first produced there wasn’t a great deal of choice the creators could choose from which is why a lot of other characters are dressed in a lot of blue and red as that’s what Spider-Man looks like.
But when it came to the actual printing, each individual colour had to be printed separately, hence why only a select number of colours were available to make the printing process easier.
However, the colours wouldn’t always match up, therefore the red could seep into the blue and create a blurry effect which is what the filmmakers wanted to represent.
Never overlook anything in the Spider-Man movies – it could have a nostalgic meaning behind it.
There's a tribute to fan-favourite actor, Donald Glover
After the Tobey Maguire films there was a big plea by Spider-Man fans that the next actor to portray the character should be Donald Glover – but Andrew Garfield was cast instead.
However, that hasn’t stopped him from appearing in the films and it’s even been reported that the character of Miles Morales was inspired by the actor, and the filmmakers love of TV show Community which Glover was in playing the part of Troy Barnes, also helped inspire them.
In a further nod to their love of Community, the show is playing on the TV when Miles visits Uncle Aaron, in fact it’s the scene where Glover is actually wearing a Spider-Man costume.
It seems this obsession with Glover is never-ending. Just cast him as the next Spider-Man already!
The pointing Spider-Men meme
Unless you’re a social media hermit you will have seen the infamous Spider-Man meme, and this hasn’t gone unnoticed by the filmmakers of Into the Spider-Verse.
In the bonus end of credit scene which keeps Marvel fans in their seats at the cinema until the lights come back up, 2099 Spider-Man Miguel O’Hara is seen embarking on a mission to recruit different Spider Men and this leads him to travel back in time to 1967 to visit retro Spider-Man.
Cue two Spider Men pointing at each other in confusion and leaving the audience with an immense level of satisfaction knowing that the filmmakers are in fact in touch with them and internet humour.
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Part One) will hit cinemas across the UK on October 7th, 2022.
Words by Lucy Roberts for Female First, who you can follow on Twitter, @Lucy_Roberts_72.
RELATED: Get your first look at Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Part One)
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