Mythology Gag / Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

"We don't really talk about this."

Besides the numerous Shout-Outs featured in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, there are some gags thrown in for Spider-Man characters.

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• The "Meet Spider-Ham" trailer uses a retool of (naturally) the theme song from the 1967 Spider-Man series.
  Spider-Ham, Spider-Ham, friendly neighborhood Spider-Ham!
  Spins a web, that's the gig! Kinda weird, 'cause he's a pig.
  Look out, here comes the Spider-Ham!
  To him...
  Life is a plate of bacon!
  When trouble's in the makin',
  You'll find the Spider-Ham!
• Parts of the soundtrack are evocative of the music from the 2000 Spider-Man video game. Prowler's theme also seems to take cues from the Ultimate Spider-Man soundtrack.
• The Peter of Miles's universe has a past that's a Broad Strokes version of the Raimi trilogy, with the main difference being that he kissed Mary Jane while she was hanging upside down from a ladder with her legs folded in and her bending backwards.
• Peter's introductory sequence at the start of the film has him re-create the infamous "Emo Peter" street dancing scene from the third Raimi film - complete with "People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul" - albeit in his Spider-Man costume instead of civilian clothes.
  Peter: We don't really talk about this.
• Speaking of the Raimi films, at one point during the “What’s up danger” sequence, when Miles spins a web, it sounds similar to the web shooting effect used in said film series.
  • Another similar sound was used in the teaser trailer.
• Peter B. highlights that a noteworthy moment from his backstory is that he broke his back once. Besides being a reference to a scene from Spider-Man 2 where Peter hurt his back attempting to see if his powers returned, it's also a reference to that film's production problems where Tobey Maguire had severe back pains and was in danger of dropping out of the sequel entirely.
• Miles's attempt to get a hold of his powers by jumping from rooftop to rooftop is pretty much how the Peter Parker of Raimi's films figured out how to manage his superhuman leaping skills. Miles's trip and failure to jump on his first try is also basically Peter's attempt to regain his powers in Spider-Man 2 Played for Laughs.
• When the Peter of Miles's universe does his intro spiel at the start of the film, he's shown holding two vehicles from falling from each side of a bridge, which he did in the first big action scene of The Amazing Spider-Man.
  • The same scene has a close up of Spider-Man in the centre of the bridge holding the vehicles and the shot is near identical to the shot of Spider-Man holding the ferry together from Spider-Man: Homecoming.
• While they're never named in the film itself, the band that Gwen plays drums for, The Mary Janes, has an advertisement that can be seen amongst the New York signage in Miles's universe.
• The Peter in Miles's universe has blonde hair instead of the usual brown, resembling Ben Reilly.
• The dimensionally-displaced Peter Parker is also shown having stopped a subway with his webs, fought Doc Ock, and kissed Mary Jane upside down, and this time done it accurately.
• Miles's Brooklyn includes a shop called "Romita Ramen", a reference to artist John Romita Sr., who took over drawing Amazing Spider-Man after Ditko's departure and played a major role in defining the character for mainstream audiences; for one thing, his redesign of Spider-Man became his default look in the comics ever since^note Romita also designed the appearance of Mary Jane and co-created Kingpin. His son, artist John Romita Jr., is also known for his work on Amazing Spider-Man, and had a hand in creating Prowler when he was only thirteen^note Specifically, while Jr.'s design was never used, Stan Lee liked the name enough to adopt it for another design created by Romita Sr..
• At the start of the crime-fighting portion of Peter B.'s flashback montage, he's shown fighting against three foes who seem to be his version of the Enforcers; the big guy in particular is a dead ringer for Ultimate Ox.
• The comic book The Two Spider-Men, that pops up on screen after Miles first discovers his powers, is reminiscent of the Spider-Man 3 poster.
• The in-universe comics giving Spider-Man the name "Billy" may be a reference to Billy Braddock, aka Spider-UK, who was one of the main characters of the original Spider-Verse comics.
• The Green Goblin in Miles's universe is a mutated freak; an ogre-sized monster with dragon-like wings and a tail. Once again, in Ultimate Marvel, the Green Goblin is a mutated Norman Osborn, who turns into a green-skinned, troll-like brute. The wings homage the Ultimate Green Goblin's depiction in the Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) cartoon, where he appeared with just that trait.
• Blonde Peter snarks that he doesn't have to worry about untied shoelaces because his suit is a onesie.
• Kingpin's flashback to his time with Vanessa and his son are done in the art style of Bill Sienkiewicz, whose design of Kingpin is pretty much what was used as inspiration in his look in the film.
• Dr. Olivia Octavius has several mythology gags:
  • While Miles' class is watching one of her fun, upbeat lectures on quantum physics for kids, she can be heard explaining the theory of multiple dimensions as "'What if' to infinity". She then posits that there could be a universe in which she is "wearing leather pants". This could be a reference to Doc Ock's costume from his appearance in the second movie from Raimi's trilogy, where he does in fact wear leather pants - ironically one of the least significant things of all their character differences.
  • Dr Octavius also borrows a Character Tic from the Raimi movie trilogy Doc Ock - the upper right tentacle is the one that puts her glasses on for her.
  • Peter initially assumes a male scientist to be the one in charge before being corrected and told it is Olivia. Said male scientist is sporting a bowl cut and Sinister Shades, making him look very similar to classic Doc Ock, making Peter's mistake a bit of meta-foreshadowing.
  • There have been two separate women to bear the mantle of Dr. Octopus in the comics; Lady Octopus from the 90s, and Octavia Otto, who debuted in Web Warriors.
  • Olivia's status as a native of Miles's dimension, which is an alternate to the "prime" reality, further reinforces these bonds, as Lady Octopus was a primarily a villain who fought Scarlet Spider (the clone of Peter Parker) and Octavia Otto originates from Earth-1104.
  • Olivia's chipper and bubbly attitude is another homage to Octavia Otto, who is a friendly woman who has actively sought membership in the Young Avengers of her reality.
  • There's also a deleted scene where she stares into the collider, with a close-up on her goggles as she says "The power of the multiverse... in the palm of my hand." A clear homage to the Raimi version when he activated the fusion reactor.
• If you freeze-frame (or are just really sharp-eyed), during the scene when Dr. Olivia Octavius talks about the dimensions she has managed to link to, you'll see that the dimension the movie takes place in is numbered "1610" — this is Marvel's official universe number for Ultimate Marvel, which is where Miles Morales debuted.
  • On top of this, the dimensions the Super-Collider connects to are correctly numbered as where each of the Spider-People come from in the comics- E-616, E-65, E-90214, E-8311, and E-14512^note SP//dr's universe number in the comics.
• Among the names in Miles's phone contacts are B. Bendis and S. Pichelli. Brian Bendis and Sara Pichelli are the writer and artist who created Miles Morales in Ultimate Spider-Man. His father's contacts include Steve Ditko.
  • In addition to Creator Cameos, Miles' contacts also include references to numerous characters related to Spider-Man, including Cindy Moon, Jessica Drew, Billy Braddock, Karn, Ezekiel Sims, and Monica Chang.
• While Miles is hanging out with his uncle, Aaron's TV shows a clip from Community where Troy Barnes wakes up wearing a Spider-Man T-shirt. Not only did Troy's actor, Donald Glover, inspire the concept of Miles Morales, but he portrayed both Miles and Aaron Davis in Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) and Spider-Man: Homecoming respectively^note Though in the former role, he was replaced by Ogie Banks in season 4.
  • This gag becomes three-fold in the sequel when Miles, while exploring the Spider-Society, comes across an alternate universe Aaron Davis who also became the Prowler, played again in live-action by Glover and implied to be a variant from the Earth-199999 section of the multiverse.
• While the contents of the Spider-Man comic Miles's roommate reads are entirely fictional, the cover is a reproduction of Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man's first appearance.
• The scene where Miles describes his sudden body changes as due to the onset of puberty may be a reference to the 1990's script by James Cameron, which presented Peter's developing powers as a metaphor for puberty, complete with him waking up in bed and covered in sticky white webbing.
• The first costume of Miles Morales in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics was also a cheap imitation of Peter's sold at shops for kids.
• Miles tries to convince Peter B. to train him by using the "With great power, comes great responsibility" line, but Peter has become so annoyed with that saying that he cuts off Miles as quick as he can and tells him not to finish that sentence.
• Aside from web-swinging, the only advice Peter B. gives to Miles is to take care of his Spider-Suit; disinfect the mask regularly, and use baby-powder to avoid chafing. Not exactly the city-saving superhero tips that Miles wanted, but Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland have all expressed their discomfort with the outfit and in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Garfield as Peter sneezing into his mask earned all kinds of sympathetic reactions, so it's sound advice nonetheless.
• This marks the second time we see a female version of Doctor Octopus working for Alchemax.
• Some of the scenes from Spider-Gwen's home universe visually look straight out of Robbi Rodriguez and Rico Renzi's artwork for the comic series, complete with the neon color palette.
• Spider-Gwen's backstory seems to take some cues from The Amazing Spider-Man Series. She took on The Lizard, her dad was in danger, and a friend of hers died.
• When in Peter Parker's shed, a series of photographs of criminals centering on the Kingpin is shown. Several of the characters on it aren't in the film, but are clearly members of some of Spider-Man's more street-level villains, such as The Enforcers, The Rose, The Chameleon, and Shocker.
• When Peter and Miles meet with the other Spider-people in Aunt May's secret base, behind them are several pods containing more Spider-Man costumes. One of them has the white spider emblem on the chest◊ like in Insomniac's Spider-Man game, and in fact, all the suits visible can be unlocked in that game, including the black-and-gold Mk. II Spider-Armor, the black-with-red-weblines Secret War suit, and the teched-out black-and green Stealth "Big Time" Suit.
• Also shown in the secret base is the Spider-Mobile, a failed attempt by an auto dealership to use Spider-Man's likeness to market their vehicles with his permission for a lucrative cut. Never having learned how to drive, 616-Spidey promptly drove it into a river and it has lived in infamy in-universe and out ever since. ^note This might also be a shout-out to the Spider-Verse comics, in which there is a sentient Speed Buggy-style Spider-Mobile
• Miles seeing that the Spider-Man of his universe had a costume with a cape may seem like a call back joke to the "suit-up" sequence outside of Alchemax. However, it's also a reference to "What If #19", which explores a world in which Peter managed to prevent the burglar from killing Uncle Ben and become a celebrity. In the course of this story, Spider-Man heads to a movie premiere, wearing his classic costume but has added a high-collared cape to it.
• The Latin American Spanish trailer has Armando Coria as the voice for Noir, who was the voice of Peter Parker in the '90s series.
• The Brazilian dub has Manolo Rey, Sylvia Salustti, Selma Lopes, Jorge Lucas and José Santa Cruz reprise their roles as Peter Parker, Mary Jane, Aunt May, Green Goblin and J. Jonah Jameson from the Raimi trilogy dub.
  • Santa Cruz had also voiced Jameson in the animated shows Spider-Man (1981), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (first dub) and in the 80's redub of Spider-Man (1967), making his voice in The Stinger even more fitting.
• The pose Peni Parker does on top of SP//dr after first saying hello to the other Spider-People (and in the promotional art) is rather similar to one of Japanese Spider-Man's iconic poses◊.
• Aunt May refers to Doctor Octopus as "Liv", suggesting they were once friends. This might be a reference to Aunt May dating the male version of Doc Ock in the comics.
• In Miles's universe, the Scorpion is a Mexican criminal with cybernetic enhancements; the cybernetic parts are new, but Miles's version of the Scorpion from Ultimate Marvel is also Mexican.
• When Miles finally gains the courage to return to the Spider-Lair, Aunt May is already waiting for him. The way the computer screens are framed behind her chair evokes the web-like throne of Madame Web, the usual nexus for cross-dimensional spider adventures.
• Kingpin's whole plan is a subtle nod to the plotline of Spider-Men II, except that in the comic, Fisk finances a way to cross dimensions in order to help his friend find a dimensional alternate of his wife, whilst in the film, Fisk is looking for dimensional alternates to replace his own wife and son. The mythology gagging is strengthened by the fact that this was the comic storyline which brought back the native dimension of Miles Morales after it had been destroyed.
• When the Collider starts really going haywire during the final battle, the scene is described in the screenplay as looking like psychedelic art as drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz and Jack Kirby.
• The finale, in a dimensional void with various objects and buildings from various universes flying around to serve as platforms is also similar to the final level of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.
  • All of the Spider-Men featured in Shattered Dimension, such as "Amazing" Spider-Man, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Man 2099, "Ultimate" Spider-Man (Peter Parker), and Spider-Ham, appear in this movie in one way or another.
  • The premise of a female Doctor Octopus working for Alchemax also comes from that game.
• In the finale at the super-collider, Gwen falls down from a great height into oblivion, and Miles dives after her, grabs her, and then webs her to safety, which is an allusion to The Night Gwen Stacy Died and a famous fandom debate about what Peter could have done to save her.
  • Earlier in the movie, Gwen webs up Peter in mid-freefall, which was how her neck ended up snapping.
• During the ending, Miles zips past a store called "Perry Joe", a reference to Joe Perry, lead guitarist of Aerosmith and noted Spider-Man fan who performed the theme song for Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
• The scene where Miles gets ready to go to school features a blink-and-you'll miss it sketch cameo of Leopardon.
• Peni's entire arc combines all the Japanese Spider-Men in the Spider-Verse arc - especially the toku ones with big robots, with SP//dr becoming crucial to beating Kingpin - with her own, as well as fitting in Penelope Parker's cutesy pre-teen adventures.
• It's implied the webs all the Spider-Men see when hurtled through the multiverse are part of the Weaver's ultimate web that connects all multiverses, especially Earth-616's.
• In the finale, various buildings appear within the collider where the various Spider-people fight Kingpin and his goons. Among them are a subway train and a suspension bridge; both references the locations of the climactic battles of Raimi's most beloved Spider-Man movies.
  • The bridge is also a reference to The Night Gwen Stacy Died, the site of Spider-Man’s most famous tragedy.
• A Freeze-Frame Bonus of Richard Fisk briefly becoming a young Matt Murdock has sent fans theorizing that it's either a reference to the Spider-Gwen comics where Murdock is the Kingpin or a What If? issue where Kingpin adopted Daredevil.
• Two scenes during the credits are nods to a particular memetic screencap◊ and its edit◊ from the 1967 series.
• The Stinger features Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Man traveling through dimensions and ending up recreating yet another◊ popular meme from the 1967 series.
• The in-universe comics shown for Miles and Gwen have accurate credits: "Bendis/Pichelli" on Miles' Spider-Man comic and "Latour/Rodriguez/Renzi" on Spider-Gwen. These are the creative teams responsible for originating each character. The Spider-Gwen issue is #65, one of several nods in the movie to Gwen's universe being designated Earth-65 in print. (The number is also a recursive cross-media Mythology Gag; when Spider-Gwen was introduced in 2014, the number was picked because the original Gwen Stacy first appeared in 1965.)
• A lot of the plot shares similarities to the final 2 episodes of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, such as Wilson Fisk commissioning a machine that accesses other realities, and multiple alternate reality Spider-Man (not all of them being alternate Peter Parker even) teaming up to stop said machine. For bonus points, in both versions, the Peter Parker native to the universe where this is happening is blond. In the original show however a Carnage-corrupted clone of Peter is the one who turns the portal machine into a threat to all of reality.

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