Details In The Amazing Spider-Man Movies That You May Not Have Noticed

Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man films were divisive, to say the least, but you have to give the filmmakers props for their attention to detail.

Both films placed so many easter eggs and hidden details into their films that they effectively set up the grand cinematic universe that Sony tried to create. In recognition of what could’ve been, let’s take a look at18 Brilliant Details in The Amazing Spider-Man Movies.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

18. Peter’s Ringtone

This one is pretty obvious. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter’s phone repeatedly rings to the tune of the classic Spider-Man theme song from his show in the ’60s. Spider-Man filmmakers have always found a way to squeeze this iconic theme song into their films, but this was a hilarious and clever way to utilize it in Garfield’s film.

17. Rhino’s Underwear

Paul Giamatti’s Rhino really does love rhinos. So much so, that when Peter captures and pants the guy at the beginning of the second film, viewers can see that he has rhinos on his underwear. No wonder he decided to use a rhino-shaped mech suit at the end of the film.

16. Electro’s Cake

Before Max Dillon becomes the supervillain Electro, he can be seen at his home getting a birthday cake for himself from his fridge. Fans of Electro will recognize the green and yellow frosting as a reference to the villain’s costume in the comics. Though audiences instead got to see his bright-blue design in the film, it’s a nice callback to his comic book origins.

15. The Wrestling Ring

On the first night of his hunt for Uncle Ben’s killer, Peter takes on a group of thugs and ends up crashing through a rooftop. He falls into an empty wrestling ring, which is a reference to Spidey’s origins as a masked wrestler before becoming the crime fighter we all know and love. While the film deviates from the source material in terms of Peter’s origins, it’s still nice to see the filmmakers acknowledge his roots.

14. The Rear Window Posterny

Fans of Alfred Hitchcock might recognize the Rear Window poster hanging in Peter’s room. While it may just seem like a nice decoration, this classic film very much reflects Peter’s own journey to hunt down his uncle’s killer. The way Spider-Man looks down on the city from his perch and takes pictures of the criminals he pursues is very similar to the protagonist’s behavior in Hitchcock’s film.

13. Don’t Forget The Eggs

A running gag in Garfield’s first film is that his character kept forgetting to buy eggs for his Aunt May. Given his hectic life as Spider-Man, Peter forgets to pick them up until after defeating the Lizard at the end of the film. This joke continues into the next film with another email from May on Peter’s computer titled, “Don’t forget to pick up eggs!”

12. Dr. Kafka

When Electro is imprisoned and studied at Ravencroft Institute, he is met by Dr. Kafka, the stereotypical German scientist played by Martin Csokas. This minor film character is actually a very important one in the comics, as Kafka was the one who founded Ravencroft and occasionally works alongside Spider-Man. Kafka was also a woman in the comics, and quite the opposite of the mad scientist torturing Electro for his experiments.

11. Alistair Smythe

Some of you might’ve been surprised to see Ryan from The Office appear as Electro’s boss. However, B.J. Novak’s Alistair Smythe is an even greater character than you might’ve realized. In the comics, Smythe developed a hatred for Spider-Man after his father, Spencer, died following his attempts to hunt down the web-slinger with his army of robotic Spider-Slayers. If The Amazing Spider-Man film series had continued, audiences probably would’ve seen Smythe become the iconic villain and serve as one of Spidey’s adversaries on-screen.

10. Time of Death

Gwen infamously met her end during Peter’s battle with Harry Osborn (Green Goblin) when she fell to her death inside a clock tower. But when her body hits the ground, the broken clock stops at 1:21. This actually references Amazing Spider-Man Issue #121, which was the one where Gwen Stacy died.

9. Venom and Morbius References

In a scene from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Harry Osborn is seen looking through his father’s secret files on his computer. Among the list of files shown on his computer screen are two titled, “Dr. Morbius File” and “Venom Storage 7-U.” The film is clearly referencing the two Spider-Man villains, Venom and Morbius, who both currently have their own films in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.

8. Black Cat

Felicity Jones starred in the second film as Harry’s secretary, Felicia. While this might’ve seemed like a throwaway role, her character was actually Felicia Hardy, who would eventually become the Black Cat. In the comics, she was a cat burglar who ended up having an on-and-off relationship with Spider-Man. This character’s appearance on the big screen is long overdue, and it’s a shame she never got to don her masked personality. Hopefully, audiences will get to see Jones again as the Black Cat as the multiverse expands in the MCU.

7. Time

Time is an important theme repeatedly emphasized in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, as it is meant to establish a sense of impending doom for its characters. This is particularly the case with Gwen Stacy’s heartbreaking death, which takes place inside a clock tower. The film even begins with the camera zooming out from Richard Parker’s watch, who dies only a few minutes later.

6. The Donald Glover Poster

In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, you can see a poster of Donald Glover as Troy Barnes in Community hanging on the wall in Peter’s room. Glover famously petitioned to play Miles Morales, after wearing a Spider-Man shirt on the show.

5. J. Jonah Jameson

Unfortunately, fans did not get to see the legendary J. Jonah Jameson appear in Marc Webb’s Spider-Man films. However, there is a scene in the second film in which Peter sends a picture of Spider-Man to the owner of the Daily Bugle, with the camera showing two other emails that have been sent to him by Jonah himself. Clearly, Peter had already begun working at the Daily Bugle and has made a living sending photos of himself to the Ultimate Spider-Hater.

4. The Spider-Symbol on Peter’s Skateboard

You really have to watch out for this one. When Peter is sleeping on the subway in the first film, his powers are shown to have begun manifesting. This change is indicated through the multiple images flashing on-screen for just a split second. One of them includes his Spider-Man symbol appearing on the back of his skateboard. It’s a clever way to foreshadow Peter’s future as the iconic web-slinger.

3. The Itsy Bitsy Spider

In Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man film, Green Goblin mockingly sang the song, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” as he was battling the web-slinger. Electro did the same thing in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 during his final battle, flying around a power grid and setting off the tones for the song as he thrashes Spidey around.

2. Gwen’s Outfit

Going back to Gwen Stacy’s death, it’s worth mentioning that the outfit she wears is the exact same one she wore when she died in the comics. The filmmakers clearly had a passion to adapt “The Night Gwen Stacy Died.” While the rest of the film had issues, Peter’s battle with Harry and Gwen’s untimely death were both executed to cinematic perfection.

1. Teasing the Sinister Six

In an attempt to cash in on the cinematic universe trend kicked off by The Avengers, Sony planted the seeds for The Amazing Spider-Man to kick off a whole new world of characters that would lead to a battle with the Sinister Six. This crossover is hinted at in the second film when Gustav Fiers (the Gentleman) walks down a hallway lined with weapons used by Spidey’s greatest villains, including Doctor Octopus’s tentacles and Vulture’s wings. Even though Marc Webb’s films had many glaring issues, it still would’ve been amazing to see Spider-Man battle all these villains on-screen. At least we still got No Way Home.

Do you agree with this list? Were there any other hidden details that I missed? Please let me know in the comments section below.

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Mark Boardman

Mark Boardman is an established showbiz journalist and freelance copywriter whose work has been published in Business Insider, Daily Mail, Bloomberg, MTV, Buzzfeed, and The New York Post, amongst other media. Often spotted on the red carpet at celebrity events and film screenings, Mark is a regular guest on BBC Radio London and in demand for his opinions on media outlets such as Newsweek, Daily Express, and OK! Magazine, as well as Heart radio, Capital FM, LBC, and Radio 2. His TV credits include ITV News, This Morning, BBC News, The One Show, Sky News, GB News, and Channel T4. Mark is a keen traveller having visited 40+ countries, and a devout sports fan who also attends as many gigs as he can across the capital when not rubbing shoulders with the stars. Email Mark@MarkMeets.com