The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Easter Eggs You Probably Missed
Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man" films have an odd place in the cinematic history of "Spider-Man." Following the poor critical reception of Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 3," the more-grounded, somber tone of the 2012 reboot starring Andrew Garfield was a breath of fresh air from the overblown campiness that preceded it. That's not to say "The Amazing Spider-Man" didn't face criticism of its own, but the general reception at the time was that it was a step in the right direction for the "Spider-Man" movie franchise. Unfortunately, the 2014 sequel, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," took the series two steps back. Sharing the same fate as "Spider-Man 3," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" was commonly criticized for overstuffing its story with too many villains like Electro, Rhino, and Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin. Another common observation is that the sequel was more focused on setting up future sequels and spin-offs set in the "Amazing Spider-Man" universe than telling a good story. This led to disappointing box office results and an awkward movie filled with comic book cameos that ultimately amount to nothing.
After Sony put an end to "The Amazing Spider-Man" movie franchise in favor of working with Marvel Studios on a reboot starring Tom Holland, it didn't seem like Garfield would ever wear the red and blue tights ever again. However, the 2021 Spider-Man movie, "Spider-Man: No Way Home," brought back Garfield as the Spider-Man from the "Amazing Spider-Man" universe, as well as Tobey Maguire from Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy. Thanks to the wild success of "No Way Home," a new generation of movie viewers are being drawn into "The Amazing Spider-Man" movies — including the second film, from which Jamie Foxx's Electro descends. For anyone new to "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" or for those eager to give it a second chance, here are some amazing Easter eggs you may have missed on your first watch.
Peter's ringtone
No matter how many live-action "Spider-Man" movies are made, there will never be a theme song that can top the opening tune of the animated "Spider-Man" TV series from 1967. The iconic cartoon theme song — written by Paul Francis Webster and composed by J. Robert Harris — has been honored through various "Spider-Man" projects, such as the opening montage of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and film composer Michael Giacchino sampling the melody for the soundtrack for "Spider-Man: Homecoming."
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is no different. During the opening chase scene between Spider-Man and Aleksei Sytsevich (aka the Rhino), Spider-Man receives an urgent phone call from Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) about their graduation ceremony. His ringtone, as one would guess, is set to the "Spider-Man" cartoon theme song from the '60s. It doesn't stop there. Spider-Man whistles the legendary theme song as he's stripping Aleksei of his clothes. Spider-Man doesn't just love any song about spiders, though. As Spider-Man tells Electro in their final fight of the movie, he hates the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" song.
Black Cat
It's no secret that "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" was meant to act as a launching pad for sequels and spin-offs featuring various "Spider-Man" characters. For a multitude of reasons, though, the "Amazing" cinematic universe flopped, killing off any potential continuation of the series. One of the most obvious examples of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" positioning a character for a spin-off was Felicia — or as comic book fans know her, Felicia Hardy aka the Black Cat. Felicia, played by Felicity Jones, was the former executive assistant to both Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) and his late father, Norman Osborn.
While their relationship is barely present in the theatrical film, Felicia may have had a romantic bond with Harry. In an interview with View London (via MovieWeb), she described her character as "the Goblin's girlfriend." In the "Spider-Man" franchise, the Black Cat is typically portrayed as a seductive burglar with superhuman feline abilities (and superpowered bad luck). It's possible "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" was setting up Felicia's transition to her anti-hero character for the next movie, based on a deleted scene where she's with Harry in his Green Goblin form.
The Spider-Slayer
Among the many cameos in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" that were meant to play a bigger role in future films was Alistair Smythe, also known as the Ultimate Spider-Slayer. Regarded as a low-tier supervillain in the "Spider-Man" franchise, Alistair is a scientist who is credited for the invention of the Spider-Slayers: robots built for the purpose of hunting down and eliminating Spider-Man. While the Spider-Slayers originated from his father, Spencer Smythe, Alistair carried on his father's legacy and improved upon their robotic designs.
Following his paralyzation, Alistair mutates his body to encase himself in a bioorganic carapace that cures his immobilization, as well as provides him with body armor and various superpowered abilities. In "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," the character of Alistair, played by B. J. Novak, lacks the robotic army and the monstrous body and is simply an employee of Oscorp Industries who indirectly causes Maxwell Dillon to turn into Electro. Prior to "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," Alistar received the biggest push in the 1994 "Spider-Man" cartoon for Fox Kids.
The Sinister Six
Sony has been anything but shy about its intention of making a live-action Sinister Six movie. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," for better and for worse, was made in the hopes of launching the villainous spin-off movie. If everything had gone as planned, "The Sinister Six" movie would have been directed by Drew Goddard, best known as the executive producer and showrunner for the Netflix "Daredevil" TV series. However, the story was muddied. (As Andrew Garfield — Spider-Man himself — explained, the original script for "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" followed a much clearer thread, but then the studio tampered with the film during post-production and disrupted the clarity of the storyline.)
Nonetheless, the finished version of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" features several allusions to the formation of the Sinister Six: a group of supervillains with a vendetta against Spider-Man. The strongest wink towards the Sinister Six appears near the end of the film, when Gustav Fiers is seen entering Oscorp's secret project bunker that has equipment belonging to Spider-Man's biggest villains in the background, such as Doc Ock's metallic tentacles and the Vulture's wing suit. Based on the recent release of "Morbius," Sony is still working towards making "The Sinister Six" movie into a reality.
Electro's birthday cake
Not every comic book costume is meant to enter the realm of 3D. This is especially true for the comic book costumes of the '60s, when they were often outrageous in design but also limited in their color palette (greens, yellows, and purples). The original comic book costume for Electro, where Maxwell "Max" Dillon wears a mask with giant lightning bolts lashing out, is one that plays better in illustration than in reality.
While it's not surprising that the staff behind "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" opted for a completely different costume for their version of Electro, they did try to honor the original design of the character in their own way. The birthday cake for Maxwell "Max" Dillon, played by actor Jamie Foxx, is decorated in the color palette of the original Electro costume (green and yellow). There are even lightning bolt frostings located on the side of the cake.
The night Gwen Stacy died
No matter how charming Emma Stone's performance as Gwen Stacy is in "The Amazing Spider-Man," her character has a ticking time bomb on her head throughout the story. That's because, before the rise of Spider-Gwen, Gwen Stacy was best known for her shocking death in the "Amazing Spider-Man" comic book series. When it was initially announced that Gwen Stacy would be the love interest for Spider-Man in the first "Amazing Spider-Man" movie, longtime Spider-Man fans were counting down the days until Gwen's fatal fall would be recreated in the live-action movie.
Sure enough, it happens in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." Gwen, wearing the same mint coat and purple skirt that the character wore for her comic demise, is seen falling to her death after the climactic fight scene at the clocktower between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. Even though Gwen would have still died from the fall, Spider-Man's attempt to save her by webbing her up actually causes her death, as the elasticity of the web causes Gwen to recoil and smash her head on the concrete. As Gwen's death is playing out, the hands on the clocktower stop at 1:21. This is a reference to "The Amazing Spider-Man #121," the first issue in "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" story arc.
Venom
Even though Venom had already made his cinematic debut in the Sam Raimi-directed movie "Spider-Man 3" (to mixed reactions), it looked like everyone's favorite gooey monster was gearing up for another appearance in "The Amazing Spider-Man" film series. In "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," there are two references to the lethal protector — however, only one made it into the theatrical version of the movie.
In the scene when Harry Osborn is browsing through Oscorp's database of secret projects, one of the files is labeled as "Venom Storage," which ties into the next reference. In a deleted scene, the Venom symbiote goop is being contained among the Sinister Six props at Oscorp's secret project bunker. Strangely, the Venom symbiote tease was featured in some of the early promotions for the movie, which could mean the decision to lose the symbiote cameo was a last-minute decision or was only done to entice fans of a potential "Sinister Six" movie featuring Venom.
It's Morbin' time
Before Michael Morbius headlined his own live-action comic book movie and kicked off the biggest meme in 2022, he was just a D-list "Spider-Man" villain who got name-dropped in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." There's a scene in the movie when Harry Osborn is browsing through Oscorp's database of secret projects. Among the many files listed in the database, there's one titled Dr. Morbius. As comic book fans know, Dr. Michael Morbius turns himself into Morbius the living vampire, after an experiment to save himself from a rare blood disease using vampire bat DNA goes awry.
Some have speculated that the Morbius Easter egg could have been a hint towards his inclusion in "The Sinister Six" movie Sony was planning before scrapping the entire "Amazing Spider-Man" universe, while others believe it was just a throwaway reference. Whatever Sony had planned back in 2014, it's clear with the post-credits scene of 2022's "Morbius" that the studio wants the living meme vampire back for their forthcoming "Sinister Six" movie. Does that mean the Jared Leto version of Morbius is tied to the "Amazing Spider-Man" universe? Only Sony can answer that one.
Mary Jane Watson
One of the biggest criticisms regarding "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is that it's jam-packed with too many characters — most of which are only there as a set-up for future movies that never came to be. Believe it or not, there was actually one major character from the "Spider-Man" franchise that the sequel had to cut for time and her name was Mary Jane Watson. Mary Jane Watson, also known as "MJ," is the long-defined love interest of Spider-Man who took center stage in the Sam Raimi "Spider-Man" movies.
For "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," Shailene Woodley was chosen to portray MJ and presumably would have appeared around the time Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy broke up. However, director Marc Webb removed Mary Jane from the sequel because he wanted to streamline the story by focusing only on Peter, Gwen, and their relationship. While Sony has never released any official footage of Shailene Woodley as MJ, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of her in one of the film's teaser trailers. Even though her back is to the camera, the woman present at the café during the Rhino's assault is her, as Woodley's wardrobe matches the behind-the-scenes pictures of her as Mary Jane.
The Daily Bugle
Although "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" didn't perform as well at the box office as Sony had hoped, it wasn't for a lack of trying. Sony went all out in the marketing department for the Andrew Garfield sequel. One key advertisement was the viral marketing website named after the tabloid newspaper that Peter Parker works for: The Daily Bugle. The in-universe blog for "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" was a treasure trove of Easter eggs for Spider-Man fans. Faux-published articles would namedrop Spider-Man characters — big and small — suggesting a future place in the late cinematic universe.
Some of the names mentioned in the blog included Ned Leeds (Bugle reporter in the comics that is brainwashed into becoming the Hobgoblin), Anne Weying (Eddie Brock's ex wife who becomes Lady Venom), and Donald Menken (personal assistant of Norman Osborn). The most fascinating villain tease in The Daily Bugle was an article about the arrest of notorious serial killer Cletus Kasady (Carnage), written by Eddie Brock himself.
Rhino boxers
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" featured an impressive lineup of returning heroes and villains from the Sam Raimi "Spider-Man" movie universe like Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), as well as the ones from the Marc Webb films like Electro (Jamie Foxx). Among the many that came back for the multiverse "Spider-Man" sequel starring Tom Holland, the Rhino, also known as Aleksei Sytsevich, was not one of them.
According to actor Paul Giamatti, he's perfectly okay with that. Even though Giamatti's hammy performance as the Russian supervillain contradicted the once somber tone of the "Amazing Spider-Man" movie franchise, it's still entertaining for how unapologetically cartoonish it is. Perhaps the most hilarious way a character was foreshadowed to become a supervillain happened in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," where Spider-Man depantses Aleksei to reveal the crook is wearing Rhino-themed boxers. It's a gag straight out of "Looney Tunes," but it's hard not to love.
J. Jonah Jameson
It goes without saying that J.K. Simmons was born to play the role of J. Jonah Jameson. Throughout the Sam Raimi "Spider-Man" movie trilogy, Simmons gives 110% as the hilarious loud-mouth editor-in-chief of The Daily Bugle. Simmons still had a lot of gusto for the part when he returned in "Spider-Man: Far from Home" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Given Simmons' iconic performance as Jameson, it's understandable why the filmmakers of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" were too intimidated at the time to cast another actor to play Peter Parker's boss.
While Jameson never made an official appearance in "The Amazing Spider-Man" series, he did pop up in an email conversation with Peter in the sequel. According to Peter, Jameson's rates for Spider-Man pictures would be fair "if it were 1961." The specific mention of 1961 makes it seem like it's a reference to the year "Amazing Fantasy #15," featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man, was published — however, the iconic comic was actually released in 1962.
Man in the shadows
Amid the many unsolved mysteries teased in the first "Amazing Spider-Man" movie is the identity of the mysterious man in the shadows who seems to have a connection with Peter Parker's father and Oscorp Industries. While the mystery behind this suspicious figure doesn't fully play out, more is revealed about the man in the shadows in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." The man is identified in the movie as Gustav Fiers who, in the comic books, is known as the Gentleman.
In Adam-Troy Castro's novel, "Spider-Man: The Gathering of the Sinister Six," the Gentleman is a criminal mastermind who forms a new incarnation of the Sinister Six featuring Doc Ock, Electro, Mysterio, the Vulture, Chameleon, and a mute woman named Pity who has the psionic ability to create and control synthetic darkness that no light can breach. Considering how Sony was using "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" as a springboard for a spin-off movie of the Sinister Six, it seemed like Gustav Fiers was being set up as the man who would bring all these supervillains together, just like he did in the novels.
Web-shooters
Despite being one of the greatest superheroes in the Marvel cinematic universe, Spider-Man is occasionally forced to stretch a dollar here or there. If something breaks, Spider-Man either has to wait for payday (and pray J. Jonah Jameson is having one of his good days) or settle for hand-me-downs. In "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," Spider-Man is seen with fancy new web-shooters that are hexagonal in design. A big departure from his old, circular web-shooters from the previous film.
Unfortunately for Spidey, his fancy new toys are destroyed when he first faces off against Maxwell Dillon as Electro. After their electric fight, Peter Parker is seen using his old web-shooters from the first movie. It's a neat little continuity detail that most viewers probably won't notice on their first watch of the film. It makes the "Amazing Spider-Man" movies feel more real while emphasizing the limited resources of freelance photographer Peter Parker.
The Vault
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" ends the same way it begins: Spider-Man stops Aleksei Sytsevich from wreaking havoc on New York City. The big difference is that at the end of the movie, Aleksei isn't wearing rhino-themed underwear; he's wearing a rhino-themed mech suit armed with heavy artillery. (The Rhino mech suit takes inspiration from the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comic book series).
A gift from Harry Osborn, who has orchestrated Aleksei's escape from prison. Aleksei doesn't just break out of any normal prison, though. He escapes from the Vault. The Vault is a high-security penitentiary designed for superhuman criminals in the Marvel comic book universe. The namedrop of this supervillain prison comes off as a set-up for future films. Specifically, laying the groundwork for the Sinister Six spin-off film featuring Spider-Man's greatest villains from his rogues' gallery. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Vault was used in the 2013 TV series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."