A new trailer for the second Spider-Man live-action readaptation has dropped, giving us another brief look at the embattled Tom Holland just wanting a place in the grown-up world of superheroes. The film is one of the most anticipated for 2017, and the newest trailer has already racked up millions of views, no wonder.
Now, for the regular watchers, the trailer may have come off as your typical, run-of-the-mill, heart-thumping high-octane crowd-pleaser, but one that's embedded with enough layer of mystery to coax the most ardent Spider-Man stalwarts into reaching for the pockets and screaming "Shut up and take my money!" at their screen. This flavor of enigma is mostly filled by Vulture, the film's foremost villain.
Beyond it, however, the more persnickety viewers may have noticed quite a bit of Easter eggs and plot points just scattered throughout, waiting to be lifted from obscurity.
So here are the Easter eggs, plot point hints, and references you may have missed from the new Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer. Warning: light spoilers ahead.
Spider-Man vs Vulture On Top Of A Plane
The trailer begins with scene lifted from the mini teaser released beforehand, with the emblem on Spider-Man's suit latching off and then hightailing away like a drone, leaving behind the startled superhero. While this is already intriguing on its own, the scene that follows is even more rife for guesswork. The scene cuts to Spider-Man and Vulture duking it out on what appears as the top of a plane. The curious part is that Spider-Man is wearing his old homemade suit during the said fight. This puts the scene either in a flashback, or after Tony Stark forces Peter Parker to hand over the advanced Spider-Man suit he gave him in Captain America: Civil War.
License Plate Number On Car
In one scene set inside the Staten Island Ferry, Spider-Man combats two villains pushing some kind of illegal weapons, at least gleaning from the dialogue. Spider-Man, of course, beats them with his slick webbing tricks, but this scene includes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it detail. Looking closely at the background of the sequence, the license plate of the car loaded on the ferry reads "SM2-0563." What could this mean? Well, do you know when Vulture first appeared in the Spider-Man series? That's right, it was in Amazing Spider-Man 2, published in May 1963.
Spider-Man easter egg: license plate reads SM2-0563. First appearance of Vulture? Amazing Spider-Man #2, published May, 1963 (05/63) @jnwtts pic.twitter.com/FsOHNci3uP
— Mike Sampson (@mjsamps) March 28, 2017
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
The trailer begins with Stark telling Parker not to even flirt with the idea of becoming one of the Avengers. He tells him: "Can't you just be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?" Of course, the phrase is one of the most iconic lines of dialogue in the Spider-Man franchise, and comic book fans should take this in stride, as the callout also gives a brief homage to Peter David's issue run of comics from 2005, as WhatCulture points out.
A Fun Little Intertextual Nod
In one scene where Parker is with his friend Ned Leeds, played by Jacob Batalon, in what appears to be PE lecture, there's a little detail that you may have missed. If you look behind them, Zendaya's character Michelle is reading Of Human Bondage, written by W. Somerset Maugham. But why is this important? Well, Of Human Bondage tells the story of a of an orphan who is sent to live with his aunt and uncle as he struggles to mesh with his peers. Sound familiar? A big part of Of Human Bondage also talks about the repercussions of failing to curb one's emotions, which is a theme that particularly fits in with Parker's broader arc in the film.
Fellow Spider Bite Victim Cindy Moon Spotted?
This scene also has one more Easter egg that a Twitter user suggested. It links a woman in the frame between Parker and Leeds to a supposed casting list. She, as the Twitter user speculates, might be named Cindy, as in Cindy Moon, a radioactive spider victim who becomes the superhero Silk.
Am i correct in thinking the girl btwn pete and ned (ganke) is the girl they casted as cindy? Cindy Moon maybe? pic.twitter.com/4xDQB2yOXd — #kamalakorp (@agentfitz777) March 28, 2017
A Sylvia Plath Cameo ... Kinda
Sylvia Plath, famed American author, is in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Specifically, a photograph of her is printed on Michelle's shirt in the Washington Monument sequence. While this might not mean anything at all, Marvel Comics pictures are famous for stashing in little Easter eggs that signify details about characters. Could this signify that Michelle has a little bit of ennui, maybe even verging on the edge of suicide, as informed by Plath's tragic fate? No one knows for sure. But consider that in a film, every element that appears in a frame is a conscious decision either from the director or the litany of designers working on it. This means the shirt, while it could perfectly be an arbitrary feat of costume design, alludes to something deeper.
You have to watch Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 7 to find out.
Have you found any more Easter eggs on the new Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer that we haven't? Feel free to sound off in the comments section. Also, you can watch the full trailer below.
