Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We haven’t done a television show’s secrets page in quite some time. Why not start with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s pilot, “Amazing Fantasy?”

Amazing Fantasy

The name of the episode is a tip of the hat to Spider-Man’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15. This was the final issue of Amazing Fantasy. Emboldened by a comic series getting canceled, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko gave Spider-Man a chance when they otherwise wouldn’t. It’s hard to see now, but making a teenager the main superhero (and not a sidekick) was radical thinking. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s pilot names itself “Amazing Fantasy,” but the comic makes a physical appearance in this episode. The comic book that falls on Peter is none other than the penultimate issue of Amazing Fantasy.

Captain America: Civil War

The pilot pays homage to Captain America: Civil War. Spider-Man (wearing his homemade suit) stopping a runaway van from crashing into a bus full of civilians is the same scene that a bystander captured on video and is later played by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) when he meets Peter Parker (Tom Holland) for the first time.

The end of the first episode recreates Peter meeting Tony Stark. This includes the choice of song, “Left Hand Free” by alt-J. Only this time, Peter meets Norman Osborn.

Spider-Suits and Intro

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s introduction features Peter’s notebook filled with potential spider-suits, which mirror suits that have been featured in Spider-Man comic books. The song that plays “Neighbor Like Me” by The Math Club (featuring Relaye and Melo Makes Music), which remixes the theme song of the classic 1967 Spider-Man animated series.

Pop Culture References

During the scene where someone live-streams Spider-Man defeating hooligans, several messages flash on the screen. Here are some highlights.

“Kick his ass, Sea-Bass!,” reads one follower’s reply, a line from the Jim Carrey-Jeff Daniels comedy Dumb and Dumber. Can they get away with that on a kid’s show? Granted, most kids won’t pause the show to read the comments.

checkle05 comments, “u got beat up by a guy wearing hockey pads, lmao,” a likely reference to Batman’s “I’m not wearing hockey pads” response in 2008’s The Dark Knight.

User Screwball advertises their channel with “better content.” Screwball is a live-streaming “supervillain” and a master of parkour who first appeared in 2008’s Amazing Spider-Man #559.

Peter’s Classmates

Peter and his best friend, Nico Minoru (Grace Song), crush on the same girl: Pearl Pangan (Cathy Ang), who used to live in Peter’s building and babysit him when he was younger (she’s three years their senior). Pearl’s boyfriend is star quarterback and football captain Lonnie Lincoln (Eugene Byrd), who becomes Peter’s lab partner.

In the comics, Nico Minoru is a member of the Runaways: the children of the Los Angeles-based supervillain group known as the Pride. Nico uses blood magic and the mystical Staff of One to cast spells.

Lonnie’s comic counterpart turns to a life of crime as the Harlem-based gangster called Tombstone. He took this name even before a chemical compound made his skin as hard as rock.

Pearl debuted in 2019 as Wave, a water-wielding Filipino superhero and a member of the Agents of Atlas. She fights alongside Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel.

Oscorp

Peter’s internship at Oscorp is filled with characters from Marvel Comics. His fellow interns include Asha (Erica Luttrell), Amadeus Cho (Aleks Le), and Jeanne Foucault (Anjali Kuanpaneni); their various projects are under the supervision of Oscorp’s Dr. Bentley Wittman (Paul F. Tompkins) and Dr. Carla Connors (Zehra Fazal).

In the comics, the Wakandan Asha attends Wakanda’s School for Alternative Studies and has the power to reflect or absorb light to disappear at will. Think of her as the Wakandan Invisible Woman.

Jeanne is Finesse, an attendee of Avengers Academy, a polymath able to learn skills, languages, and other abilities at incredible speeds. It makes sense that she’d be a part of Oscorp’s internship.

Amadeus is a super-genius who used gamma energy to turn himself into the super-strong, Hulk-like hero Brawn. In fact, Amadeus Cho was the original Professor Hulk. If the MCU did revert Hulk to his savage self, Cho could fill the void left by Professor Hulk.

Dr. Carla Connors is a gender-swapped Dr. Curt Connors, an amputee who becomes the Spider-Man villain the Lizard after studying reptilian molecular biology and using a serum to regenerate his lost arm.

And Wittman, primarily an enemy of the Fantastic Four, is the Wizard, a brilliant inventor and known for his scientific feats that may have been achieved by magic.

Roxxon

Upon learning that Peter accepted an internship at Oscorp, Nico tells her best friend, “If you take a side gig at Roxxon Oil, I’m staging an intervention.” The Roxxon Corporation shows up a lot in the MCU: Iron Man to Agent Carter, Daredevil, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Echo.

In the comics, the Roxxon Oil Company’s (later Roxxon Energy Corp.) illicit actions have led to the creation of the Iron Man villain Sunturion and the Spider-Man villain Will O’ the Wisp.

Crusher Hogan

The opening credits include a glimpse of a disguised Peter Parker’s wrestling match with Joseph “Crusher” Hogan, who debuted in Amazing Fantasy #15 as the wrestler who Peter fights for some quick money.

Crusher appears again briefly on a television in episode 2 just after Peter is introduced to Dr. Connors.

Butane

Butane exists in Marvel Comics, but he has a vastly different origin. He belongs to the Warpies, a group of kids transformed by Mad Jim Jasper. These human mutates develop superhuman powers. Butane’s was fire generation and manipulation. It makes sense that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man changed him into a flame-throwing thug.

Thank you for reading. We may continue sharing more of these easter eggs as the season continues. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.