Complete Guide To Spider-Man PS4's Marvel Easter Eggs

The Marvel Cinematic Universe finally has a worthy (sort of) video game tie-in, in the form of Insomniac Games' Spider-Man for PlayStation 4. Already the fastest-selling game of the year, Spider-Man allows players to don the famous Underoos and go web-slinging around New York City, which is packed with Marvel Easter eggs and references. You can swing by Avengers Tower, pay a visit to the Wakandan Embassy, stroll past Nelson & Murdock while giving finger-guns to passing pedestrians, and even use the photo mode to take a morbid selfie in front of Uncle Ben's grave.

The Easter eggs don't end with the obvious. There's also a Grand Theft Auto IV cameo, a nod to Spider-Man's appearance on Family Guy, and even a marriage proposal (which unfortunately has an unhappy ending). More secrets are being discovered every day as gamers scour the streets (and rooftops) of Peter Parker's New York City, so we've gathered together all of the cameos, references, Easter eggs and inside jokes we can find in one place, so you can go hunting for them yourself.

This Page: Cameos and Special Locations
Page 2: Documents and Other Easter Eggs

Cameos

First things first: Spider-Man, naturally, has a Stan Lee cameo. The Marvel Comics icon appears in a cutscene at the end of the mission Don't Touch The Art, when Peter and Mary Jane visit a diner that they apparently went to a lot while they were dating. As MJ walks out of the diner, Lee (in the role of the diner's short order cook) comments, "Love seeing you two together again. You always were my favorites." Both Peter Parker and Mary Jane were, of course, co-created by Lee more than half a century ago, so it's natural that he would have a soft spot for the couple.

Going outside of the Marvel universe for a moment, Spider-Man includes a fun nod to Grand Theft Auto IV, which also featured a sprawling open-world map based on New York City. During the side-quest Spider-Man P.I., Spider-Man foils a heist being planned by a man in a tracksuit with a Slavic accent called Niko, who mentions his "brother's kid," Roman. In GTA IV, Niko was the main character and Roman was his cousin.

Locations

Spider-Man has a large map that's dotted with landmarks, many of which you can take photos of in order to earn Landmark Tokens, which can be used to unlock new suits and upgrades. There are also Secret Photo Ops to reward exploration even further. All told, you can find dozens of locations linked to the wider Marvel universe. Here's a list of the Marvel locations to look out for:

Avengers Tower - This one's pretty hard to miss. Climb all the way to the top to get the "Hero For Higher" achievement.
Rand Enterprises - The family business of Danny Rand a.k.a. Iron Fist.
Nelson & Murdock - The workplace of Matt Murdock a.k.a. Daredevil.
Josie's Bar - Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson's favorite watering hole.
Fogwell's Gym - The gym where Matt Murdock's father trained
Clinton Mission - The shelter where Matt Murdock's mother, Sister Maggie, works.
Roxxon Building - Roxxon Energy Corporation is a huge and far-reaching conglomerate with somewhat shady interests.
Alias Investigations - The detective agency run by Jessica Jones.
Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum - Peter pauses to note that there's something a little "strange" about this building.
Wakandan Embassy - Here, Peter ponders whether T'Challa was bitten by a radioactive panther.
Symkarian Embassy - Symkaria is the fictional country that Silver Sable hails from.
Empire State University - The college that Peter attended.
H.E.A.R.T. Clinic - Founded by Dr. Elias Wirtham a.k.a. Cardiac.
Damage Control HQ - the headquarters of the construction company that Tony Stark established to clean up damage from super-fights.
Uncle Ben's Grave - Pay sombre respects... or just take a selfie.
Lockjaw Statue - One of the photo ops is with a bronze statue of Lockjaw, the Inhumans' faithful dog companion, who stands in place of Wall Street's Charging Bull.

Page 2: Documents and Other Easter Eggs

Documents

Easily the richest source of Easter eggs in Spider-Man are the 55 backpacks that Peter left webbed up around the city when he was in high school. If you're wondering where he got so many backpacks, well, one of the backpacks has an answer! When he was in high school, Peter won the Wilson Fisk Science Prize and was rewarded with a lifetime supply of backpacks. The backpacks are basically all Easter eggs of some description, so we won't list the contents of all 55. However, here are some of the noteworthy highlights (and things you may have missed):

Mysterio Comic Book - One backpack contains two Spider-Man comics drawn by kids, one of which shows Spidey going up against the Menace of Mysterio. Peter says that he wishes he knew who drew them, but the comics actually have names on them: Kaleo Robello, and Bodhi Robello. These are presumably the children of Insomniac Games Senior Animator Boola Robello.
Aunt May's Wheatcakes Recipe - This recipe was included in the 1996 Untold Tales of Spider-Man annual, and has been reproduced in the game, in case you want to try your hand at making Peter's favorite food.
Matt Murdock Business Card - Peter recalls that a blind guy gave him his business card in case Spider-Man ever needed legal help, then questions how the man knew he was Spider-Man if he couldn't see.
Bedford Towers Lease Application - After Mary Jane had a terrifying encounter with Venom in Amazing Spider-Man #300, she and Peter moved to a fancy new condo in the coveted Bedford Towers.
Good Luck Card From The Bugle - This card was signed by several familiar names (including J. Jonah Jameson), but perhaps the most interesting signature is from one Eddie Brock, who tells Peter it was "Great working with you!"
Peter's Thesis - In one backpack, Peter is excited to discover his thesis, for which he received an A. Look closely at the cover, and you'll notice that it was marked by one Professor Warren - also known by his supervillain moniker, Jackal.
Balloon Kid Thank You Drawing - The 2004 Spider-Man 2 tie-in game gets a couple of notable nods. Balloon Kid's plaintive cry of "Oh no, my balloon!" was one of the more memorable moments of that game (it's hard to forget, given that the same kid repeatedly loses the same balloon), but at least Balloon Kid drew Spidey a nice thank-you drawing.
Crusher Hogan Flyer - After discovering this flyer, Peter reminisces about trying out his new super-strength and agility against wrestler Crusher Hogan (in Amazing Fantasy #15).
Work/Life Balance For Idiots by Dr. Ludwig Rinehart - Peter may not have ever gotten around to reading this book, but he knows the author by a different name. Dr. Ludwig Rinehart was one of the aliases used by Mysterio.

Another fun source of Easter eggs is the in-game social media feed, in which the world reacts to the latest crazy events. At one point, people can be seen using the hashtag #EverybodyDOESGetOne - a reference to Spider-Man's appearance on Family Guy, when he saved Cleveland from falling off a mountain and explained, "Everybody gets one." There are also several tweets from a user called JJinSpace, who comments, "Love that I still get to hear my dad's show from the space station." JJinSpace is J. Jonah Jameson's son, John Jameson, an astronaut.

To find some Easter eggs, you have to look really close. Reddit user Wizashama discovered a certificate on Norman Osborn's wall that was awarded by the Pym Foundation and signed by Henry Pym a.k.a. the original Ant-Man. In a related Easter egg, Peter at one point laments not having been bitten by a radioactive wasp instead of a spider - but then remembers that the "Wasp" moniker is already taken.

Be sure to take a look around Peter's apartment as well. You'll find a sticky note that Peter left, reminding himself to "Call T.S." (which can only be Tony Stark), and he also has a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, the comic in which Spider-Man made his debut.

Other Easter Eggs

As you can see, the Easter eggs come thick and fast in Spider-Man - but perhaps the most popular one is a reference to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2. During a fight with Mister Negative on a moving subway train, the controls are smashed and the train is about to go careening into the car at the next station. Spider-Man throws out webbing and braces himself against the front of the train, just as he did in Spider-Man 2... but the webbing snaps immediately. "That totally worked last time!" Spidey complains.

Those who played through the tricky pizza delivery minigame in the Spider-Man 2 tie-in video game can relive those terrible memories in Spider-Man. If you stand close to a pizza restaurant you can hear the Pizza Delivery theme from the 2004 game. Also, one of the backpacks contains a Pizza Amigos hat, and Peter recalls that his pizzas were delivered "fast... and smashed."

Going back to the backpacks, at one point Peter finds a pair of electrician's gloves and reminisces about using them in his first fight with Electro. Indeed, when Electro made his debut in Amazing Spider-Man #9, Peter used rubber gloves and rubber soles to punch the villain without getting shocked.

Moving a little further ahead in the comics, the very first mission of the game features a nod to Amazing Spider-Man #33. That comic famously opened with an agonizing sequence in which Spider-Man has to free himself after being trapped under tons of steel by lifting it on his shoulders. Spider-Man: Homecoming recreated this moment, and Spider-Man does as well - though this time with Spider-Man lifting rubble to save civilians trapped underneath.

And finally, we come to an Easter egg that probably won't be in the game much longer, since the developers have offered to patch it out. One Spider-Man mega-fan requested that the game include a sign saying "Maddie, will you marry me?" - intending to use it to propose to his then-girlfriend. Unfortunately, the couple broke up several weeks before the game came out, so the marriage proposal was never used.

Have you spotted any Easter eggs that we missed? Let us know in the comments!