10 Best Easter Eggs in Spider-Man: Brand New Day That You Missed

Peter Parker is back, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day proves that Marvel hasn’t lost its love for hiding treasures in plain sight. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, this fourth outing for Tom Holland’s web-slinger picks up in a world that’s forgotten Peter’s identity.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day	Details
Director	Destin Daniel Cretton
Cast	Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Zendaya (MJ), Sadie Sink, Jon Bernthal (Punisher), Jacob Batalon, Michael Mando (Scorpion), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), and more.
Production	Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios, Pascal Pictures
Release Date	July 31, 2026, in U.S. theaters
RT Score (As of July 31, 2026)	90% | 98%

The movie packs its frames with sly nods to comics lore, callbacks to earlier films, and clues about what’s coming next in the MCU. From background details to sneaky character references, the movie rewards eagle-eyed fans who know where to look. Here are the 10 best Easter eggs you probably missed.

1 Destin Daniel Cretton Throws in a Naruto Reference

One scene inside Ned’s room reveals a Naruto poster in the background. While it could be a simple throwaway gag showing how much of a nerd Ned is and his love for Naruto, we can’t ignore this easter egg for one major reason. Director Destin Daniel Cretton is also helming the upcoming live-action Naruto movie.

The poster features the Team 7 members from the anime, including Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi Hatake. Besides the Cretton connection, Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto has openly shared his love for Spider-Man over the years.

2 Ned’s Spider-Man Investigation Turns Up Many Easter Eggs

Ned may have forgotten his history with Peter Parker, but he is obsessed with finding out who Spider-Man is. His investigation throws in many interesting details, including the Spidey Tracker app and its famous electronic jingle from the ’60s classic Spider-Man cartoon.

On the board in his room, there are many pictures of Spider-Man and photos of people whom he suspected of being Spider-Man. He even noted down how Spider-Man was seen in Europe many times. One funny note from Ned, “Is he British?”, is a reference to Tom Holland’s background.

And we also get references to two characters from the previous Spider-Man movies. Ned’s primary suspects are their former teacher Roger Harrington and classmate Flash Thompson, played by Martin Starr and Tony Revolori, respectively.

3 Tom Holland Sneaks BERO Into Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Tom Holland’s non-alcoholic beer brand, BERO, appears in a brief scene in the movie. Peter frequents a bodega to buy flowers for Aunt May’s grave, where the product appears on the shelves. It is not the only product placement in the bodega or in the movie. The bodega scene also features products like Takis and Liquid I.V., which are brand partners of Sony.

Interestingly, we also get a story arc of Ned getting slowly addicted to one particular alcohol. We later get a scene where Zendaya hides the bottle to help Ned get rid of this addiction. It might be a reference to Holland’s personal struggles with alcoholism and a subtle promotion for BERO.

There are also scenes where Peter uses a Samsung phone, which isn’t surprising as the brand publicly announced its partnership with the movie. Moreover, Peter always eats Little Caesars pizza, does his work on ASUS computers, and the NY streets in the movie have many BMW cars driving around. These brands are all partnered with Sony for the movie.

4 The Star Wars and Lord of the Rings References

The first Star Wars reference in the movie is a throwback. Peter keeps a LEGO miniature of Emperor Palpatine on his desk. We know that this belonged to Ned’s LEGO Death Star from Spider-Man: Homecoming. It was also one of the few possessions Peter kept after everyone forgot about him at the end of No Way Home.

In a scene at MJ and Ned’s new apartment, Peter picks up a LEGO Chewbacca from Ned’s table. In another scene, The Empire Strikes Back plays on Ned’s monitor. When Peter returns as Spider-Man in Ned’s apartment, he and Ned build a LEGO X-Wing together, sharing their common love for George Lucas’s movies.

Their shared love is not just for Star Wars. They also love the Lord of the Rings movies. When they talk about Spider-Man’s anonymity, they recite the opening scene between Frodo and Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring.

5 The Movie Jokingly Addresses a Much-Debated Thanos Plot Hole

The movie introduces Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner as a professor teaching quantum physics at Empire State University. However, Banner’s students are more interested in his Avengers history than the chrono-dynamics topic he is teaching in the scene. One of the students asks a fun little question about Thanos that Marvel fans have been discussing ever since the release of Avengers: Infinity War.

One student asks why Thanos didn’t just use the “glove” to make more resources for the overgrown population rather than wipe out half of life from the universe. This particular plot hole, if we can call it that, presents a significant flaw in Thanos’s motivation. Even the MCU tried to double down on this motive with some radical “Thanos Was Right” slogans in post-Endgame movies and shows.

However, it appears that Marvel wants to move on from that Thanos debate, as Ruffalo’s character uses a ‘Hulk Smash’ joke to brush over the question.

6 MJ Turns Down Job Offer From a “Soulless” Corporation

When Peter is at MJ and Ned’s apartment, Ned questions MJ over a job interview. MJ initially tries to avoid the question, but Ned continues to question her, even asking her whether she attended the interview. MJ did attend the interview, and she received a job offer. However, she told Ned that she turned down the offer and called the company a “soulless” corporation.

While this might be a normal scene establishing MJ’s values in any other movie, we know of one soulless corporation in the Spider-Man lore that could be the one referenced here. MJ could be talking about Oscorp, and it could be a setup for Norman or Harry Osbourne in the main universe.

7 We See Mayor Fisk Posters on an Alleyway in One Scene

Some fans would be unhappy about Charlie Cox’s Daredevil being absent from the movie. However, the world of Daredevil from the Born Again series gets multiple references in the movie. The most direct reference is a ripped Mayor Fisk poster on a garbage can in an alleyway.

However, it is an early scene that confirms the timeline of events. Spider-Man receives an honorary key to the city from New York’s newest mayor, Sheila Rivera. Zabryna Guevara’s character was Mayor Fisk’s chief aide in the Born Again series. If she is now the new mayor, it means that the movie takes place after the events of Born Again Season 2. It means that Fisk is in exile and Daredevil is in prison at this point in the story.

8 A Few Spider-Man Villains Appear on Screen, While Others Get Mentioned

Peter Parker’s storage room-turned-work station first reveals the many villains he is pursuing, including Scorpion and Tombstone. Michael Mando’s Scorpion has a bigger role in the movie than Marvin Jones III’s Tombstone, who makes a brief appearance.

We also get appearances from villains like Tarantula, Boomerang, Ramrod, and The Hand. The latter group of villains also gets a major role in the movie, as they start working for Damage Control. This also aligns with the storyline from The Defenders, where The Hand is left without a leader.

Besides these villains, the Manfredi gang appears in the movie, but without their leader, who is one of Spidey’s major rivals. Silvio Manfredi, aka Silvermane, was already used as the primary villain in Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Noir, played by Brendan Gleeson.

Another villain who is mentioned in passing is Frederick Foswell, aka The Big Man. Peter mentions to Jean DeWolff, an NYPD Detective and his ally, on the phone that he is looking into Foswell’s crimes. While Shocker doesn’t appear in the movie, his weapon of choice appears in a key scene.

9 Many Spider-Man: Brand New Day Sequences Recreate Classic Comicbook Covers

For each Spider-Man villain appearance in the movie, Destin Daniel Cretton brilliantly used shots that resembled famous Spider-Man comic book covers.

• Amazing Fantasy #15 – The very first Spider-Man appearance came in this comic, which had a cover designed by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. In the movie, he carries a Manfredi gang thug while swinging, and one of the shots resembles this cover.
• Spider-Man Adventures #2 – Michael Mando’s Scorpion hits Spidey with his tail in the movie, which is the cover of this comic.
• Spectacular Spider-Man #142 – Marvin Jones III’s Tombstone holds Spider-Man over a rooftop in one scene, recreating this cover.
• The Spectacular Spider-Man #1 – When Spider-Man takes down Tarantula on a ship, they pose exactly like this cover.
• The Amazing Spider-Man #221 – Ramrod smashes his head into a wall as Spider-Man avoids, recreating this comic cover.
• The Amazing Spider-Man #345 – The shot of Spider-Man and Boomerang is inspired by this comic cover.
• New Avengers #27 – While not a Spider-Man comic, this comic cover with Elektra (plus the Hand) and Ronin going against each other was recreated in the movie with Spider-Man and the Hand.
• Civil War #5 – This is not a Spider-Man vs villain shot. In one of the final moments of the movie, the Punisher carries Spider-Man into the hospital, shouting out for a medic. It was recreated from the pages of this comic.

10 The Insomniac-Inspired Finishing Moves

On the red carpet of the movie, Tom Holland was asked about the Insomniac-created Spider-Man video games. When IGN asked if it inspired his creative process for the movie, the actor replied, “A lot of the action. A lot of the finishing moves.” He further reiterated, “For me, a lot of those finishing moves, a lot of our stuff was influenced by that stuff.”

The movie has a lot of Insomniac inspiration, right from the beginning scene where Spider-Man takes down Manfredi’s thugs. He uses the ground strike move from the games against Scorpion, and there is also a scene showing web grenades. In the final fight scene at Roosevelt Island, he uses some of the game’s classic moves.

Now, the most iconic action scene in the movie, which involves his 360-degree web trapping the members of the Hand, did have some Insomniac inspiration. However, it is more closely aligned to the spectacular spin movie in Marvel Rivals.

Sean Boelman of FW gave Peter Parker’s new adventure a 5/10 in our review of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

What do you think of these easter eggs in the movie? Let us know in the comments below!

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is running successfully in theaters.