Sony Pictures’ latest movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, sneakily included a nod to one of Marvel’s other most popular properties – the Fantastic Four.
Spider-Verse 2 had no shortage of Easter eggs not just from the wide world of Spider-Man but also from plenty of other classic Marvel properties fans have come to know and love over the years.
The movie went so far as to include a nod to Chloe Bennet’s Quake from Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and there were more than a few references to the MCU peppered throughout the runtime as well.
Fantastic Four Easter Egg in Spider-Verse 2
As shared by character/costume designer Kristafer Anka, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse included an Easter Egg tied back to Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four.
Anka shared a couple of different looks at the memorable hero from Marvel Comics, explaining that the team had to go through multiple different versions of the character’s look to get it right for the movie:
“The Bombastic Bagman. Had to try a few different versions ranging from accurate to the comic to some more original versions, but was still a very fun style exploration.”
This suit design references the original Bombastic Bag Man suit, which was actually a spare Fantastic Four costume that Peter borrowed from the team in the comics, which ended up being tossed aside for a more classic Spidey design.
After Reed Richards separated Peter Parker from an alien symbiote, Spider-Man didn’t have a costume, leading Johnny Storm to give Peter an older spare version of the Fantastic Four suit with no footwear and a paper bag as a mask.
Johnny even brought his own flair to the outfit, putting a sign on the back that read “Kick Me.”
Removing the suit helped to save him from being permanently bonded with the alien symbiote during the Secret Wars event from the comics, although it wasn’t a suit that he wore for an extended period of time.
This suit was even featured for a moment in the Spider-Verse 2 trailer, teasing just how deep into the comics the Sony team looked to dive for suits, Easter eggs, and nods to Spider-Man’s history.
How Will Easter Eggs Be Used in Spider-Verse 3?
With so many Easter eggs and nods to other franchises popping up all over Spider-Verse 2, the big question now is where Sony Pictures will go in that direction for 2024’s Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
With at least one new universe already in the works for Spider-Verse 3, Sony has more than enough opportunities for potential Easter eggs to include in the story, which could come from any and all parts of the greater Marvel universe.
With Miles Morales set to take on a Multiversal Variant of himself that became the Prowler on Earth-42, that universe should also hold plenty of nods and references to Miles’ extensive run in the comics.
And with plenty of other new Variants for classic Spider-Verse characters set to take the spotlight, the Fantastic Four could be far from the only Marvel heroes fans get to find on the periphery of the next story.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters worldwide.
