Peter Parker has returned as our favorite wall-crawler in his youngest incarnation yet. While his original appearance in the MCU was in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man Homecoming marks the young hero’s first solo outing in the world of the MCU proper. Taking a page from The Breakfast Club, Homecoming sees Peter struggle with being a superhero while also attempting to be your average New York high schooler dealing with girls, friends, and extracurriculars. Standing in his way is Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture, looking to make himself rich off the spoils of the battles that the Avengers have had in the past. Like the other entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man Homecoming is fit to bursting with references to the comics, and what sort of Spidey fans would we be if we didn’t delve into the bigger ones for our readers?

Warning, this article does contain spoilers for Spider-Man Homecoming, so if you haven’t seen it yet, avoid this one until you do!

Scorpion/Mac Gargan

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Image via Marvel Comics

While the Vulture, Shocker, and the Tinkerer are all reveling in their ill gotten gains from Chitauri tech, they discuss making a “tail for Gargan” which of course hints toward the arrival of the Scorpion in the MCU. Rather than leaving this as a one off-mention, Mac Gargan himself makes an appearance in the film to attempt an arms deal with Toomes, only to be thwarted by both Spider-Man, the FBI, and eventually Iron Man. Of course, what gives Gargan away as the Scorpion, since he never actually wears the costume/body armor in the film, is the giant tattoo of a scorpion that he has on his neck. Michael Mando, of Better Call Saul fame, brings Gargan to life in the movie and even makes an appearance in the post credit scene, begging Toomes to tell him who Spider-Man really is, as himself and his “friends” would love to know. His “friends” could be referring to an eventual “Sinister Six” though with Sony attempting to still create their own Spider-verse, that would be iffy at best.

With regards to the origin of the Scorpion in the comics, Mac Gargan is originally hired by J. Jonah Jameson as a private detective to keep an eye on Spider-Man. Finding little to no info about the wall crawler, Jameson instead uses Gargan as a part of an experiment that turns him into the super villain called the Scorpion, essentially swapping a scorpion for Peter Parker's radioactive spider. While not one of Spider-Man’s foremost villains, in the comics, Mac actually received an upgrade when he was bonded with the alien symbiote and for a few years was Marvel’s only version of Venom. In fact, Gargan was actually an Avenger for a brief period of time, albeit a “dark” one under the thumb of Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. Eventually, Mac lost the alien suit and returned to his familiar stomping grounds as the Scorpion with an enhanced suit.

Aaron Davis/The Prowler

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Image via Marvel Comics

I nearly missed this one while watching the film the first time! In a scene where Peter Parker is confronting actor Donald Glover’s character about his attempt to purchase stolen alien technology being sold by the Vulture’s crew, Spidey’s suit gives him information with regards to his identity. Glover’s character is in fact Aaron Davis, aka the Prowler. Now in the regular Marvel Universe, the Prowler’s name is Hobie Brown and he is currently a superhero who works alongside Spider-Man to fight crime. In the Ultimate Universe however, the Prowler is Aaron Davis, a street level crook who uses an assortment of tech to help in mostly his cat burglary schemes. In Homecoming, Davis gives Spidey a pep talk about how Peter might not be ready to fight crime as of yet considering Parker’s age. For his trouble, Aaron is humorously webbed to the back of his car’s trunk for a few hours, waiting for the webbing to dissolve, but not before he mentions his young nephew who “loves science”.

Davis’ young nephew, in the comics, is Miles Morales who became Spider-Man once the original Ultimate Spider-Man was killed in a battle with the Sinister Six. Having gained his powers from a genetically enhanced spider, Miles put on a new Spidey costume and began fighting crime in the wake of his predecessor’s death. Morales’ popularity eventually landed him in the regular Marvel universe following the crossover event, Secret Wars, where he web swings with an older, more experienced Peter Parker while still retaining the moniker of “Spider-Man.” When last we saw Aaron in the comics, he died in an explosion caused by a tussle with his altruistic nephew, ironically enough following a fight with the Ultimate Universe’s version of the Scorpion. Miles Morales, meanwhile, will be given his own animated movie with the folks at Sony Pictures. However, in the animated version, Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) will be voicing Davis.

The Iron Spider

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Image via Marvel Comics

The finale of Spider-Man: Homecoming sees Tony Stark deciding to promote Peter Parker to the big leagues, offering him a membership to the Avengers. With this spot on the team, Tony promised Peter a dorm room, a multi-level state of the art training facility, a boost in his popularity with a slew of reporters for an unveiling press conference and last, but certainly not least, a new costume! While not looking exactly like the comic book alternative (picture above), the movie version of the Iron Spider suit was plain for all to see, sticking closer to the original suit design with a hint of “Iron Man” thrown into the overall pattern. Peter, of course, turns this down as he decides that he still needs time to grow up in New York City as a friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man rather than an intergalactic or large scale wall-crawler. Tony, of course, takes this in stride, deciding instead to use the press conference as an opportunity to “pop the question” to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts.

In the comics, the Iron Spider costume was actually given to Peter Parker by Tony Stark as part of the crossover Civil War. In the MCU, obviously, Peter only was offered the suit during Homecoming, but in the comics, it was granted to him to help push through the inner workings of the Superhero Registration Act. As Stark’s right hand man, Peter worked alongside “Pro-Registration” heroes to help the government offer training and accountability to heroes in the U.S. The suit, much like his current on in the MCU, had a number of advantages, though unlike the films, this suit allowed him to fly and had three long “legs” protruding out of Peter’s back while wearing the costume. Eventually, Peter recognized he was on the wrong side of the war, and ditched Stark along with the Iron Spider suit, instead donning his black costume once again, though not the living version of it, of course.

Did we miss any other big Marvel references? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

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Image via Sony