17+ References That Put “Spider-Man: No Return Home” On The Same Level As “Avengers”

The year 2021 will be remembered by moviegoers for the arrival of Spider-Man’s most ambitious feature film, No Volta Para Casa. Sony Pictures and Marvel bet big on the most intimate desires of Teioso fans to bring the film that ended up being among the highest grossing in cinema history.

Much of this is due to the flood of nostalgic references not only to the Marvel Cinematographic Universe but also to the other films starring Spider-Man, from 2002 to 2012. But not everyone managed to pay attention to these minimal details left in the feature or followed years and years of stories to recognize all references.

That’s why we, from awesome.clubwe put together a list of the main references hidden in the movie Spider-Man: No Return Home, for you to review in greater detail.

First of all, BEWARE! This text is full of spoilers, so if you haven’t watched the movie yet, you’ll end up spoiling several surprises. But if you’ve already watched it, know that the script in general was based on a Spider-Man comic book that was very controversial among fans, called Um Dia A Mais.

In this comic, Aunt May is hospitalized and hopeless, which leads Peter Parker to take a desperate attitude: make a deal with Mefisto so that his aunt gets better and that everyone forgets that he is Spider-Man. Mephisto accepted, but in exchange Peter had to give up all his history with his wife, Mary Jane, making their love never happen. It’s a story very similar to the one told in the movie No Return Home.

One of the first special appearances in the film, which surprised fans, was Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), the hero Daredevil, directly from the Netflix series of the same name. When it was cancelled, as well as the others from Marvel on Netflix, many were devastated, as Charlie’s work pleased many people. Giving in to fans’ wishes, Marvel announced that the actor would return to the role soon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In No Return Home, Matt Murdock appears giving legal advice to Peter (Tom Holland), May (Marisa Tomei) and Happy (Jon Favreau). Soon, Matt demonstrates that he is Daredevil, as someone throws a brick through the window and he intercepts it, catching it without any effort, even with his back to the window. In the face of everyone’s amazement, he justifies himself: “I’m a very good lawyer.”

Betty Brant (Angourie Rice) at the beginning of the film is giving news about Peter Parker, who now everyone knows is Spider-Man. At the end, she says excitedly “get ’em, tiger”. This is a reference to the hero’s comics, since that’s what Mary Jane has called Peter since they met, and she said that exact phrase on several occasions. The dubbing of the feature respected the Brazilian comics, where “tiger” has always been translated as “gatão”.

When Damage Control is questioning Peter about Mysterio’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) death, the boy claims that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) can confirm his story. This is a direct reference to the previous film, Far From Home, which takes place immediately before this one. Therefore, Peter is surprised when the agent claims that Nick has been off Earth for a year!

The information is confirmed by the post-credits scene of Far From Home: it shows the skrulls that took the place of Nick and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), and then Nick Fury himself relaxing in a spaceship. And, as if those references weren’t enough, the scene even ties into an upcoming Marvel miniseries on Disney+, Secret Invasion. It’s all connected!

By the way, Damage Control already appears in the first film of the franchise, Spider-Man: Homecoming. It is a body linked to the government that has the task of repairing the damage caused by fights between superheroes and supervillains, since the battle of New York seen in Avengers (2012). But this is not an exclusive creation of cinema: Damage Control has existed in comics since 1988.

When Happy moves Peter and May into his apartment, we meet an old friend, a robot in the living room who immediately greets new arrivals. Many may have had that impression of thinking they already knew him, and they are right. He is Dum-E (not to be confused with Wall-E), Tony Stark’s robot. In addition to coming straight from one movie to the next, he has a not-so-important but very funny cameo next.

In one of the film’s scenes, Dum-E destroys a LEGO Death Star, the Star Wars franchise ship, which was being assembled on top of a table. This is the second time this has happened in Spider-Man movies. The first one was just as funny as this one, when Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), Peter’s best friend, discovers that he is Spider-Man. Ned had the Death Star already mounted in his hand and, with the shock, knocks it to the ground, ruining his work.

Since Happy’s apartment was destroyed by the villains, we can predict that there’s no way to put this Death Star back together. However, it seems that Peter kept a souvenir from Ned, now that his friend doesn’t remember him anymore. At the end of the film, Peter places a LEGO figure of Emperor Palpatine, Star Wars villain, on the study table, probably all that is left of the toy. The same doll that is in his friend’s hand in the first feature.

Still about Ned Leeds, in the scene where he is in the laboratory with the three Spider-Men, he questions the Peters from other universes about their best friends. What makes Ned very worried is that both said that his best friend became a villain. They are referring to Harry Osborn, each of his universe, who ended up corrupted and assumed the identity of Hobgoblin. Ned promises “his” Peter that this will never happen to him.

The curious thing is that, in comics, the Hobgoblin costume has been worn many times by several characters, but never by Harry Osborn. However, one of the people to commit crimes under this mask was Ned Leeds himself. Sinister, isn’t it? Will he be the new villain in the next movies?

To set the story, the film’s producers scattered various references in the setting, the city of New York. Early on, Peter and MJ (Zendaya) are on top of the school roof, and we can see the name “DITKO” graffitied in the background. He is the co-creator of Spider-Man, along with Stan Lee. In the same scene, there is graffiti written “GKANE”, in reference to the artist Gil Kane who, among many works, illustrated the comic that narrates the death of Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker’s former girlfriend.

Another intervention in the city was the addition of a giant replica of Captain America’s shield, in honor of the hero, in place of the torch of the Statue of Liberty. About this reference, we are sure that no one missed it. After all, in addition to being gigantic, the entire ending of the film takes place in this place, and the most dramatic moment occurs right on top of the fallen shield. At the base of the statue there is a banner with a preview of the work and the phrase “NY City Newst Avenger”.

Returning to the scene on the roof, there is a reference to the Spider-Verse that many fans may not have caught, as he is a little known character today, but very present in the 70s and 90s. MJ is reading some fake news about Spider-Man to Peter, and mentions an excerpt saying that he would have powers to hypnotize female victims for a kind of personality cult.

These powers look a lot like Spider-Woman’s, or Jessica Drew’s, which include pheromones that can cause revulsion, fear, or attraction—as in the newspaper read by the MJ. Other powers are super agility and super strength, super heightened hearing and reflexes, and being able to generate poison blasts with his hands. Besides, of course, being able to climb walls.

In No Going Home, MJ, Peter’s girlfriend, is working as a waitress in a cafe, presumably to earn extra money for college. It seems like banal information, but perhaps the choice of profession was deliberate, since in Spider-Man (2002), Peter Parker’s (Tobey Maguire) girlfriend, Mary Jane, played by Kirsten Dunst, also works as a waitress.

This gives us the impression that Zendaya’s character is the Mary Jane Watson of this universe, but in fact she is not. We already knew this information, because in Far from Home it is possible to see the character’s first name, Michelle, in her passport.

In Sem Volta Para Casa, however, it is the first time that we know her full name, informed by herself: Michelle Jones-Watson. The fact that they are both called MJ and have the same last name is a well-crafted coincidence. And that’s not all: Michelle’s birthday corresponds to the date of Mary Jane’s first appearance in the comics. Now, the mystery remains: will we still have a Mary Jane in the next films?

In addition to all the references to movies and comics, Sem Volta Para Casa also brought a detail imported from the game Marvel’s Spider-Man, from the Playstation. We’re talking about FESTA, a project that provides food to homeless people, where Aunt May is a volunteer. The organization originally appeared in the game and was repurposed in the movie, where it fit the plot perfectly.

The film’s most entertaining and ambitious scenes are those that show the interaction between the three Spider-Men. The dialogs are loaded with references, but we’ll highlight one of each. The Spider lived by Tobey Maguire complains of back pain, referring that during the recording of his second film, due to the action scenes, the actor injured his spine and ended up delaying production. Also, in Spider-Man 2 there is a scene where he falls and leaves complaining of back pain.

In the case of Andrew Garfield, his Spider-Man has self-esteem issues, judging himself to be the “worst Spider-Man”. The reference is not to any specific film, but rather to a kind of consensus between fans and specialized critics, since his two films were not as successful as Tobey Maguire’s three. But since the Spiders are the best friends of the neighborhood, they try to cheer their partner up, saying that he is spectacular! Precisely the name of his two feature films.

Another dialogue…