The MCU returns to a more down to earth character that had been long-awaited and highly anticipated to arrive in the MCU- Spider-Man. Spider-Man is first referenced in Ant-Man when Scott’s friend Luis passes intel that Falcon is recruiting super-powered people for his cause to help Bucky and Cap stop Zemo. A stranger informs Falcon that there are all sorts of super-powered people now and that now there is a guy who ‘jumps, swings and crawls up walls’. 

As we know, Tony is the one to first reach out to Peter Parker as Falcon may not have known exactly who the described character was as Falcon and Bucky both show surprise when Spider-Man ambushes them during the airport battle in Civil War. Ever since Tony and Peter met, Tony has let him keep the much more effective suit used in Civil War as well as keeping an eye on Peter and telling him that if ever the Avengers needed him that Tony would call on him. 

Through the Training Wheels Protocol, Tony installed a failsafe program in Peter’s suit that prohibits him from accessing more advanced capabilities since Tony believes he is not yet ready and must be trained first and so advises Peter to ‘stay low to the ground’ and take care of more local problems. Peter is able to hack the suit without Tony’s knowledge and in a battle against Adrian Toomes (The Vulture who we’ll discuss shortly), Peter accidentally causes a ferry to break apart alerting Iron Man’s attention who reprimands Peter for not listening to him and takes the suit back. 

Adrian Toomes is the villain for the movie and is known as Vulture in the comics. This is the 7th main Spider-Man villain to appear on the big screen after Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Venom, Lizard, and Electro. Another villain that appears in the film is The Shocker of which two of the characters that were the Shocker in the comics appear in the movie- Herman Schultz and Jackson Brice. Another villain is Phineas Mason who is the Tinkerer. 

There are many significant comic book Easter eggs in this film, such as Peter’s best friend Ned Leeds who is, in fact, the second Hobgoblin, and Liz Allan who is Peter’s high school crush. There is also Aaron Davis who is the Prowler and the uncle of Miles Morales who is a 2nd Spider-Man in the Ultimate universe. The man who made a deal with Toomes on the ferry is Mac Gargan best known as Scorpion. Peter’s teacher is named Mrs. Warren which alludes that her husband is Miles Warren aka The Jackal. 

The end credits scene may allude but not concretely, to a setup of the villainous group called the Sinister Six who are a band of villains teamed up to take down Spider-Man. 

Other small-time Easter eggs include Betty Brant and Principal Morita who is the grandson of Jim Morita of the Howling Commandos. Another character in the film (Peter’s decathlon teacher) is, in fact, the same actor who portrays Amadeus Cho in The Incredible Hulk which was confirmed in the novelization of the Incredible Hulk but for reasons unknown the character’s name was retconned to Roger Harrington which was confirmed by Kevin Feige himself so his name and character has been completely changed.