Fan Fest News

News for Fans, By Fans!

Which Spider-man Comics Are Referenced in ‘Far From Home’ Trailer

Here’s just some of the storylines, easter eggs and references taken from the Spider-man comics that feature in the new movie’s trailer.

Spider-man’s Stealth Suit (Amazing Spider-man #650)

Straight from the pages of Dan Slott’s Big Time, Spider-man’s Stealth suit in the comics is not only incredibly high tech, but it has the powers to make Spidey blend into backgrounds and hide from his enemies, making him invisible.

WorldWide (Amazing Spider-man #1)

Speaking of Dan Scott, it is pretty unusual for Spider-man to be outside of New York/Queens, in both screen versions and in the comics. Well, unless you’ve read Worldwide that is, where Peter Parker frequently travels between, Shanghai, China, New York, London and San Francisco due to setting up bases and offices with Parker Industries, his tech business that out-rivals Stark Industries. Parker spends more time hopping between locations than exploring his usual neighborhood and Spider-man: Far From Home seems to be using a similar idea. In the movies, Peter is a teenage kid so rather than use business to entice him to various locations overseas, a school trip abroad is much more fitting. It would seem in both the comics and Far From Home, that trouble awaits Spider-man wherever he is heading. Still, even in the comics its pretty cool when he climbs Big Ben and it is equally exciting here when he fights on Tower Bridge.

The Elementals (Supernatural Thrillers #8-15)

This is what fans have been waiting to see. So many fantastic villains straight from the comic books that we haven’t seen on screen before. We first encountered the Elementals in Supernatural Thrillers #8-15 created by Tony Isabella and Val Mayerik. There is one each representing earth, wind, fire, and water.

Mysterio (Amazing Spider-Man #13)

Mysterio often uses illusions to trick Spider-man into thinking his enemies are surrounding them when they are not. Using Mysterio in this way is such an ingenious solution in order to include such a huge array of characters we’ve not seen on screen before, yet not introduce so many plots and characters that we lose track of the story. Mysterio’s outfit is extremely comic-accurate from his green smoke, fish-bowl helmet to his purple and green ensemble. We first meet the wonderful Quentin Beck in the comics during Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Amazing Spider-Man #13.

Sandman (Amazing Spider-man #4) and Hydro-man (Amazing Spider-man #212)

Hydro-mans creation, first appearance and stand off against Spider-man is in Amazing Spider-man #212. The speedboat in the movie as seen in the trailer even has ASM #212 written on it. This is exactly what we see in the movie, a scene jumping straight out of the art in the comic-book pages as we see Spidey battle Hydro-Man for the first time. Both Sandman and Hydro-man are major reoccurring Spider-Man villains in the comics and deserve their moment to shine on the big screen. They both have a level of understanding and empathy from Spidey so they are not straight forward evil villains. Interestingly, the technique to stop Hydro-man is sand and soaking up moisture, and the technique to stop Sandman is water, so it’s interesting they should be seen together when they cancel out each other’s abilities….

Fire and the Molten Man (Amazing Spider-man #28)

There is a blink-and-you-miss-it snapshot where we see a body completely engulfed in flame and no other context. There are three possibilities of what this could be hinting at. It is certain that it is the fire eternal from Supernatural Thrillers #8-15. We’ve seen water (hydro-man) and earth (Sandman) already even though these are not the entities the Eternals adopt in the comics. This means it is likely to be Mark Raxton AKA the Molten Man as representing fire. The way the flames are burning on the body also seems awfully reminiscent of exactly how Johnny Storm’s The Human Torch’s flames are depicted in the comics but perhaps I am just wishful thinking. We know that the Disney/Fox Merger is on its way and Marvel is eager to reunite the Fantastic Four and X-men with the rest of its original properties. Perhaps I’m just dreaming but it would be truly amazing if this was a partnership to come. Finally, if fire is involved, and that’s a burning body, will we see a storyline similar to ASM #700.3 where Spider-man is completely burnt? We’ve already seen Spider-man in severe peril in the heartbreaking scene during Homecoming where Vulture collapses the building on him. Surely Homecoming especially after Endgame, needs to step up the stakes and problems Peter fights through- could this be it?

Homeless Shelter (Amazing Spider-man #548)

Lastly, I just want to quickly mention Aunt May’s career move towards helping at a homeless shelter. This is also something introduced by Dan Scott back in ASM #548 called F.E.A.S.T. It turns out the homeless shelter she supports isn’t as charitable after all as it turns out Mr. Negative is behind it all, a villain created by Slott. We’ve already seen Mr. Negative on the PS4 game, how great would it be to see him one day on the big screen…

Far From Home is slated to be released on 5th July 2019. Meanwhile, check out the comics mentioned above, either on Marvel: Unlimited or on their trade paperback formats, if you want some background on the movie before you see it.