Sony and Insomniac made lots of Marvel fans happy when they unexpectedly showcased a new Spider-Man game at E3 2016.
The trailer was entirely in-game according to the developer, so it should be a pretty accurate portrayal of what we'll see when the game becomes available for Sony's PlayStation 4.
This one might be the easiest to spot of all. Spider-Man swings just past a billboard promoting Osborn for mayor of New York; of course, there's no way to tell if this is a reference to Norman Osborn or his son Harold.
Both are widely known as sworn enemies of Spider-Man under the guise of Green Goblin. Norman in particular is considered the archenemy of the Web-Slinger, mostly because he was responsible for the tragic death of Gwen Stacy. That said, this reference could just be a lore tidbit and doesn't necessarily mean we'll fight Norman or Harry in this first Spider-Man game.
However, we do have strong clues for at least one of the possible villains featured in the game.
We can clearly see Spidey fighting with several thugs hiding their faces behind animal masks. These seem very much like Mr. Negative's trademark henchmen, the Inner Demons.
This villain is not the most renown in Spider-Man's rogues gallery, so it beckons an introduction. Mister Negative was originally a member of China's Snakeheads gang, heavily involved in human trafficking. While he was smuggling Chinese immigrants in the United States, the ship crashed and he decided to assume one of the deceased immigrant identities.
After heading to the Snakeheads hideout in New York, he found it raided and got captured by the Maggia crime family. The Maggia were testing a new drug called D-Lite on illegal immigrants and runaway teenagers; this drug transformed our villain into Mr. Negative. In the same experiment, Cloak and Dagger were created (they'll get a TV show on Freeform); all three got access to the Darkforce, or Zero Matter.
Mister Negative then became strong enough to send Spider-Man flying, and he can also imbue other people or even objects with Darkforce. That's how he created the Inner Demons, who are immortal and empowered with enhanced strength, agility and reflexes. They also have regenerative capabilities; needless to say, Peter Parker has the work cut out for him.
There's at least another Mister Negative reference in the reveal trailer. If you check just to the left of the PlayStation 4 exclusive logo, you'll undoubtedly notice the F.E.A.S.T. initials on the building behind.
That stands for Food, Emergency Aid, Shelter and Training. It's a charity front for Mister Negative's illegal activities and the base for his Inner Demons.
Let's go back to Spider-Man himself, though. This still makes it clear that he's wearing mechanical web shooters instead of organic ones, which should please fans of the original power set.
It also gives us a good look at the suit, which is obviously different from the one we've just seen in Captain America: Civil War. This makes perfect sense, as Insomniac made it clear that there won't be any connection to MCU; the game will be a stand-alone story.
That said, a Reddit fan cooked up this image to show that Insomniac actually delivered an homage to all three recent Spider-Man's movie incarnations. The eyes are definitely very similar to the new suit used by Tom Holland, while spider symbols can be found both on the front (like Andrew Garfield's) and the back (like Toby Maguire's) of the suit.
Finally, in what was perhaps the most visually stunning segment of the video, we can clearly see a Daily Bugle newsstand. The Daily Bugle is a huge part of Spider-Man's mythos; the newspaper often branded him as a dangerous vigilante and when Peter Parker became a photographer, he even worked there. We'll have to see if the Daily Bugle is featured prominently or just passingly in this game.
That covers just about everything. What was your favorite easter egg in Spider-Man's trailer? Let us know in the comments!