A new instalment in the Marvel Spider-Man saga has arrived, and eagle-eyed fans fans spotted a thoughtful homage to Eminem in it.
Culture imprint
In one of the scenes, just before Tom Holland’s Spider-Man gets hit by a Battle van, a mural on the wall comes into focus. The mural shows B-Rabbit, Eminem’s character from 8 Mile.
It is the same drawing that was used for a legendary collaboration featuring Spider-Man and Eminem in November 2022, for Spider-Man’s 60th anniversary. Back then, they appeared on an officially licensed, highly collectible variant cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #1, also listed as Legacy #895. The cover was created by Salvador Larroca and coloured by Edgar Delgado.
There were two variants printed: 5,000 standard copies, which sold out instantly, and a Spotlight Variant: a rarer, 1,000-copy “spotlight” version with only two main characters coloured. Now, four years later, a professionally certified CGC 9.8 copy of the Spotlight Variant can sell for around $1,200–$1,400.
Worlds collide
Remarkably, this is another small step deeper in the Marvel mythology for Eminem. He used to be just a fan, admiring superheroes and sketching their outlines on sheets of paper.
Then, the battle-rap hero he played in 8 Mile stepped on the same stage with Spider-Man to face him in a stand-off on a comic cover. Now, B-Rabbit has made it into a Marvel movie, even if only as a background Easter egg. Still, as a hero, immortalised in a mural. And this short scene might be an answer to the question many fans asked after seeing the comic variant cover: “Who would win this rap battle, B-Rabbit or Spider-Man?”
Perhaps now the movie itself provides an answer that was clear to Eminem’s fans from the very beginning. This interaction hit Spider-Man like a truck.