Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse - 28 Easter Eggs & References Explained
24. Ganke Lee
Sony
Although Jacob Batalon's character in Spider-Man: Homecoming went by the name of Ned Leeds, comics fans noticed more than a couple of similarities to another supporting character from Spider-Man's comics - Ganke Lee.
Ganke, introduced by Brian Bendis and Sara Pichelli in the Ultimate Spider-Man series, is actually Miles Morales' best friend in the comics and not Peter's. He also appears in Into the Spider-Verse (albeit without a speaking role) as Miles' roommate, who collapses to the floor when Spider-Ham begins to talk.
If there are further Spider-Verse films to come, one can only hope that Ganke gets his time to shine, with the character's name bizarrely changed for the MCU, and no lines here either.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
