Spider-Man: Homecoming has the best MCU Easter Egg you didn't notice

Marvel Studios was finally able to make the impossible happen and welcome Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016's Captain America: Civil War. Tom Holland played the webslinger in a brief but memorable appearance, which was just the beginning for Peter Parker as he would return the following year to headline his own standalone movie Spider-Man: Homecoming.

This wasn't the first Spider-Man movie by any stretch of the imagination (it was the character's second reboot in a decade) but it was the first in the MCU, and that quickly set it apart. The movie was so interconnected to the shared universe in a way that other origin stories within the franchise are not; and calling it an origin story doesn't even feel right because the film begins with Spidey as a semi-established hero.

But it is connected to the MCU, with Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, and Gwyneth Paltrow all reprising their respective Iron Man roles as Tony Stark, Happy Hogan, and Pepper Potts. Chris Evans even makes recurring appearances as Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, in a series of motivational videos the character filmed after coming out of the ice and saving the world in The Avengers.

Speaking of Captain America, Spider-Man: Homecoming has a pretty neat Easter Egg that is quite literally blink-and-you'll-miss-it.

Spider-Man: Homecoming's connection to Captain America: The First Avenger

If you just recently started watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, you might have noticed Kenneth Choi had a supporting role in Captain America: The First Avenger as Sgt Jim Morita of Cap's Howling Commandos. Choi is now best known for his role as Howie "Chimney" Han in ABC's 9-1-1 but he's also one of the very few actors to have two different roles in the MCU, as he returns in Spider-Man: Homecoming to play the principal of Peter Parker's High School.

Here's the thing, though; in the scene in which Peter is in the principal's office, you can see a black-and-white photo of a solider in the background. That is indeed a photograph of Choi's previous character. Why? Because Choi's Spider-Man: Homecoming character is named Principal Morita, the grandson of Jim Morita.

The MCU franchise is no stranger to Easter Eggs and references to other movies in the franchise but this is, by far, one of its coolest. It's so incredibly subtle and, given how far apart Spider-Man: Homecoming and Captain America: The First Avenger are (both in the MCU timeline and their own release dates), it isn't too surprising that it's one that has gone relatively under the radar in the years since.

That said, with Choi becoming known to so many people as Chimney from 9-1-1 in the years after Homecoming's release, more and more fans who watch (or rewatch) the MCU movies are beginning to notice the connection, and that's just the coolest.

What also makes this one incredibly cool is the fact that there is a reason for Choi to play two different characters here. Like we mentioned earlier, he's not the only actor to play two people in the one franchise (Gemma Chan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Judy Greer, and Joe Russo are among the others who have) but it's the connection here that sets this one apart from the rest. Nobody else could have feasibly played that role and its just so subtle that that it should stand out as one of the MCU's very best Easter Eggs.