I'm sure another addition to this story is a surprise to many, but this isn't another chapter or announcement or anything. I decided I wanted to do what Ac3Productions used to do at the end of his stories and include a list of all references and Easter eggs throughout The Defenders of Remnant, that way any that were missed could still be appreciated. And I will also do the same for any stories in the future. So let's go ahead and run down the list:
Chapter 2: The Collider
- The "It's not always about the money" line is Kingpin's phrase from Into the Spiderverse.
- Matt's "Let's work for a living" is a reference to iron man saying the same line in Age of Ultron.
- Even though Electro is wearing an outfit similar to that of the Insomniac games or No Way Home, it is said he used to wear the comic classic outfit.
Chapter 3: Welcome to Remnant
- The outfits Luke and Danny steal are actually their streetwear outfits from the Netflix shows, as we never see them in comic-classic uniforms except for Luke's yellow shirt twice.
- Even though the Yellow Trailer and Episode 1 of RWBY happen on the same night, I split it up to be a day apart in the story to prevent Luke, Danny and Jessica from meeting Yang too soon, and instead have them meet Junior first.
- Matt referencing Marc tearing through an apartment complex to save a little girl is a reference to my favorite issue of the 2014-2015 Moon Knight comics run. Fun fact: that run was also the first appearance of Mr. Knight.
- Peter telling Ruby to "write a book" about her reasons for becoming a huntress is a parallel calling back to Ac3's story Spider-Man: Mission Remnant (You should read it).
Chapter 4: The Shining Beacon
- This chapter is the first primary instance of seeing the events of RWBY unfold on the outside from only the Marvel characters' point of view, skipping scenes entirely like Jaune and Ruby talking, coming in halfway at the second Weiss argument, removing the night before initiation where Ruby tries to befriend Blake, etc. It is only after the characters of both worlds become closer later on do we get every scene from the show play by play, as we as readers have connected with the RWBY cast and follow their perspective too.
- Peter is the first character to call Weiss Ice Queen.
Chapter 5: The First Step
- I believe that even after the finale of the story (Where the Battle of Beacon was split into two chapters), this is the chapter of the story with the highest word count, unless you combine the Battle of Beacon twins.
- Marc's "Damn your Vulcan hearing" is a reference to the Season 3 premiere of The Big Bang Theory, where other characters repeatedly curse Sheldon's keen hearing with the same phrase.
- Blake and Ozpin are the only characters we see other perspective of, as Peter has bonded with both of them so far.
- Peter groaning "My back" is of course a reference to Spider-Man 2.
Chapter 6: The Ice Thaws
- The chapter name is in reference to Peter and Weiss becoming proper friends
- Peter's lab, AF-15, is a reference to Amazing Fantasy #15, the comic where Spider-Man first appeared.
- The rendition of the "responsibility" line we hear in this chapter is lifted from Andrew Garfield's movies.
- This chapter features the first major change Peter makes to the timeline, where he both comforts Ruby and scolds Weiss, instead of Ozpin and Port doing so separately.
- It always bothered me that in the show, Weiss leaves her own dorm for no reason after the apology. The entire last third of the chapter with Peter after I wrote purely to resolve this issue.
- The diner that Weiss and Peter visit here, and that the characters continue to visit throughout the story, was originally going to be called either Stan's or Oum's, in reference to the creators of both franchises respectively.
Chapter 7: The Knight's Punishment
- The entire "You still crazy?" exchange between Marc and Frank is a callback to the comics, in which this exchange take space word for word, and will never not be funny.
Chapter 8: The Pecking Order
- MJ's birth and death years span the releases of the first Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie and No Way Home. She was the same age as Spider-Man's cinematic history.
Chapter 9: The Heist
- "Can the Spider-Man come out to play?" is a reference to Willem Dafoe's iconic line as the Green Goblin
Chapter 10: The Symbiote
- Peter saying "So you want to know more about me?" is what Blake would say to Sun later, where she would originally reveal here White Fang background in the show.
Chapter 11: Jumped the Gun
- Cardin being a Spidey fan was meant to invoke Flash Thompson, who hated Peter but loved Spider-Man.
- Electro's death, even if not permanent, was meant to set a theme that in a multiverse story, no one is safe. Anyone can be taken off the board. This was re-emphasized with Moon Knight later, who was killed for good, taking a pretty major street hero off the playing board.
Chapter 12: The Broken Ones
- The necklace Peter gives Weiss was made as both something original I could give to the story as well as something that would link later stories back to this one, showing that the Team RWBY that would show up in the future are the same variants.
Chapter 13: Tension
- "The worst defense ever. Of all time," is a reference to Wash's running gag from Red vs Blue.
Chapter 14: Out of the Bag
- While Gambit was initially intended to be the real deal, it was later changed to be Emerald keeping an eye on Junior.
- The Cardin/Venom scene towards the end is referencing the similar scene in the first Venom movie.
Chapter 15: The Story Continues
- The guitar player is playing the Spectacular Spider-Man theme song.
- The old man in the diner is Stan Lee, quoting his lines from his cameo in Spider-Man 3.
Chapter 16: Faith
- Despite this being the first time Taskmaster removes his helmet, no description of his face is given until later.
- In the original show, Jaune almost lets slip Blake is a Faunus. Here, it is Peter's secret identity.
Chapter 17: A Minor Hiccup
- While not noted earlier, the jacket Peter wears for the investigation is meant to invoke the jacket Peter wears during the comic "Last Stand" story.
- While in the original show Weiss is dragged out by Ruby after failing to pair with Neptune, Weiss instead is the one to drag Peter out for remarking on her crush.
- While implied in the next chapter, Frank is the one to hit the Atlas guard with the truck in the middle of the chase.
Chapter 18: Painting the Town
- The team-up move names in RWBY (Ice Flower, Checkmate, etc.) were named for ship names. Black Widow, the team up move for Peter and Blake, is also my ship name for them.
- Ironwood's 'Welcome to Atlas" mirrors Ozpin's "Welcome to Remnant" in Chapter 3."
Chapter 19: Partners
- Electro's appearance and new suit is meant to be his look from Spectacular Spider-Man.
- In the comics, we never see what Taskmaster looks like without the mask (trust me, I spent an hour digging for something and came up empty handed). So, I took inspiration from the iteration of the character in Black Widow, un-genderbending it but keeping the general look. Tanned skin, darker hair, and scars particularly on the left side of his face.
- This is the first time Anthony lets Cinder call him by his real name willingly.
Chapter 20: Dance Till You're Dead
- In Peter's dialogue with Blake, he references lines said by both Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire in No Way Home.
- Peter replaces Yang as Blake's moral guide in this chapter, leaving Yang's story of venturing out as a little girl to find Raven untold in the entire story.
- Peter thinking of saying Blake looks like an angel is a reference to an outright remark he makes to Gwen Stacy in the Valentine's Day episode of Spectacular Spider-Man.
- Ozpin's line of "not spending your entire life on the battlefield" applies to both his students and the superheroes, also foreshadowing Peter leaving mere pages later after protest.
- Although Peter and Blake grow close throughout the story, I consider the dance to be the place where they actually begin to fall for one another.
- Electro planting the virus in the CCT and remaining undetected means Atlas is unaware of a breach, unlike the series where Cinder's encounter with Ruby tipped Ironwood off.
Chapter 22: The Search for Peter Parker
- The origins mentioned by the Defenders are their comic versions
- The Defenders replace Oobleck on the Glenn mission, and individually have conversations that lead to the question of why each member RWBY decided to be a Huntress
- This chapter defined how I would pair the Defenders to RWBY for the rest of the story. Ruby and Matt are both the speedier red-clad leaders of their teams trained by older teachers (Qrow and Stick respectively), and arguably the most light-hearted of their teams (looking at Comic Daredevil, not Netflix Daredevil). Both of their parents were also renowned fighters, but both died.
Yang and Luke are both the yellow-clad bruisers of their teams where their powers are literally super strength and taking damage, as well as the two more laid-back in terms of personality.
Weiss and Danny (my personal favorite pair) are both rich kids with dark familial issues but trained to be warriors to stand above said problems. Both are the more elegant of their teams, and often are the voices of logic and reason in their respective groups. Both of their fighting styles are flow-ey and are more skill-based. This is also the pairing I ran with the most in Act 3.
Blake and Jessica are both the black-clad darker members of their team, more isolated. They have arguably the most tragic pasts and had to learn to let people in. Neither actually go into detail about their backstory, and only discuss the White Fang when Jessica prompts so.
- Ruby calling Matt's horns "ears" is a reference to the Defenders series, where Jessica makes a similar remark.
Chapter 23: Quote the Raven
- Though not my original idea, pairing Marc and Raven became my favorite part to write. As a pair, both hold the blessings of gods as power, both left their families for personal reasons (particularly a daughter and a brother), both are frowned upon by others for their extreme methods and reputation, and both are associated with bird imagery.
- The idol Marc gives Raven is meant to look the same as the totems from the Moon Knight series, after Khonshu is trapped.
- The name of the chapter is of course borrowed from Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven. I even considered calling Marc's death chapter "Nevermore".
- Matt keeps Ruby from falling through the street as she does in the original series
Chapter 24: No Brakes
- The Lizard replaces the White Fang brute for Weiss's fight scene.
- Marc's "Hey, creature! Leave that kid alone!" is a reference to the Batman vs TMNT movie, where Raphael says this line. The line itself there is a reference to a Pink Floyd song.
- The Lizard seemingly dies in the Grimm Horde
- Peter attempts to stop the train with webs and himself as the brace, just as in Spider-Man 2. Thought much like the reference in the Insomniac game, it fails here.
Chapter 25: Breach
- "And here I thought I was done with werewolves..." is referencing Moon Knight's first ever appearance, in an issue of Werewolf by Night.
- The "You still crazy?" dialogue is reused here. Marc would die before the rule of three could be finished here.
- Ruby and Peter's team-up move is called "Scarlet Spider". It is their friendship name, as well as a reference to Ben Reilly's superhero name, a character that would also become prominent throughout the rest of the story.
- The exchange of "You look ridiculous" and "It's your scarf" is a reference to the Defenders series, where a similar exchange happens between Matt and Jessica.
- This chapter marks the beginning of the first official developed romance in my stories: Cinder and Anthony, or as I've dubbed their pairing, FallMaster.
Chapter 26: Recovery
- The Earth that the Marvel characters are from is labelled Earth 13-13. This designation was not given to an Earth yet in the Marvel database as of the time of writing this. 1313 is also a number significant to me for personal reasons, as is the number 597. Anytime these numbers are mentioned, consider it an easter egg related to me as a writer, similar to how George Lucas has 1138.
- Black Tarantula is the name of a lesser known Spider-Man villain that I borrowed to sue as a placeholder until Ben got his proper name. It also served to help establish him as a dark mirror of Peter.
- Jessica revealing her weakness foreshadows Taskmaster wounding her later
- Kingpin's speech is an alteration of the "Good Samaritan" speech from Daredevil.
Chapter 27: Mirror, Mirror
- The chapter name is referencing Weiss's trailer track, as well as establishing the duality between Peter and Ben.
- Junior loses his weapon to Yang in the Yellow Trailer. I had him recreate it to still have a weapon to battle with.
- Yang admits to crushing on Peter, having no shame.
- This is the first time Peter in his classic suit since the end of Act 1.
Chapter 28: A Look Back
- This is the first chapter where a personality besides Marc is in control of their body.
- The Avengers sounding like a and name is a reference to both Tony Stark and Tobey Maguire referencing it as so in the MCU.
- Peter's Avengers number, A-15, is also a reference to Amazing Fantasy #15.
- Hank Pym is the only Avenger besides Peter with the tag "Retired", meaning he has quit being Ant-Man as well as quit the Avengers.
- Avengers members not listed before Peter stops the roll call are: Black Panther (active), War Machine (Active), Mockingbird (Resigned), and Falcon (Active).
Chapter 29: Visions
- In the talk with Ozpin at the start, Matt says a few lines from the Volume 2 Opening Time to Say Goodbye.
- The franchises referenced in Strange's first vision were, in order: MCU, Jurassic Park, FNAF, Halo, Dead Space, Doctor Who, Bendy, Red vs Blue, Fate, Modern Warfare, Undertale, Sonic, RWBY. Some of these were just fun callouts, but many will be used in later stories. The Omega symbol was also a DC Comics callout.
- This chapter is the first time Peter and Penny directly interact. They did not speak at the docks.
Chapter 30: Trauma
- Ben is shown to be an imperfect clone, as he has differing physical features and less of Peter's powers. This is what gives him blonde hair, as opposed to the comics where it is dyed.
- Peter disliking the idea of him as a blonde is a reference to Peter B. Parker's feelings on the subject in Into the Spiderverse.
- BT's "It's the only name they ever gave me" is meant to invoke the same words Finn says in The Force Awakens before Poe gives him a real name.
Chapter 31: The Fateful Warning
- Weiss believes in Tarantula (Ben) after only a short time, as opposed to how long it took her to trust Peter. Character development, everybody!
- Merlot Industries is from the Grimm Eclipse video game, though the villain of Dr. Merlot himself was removed for story convenience. In this universe, the events of Grimm Eclipse subsequently never take place.
- The franchises referenced in Strange's second vision in order of appearance are: Zelda, Dead Space, Transformers, Harry Potter, Halo, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Steven Universe, Assassin's Creed, Fate, and Doom.
- The voice that speaks to Strange is initially unknown. But the name of the chapter revealed it was DC's Doctor Fate long before the Epilogue, and no one caught on.
- The "Grand calculus of the multiverse" line is a reference to No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness.
Chapter 33: Moonfall
- This chapter marks where all three of Marc's personalities have taken control at least once, right before their end.
Chapter 34: The Calm Before
- The "Story of Job" section, as well as bits of supporting dialogue, are all references to multiple scenes in Daredevil.
- Raven saying Summer was better at "that life" than her is a reference to the RWBY Volume 9 finale, which had aired just as I was writing this chapter.
Chapter 35: The Collider Part II
- The chapter was originally called "The Storm" to match the previous chapter's name, but was changed to "Collider Part II" both because of similar premise to chapter 2, and to invoke the parts of RWBY tracks, like "Red like Roses", with parts 1-3.
Chapter 37: Making the Rounds
- Frank's nightmare is similar to the one in his Netflix series
- In the original series, Emerald learns Yang and Weiss progress in the tournament and build their plan around that. Peter prevents that information from getting out here.
- Mercury remarks on Peter's voice. Yuri Lowenthal voiced both characters (and as I listed in the voice list Author's Note, Yuri is the intended voice for both characters in this story, with Josh Keaton as Ben).
Chapter 38: Winter is Here
- In his vision, Peter sees Blood Gulch and the Ever After alongside his visions of Pyrrha.
- Logan and Qrow are a team-up I want to explore more in the future. They are both the "drunk uncle" characters that in reality are two skilled badasses that are more loners with deep-rooted problems and have legitimate reasons for rarely working with others (Logan's anger and ferocity and Qrow's semblance).
Chapter 39: Consequences
- Although not lethal, the crowds in Amity harm Venom due to his weakness to sound.
- Winter takes an interest in Danny, much to Weiss's chagrin. Danny would tease her in the finale in a similar vain.
Chapter 40: Nothing
- Yang references her theme when she says "Be careful, cause I Burn".
- Weiss saying "And that's why they call me the Ice Queen" is a reference to the game Grimm Eclipse, where this is one of her combat voice lines.
- Taskmaster's death was written to be reminiscent of Pitch's death in the film Rise of the Guardians.
- Tinkerer was overly cautious but experimental throughout the story. Even all the way back on Earth-1313, he would've been curious if he could actually open a multiversal portal, but didn't want to risk himself in the process. That also means Tinkerer is the only Marvel villain to survive the story.
Chapter 42: Living Punishment
- Frank's speech about his family is similar to the one he tells Matt in season 2 of Daredevil.
- Just like in the show, Ruby tells Yang to "break a leg". That's exactly what she does to Mercury.
- Blake instantly believing Yang is the only timeline change actively acknowledged besides Pyrrha in the tower. Although not explained in the book, this is purely due to his current connection with the tree in the Ever After, hence why his visions stop after returning from there.
Chapter 43: Culmination
- Instead of using Penny's death alone to cause panic, Cinder uses footage of the Defenders, now trusted heroes, to do so, though clearly Penny's death was still part of the plan.
Chapter 44: The Battle of Beacon Part I - Heroes, Huntsmen and Monsters
- Glynda replying with "Why, are you getting sleepy?" Is a reference to the first Avengers film, where Cap responds to Thor with the same line.
- In the Battle of Beacon, Weiss no longer successfully summons with her glyph, meaning it is still an ability she has yet to learn. (Could happen in another story *nudge nudge wink wink*)
Chapter 45: The Battle of Beacon Part II - End of the Beginning
- "Did you seriously just say 'hitherto undreamt of'" is a line Tony also says to Strange in Infinity War.
- In my head visually, Adam's fast slashes against Logan are reminiscent of Logan's episode of Death Battle! against Raiden from Metal Gear.
- Blake does not receive the wound on her stomach in her fight with Adam anymore.
- This chapter is the only time Logan is referred to as Wolverine.
- Adam's "No one hurt me quite like you" combined with the breaking of his mask is meant to invoke the same scene from Volume 6.
- "Not when, where you're needed most" is the same line the Blacksmith says in Volume 9 before sending the team to Vacuo.
- "Got get 'em, Tiger" is MJ's iconic line.
- Peter's "I'm back" is referencing the scene where he recovers his powers in Spider-Man 2. Though only briefly explained earlier in the story, Peter was never at his full strength throughout the entire story, having stopped being a hero for a year beforehand. This moment is meant to be the first time he is at his full strength again since MJ's death.
- Peter is stabbed instead of shot with an arrow, despite his visions showing the bow. This is meant to show one part of the extremities of the changes to the universe, where even visions had on the same day are unreliable.
-Ruby's silver eye powers are drawn out by Peter's supposed death instead of Pyrrha's.
Chapter 46: Time to Say Goodbye
- In Qrow's speech in the show, he talks about following a trail, meaning he had a mission to work against Salem. However, here, he says there's nothing to follow, meaning Salem's plans have temporarily stopped dead after the Battle of Beacon.
- Tai mentions Thor destroys the petrified Wyvern, meaning Grimm are no longer drawn to the school and the Wyvern is officially dead.
- Weiss mentions Captain America and Ironwood keep Jacques from taking Weiss back to Atlas. Blake doesn't leave because Yang isn't injured by Adam. This creates a permanent change where Team RWBY is never split up, and with Qrow not going on his own mission yet, the events of Volume 4 onward cannot ever happen the same in this universe.
- Blake, Weiss and JNPR never visit Patch in the original show. This is the first time any of them see Ruby and Yang's home.
- Although not mentioned, Matt is still in Vale as well.
- Ben Reilly is coming closer to his comic look with his blonde roots growing out. Until now, he'd look like something more akin to his look in the Ultimate Spider-Man series with the shaved head. Though the blonde hair let's him fit right in with the Xiao Long family.
- With Pyrrha surviving, she and Jaune officially become a couple after the battle. This is the only romance in the story besides FallMaster that fully flourishes, as Blake and Peter are not together-together yet, Ben and Penny are still just friends, and Luke and Jessica are together from the beginning.
- With Logan being alongside Qrow far away for most of the story, their scene together here is meant to fill in their three months of history together and convey the friends they became.
- After Marc's death, Raven is attempting to grow close to Tai again, seeding it for future stories. This also brings her and Qrow to somewhat good terms.
- Frank stays on Remnant as part of the Atlas military, the only Marvel character from Earth-1313 to remain on this Remnant (BONUS: Because this is what is considered the first full splinter universe for Remnant, it's official designation is Remnant-02.)
- Danny shows interest in Winter when teasing Weiss
- Weiss's necklace goes mainly unmentioned after it's debut chapter. It's highlight here is meant to symbolize both the changes to the world and the importance of Peter to Team RWBY's lives, looping back around the detail of the necklace as an original item to the story. Current readers of RvBvRWBY: Incursion are also seeing it's rise in prominence.
- Peter is the only Marvel character to visit Summer's grave. Raven is the only RWBY character besides Ruby to visit it in the story as well.
- The original version of the Peter and Blake scene had them stay outside and fall asleep together. This was changed to both not speed things up between them too fast, but the kiss on the cheek scene with Yang and Nora's proud looks after was too funny for me not to use.
- Ben and Peter's goodbye was meant to invoke Steve and Bucky's goodbye in the MCU, particularly the "You're taking all the stupid with you" line, though I didn't want to use the exact line.
- Ruby is the only one not to give Peter a goodbye hug, as I felt the scene at Summer's grave sufficed.
- Ironically, Weiss gets the most visibly emotional in the goodbye scene.
- Peter's Avengers resignation was the last move made to bring him back down to the basics of his character and reputation, and to also show that no Avengers will appear in Spider-Man: Born Again as a major character, if at all.
- In the final scene, Peter's internal dialogue is written to be similar to the opening dialogues at the beginning of the CW's Arrowverse episodes, but altered to also be similar to Tobey Maguire's speech at the end of his first film. (Name of who he is, how he became a hero, but also 'these powers aren't my curse')
- Otto's dialogue and behavior is meant to reflect the version of the character from Spectacular Spider-Man.
- The final scene is written to be similar to the ending scene of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is still one of my favorite scenes in any Spider-Man media.
- The final scene was one of the first scenes in the story I planned. It was always the plan to have Peter decide to return home as Spider-Man, and meet Miles during an ASM2-style scene.
There were multiple cut scenes from the finale I didn't end up writing. To name a few:
- A scene between Matt and Glynda discussing Ozpin's fate and their journey amongst the ruins of Beacon
- A conversation between Frank and Ironwood discussing Frank deciding to stay on Remnant and watch over Penny.
- Another scene at Salem's palace where the others of their cabal discuss Cinder's failure and what an open multiverse means to them (though this might still be used as a flashback in RvBvRWBY.)
These were all cut to use the finale to focus on Peter and Team RWBY, and their rollercoasters of emotions coming to a head.
Epilogues
- Doctor Fate explains how the shape of the Multiverse has altered due to Peter's changes, as well as how those changes take place. In the explanation, the visuals for the multiverse use similar ones as from the MCU and ATSV, as well as my own touch.
- It was a bit on the nose, but this epilogue marks the beginning of a multiversal version of the Illumnati, beginning with Fate and Strange.
- Fate explaining canon events/absolute points specifies that while Pyrrha doesn't have to die in every universe, someone is intended to. Though in this universe, it was supposed to be Pyrrha. Notice that no one in the tower dies, thus breaking canon.
- In the comics and Ultimate Spider-Man, Agent Venom is Flash Thompson with the symbiote working for SHIELD. It fits that Cardin, an obvious parallel for someone like Flash, gets the symbiote and would eventually have potential to become Agent Venom for Atlas.
- In Roman and Neo's epilogue, they meet Isaac Clarke (Dead Space) and The Doctor (Doctor Who), teasing a multiversal team inspired by DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Other team members will appear or be pulled from future stories. To address Isaac and the Doctor: Isaac is a variant of him after the events of Dead Space 3. While I feel the dialogue partially gives it away, the Doctor is a David Tennant variant.
This is about every easter egg, reference, or clarifying point to make throughout The Defenders of Remnant. This story was definitely an accomplishment, and I still cannot be grateful enough to the support this story got and that I have gotten as a writer. Even if I wasn't writing more, this alone is something I'm proud of. And I hope anyone who enjoyed this will follow future stories as I develop these characters and more even further. Thank you for reading, and keep moving forward.
- Shad