Marshall Mathers is paying homage to another alliterative pop culture legend: Peter Parker.

In his new single “Tobey,” Eminem invokes Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man in a display of his typical boisterous bravado. “Tobey Maguire got bit by a spider. Me? Must’ve got bit by a goat,” he raps on the song, suggesting that just as Peter Parker’s radioactive arachnid bite gave him spider powers, Eminem’s self-appointed status as the GOAT (greatest of all time) must have been caused by a supernatural goat encounter. Poetry!

 

Tobey Maguire and Eminem.GETTY(2)

The Maguire references actually begin with featured collaborator BabyTron, who raps a similar line in the song’s chorus: “Tobey Maguire got bit by a spider, but see, me, it was a goat.” BabyTron previously referenced the Marvel character on his 2023 song “Spidey Senses,” in which he says, “When I pop a P, it’s like Bruce Banner turning Hulk/S—, I feel my Spidey-Senses tinglin’, spinnin’ the McLaren.”

In addition to shouting out Spider-Man in the song’s lyrics, the album art for the single also references the superhero by recreating the Spider-Man pointing meme with crude illustrations of Eminem, BabyTron, and fellow Michigander collaborator Big Sean pointing at one another. The meme originated as a still from the 1960s Spider-Man cartoon, and was later recreated by Maguire, Tom Holland, and Andrew Garfield while promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Spider-Man isn’t the only fictional character to whom the rappers allude. Elsewhere in the chorus, BabyTron raps, “My city Leia and I’m Obi-Wan, got a mission to pass, I just might be the hope,” in reference to Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia Organa telling Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi that he’s her only hope in the original 1977 Star Wars. Later, he says, “Ride around with the Iron Giant, make ’em eat metal,” referring to Brad Bird’s 1999 animated classic The Iron Giant, in which the titular robot consumes scrap metal.

Spider-Man pointing meme.

 

 

Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire recreating the Spider-Man pointing meme.

This also isn’t the first time that Eminem has associated himself with a Spider-Man character. In 2018, he contributed the song “Venom” to the Sony superhero movie of the same name, name-dropping the anti-hero’s alter-ego, Eddie Brock, and referencing the symbiote suit that gives him superpowers. The rapper also recorded the song “Last One Standing” for the movie’s 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

The rapper is an avid fan of comic books and superhero memorabilia — in a 2012 profile, the Los Angeles Times notes that he initially hoped to be a comic book writer in his youth. In the Genius annotations for his 2013 song “Rap God,” in which he references General Zod and Thor, Eminem wrote, ”I’ve always been into comic books. Spiderman, Hulk, old Batmans, Supermans — mostly vintage Marvel s— from before I was born. Just being able to have those pieces of history is crazy. I would not want to face off with somebody comparing comic book knowledge, but I know a pretty good amount.”

 

Eminem also met the Marvel anti-hero Frank Castle, also known as the Punisher, in a one-off crossover comic book in 2009. Clearly a big fan of the character, the musician criticized Netflix’s decision to cancel the Jon Bernthal–starring streaming series in 2019 on social media.

Additionally, in 2020, Eminem referenced Spider-Man in his song “These Demons,” rapping “You get ’em on tape, they stick to a story/Like Spider-Man crawlin’ upside of a wall.” He also made a brief appearance as a celebrity partygoer in the 2021 X-Men Hellfire Gala comic crossover event, and appeared on a variant cover of a Spider-Man comic in 2022.