Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the latest MCU Spider-Man film, includes a deep-cut comics Easter egg by featuring NYPD captain Jean DeWolff, played by Liza Colón-Zayas, as Peter Parker's police contact. For long-time comic readers, her inclusion is significant because it references one of the more brutal and acclaimed Spider-Man storylines of the 1980s, giving the character her first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe despite decades of relative obscurity in the comics.

Jean DeWolff was created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema in Marvel Team-Up #48 (1976) and became a recurring police liaison for Spider-Man. In 1985 she was killed off in "The Death of Jean DeWolff," a four-part Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man storyline by Peter David and Rich Buckler, in which she becomes the first victim of a shotgun-wielding serial killer called the Sin-Eater, prompting a darker, noir-influenced turn for the series. Despite her death over 40 years ago, DeWolff has resurfaced repeatedly across Spider-Man media, including Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Gwen comics, and various video games and animated adaptations.