Images by Phoebe S.

When Sony released the official trailer for Marvel’s franchise reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man, on February 4th, fans tapped into their inner spidey sense, barely perceptable letters spelling out “MARK OF THE SPIDER-MAN” at the 2:28 mark. This message led to a viral website displaying six static video feeds and a Twitter account.

On February 10th, the @MarkofSpiderman Twitter account started posting lost and found notices, broadcasting GPS coordinates to eleven different locations in six cities: Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, and Seattle. Fleet-footed fans found Peter Parker’s backpack, containing everything you’d expect the film’s nerdy protagonist to have: Physics and Chemistry textbooks, safety goggles, keys and a MetroCard, and a notebook loaded with class notes. Parker’s photography gear also found its way into the backpack, with the occasional film canister, photograph, or film negative scattered throughout. Parker even left his running shoes in the bag, leaving the recipients of each backpack with the singular opportunity to step inside Parker’s size 11 shoes.

And then, there are the hints at Peter Parker’s secret identity: inside the notebook are a number of rough sketches for spider-themed costumes and logos. Parker also collected a handful of Daily Bugle clippings about the masked vigilante, including one that instructs viewers that “This letter will be the first of many, and the first letter is always key.” Applying that clue to the black block of text in the same op-ed, which makes explicit reference to the MarkoftheSpider-Man.com website, yielded the message “SLASHPREPARE.” That led to the next step, which asked visitors to click on the static screens on the viral’s website in a particular order: 1-6-4-2-5-3-2-4-5-3-2-1-6-3-6-2-1-4-2-5.

Once the sequence is completed, the six static video feeds are appended with cities and countdown clocks. It appears as though Sony has big plans for Valentine’s Day this Tuesday, with additional events planned in Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, and Seattle. What plans does Sony have for Spiderman on Valentine’s Day? Peter Parker isn’t known for having the best of luck with the ladies, particularly during his high school years, so the coming holiday could hearken in quite the experience.

Click through for the full photo-set of the contents from Parker’s backpack, and join the discussion at Unfiction.com’s forums.