All Our Burning Questions After Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

This is the biggest one, right? At the end of Across the Spider-Verse, with Miles Morales missing (to the characters; we know he’s on Earth-42), Gwen puts together a team of Spider-people (including the characters from the first movie who didn’t appear in this one) to go find him. But, where are they going to start? Do they know where the rogue spider the Spot created came from? This feels like it’ll be the focus of act one of the next movie.

One of the other huge revelations at the end of the film is that Miles ends up on Earth-42, the world his spider came from. The world where, because of him, there is no Spider-Man. There, another Miles Morales—not Uncle Aaron—became the Prowler, and Miles’ dad, not Uncle Aaron, died. So how did that Miles get into that life? Did he make the tech himself? It sure seems like he and Aaron are a team. We wonder if the next movie will illuminate this at all to show us just how important Miles is to this, and every dimension.

On Earth-42, we hear mention of the Sinister Six. Now, Miles/Prowler and Aaron seem very powerful and independent, but it’s possible they’re just henchmen—and if that’s the case, is it for Kingpin, who is surely still alive here? Is it the Sinister Six? And speaking of which...

You don’t just go say or tease “Sinister Six” in a Spider-Man movie and not pay it off. *Cough Amazing Spider-Man 2 Cough* So we’re pretty sure we’ll find out which villains are part of this Sinister Six, especially since so many potential ones have already been seen: Green Goblin and Doc Ock in the first movie, Vulture, Mysterio, Rhino and Kraven (briefly) in this movie. Maybe they’re the ultimate threat the Spider-people have to take down once they become aware of the Spider-Verse.

The reason Miguel is doing everything in this movie is to make sure the Spider-Canon stays intact. It’s the basis for everything, such as trying to keep Miles from going home and saving his dad. Miguel is sure if that happens, the universe will end.

But, at the end of the film, when Gwen’s dad says he quit his job and is no longer captain, Gwen says “But that means...” and trails off. In her mind, at least, that was the canon changing without significant consequence. We don’t see what happens in Gwen’s universe after that, nor do we know another Captain she loves won’t die in the future, but it’s the movie’s biggest clue that, yes, Miles can save his dad and the universe at the same time.

Another hilarious, huge revelation in Across the Spider-Verse is a link back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where that version of Uncle Aaron, played by Donald Glover, has become the Prowler and been captured by the Spider-Society. Last we saw him, Spider-Man had webbed him to a car in Spider-Man: Homecoming and then the plot point never came back. It’s great to see a payoff, but it would be interesting to see how that all went down. Which brings us to...

Donald Glover’s character is one of two winks to the current Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland. The other is Miguel O’Hara mentioning Dr. Strange and the nerd, which is Holland. And since both Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s characters show up in this movie (via old footage, but still) and the Spot visits a live-action universe (more on that in a sec), it seems very plausible that Tom Holland’s Spidey could get looped in in the next movie. Or, at least we hope.

The Donald Glover Uncle Aaron is an anomaly, meaning he appeared in another dimension and was captured by the Spider-Society. It looks like he’s scheduled to be put in the Go Home machine but...what if he doesn’t?

Uncle Aaron’s death is a canon event in many Spider-Verses. So does the Glover version not actually being in the world with his nephew, Miles Morales, have any bearing on what might happen in a Miles Morales movie?

Early in the film, Spot visits a live-action world dubbed Earth 688. It looks familiar and, it is. The store owner Spot speaks to is Mrs. Chen, played by Peggy Lu, who we know from the Venom movies. So, that’s a world where not just Eddie Brock’s Venom exists but, Morbius exists, and Michael Keaton’s the Vulture is in. Somehow.

We first met Miguel O’Hara in the end credits of Into the Spider-Verse where he makes, we think, his first jump into an alternate dimension. In Across the Spider-Verse, we realize that he has now done that a lot, and recruited Spider-people from all across the Spider-Verse to help him keep it together. So, how long did that take? Why did he have the idea in the first place? And where did he get the time and money to build this, like, huge city for it? It’s a comic book, we probably won’t find out, but it is rather intriguing.

At the end of the film, not only are Gwen and her friends looking for Miles, so are Miguel and the rest of the Spider-Society. But, from what we can tell, Miguel doesn’t know that Gwen has recruited all these other people. So will he wage war on her and them when he finds out? Probably.

The line between Gwen’s group and Miguel’s group seems pretty set at the end of Across the Spider-Verse, but one has to think, maybe as more people become aware of Miles’ situation, they could defect over? Spider-Byte, the Frito chomping avatar, seems like a strong option as she basically let Miles go home. Could others follow? Or will everyone on Miguel’s side stay that way? We don’t know but it could be interesting to explore.

It seems like Miguel O’Hara has the best intentions in Across the Spider-Verse. He truly believes that if Miles doesn’t keep to the canon, he’s going to kill trillions. So, one person—even if it is Miles’ dad—isn’t that high a price to pay. The lengths he goes to in belief of that, though, make him arguably the biggest villain in the film and one has to wonder, is that his canon? Miles does say “Are you sure you’re really Spider-Man?” as we get scenes of him satisfying his vampire cravings. Is Miguel always a bad guy? Can he be a more heroic Spider-Man? Is that his destiny? We’ll find out.

So, with the real Miles now in another dimension, it leaves the door wide open for what Miguel thinks has to happen, to actually happen. For Miles’ dad to die. But, if Spider-Man isn’t there to witness is, does it have the same impact? Is Spider-Man’s absence an equally large break to the canon? Plus, even if Miles gets back and saves him, what happens then? Will the universe collapse? We have no idea but these are questions that will be central to the final film. (Plus that whole thing with Gwen’s dad we mentioned a few pages back.)

The Spot plays a big role early in the movie, but he does go missing for long stretches of time. At one point we see him going from universe to universe as the Spider-Society watches. Later, after he uses the Mumbattan collider to become mega-Spot, he disappears. We’d be curious to know where he went, what the impacts were, and what he’s been doing to prep for Miles.

As it stands right now? Probably not. The Spot, by the end of the movie, is probably the most powerful being in the Spider-Verse. So there’s no way Miles or any of the other Spider-people could defeat him. Who knows if he could even be defeated if it was all of them together? But, almost certainly, he’ll lose in the end. The question is how.

One of the biggest head scratchers in Across the Spider-Verse is the absence of Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham, and Peni Parker. Peni appears briefly but the others don’t appear until the final moments. So, why aren’t those characters part of the Spider-Society when it seems as if basically everyone is, with the exception of Miles? Was it purposeful on Miguel’s part to keep them separated because of their allegiance to Miles? That seems like the most obvious explanation, one we hope gets cleared up in the next movie.

Pretty early in the film Gwen casually mentions her friend Hobie and that she’s been staying in his dimension from time to time. Later, after we meet Hobie, aka Spider-Punk, we learn she’s been staying at his place and even left a sweater there. Now, are they probably just good friends? Yes. But is there an obvious implication, especially from a jealous Miles, that they could be dating? Also yes.

One of the most telling moments in the film is when Miles saves the Captain in Mumbattan, the world of Pavitr Prabhakar, aka Spider-Man India. This breaks the Spider-Man canon and starts to suck the world into an abyss. Miguel says they might be able to handle it but we never find out if that happened or not.

A delightful addition to the Spider-Verse is Peter B. Parker and Mary Jane Watson’s daughter, May, as in May Day, a baby version of Spider-Woman. She’s cute and helpful in this film and we’re just wondering how crucial she’ll be in the next one, and if we’ll see her grow up and put on a less fluffy mask.

Though Across the Spider-Verse has literally hundreds of Spider-beings, the film’s writers said recently they held back some for the final film. Like, who could they even mean? Sure there are lots and lots of deep cuts, but do they mean Tom Holland? Is there a zombie waiting? Could it be something with a symbiote suit? A fun thing to speculate about in the coming months. (And co-writer Chris Miller already hinted at one.)

As we near the end here, it’s time to go big picture. Obviously, the Spider-Verse films have created a language where they are happening parallel to events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU is certainly one of the branches of the Spider-Verse. But with such big stuff happening in this one, and the MCU’s Spider-Man at such a cross roads—but also events like Secret Wars on the horizon—could we see a Who Framed Roger Rabbit animation/live-action integration? Anything is possible in the Spider-Verse. Or is it Multiverse?

Jumping off that last one, my read here is that the Spider-Verse is part of the multiverse. Like there are worlds connected by Spider-people just as there are probably worlds connected by Thors or Hulks or Raccoons. The multiverse is infinite, remember, so any and everything is probably happening.

The first movie saw Miles Morales actually access the Spider-Verse. Hence, “Into the Spider-Verse.” The second film had him go into multiple different dimensions. Hence “Across the Spider-Verse.” So what does “Beyond the Spider-Verse” mean? Surely it means Miles will have to go outside of that Spider-Verse we see—but, does that mean worlds without Spider-Man? Other characters? The mind wanders...

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is in theaters now. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse arrives March 29, 2024.