With Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse now in theaters worldwide, its many secrets are now out there for fans to consume.
The long-awaited sequel is finally here, and thankfully, it doesn’t seem to be disappointing those who’ve seen Miles Morales’ next Multiversal adventure. The movie itself is currently sitting at a solid 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Not only does the film seem to be an incredible story, but it contains a plethora of new spoilers, including fresh lore tidbits and reveals.
1.) Major Live-Action Cameos
Across the Spider-Verse confirmed what everyone suspected: everything audiences know is canon.
The moment Miles Morales arrives at the Spider Society headquarters, fans are treated to countless fun Easter eggs. Among them are a handful of references confirming the existence of various other Spider-Man projects.
This includes Insomniac’s Spider-Man, Josh Keaton’s Spectacular Spider-Man, the MCU, Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland, and more. Sony even went above and beyond by including a live-action cameo for Donald Glover’s Prowler, someone fans haven’t even seen since Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Even Venom’s universe is connected to everything, though the big alien symbiote himself didn’t make an appearance this time around.
2.) Miles Has Been Spider-Man for a Year
For all of Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales was a newbie. Even when he was going up against Kingpin, he was new to the game.
This time around, Miles has now been his universe’s one and only Spider-Man for over a year. He’s more efficient, experienced, and confident in his role. Even his local neighborhood seems to be friendly with the wallcrawler.
Additionally, it seems that Miles has continued working alongside his father, unbeknownst to Jefferson himself.
3.) A Bagel Births The Spot
The most unlikely moment in Into the Spider-Verse ended up birthing Miles Morales’ biggest villain: The Spot.
When Miles and Peter raided Alchemax’s lab in the first film, Parker decided it would be best to try and grab a bagel for himself. Instead of getting to eat it, he had to throw it at the pursuing Alchemax employees.
Little did they know the same employee on the receiving end of that bagel would be there the night Miles destroyed the supercollider. Thanks to being at the wrong place at the wrong time, The Spot was born.
It’s not clear what The Spot has been up to since the events of the first film, but it takes over a year for Miles to properly encounter him in Across. From there, the big bad only continues to evolve.
Now, not only is The Spot all juiced up, with his powers resonating on a Multiversal level, but he’s ready to take everything from Miles—most notably, his father’s life.
4.) Traversing the Multiverse
The first film established that being in the wrong universe is bad on a cellular level. It’s why the likes of Peter and Gwen needed to get back home so badly in the first movie.
Thanks to Oscar Isaac’s Spider-Man 2099, that issue has been resolved. Each member of his special society gets a nifty watch (or day badge), allowing them to reside comfortably in any other universe that isn’t their own.
5.) Canon Events
Across the Spider-Verse puts in a lot of work trying to explain the various rules of the Multiverse. Among them are the movie’s answer to fixed points in time relative to every Spider-Man: Canon Events.
These are moments integral to not only the Spider-People at the forefront of the story but their entire universes. If one of these events is changed or interrupted by an anomaly, then it could destroy the entire timeline.
The biggest example of these that the movie gives is the loss of someone like Uncle Ben and the death of a “captain.” For Peter, it was Captain Stacy—a loss played back to everyone in the form of a moment from Andrew Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man.
6.) Peter B. Parker’s Mayday & Many Other New Faces
Jake Johnson’s Peter B. Parker isn’t alone this time around. Thanks to his adventure with Miles Morales, he realized that he did want to be a father.
The result? Mayday Parker. She doesn’t get to do too much on screen, but the end of the movie seemingly confirms that there will be more of her next year.
Plenty of other new Spider-Man Variants appear as well. It would be impossible to list every single one that debuts, but the notable mentions include Jess Drew, Spider-Byte, Spectacular Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, Spider-Punk, Spider-Man 2099, and Pavitr Prabhakar.
7.) Captain Stacy No More
Gwen Stacy shares a complicated relationship with her father.
At the beginning of the movie, her dad, who is Captain of Police, is hunting down Spider-Woman. He catches up with her just in time for Gwen to reveal her identity and jump into a portal with Spidey 2099 and Jess Drew.
Audiences don’t get an update on that situation until later in the movie when both he and Gwen have a heartfelt moment as their feelings are laid bare.
It’s here where Mr. Stacy reveals he’s no longer a captain—a twist that saves him from an inevitable death in the canon events of a Spider-Person’s life. Even better, he also makes amends with his daughter.
8.) Captain Morales Is in Danger
While the former Captain Stacy might be safe, Miles’ father is still in danger.
He isn’t even sworn in yet, but according to Miguel O’Hara, he is destined to die in a Canon Event. The one and only Spot will even get the honor of doing so.
Fans will need to wait until next year’s Beyond the Spider-Verse to see what happens next.
9.) Stuck on Earth-42
Miles Morales is a mistake—or that’s how Miguel O’Hara put it.
The spider that first bit Miles in the subway tunnels was not actually from his universe, aka Earth-1610. Instead, it was from Earth-42.
Now, because of that unexpected anomaly, Earth-42 doesn’t have its own Spider-Man to protect New York City.
Miles witnesses this himself when he’s sent back to the wrong universe, the one where that world’s Variant of him is the infamous Prowler. Then there’s the real kicker: on Earth-42, his father is already dead—while his Uncle Aaron still lives.
The movie ends on a massive cliffhanger, with the original Miles Morales stuck in the wrong universe, held captive by his alternate self, and has no way out.
10.) Gwen Assembles a New Team
While Miles is stuck on Earth-42, Gwen Stacy works on crafting a new team to help Miles against Spidey 2099 and his Spider Society.
New faces such as Spider-Punk, Spidey-Byte, and Pavitr Prabhakar are among its ranks. There are more than a few returning faces as well, including Peter B. Parker, Spider-Ham, Spidey Noir, and Penni Parker.
Sadly, audiences won’t be able to see the team in action until next year’s sequel.
11.) Cliffhanger for Beyond the Spider-Verse
With a cliffhanger ending like the one Across offers audiences, fans are going to be dying to see what comes next.
Not only will viewers get to witness a spectacular showdown between Spot and Miles, but there’ll no doubt be some tragic heartbreak and even more Spider-People. With the title of the sequel, Beyond, fans shouldn’t be surprised if Sony is holding back some big twists when it comes to the Multiverse.
Perhaps that brief Venom tease is just the beginning. Maybe the end of the trilogy could bring forth a live-action appearance from Tom Holland’s Spider-Man himself or any of the other iterations of the famous webhead.
One thing is for sure: Sony just set an incredibly high bar for itself—twice in a row.
Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters, while Beyond the Spider-Verse releases on March 29, 2024.
