Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse explained

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What is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse about?

Across the Spider-Verse further elaborates on Into the Spider-Verses’s themes of coming-of-age, belonging, and self-belief. But it evolves the conversation on each topic. It’s no longer simply about growing up but the demands and expectations that come with being part of society. Belonging isn’t just about finding other people like you but ties back to larger expectations, rules, and responsibilities within the group. And then self-belief has more nuance as it goes beyond simply having confidence to an exploration of where our confidence leads us, the path that we walk, the morality of who we are. This all falls under a conversation of fate and what it means to not only walk your own path but forge it. 

Movie Guide table of contents

Cast

• Miles Morales – Shameik Moore
• Jefferson Davis-Morales – Brian Tyree Henry
• Rio Morales – Luna Lauren Vélez
• Aaron Davis – Marershala Ali
• Gwen Stacy – Hailee Steinfeld
• George Stacy – Shea Whigham
• Peter B. Parker – Jake Johnson
• Miguel O’Hara (Spider-Man 2099) – Oscar Isaac
• Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman) – Issa Rae
• The Spot – Jason Schwartzman
• Pavitr Prabhakar (Spider-Man India) – Karan Soni
• Hobie Brown (Spider-Punk) – Daniel Kaluuya
• Ben Reilly (Scarlet Spider) – Andy Samberg
• Live-action Prowler – Donald Glover
• Written by – Phil Lord | Christopher Miller | David Callaham
• Directed by – Joaquim Dos Santos | Kemp Powers | Justin K. Thompson

The ending of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse explained

Recap

The end of Across the Spider-Verse begins with Miles arriving “back home” in New York City from his journey through the multiverse. The first chance he gets, he reveals his secret identity to his mom. Except she doesn’t know who or what Spider-Man is. After glitching, Miles realizes he’s on Earth-42, not Earth-1610. In this world, his father has passed away instead of Uncle Aaron. Meaning that Miles-42 grew up under Aaron’s influence and has, in turn, gone down a much darker path, becoming the super villain The Prowler. 

On Earth-42, we see a juxtaposition as Gwen looks in on Jefferson and Rio talking. They debate the struggles they’ve had with Miles in this phase of life and him growing up and them not knowing what to do. Jefferson recites some of the lines Miles, as Spider-Man, said at the beginning of the movie about letting him spread his wings. Gwen steps out to tell Jefferson and Rio that Miles is missing but she’ll go find him. And that one thing she learned from him is “It’s all possible.” 

After being knocked out, Miles wakes up tied to a punching bag in a gym. He tries to explain himself to Aaron but Aaron isn’t all that interested in listening. Instead, he puts on the song “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City”. Aaron isn’t even the one in charge. It’s Miles-42. The Prowler. The two share a face to face. Miles asks for Miles-42 to let him go, to save their dad, but Miles-42 clarifies “Your dad” then puts a threatening fist next to Miles’s head. 

Back on Earth-1610, a super-powered, negatively charged The Spot appears outside the apartment where Miles lives. He radiates malevolent energy. 

Gwen is outside of Peter B. Parker’s apartment. The implication is she’s recruiting him to go save Miles. We then cut to the squad gathered. Gwen, Peter B. Parker, Spider-Punk, Spider-Ham, Peni Parker, Spider-Man Noir, Prabhakar, and Spider-Byte. 

Back on Earth-42, Miles begins to charge a finger for a venom shock, ready to break the chains and fight back against his own worst self. 

Meaning

Across the Spider-Verse is a coming of age story that focuses on Miles being at a crossroads in his life. He’s trying to figure out who he’s going to be and what he wants to do. That’s why at the beginning we have the meeting with the guidance counselor about his future and she mentions that Miles is a blank piece of people. Most of what happens in the movie is an externalization of the internal struggles Miles is going through as he approaches this next stage in life. 

This is why the final conversation between Rio and Jefferson is about Miles growing up and how to parent him and letting him spread his wings. It’s also why Miles ends up in a confrontation with himself from another universe. The Miles of Earth-42 is a version of who he could have been. Even though they have the same name and the same features, they’re different people. They style themselves differently. Pronounce their last name differently. And have had completely different upbringings. Miles under the tutelage of his mother and father. Miles-42 under Uncle Aaron. One in a world with Spider-Man. The other without. 

Since Across the Spider-Verse already established that Miles is in this middle ground of who he is going to be, confronting Miles-42 is a glimpse into the more negative part of his being. It shows him what he doesn’t want to become. Who he doesn’t want to become. And the importance of his mother, father, and friends in his life. As much as he spent the earlier portion of the movie kind of pushing away from his parents, wanting to be free, this confrontation with Miles-42 makes him appreciate exactly what his parents provide him. 

And that’s what makes the arrival of The Spot so scary. The Spot represents void, annihilation, negativity. And he has already shown Miles a glimpse of the future where Spot causes a wall to fall on and kill Jefferson. So you have Miles-42 representing the internal demons of Miles and The Spot representing external fears around mortality and loss. Just as Miles is gaining an appreciation for how much he needs his father, there’s a real threat of losing him. 

Thankfully, Miles has friends. Gwen and the others have decided to help Miles go against Migueling O’Hara and the notion of the canon event. Miguel has convinced thousands of Spider-People that if canon events don’t happen, it leads to the destruction of the universe. Something we seemingly see happen on Earth-50101 after Miles stops a canon event by saving Spider-Man India’s girlfriend’s father. But Miles is convinced there must be another way. That it can’t be the right thing to do if it means letting good people die. This is the meaning of the title Across the Spider-Verse. These canon events occur everywhere there’s a Spider. And seemingly lock each individual into living similar experiences. It’s what shapes and unites them. But it also takes away their choice, their freedom, and locks in a cycle of grief and tragedy. 

When Miles rebels against Miguel, he’s rebelling against the very notion of fate. Which dovetails back to the theme of growing up and the expectations society places on all of us to be a certain way, live a certain, and hit certain milestones by a certain age. It’s a very normal, relatable topic that Across the Spider-Verse defamiliarizes through the fantastic nature of its narrative. The realistic version of events would be a normal kid who dreams of being a singer but their parents want them to go to college, become a doctor, then marry and have kids. The Miles-42 of that story would be going to visit an older sibling who did do those things. It’s not as bleak a scenario as what we get in Across but it would accomplish the same thing of letting the kid know that that’s not the direction they want to go. 

But it’s hard to do these things alone. So Gwen and the others represent the need for friends to help us along the way. Not only that but also the way in which our choices can inspire others. Gwen and the others had been following Miguel without question. Even if they had doubts. It took Miles standing up for them to re-evaluate what they’re doing and discover their own conviction to go against what they’ve been told. 

Now we just have to wait for Beyond the Spider-Verse to see how it all plays out. 

The themes and meaning of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Fate, rules, expectations, and canon events

Early in Across the Spider-Verse, Miles is late to a meeting with his parents and guidance counselor about his future. This leads to a conversation about Miles growing up and what he wants to go and do with his life. He’s a young man on the cusp of graduating into the larger world. With that comes certain expectations, not only from your parents but society at large. In real life, this typically means going to college, getting a job, then looking to start a family. 

Across the Spider-Verse defamiliarizes this coming-of-age journey and the way in which we have to confront societal expectations through the lens of the canon events that span dimensions. 

The canon event is something that all Spider-people share. No matter where they are in the universe (hence the title Across the Spider-Verse). When Miles lost his Uncle Aaron, that was a canon event. Every single Spider-person has lost a version of Uncle Ben/Uncle Aaron. Just like every single one of them is supposed to lose a police captain who is close to them. In Gwen’s universe, it was going to be her father. In Miles’s universe, it’s going to be his father. In Pavitr Prabhakar’s, it’s the father of Prabhakar’s girlfriend. Except Miles saves Prabhakar’s girlfriend’s father. Meaning he disrupted the canon. Instead of being a good thing, it causes a dimensional rift than begins to devour Earth-50101. 

Ultimately, Miles is told he must accept these canon events. Even if he knows that someone close to him won’t make it, he’s not supposed to do anything to stop it. In fact, O’Hara’s Spider-team is supposed to ensure the canon events happen. This causes Miles to reject the idea of the canon and begin to figure out a way to, so to speak, have his cake and eat it too. 

These canon events aren’t so different from what we experience in reality. We all have our first loves. Unrequited love. Our first car accident. Our first friendship that falls apart. There’s getting your license. Getting your first paycheck. Graduating. Moments we feel special and invincible and moments were we feel broken and alone. The human condition is so nuanced and spectacular but also basic. What you’ve experienced, what you’ve felt, others have too. Across cultures. Across countries. Across languages. That’s why art that’s inspired by true, real experience and emotion is so powerful. Because we recognize ourselves in the lives of others. 

Spider-Verse explores that idea but through the far more specific construct of the “canon event” and how it relates to Spider-people like Miles, Gwen, and others. As unique as each of them are, they’re all united by these similar experiences and expectations. That random person next to you in line at the grocery store? You probably have more in common with them than you could ever imagine. You’ve both shared certain canon events, even if the details are different. 

Rejecting fate

Miguel O’Hara tells Miles a startling thing. Miles is not only an anomaly but the embodiment of canon-breaking. He was never supposed to be Spider-Man. The spider that bit him came from Earth-42. If Miles hadn’t been in the wrong place at the wrong time, he never encounters the spider, never gains powers, and Kingpin doesn’t kill the Peter Parker of Earth-1610. Not only did Miles “cause” that tragedy, it means that Earth-42 doesn’t have a Spider-person. There is no hero there. 

There’s a lot to unpack there. The key aspect is that Miles represents the idea of  the outsider. Of going against fate. Of being more than what anyone expected you to be.. When he finds out about the canon, he doesn’t accept it the way Gwen, Peter B. Parker, and others did. Miles is determined to find a way to defy fate. To forge a new path rather than be beholden to what others tell him has to happen. 

Everyone faces similar crossroads in their lives. Typical examples include going to college or choosing another path. Staying near home or moving away. Working a job that pays the bills or taking a chance on a passion. Getting married by the time you’re 25 or waiting. There’s what “everyone else” is doing and what you want to do. And sometimes those things overlap and that’s great. Not every “canon event” is bad. Not every risk is brave or good or smart. But the point is that people should have the choice. 

Duality

This idea of choice, of crossroads, comes to life when Miles ends up on Earth-42. There, he encounters another version of himself. The version in a world without Spider-Man. In that world, Miles-42 becomes the Prowler. His dad is gone, Uncle Aaron’s the father figure. And Aaron has led his nephew to a dark place. 

Thematically, both Miles and Miles-42 represent the dichotomy of the individual. We all have this capacity for positivity and negativity. To go down a “good” path or a “bad” one. We’re shaped by the choices we make, the events are out of our control, and the people we have (or don’t have) around us. 

Miles is, in Across the Spider-Verse, still uncertain about who he is and what he’s doing. But not Miles-42. He’s been, for lack of a better word, corrupted by his world. That’s not to say he’s beyond redemption, just that he’s clearly in a much worse place than our Miles. By confronting Miles-42, our Miles is confronting that part of himself. That fate, that future where the worst happens. Not having his dad. Not having Spider-Man or Spider powers. If Miles-42 could become this thing, couldn’t he?

The assumption is that in Beyond the Spider-Verse, Miles will learn some hard lessons and come out the other side more determined and heroic than ever before. He will defy fate and canon and assert the right to choice and opportunity. 

Belonging 

Miguel O’Hara mentions that the canon events are what make Spider-people who they are. It’s what connects all of them and allows them to be the hero each of their worlds needs them to be. Like the tragedies are a recipe for goodness. Not only that, it seems if you go against the canon, then you’re not even part of the group. Even though Miles has the same powers and has experienced the canon events, he’s still rejected from the group for being different. For disagreeing with the monolithic groupthink. 

Despite everything that makes him one of the Spiders, Miles still can’t fit in. But his point is—why should he? If the “right” thing involves not saving people, how could it possibly be the right thing? Why accept that? Why be part of that? Do you sacrifice what you believe in just to belong? Or do you do what you think is best, and human, decent, and compassionate, and let that be your guide? 

How we deal with burden

Gwen’s story revolves carrying the burden of participating in the demise of her world’s Peter Parker. At homecoming, he turned into the Lizard, went wild, then got crushed by falling debris. That physical damage combined with the chemical cocktail is fatal. He took the serum to stand up to bullies but also because he wanted to be super powered like Gwen. 

So Gwen has that guilt weighing down on her. But it’s compounded by the fact that her cop father wants to catch Spider-Woman to bring her to justice for Parker’s death. She already can’t confide in her dad. But now he’s hunting her. And trash talking her alter-ego. It frays their relationship because she doesn’t know how to rectify his love for her with his disdain for her secret identity. That comes to a painful climax when he has Spider-Woman at gunpoint and ready for arrest. She reveals herself. And instead of responding as a father to his daughter, he acts like a cop with a criminal.

So Gwen flees with Miguel and Jessica. She runs from her problems rather than trying to actively solve them. And it kind of works. Even though her father reacted horribly, given the time and the space, he realizes that he didn’t prioritize what was most important: his daughter. 

Yet Gwen wasn’t necessarily in a good place. Even though she was around people who cared about her, she was still hesitant to get close to others. Look what happened to her Peter. Look what happened with her dad. Those things cause trust issues. Slowly, she manages to form a bond with Hobbie. Then reconnect with Miles. But even with Miles, she has the burden of her mission and struggles with wanting to see him but also being there for work and trying to keep Miles away from it. 

But Miles is a connector. A unifier. And the strength of their relationship snaps Gwen out of her stupor and, much like her father, reminds her of what her priorities need to be. It’s not to wallow in self-loathing or self-pity. It’s to stand up and be a hero and live and fight for the people you care about. Which is why Spider-Verse has Gwen as the one that puts together the team to go rescue Miles. She’s in a healthier place with herself and her past, to the point where she’s ready to, once again, be part of a group. Not just present. But emotionally invested. Burdens be damned. 

Why is the movie called Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

Simple answer

The Spider-Verse series relies on prepositions in its titles. Into the Spider-Verse, Across the Spider-Verse, and the forthcoming Beyond the Spider-Verse. Each preposition conveys a broadening of the scope and scale of the story. “Into” is this initial foray. We’re introduced to the Spider-Verse. “Across” conveys that we’re going to travel more, explore more. It’s a tour. 

In the initial film, the other Spiders came to Miles in Earth-1610. While in this sequel, both Miles and the audience see much more of other worlds. Gwen’s Earth-65. Mumbattan on Earth-50101. 2099’s Earth-928. Then, finally, Earth-42. 

Deeper answer

If we want to read deeper into the title, there is something more. On Earth-928, Miles discovers the meaning of the canon event. In every world that has a Spider-person, certain canon events must happen. If they don’t, the world begins to disintegrate. We see this in Mumbattan. Miles saves Pavitr Prabhakar’s girlfriend’s father who happens to be a police captain trying to save a little kid. Miguel O’Hara explains how in every universe with a Spider, a police captain passes while rescuing a child and it’s always someone close to the Spider-person. The same way the Spider always loses an “Uncle Ben”. Or has their “Gwen Stacy”, a love that’s doomed to fail.

These are events that happen across the Spider-Verse. So the deeper meaning of the title is this idea of fate, destiny, and expectation that’s present throughout the Spider-Verse. Something we see Miles deal with throughout the movie. Which is just a metaphor for the expectation all young people face as they come of age and begin to look at their future beyond high school. You have all these expectations, not just from the people closest to you, like your parents, but also from society at large. Go to college. Get a job. Do this. Don’t do that. When you might have your own idea of who you want to be and how you want to live. 

We can assume Beyond the Spider-Verse will continue this theme but what happens when you move past those rules and begin forging your own path. 

Important motifs in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The Cakes

The opening scene with Miles involves a meeting with the school guidance counselor. Miles is, of course, late. So his parents, Jefferson and Rio, have to awkwardly sit with the guidance counselor. During this lull, the counselor gives a speech. 

Counselor: You see, every person is a universe. And my job is to capture your person’s universe on this piece of paper.

Jefferson: That’s blank.

C: Exactly. I have no idea who this kid is. I don’t know if he knows. And he has to decide if he’s going to commit himself to his future or whatever he’s doing instead of being here.” You can’t have your cake and eat it too. 

Miles: Unless you bake two cakes. 

The conversation already plays into Across the Spider-Verse’s themes of fate, expectations, and identity, regarding Miles’s future. But then you have the extra bit of Miles rejecting fate in his smart aleck assertion that in order to have your cake and eat it too, all you need to do is buy two cakes. This mirrors his later debate with Miguel O’Hara who says canon events have to happen. Miles disagrees. 

Just after this scene, we have the BBQ celebrating Jefferson’s promotion to captain. Miles is late because he had to fight Spot so couldn’t pick up the cake he wanted to bring to the BBQ. At the cake shop, he has the baker write a long note to his father. But it’s so long he needs a second cake. It’s comedic that he has two cakes but it’s also purposeful. Miles, in his youthful innocence, was convinced it’s easy to have your cake and eat it too. Just bake two cakes! Yet here we see the reality of things—trying to balance being Miles and Spider-Man is hard. And even when you get both cakes, it doesn’t always work out. By the time he gets to the BBQ with the cakes, they’re beaten up. The thoughtful message to his father? Ruined. All that’s left are the words “I’m” Not” “Proud”. 

The matter of the cakes, both the counselor’s metaphoric ones and the literal ones he tries to bring to the BBQ, embodies everything Miles has to confront in Across the Spider-Verse. 

Enemy of the Spider-people

When Miles is at the Spider HQ on Earth-928, it’s the payoff on him wanting to belong. He had felt lonely in his universe. Especially after the events of Into the Spider-Verse when he was able to connect with other Spider-people. So being at a headquarters that’s full of other people who are just like him is, at first, extraordinary. Miles is over the moon. But then things go south. Because Miles refuses to abide by Miguel O’Hara’s views on canon events, Miles becomes a target. Miguel instructs every single Spider to apprehend Miles. 

Given that part of the story involves Miles confronting his own Spider-ness and what it means to balance being Miles and Spider-Man, the fact he has hundreds of Spiders coming after him, trying to capture him, ends up representing his own internal conflict. It’s that side of him becoming overwhelming and difficult and something he has to struggle against. Which is exactly what we saw with him being late to the counselor session and late to the BBQ and ruining the cakes. His life as Miles is always complicated by his life as Spider-Man. 

It’s not a coincidence that Miles goes from having this huge showdown with the rest of the Spiders to ending up in Earth-42 where there is no Spider-Man. Where Miles-42 has gone evil and become the Prowler. 

In art, this kind of externalization is common. A basic example is Picasso’s Blue Period where the blue tinge he added to most of his paintings added a morose, somber, depressive tone that reinforced the often hunched, bored, defeated posture of the subjects in the paintings. 

There are many ways to go about externalization, like color palette, but, in narrative, one of the more advanced methods is to have the actual external events symbolize internal happenings. For example, say a character is struggling with depression. They’re invited to a birthday party. As they’re trying to decide whether to go or not, the power goes out in their house. They’re left alone in darkness. Do they stay in that literal darkness or turn on a flashlight, find their car keys, and leave the house? Better yet, does a friend show up and step into the darkness and encourage the person to come with them to the party? 

It’s a nice technique that’s not often utilized or even recognized but can be very powerful.  

Questions & answers about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Why does Hobie quit the Spider Society?

Hobie is Spider-Punk. He’s an anarchist. Even though he’s been part of the system, he kind of hates the system. And it’s one thing when he thought he was helping. But once he sees how Miguel treats Miles, Hobie decides the Society has lost its way. Hobie’s the kind of guy who will support the rebels over the establishment. 

Who was the real-life woman in the convenience store?

The Spot ends up jumping between a few different universes. One of them happens to be live-action. So you have this Roger Rabbit like moment where animation and live-action mix. All we get though is a brief interaction with a woman working at a convenience store. For people who haven’t watched the Venom movies, this seems like a generic-yet-comedic encounter. But for those who have watched the Venom movies, Mrs. Chen is very recognizable. She’s one of the main secondary characters of those films.It’s a fun crossover but also a reminder that Sony is always trying to build its own little version of the MCU with what few Marvel properties it still has the rights to. 

Does this take place after the MCU’s Spider-Man: No Way Home?

It seems so. At one point, Spider-Man 2099 makes mention of Dr. Strange and “that little nerd back on Earth-199999.” That would be a weird thing to reference if this all happened prior to No Way Home. So it seems like a purposeful nod. Just like we got brief acknowledgements of both the Toeby Maguire and Andrew Garfield movies, as well as Insomniac’s Playstation games. 

How long has it been between Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse?

Just over a year. 

How old are Miles and Gwen?

Miles was 14 in ITSV, and is 15 in ATSV. While Gwen was 16 and is now 17. 

How old is Mayday Parker?

If you remember, in ITSV, Peter B. Parker and his MJ weren’t together. But after the events with Miles, Peter manages to get his life together and gets back together with MJ. If they managed to conceive immediately, that would put Mayday at 7 months old. Max. 

On the one hand, it is kind of fun to have the character in the film. But it’s also maybe even more ridiculous than the existence of Spider-Ham. 

Why was Ben Reilly made so stupid?

Great question. I would also like to know. Scarlet Spider is one of my all-time favorite comic book characters. To see him reduced to a blockhead was pretty sad. At least he still looked awesome. 

What song does Uncle Aaron-42 put on?

It’s an absolute classic called “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City”. First released by Bobby “Blue” Bland in 1974 to little fanfare. It gained prominence in 1978 when Whitesnake, the hard rock band, covered it. Then, in 2001, it became part of a modern pop classic when Kanye West sampled it for Jay-Z on The Blueprint. The updated track was called “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)”.

Now it’s your turn

Have more unanswered questions about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? Are there themes or motifs we missed? Is there more to explain about the ending? Please post your questions and thoughts in the comments section! We’ll do our best to address every one of them. If we like what you have to say, you could become part of our movie guide!