"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" premiered
to stellar reviews and love from audiences. But no movie is perfect,
and even the best Spider-Stories sometimes leave unanswered questions. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Although "Across the Spider-Verse" features a wide variety of cameos that highlight
Spider-Man's impact on pop culture, no cameo was more surprising than Donald
Glover's appearance. The last time fans saw Glover's Aaron Davis was back in "Spider-Man:
Homecoming," where he portrayed a wiser than expected thief Spider-Man stops.
"Can I give you some advice?"
"Hmm?"
"You gotta get better at this part of the job."
"I don't understand. I'm intimidating."
Given Davis' history in the comics, his deep connection to Miles Morales,
and his meaningful interaction with Peter in "Homecoming," many felt that Davis' appearance
would lead to Prowler and Miles' formal introductions to the MCU. However, he's been
completely absent since. Seeing him appear here is especially noteworthy as he is dressed as Prowler.
The only mystery now is what this appearance means. Is this an official
look at Glover's Prowler, or just a fun cameo for fans? If this is a legit hint,
will Glover's Prowler appear in Sony's Spider-Man Universe,
or will he appear in the MCU? For now, it seems like Sony will keep Glover's fate
as Prowler a mystery and fans will be left wondering if and when they'll see him again.
While most of the main Spider-heroes of "Across the Spider-Verse" are given a moment to delve
into their backstories, Miguel O'Hara, Spider-Man 2099, is cut off before he can
tell his story. In the scene where talks about how he became Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy cuts him
off before he can even start. Still, we learn a couple of things about him throughout the film.
When telling Miles about why he formed the Spider Society, Miguel talks about his own
experience in disrupting the canon that ties everyone together. He explains that
his presence in another world caused it to vanish entirely. This leads him to form the
Spider Society to help stop anomalies from breaking the multiverse. Other characters
have also explained that Miguel holds some kind of vampiric power, which could explain
his sickly look and it might even provide a backstory to the serum he injects himself with.
So, what actually is the backstory of Spider-Man 2099? In the comics, he isn't exactly a vampire,
but he does have some unique powers. After attempting to recreate Spider-Man's DNA,
Miguel infuses his DNA with that of a spider, causing him to gain
mutations outside of the normal Spider-Man powers. Miguel also has spider-like fangs
that let him inject paralyzing venom into his foes, so he has a horrifying side.
Miguel is no ordinary Spider-Man, and it'll be interesting to find out more in the sequel.
It's established right from Hobie Brown's bombastic introduction that he's an anarchist
who's known for toppling hierarchies and empowering those around him to rebel. That
doesn't change when he's a part of the Spider Society either. From getting Gwen to vibe
with his rebellious ways to teaching Miles how to break the shield placed around him,
it's pretty obvious that Hobie's got something in the works behind the scenes. When Miguel commands
the entire Spider Society to stop Miles, Hobie takes the opportunity to quit and go his own way.
He also provides Gwen with a bootlegged portal device that she uses to recruit her own allies.
Given Miguel's influence and power over the entire Spider-Verse, it's surprising that Hobie's
rebellious plans flew under Miguel's radar. Perhaps he thought Hobie couldn't influence other
Spider-People to take him on, and Miguel did say he was trying to ignore Hobie. However, it seems
like a big oversight, especially with Hobie having such a history of rebelling against "the system,"
and it's a crucial flaw in Miguel's thinking that's ultimately going to come back to bite him.
Given how deeply these "Spider-Verse" films dive into the multiverse,
a few characters have been oddly absent. Madame Web, a blind telepath who uses
the Spider-Verse to contact other heroes and help them fight crime, is especially notable.
Maybe there's a greater plan at hand and Madame Web will have a bigger role
in "Beyond the Spider-Verse." Or maybe Sony will find a way
to bring the Madame Web from the upcoming live-action film based on the character,
where she will be portrayed by Dakota Johnson, into this animated conflict. Regardless, Madame
Web is still missing from the "Spider-Verse" films but will hopefully appear somewhere down the line.
As shown in the film's big chase sequence where Miles flees from nearly every Spider-Man
in existence, Miguel has quite an army at his disposal. With just a simple command,
he can send every Spider-Man variant into battle.
"All stations. Stop what you're doing and stop Spider-Man!"
It's tough to imagine any foe who could stop all of them. With this powerful army in his hands,
it's a little strange that Miguel only brings Spider-Woman and the
Scarlet Spider with him back to Miles' world. Given the importance
of their mission to let Miles' dad Jeff meet his tragic fate,
you'd think Miguel would want to do whatever it takes to make sure it all goes according to plan.
Maybe he's just losing it from all the injections he's given himself and the pressure of the
multiverse breaking is finally getting to him, but it's clear that Miguel continues to experience
lapses in judgment. Or maybe considering how many Spider-People got in the way while chasing Miles,
a small elite strike force is a better idea than bringing Spider-Rex into Brooklyn.
One of the biggest lingering mysteries of "Across the Spider-Verse" is what will happen if Miles
saves his father and breaks the Spider-Man canon. Every Spider-Man goes through a time
when a beloved police captain or someone very close to them dies in their arms. Miles' dad is
about to become the new police captain. The young Spider-Man sees visions of his father's death,
which sparks his desire to break the canon. Miguel says that it could be catastrophic if
Miles does, but beyond the brief glimpse of the massive hole that
forms in Earth-50101 after Miles saves Inspector Singh, not much is explained.
Perhaps The Spot will end up winning and start to consume all the other universes.
Perhaps nothing will happen and these concerns are just simple paranoia. "Beyond
the Spider-Verse" will hopefully provide some kind of answer that'll shock and surprise fans.
Not only were there plenty of incredible appearances of Spider-Man variants from
animated series and video games but there were also several live-action crossovers. The Spot
pops in to have a chat with Ms. Chen from the "Venom" films. And Donald Glover appears as
Prowler in the anomaly containment room. "Across the Spider-Verse" definitely shows
the live-action films some love. We even get to see scenes from Tobey Maguire and
Andrew Garfield's "Spider-Man" films when Miguel is explaining the canon events.
The only question remaining is whether or not this means that there will be more
blending of animation and live-action for future "Spider-Man" films. For "Beyond the
Spider-Verse," it's a sure-fire guarantee, but what about the other live-action "Spider-Man"
movies? Perhaps we'll see Gwen, The Spot, or another animated Spider-Man make a cameo in
future live-action Spider-Man movies. "Across the Spider-Verse" set a new bar for crossovers,
and there's plenty of potential for that to continue in unexpected ways.
Once The Spot figures out how to travel between universes, he's on a mission to
gain enough power to become unstoppable. After obtaining enough chaotic material
to become completely covered in the spots that were once speckled around his body,
he takes a daunting new form. His body color has gone from white to black with white swirling dots
floating around his body. By the end of the movie, he has reentered Miles' world
and prepares to unleash absolute destruction that could potentially kill Miles' father.
How is anyone going to stop The Spot? By this point, he seems all-powerful,
and though the canon says that Miles eventually defeats him after his dad dies, there doesn't seem
to be much of a plan currently. The Spot was tough to fight even when Miles first met him,
and now he's far more formidable. Miles' climactic fight with his nemesis is inevitable, and he'll
have to come up with quite a plan if he's looking to save his father from a tragic fate.
Once Miles finds himself in a universe where there is no Spider-Man, many fans likely wondered
what his variant would be up to in this world. With his uncle Aaron alive and his father dead,
this version of Miles takes up a different mantle that's far less heroic. In a suspenseful and
shocking reveal, Miles learns that this version of himself becomes Prowler. How did this come to be?
The assumption would be that after Miles' father dies, he turns to his uncle Aaron for guidance,
which leads him to become the infamous villain. However,
there's no confirmation of whether this Prowler is the same kind of villain with
Miles under the mask. "Beyond the Spider-Verse" will surely let this version of Miles get his
origin story and likely give fans a better glimpse into the chaos-filled Earth-42.
Before he became The Spot, Miles' foe worked as a scientist at Alchemax that brought the spider from
Earth-42 into Miles' reality. The effect of this is that there is no Spider-Man in that dimension.
When Miles is transported to Earth-42 at the end of the movie as a result of his altered DNA, he
sees what a world without Spider-Man looks like. Crime runs rampant. Fires can be seen from every
rooftop. There are constant reports of crimes being committed across the city. And Spider-Man
not existing likely contributed to Jeff Morales' death at the hands of super-powered criminals.
Are there other Marvel heroes on Earth-42? It's never confirmed if other heroes exist or not,
but it's likely they don't given all the chaos and carnage seen in the streets.
It's safe to say that Earth-42 is without a super-powered protector.
Perhaps this doomed reality is a chance for the "Spider-Verse" films to highlight
the anti-heroes of "Spider-Man" stories like Morbius, Black Cat, and Silver Sable.
By the end of "Across the Spider-Verse," tensions between Gwen and Miguel are
high. Gwen even questions if the members of the Spider Society are even the "good guys" anymore.
"We are supposed to be the good guys."
With Hobie sparking her rebellious side, we learn that Gwen has built a Spider-team
of her own with old and new friends. Their goal is likely an attempt to stop Miguel's
hunt for Miles. This begs the question: Are we about to see an all-out Spider Civil War
unfold? With time running out and the impossibly high stakes of her mission,
there's definitely a massive conflict building beyond Miles' conflict with The Spot.
Gwen has already assembled a pretty strong roster of Spider-heroes,
and who knows if she'll try to recruit more to her side. Miguel has a vast army
for any kind of battle that unfolds, so if Gwen is going to go head-to-head with him,
he's more than ready. But it seems like Miguel's position is about to be challenged,
and "Beyond the Spider-Verse" will host the biggest Spider-Man brawl of all time.
"Beyond the Spider-Verse" has been pitched as the end of the "Spider-Verse" trilogy and
Miles' story, but it's tough to believe that this will really be the end. There's so much
more to the Spider-Verse that can still be explored. Aside from giving select characters
their own spinoff films, the next chapter of the "Spider-Verse" could take some inspiration from
the comics and have the vampire Morlun serve as the new villain. In the comics, Spider-heroes
from across the multiverse are forced to come together when Morlun and his powerful family,
The Inheritors, traverse the multiverse to fulfill a prophecy of killing all the Spider-Man variants.
It could be a great storyline that sees the different Spider-People come together after
the events of this trilogy and pay homage to the "Spider-Verse" storyline from the comics. Plus,
given how beloved and financially successful these films are, it's doubtful that Sony will want to
stop at "Beyond the Spider-Verse." There's a lot of amazing potential for these movies
outside of just Miles beating The Spot that makes the future of the "Spider-Verse" very intriguing.