'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' ends on a nerve-racking cliffhanger. Here's what it could mean for the next sequel.
- Warning: Major spoilers ahead for "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," which is in theaters now.
- In the new movie, Spider-Man fights a new villain, Spot, and discovers a team of Spider-People.
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" concludes on a cliffhanger that leaves several hints about the plot to its sequel, "Beyond the Spider-Verse."
In the new movie, which is in theaters now, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) tries to join an elite team of Spider-People from across the multiverse in order to stop the multiversal villain he accidentally created in the first movie, The Spot (Jason Schwartzman).
However, the Spider-Society, led by Spider-Man 2099 aka Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac), tries to stop Miles from getting involved. While it initially seems like they don't want him there because he's reckless and young, it is later revealed that there's a more important reason for him being left out.
Here is why the Spider-Society turned on Miles and what the ending could mean for next year's sequel.
The Spider-Society is trying to stop Miles from saving his father in order to save the universe
In the third act of the movie, Miguel explains that there are certain moments that must happen in every universe, called "canon events," and when they are not followed, they can cause that universe to be destroyed. We see the effects of this in Spider-Man India's world earlier in the movie.
One such canon event is that a police captain close to Spider-Man must die.
Earlier in the movie, Miles' own father, Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry), is promoted to captain and Miles gets a vision of Spot killing his father.
Miles rejects Miguel's instruction to let his father die and tries to escape the Spider-Society HQ, leading to an intense battle between our hero and his former friends.
Miguel also reveals during the fight that the reason Miles was never invited to join the team in the first place is because he is an anomaly. In "Into The Spider-Verse," Miles was bitten by a spider from another dimension, Earth-42, accidentally ruining the canon of that universe and changing the canon of his own universe.
Miles is still undeterred and eventually escapes and seemingly returns home.
Miles is stuck in a different universe
Instead of going home through a normal portal, Miles uses a specific device that takes people home based on their DNA.
Because Miles has Earth-42 DNA, due to the spider bite, it takes him to that dimension instead.
Miles does not realize this until he confronts his mother and tells her he's Spider-Man, a hero who has never existed on Earth-42 because that dimension's Peter Parker was never bitten by a spider.
In this dimension, Miles' father is dead, Miles' uncle, Aaron, is alive, and it seems that villains have taken over the city. Earth-42's Miles (Jharrel Jerome) has become a thief known as the Prowler. In Miles' universe, his uncle was the Prowler before his death in "Into The Spider-Verse."
Aaron and Earth-42 Miles knock out the original Miles and tie him up. However, it seems they are more nefarious than in Miles' universe because after Miles explains why he is there, and that he needs to get home to save his father, they refuse to set him free.
It's clear from the final moments that "Beyond the Spider-Verse" will feature a showdown between the two Miles as the original Miles tries to get home to save his father.
Gwen Stacy has switched sides to help Miles
In "Across the Spider-Verse," Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld) is on her own journey of self-discovery to find out who she can trust.
This leads her to join the Spider-Society led by Miguel. However, after Miles escapes the Spider-Society's HQ, she loses faith in their mission and is sent back to her universe.
Back home, Gwen discovers that her father, Captain Stacy (Shea Whigham), plans to quit his job after realizing that his daughter is Spider-Woman.
Gwen comes to the conclusion that because Miles' existence is an anomaly, he may have the ability to change canon events, such as stopping her father from dying or saving Captain Singh in the Spider-Man India universe.
In the last moments of the movie, we see Gwen form her own team of Spider-People to help Miles. This includes the heroes from the first movie, Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), as well as new heroes we meet in the sequel, Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), Spider-Byte (Amandla Stenberg), and Spider-Man India (Karan Soni).
There is also the matter of the Spot. In the final moments of the movie, we see Spot, more powerful than ever before, enter original Miles' universe, Earth-1610, to go after the hero's father.
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is in theaters now, and "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse" will hit theaters on March 29, 2024.