Why Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Left Some Audiences 'Angry' & 'Outraged'
Contains spoilers for "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is finally here, giving fans an incredible follow-up to Miles Morales' (Shameik Moore) story. The movie has a little bit of everything: fantastic animation, wild action sequences, countless Spider-People, and a cliffhanger ending that will leave you wanting more.
Just as audiences think "Across the Spider-Verse" is gearing up for a massive climactic fight, with Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) assembling her team of Spideys to defy Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and rescue Miles, the movie cuts to black, with an ominous "To Be Continued" tagline. It's the perfect ending to the sequel, assuring audiences will be back on opening night next year for "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse."
In 2021, "Spider-Verse" producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller decided to split the sequel into two parts, admitting that one movie wasn't enough to cover their entire story. However, it seems that some audiences forgot (or never heard) that "Across the Spider-Verse" is part one of a two-part story, with the abrupt ending leaving people confused and angry.
On Reddit, u/Adequate_Images shared their theater experience, saying, "The funniest part was when the audience voiced their collective shock and annoyance at the 'to be continued,'" which seems to be a common occurrence across theaters on opening night.
Everyone wants more Spider-Verse
After Phil Lord and Christopher Miller decided to split the "Spider-Verse" sequel into two parts, they changed the titles from "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)" and "(Part Two)" to "Across the Spider-Verse" and "Beyond the Spider-Verse." However, now that the first of two sequels is out, it looks like some audiences could've really benefited from the "Part One" tag being in the title.
On Reddit, u/Lordpicklenip wrote, "[They] really should've had that 'Part One' in the title, but I was anticipating that 'To be continued' during Gwen's team-up speech." U/Prophet92 said the fans in their screening collectively lost their minds because of the abrupt ending. For u/The_Volpone, "Across the Spider-Verse" taught their daughter a valuable lesson, saying, "I think the 'To be continued' splash page gave my daughter her first real moment of nerd outrage. She was angry on the walk all the way to the car."
While the cliffhanger ending left fans of all ages angry as they walked out of the theater, it isn't a critique of the movie; instead, everyone is dying to see how this multiversal Spidey story ends, regardless of how long it would take. Most fans, like u/_Comic_ and u/DwightsEgo, were so entertained that they didn't realize more than two hours had passed. Others, like u/Prophet92 and u/DevilCouldCry, would've willingly been in their seats for any amount of time, with the latter admitting, "I could've sat there all night long to see this story through to its completion."