Biggest Unanswered Questions In Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
The next chapter in Sony's animated "Spider-Verse" films has finally arrived with "Across the Spider-Verse," which introduces fans and Miles Morales to an ever-expanding Spider-Man multiverse. The film catches fans up with Miles (voiced by Shameik Moore) as he faces off against a seemingly innocuous villain named The Spot (voiced by Jason Schwartzman), who boasts untapped destructive potential. After The Spot becomes frustrated by Miles simply shrugging him off as a low-tier villain, he goes on a multiversal journey to gain immense power. This causes Miles to chase after him and discover the secret world of the Spider-Society, where he comes to understand a greater purpose for himself and makes new allies and unexpected enemies.
Along with displaying some of the most visually stunning and ambitious animation that's ever graced the big screen, "Across the Spider-Verse" has no shortage of memorable moments that'll blow fans away. From an endless supply of incredible cameos and crossovers to some wild twists and turns that hint at a bigger conflict, "Across the Spider-Verse" is a pure love letter to Spider-Man fans. It also sees Miles face his most challenging and emotional obstacles yet as he dives headfirst into the multiverse and uncovers a hidden truth about his role as Spider-Man.
So much happens in Miles' latest journey that it's no surprise that there are a lot of unanswered questions. Let's delve into some of "Across the Spider-Verse's" lingering mysteries and unanswered questions.
Was that an official first look?
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 showing up, largely because it's been quite some time since we've seen him. The last time fans saw Glover's Aaron Davis was back in "Spider-Man: Homecoming," where he's portrayed as a simple car thief Spider-Man stops. Given Davis' history in the comics, deep connection to Miles Morales, and the meaningful interaction that he and Peter had 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's actually dressed as Prowler.
The only mystery now is what this appearance actually 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 — since characters from the MCU got transported there — or will he actually 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 when and if they'll see him again.
What is Miguel/Spider-Man 2099's backstory?
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 (voiced by Oscar Isaac) is cut off before he can tell his story. In the initial scene of him talking about how he became Spider-Man, Gwen (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) 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 and causing another world to vanish because of his presence there. 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 explains his sickly look and the serum he injects himself with to likely keep the beast within him at bay.
So, what is the backstory of Spider-Man 2099? Well, he isn't exactly a vampire, but he does have some unique powers. After attempting to recreate Spider-Man's DNA, Miguel's DNA is infused with spider DNA, causing him to sport some 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 hear his backstory someday.
How did Hobie fly under Miguel's radar?
It's established right from Hobie's (voiced by Daniel Kaluuya) bombastic introduction that he's a total 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, as he clearly tries to undermine Miguel's authority whenever he can. 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. We eventually come to learn that he's trying to build a rebellion against Miguel and the Spider Society that will be led by him and Gwen.
Given Miguel's influence and power over the entire Spider-Verse, it's a little surprising that Hobie's rebellious plans flew under Miguel's radar. To be fair, maybe he simply thought Hobie couldn't build an army powerful enough 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 a crucial flaw in Miguel's thinking that's ultimately going to come back to bite him.
Where's Madame Web in all this?
Given how deeply these "Spider-Verse" films dive into the multiverse, a few characters have been oddly absent — namely Madame Web, who's usually depicted as a blind telepath who uses the Spider-Verse to contact other heroes and help them fight crime. While "Into the Spider-Verse" portrayed Aunt May (voiced by Lily Tomlin) in a similar manner to Madame Web in "Into the Spider-Verse," the latter's identity was never confirmed. It's said that Aunt May has moved out of the Big Apple, so it's doubtful that Aunt May is the real Madame Web. The possibilities are infinite, so fans have to imagine that she's out there somewhere.
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 should appear somewhere down the line.
Why did Miguel take a small army with him?
As shown in the film's big chase sequence of Miles running 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. It's tough to imagine any foe who could really stop all of them. With this powerful army in his hands, it's a little strange that Miguel only brings Spider-Woman (voiced by Issa Rae) and Ben Reilly (voiced by Andy Samberg) with him back to Miles' world.
Given the importance of their mission to save Miles' dad Jefferson (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry), you'd think Miguel would want to do whatever it takes to make sure it all goes according to plan. That's what makes him only choosing to bring an already divided Spider-Woman and a laughable goon like Reilly along very baffling. 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.
What happens when the canon is broken?
One of the biggest lingering mysteries of "Across the Spider-Verse" is what will actually happen if Miles saves his father and breaks the Spider-Man canon. Every Spider-Man goes through a time when a beloved police captain dies in their arms. Miles' dad is about to become the new police captain and Miles sees visions of his father's death, sparking his desire to break the canon. Though Miguel says that it could be catastrophic if Miles does, it's never really explained what would actually happen.
Perhaps Miles' universe will start to disappear like another universe did when Miguel tried to gain the family he didn't have. 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.
Will there be more blending of animation and live action?
Not only were there plenty of incredible appearances of Spider-Man variants from animated series and video games but there were also amazing live-action crossovers. From The Spot popping in to have a chat with Ms. Chen (Peggy Lu) from the "Venom" films to Donald Glover appearing as Prowler in the anomaly containment room, "Across the Spider-Verse" doesn't forget to show 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? Well, it would be pretty awesome to see Gwen, The Spot, or any other animated Spider-Man characters pop up in Sony and the MCU's upcoming live-action Spider-Man films. With the MCU in particular, it would be spectacular to see Miles walk into battle with the other animated Spider-heroes to aid the MCU's greatest characters during the multiverse conflict that's sure to come. "Across the Spider-Verse" set a new bar for crossovers and there's plenty of potential for that to continue in unexpected ways.
How can The Spot be stopped?
Once The Spot figures out how to travel between universes, he's on a mission to gain enough power to become pretty much 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 general body color has gone from white to black and now white swirling dots can be seen all around his body. By the end of the film, 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 pretty much seems all-powerful, and though the canon says that Miles eventually stops The Spot after his dad dies, there doesn't seem to be much of a plan currently. Frankly, The Spot seemed kind of tough to fight even when Miles first met him, and now he's immensely harder to defeat. Miles' climactic fight with The Spot is inevitable and he'll have to come up with quite a plan if he's looking to defeat The Spot and save his father from a tragic fate.
How did Miles become the alternate Prowler?
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 (voiced by Mahershala Ali) now alive and his father dead, this version of Miles takes up a different mantle that's far less heroic. In a perfectly suspenseful and shocking reveal, Miles learns that this version of himself actually 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 Prowler. However, there's no confirmation of that or if 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.
Are there any heroes on Earth-42?
Due to The Spot's experiments with the multiverse, the spider from Earth-42 was taken away from its universe, causing no Spider-Man to appear there. When Miles is transported to Earth-42, he sees what a world without Spider-Man looks like. Surprise, surprise: It's pretty awful. Crime runs so rampant that fires can be seen from rooftops and there are many reports of crimes being committed across the city. Spider-Man not existing here is also likely what caused Miles' dad to die since there was no superhero to face super-powered criminals.
Are there other Marvel heroes on Earth-42? It's never really 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 wouldn't be nearly as bad if The Avengers or any other Marvel faction existed. With Sony not exactly having the rights to the other heroes, it's safe to say that Earth-42 is without a super-powered protector. Perhaps Earth-42 is a chance for the "Spider-Verse" films to highlight the anti-heroes of "Spider-Man" stories like Morbius, Black Cat, and Silver Sable.
Are we on the brink of a Spider War?
By the end of "Across the Spider-Verse," tensions between Gwen and Miguel are high to the point that Gwen questions if the members of the Spider Society are even the "good guys" anymore. With Gwen frustrated by Miguel's persistence to see Miles' father die to protect the canon and Hobie sparking her rebellious side, we learn that Gwen has built a Spider-army of her own with old and new friends who will likely try to stop Miguel from stopping Miles. This begs the question: Are we about to see an all-out Spider Civil War unfold? With time quickly running out and the stakes of the situation being drastically high, there's definitely a big blowout conflict building outside of Miles fighting 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. Plus, Miguel already has a vast army at the ready for any kind of battle that unfolds, so if Gwen is going to go head to head with him, he's more than ready. Much to Hobie's delight, 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.
Will Beyond the Spider-Verse really be the end?
"Beyond the Spider-Verse" has been pitched as the end of this "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 just giving select characters their own spinoff films, the next chapter of the "Spider-Verse" could take some inspiration from the comics and have Morlun and his family serve as new villains. 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-Man versions have to 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 "Spider-Verse" films outside of just Miles beating The Spot that make the future of the "Spider-Verse" very intriguing.