I think there’s no question about it, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the most exciting superhero movie of the summer, a movie I’d have no problem rewatching multiple times. Sandwiched in between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Flash, the second installment in the Spider-Verse series continues the story of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), ending with a brilliant cliffhanger. We’ll have to wait nine months to see how it all ends, but the first big plot twist from the upcoming sequel Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse might have already leaked.
I will warn you that significant spoilers follow below, so you’d better see Across the Spider-Verse before reading any further.
Is Across the Spider-Verse connected to Spider-Man 4?
Going into Across the Spider-Verse, my biggest question was whether Sony was about to ruin Marvel’s multiverse with its own interpretation. But I soon realized there are easy ways to connect Across the Spider-Verse to the MCU, and Loki holds the keys. Then, an insider revealed that Marvel had indeed collaborated with Sony on the Into the Spider-Verse sequel to ensure that what happens in the story is canon to the MCU.
Also, characters from the Spider-Verse might appear in other MCU movies. The list includes Spider-Man 4 and Avengers: Secret Wars. Rumors have said that Miles Morales will appear in the MCU. And Sony confirmed that a live-action Miles Morales movie is in the making.
But the big cliffhanger at the end of Across the Spider-Verse has nothing to do with Spider-Man 4. Or if it does, it’s not obvious. Instead, the cliffhanger is exactly what we need as a lead-in to Beyond the Spider-Verse next March.
At the end of Spider-Verse 2, our main Miles gets transported to Earth-42. That’s the reality that the radioactive spider that bit him came from. And that universe has no Spider-Man, as the spider moved in a different timeline.
But Miles-42, which is what we’re going to call Earth-42’s Morales, became that universe’s Prowler. And that’s how the second part of the story ends, in anticipation of the big resolution in Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Here comes another big plot twist
That cliffhanger is certainly a shocker to audiences as we witness another unexpected conflict for Miles. He has to fight himself in a reality where the Sinister Six cartel dominates the world. There’s no Spider-Man here or other heroes to deal with the threat. I’ve explained how Across the Spider-Verse has convenient plot holes. Earth-42 not having anyone to fight villains is one of them.
But, like everyone else, I might have made the wrong assumption. That Miles-42 is a villain. A series of tweets from different people made me realize this doesn’t have to be true.
First, insider CanWeGetToast said that we’re going to see a “LOT” of Earth-42 action in Beyond the Spider-Verse. “We’ll see how a world without Spider-Man leads to the Sinister Six Cartel and what Miles-42 has to do as The Prowler in order to survive in such a world,” the Marvel secrets leaker said.
A different insider retweeted that information. Alex Perez recently confirmed the connection between the Spider-Verse story and the MCU multiverse. Furthermore, he tweeted a simple “Bingo” in response to someone speculating that Miles-42 is a good guy fighting the Sinister Six because the cartel had killed his father.
That would be an amazing plot twist for Beyond the Spider-Verse. First, it’ll allow Sony to offer fans a taste of a Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Six conflict. The closest thing we got was the No Way Home fight. But the MCU didn’t get the Sinister Six.
Secondly, Miles-42 can’t really be a villain of the upcoming story. We already have one big bad guy in The Spot (Jason Schwartzman). Then there’s Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), who isn’t necessarily a good Spider-Man. Let’s also remember the resemblances between Lyla and Loki’s Miss Minutes.
Put differently; Miles needs all the help he can get. Having a Prowler on his side will not hurt.
Interestingly, the person who theorized that Miles-42 might be a good guy responded to a story featuring a comment from Across the Spider-Verse co-director Kemp Powers. He said there’s a lot to learn about that Prowler in the cliffhanger, advising audiences not to judge a book by its cover.
None of this can be confirmed for the time being, however. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is set to premiere on March 29th, 2024, assuming Sony doesn’t delay it. That gives us ample time to discuss more plot leaks.
