Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s newest trailer offers a tiny bit more context as to why Miles Morales is being chased by hundreds of Spider-Men, but a lot is still left obscured in its marketing. It is made clear that Miguel O’Hara’s Spider-Man 2099 will be an antagonist who is at odds with Miles, and it seems more and more likely that their conflict revolves around Miles choosing to save one person rather than saving “every world.” This is not sufficiently explained for the movie yet, but it does closely reflect a similar dynamic seen in Spider-Man: Edge of Time.
Edge of Time lets fans play as both Peter Parker and Miguel O’Hara as they belong to the present day and the future respectively, talking to one another and swapping places intermittently. Both protagonists have character flaws they need to work through, such as Peter sprinting headlong into trouble even when it means his fated demise while Miguel is challenged with reexamining what it means to be Spider-Man when Mary Jane is in terminal danger. Therefore, Across the Spider-Verse and Edge of Time both seem to represent Miguel’s character development.
Spider-Man 2099 Can’t Seem to Grasp the Fundamentals of Being Spider-Man
Unlike Peter, who is commonly a romantic with the idea ingrained in him to save any singular person he can, Miguel is much more pragmatic in Edge of Time. Miguel rejects the idea of saving any singular person and elects to do what he deems more important. Neither Spider-Man is wrong in this regard, though their priorities are obviously misaligned.
This makes their dynamic incredibly interesting as not only two different Spider-Men, but also two different individuals entirely. Rather, the thread of commonality that connects them is the fact that they both share the same superhero moniker, and Peter attempts to have Miguel understand the true meaning of what being Spider-Man is.
Peter states that a future without Mary Jane is meaningless, which persuades Miguel to save her after initially declining because he believes it will make up for everything the world owes to Peter’s Spider-Man from the past. This is still not a complete reconciliation of the meaning of being Spider-Man for Miguel, but it is enough to have him rescue Mary Jane. Across the Spider-Verse’s Miguel seems to attack Miles after Miles refuses to save everyone rather than save one person, flipping Edge of Time’s interaction on its head with an added twist of conflict.
Across the Spider-Verse and Edge of Time Might Have Opposite Endings for Spider-Man 2099
Across the Spider-Verse could have Miles wanting to save any number of important characters, including Peter B. Parker, Gwen, and either of his parents. It will be interesting to see why Miguel is as aggravated and animalistic as he is, but it is even more intriguing that he shares a common rationalism with Edge of Time’s Miguel.
Across the Spider-Verse could go in one of two directions: Miguel could receive an intervention and understand that being Spider-Man means that he cannot stand idly by if even one person is in danger, or he could believe in his plight of saving every world so strongly that he is unable to see his actions as anything but morally obligatory.
Both Miguels are flawed in this way, but if one Spider-Man can convince the other to aid them, then it is entirely possible for Miles to do the same. There are possibly other narrative beats that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has left obscured that would explain his ideals more sufficiently. In the meantime, it seems like he has a similar lesson to learn as the Spider-Man 2099 from Edge of Time did.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse premieres in theaters on June 2, 2023.