Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had high expectations from fans and critics who praised the first movie, which helped define the animation genre in this day and age. With one of the longest runtimes that an animation film has ever held (2 hours and 16 minutes) and a brilliant amount of cameos from, quite literally, across the Spider-Verse, the second Spider-Verse film not only met those expectations, but far exceeded them.
In the two hours that Across the Spider-Verse runs for, an incredible variety of animation styles are used, from the classic Spider-Verse style for Miles to the drastically changing abstract style of Spider-Punk. The point is that those who worked on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse put a lot of effort into making such an amazing animated movie, which shows through to the end.
What Happens In Across The Spider-Verse?
A lot happens in this Spider-Man film, which stars Miles Morales as its main protagonist. In the first movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales was bitten by a radioactive spider not from his universe but rather in a different universe where the spider was supposed to bite someone else destined to become Spider-Man. A long time has passed since the first movie, and fans will now find themselves with Miles Morales in Across the Spider-Verse after spending much time as Spider-Man in his version of New York City.
After Gwen Stacy comes across Spider-Man 2099 and Spider-Woman from another universe, she is recruited into a group of 'Spider-People' who work together to solve Spider-Man-related anomalies across the multiverse. After making the mistake of telling Miles, Miles finds out that this group of Spider-People also makes sure that all 'canon' events happen in every Spider-Man timeline. This included Miles Morales' dad being killed in a showdown with Spot. Since finding that out, Miles ran away from the 'Spider-Society' to save his father. This led to a multiversal chase to capture Miles Morales, with almost all the Spider-Verse running after Miles.
How Does Across The Spider-Verse End?
After Miles Morales finds out that the Spider-Society also ensures that canonical events happen in every Spider-Person's timeline, he escapes the Spider-People and rushed to save his father, who is 'destined' to be killed in an accident with the villain Spot. To get back to his universe, Miles has to use the Spider-Society's machine, which sends anomalies back to their respective universes, but if fans remember, the spider that bit Miles was from Earth-42. That is important because that spider altered Miles' DNA, meaning the machine read Miles' DNA as Earth-42 and sent him to that universe. Earth-42 is left without a Spider-Man to protect New York City, littered with crime and thugs crowding the streets.
Rather the Uncle Aaron being killed off in this timeline, Miles' father was killed, leaving Aaron alive and well. Upon finding his Uncle Aaron, Miles was kidnapped the moment the two were alone. Miles then wakes up in his Uncle Aaron's apartment, where he is tied to a boxing bag, much like Miles did to Peter B. Parker in Into the Spider-Verse. At this point, Gwen realizes that Miles never made it back to his rightful universe, and she starts her own team to rescue Miles and hopefully help stop the Spider-Society from keeping specific icons like Uncle Ben from being saved. So far, it appears that Gwen has recruited the original Into the Spider-Verse team to help achieve her mission (Peter B. Parker, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham, and Peni Parker). Along with them is the newly introduced Pavitr Prabhakar to help Gwen and Miles. Surely Pavitr agreed to join this team after Miles saved Meera Jaine's (Pavitr's love interest) father.
Upon seeing Aaron's face and how sinister his uncle seemed, Miles struggled to explain how he was shot into this universe and that he knew Aaron didn't want to be Prowler. But fans were shocked when Aaron stated that he wasn't even Prowler. Then, fans saw a shot of someone lurking above Aaron and Miles, dressed in the Prowler outfit. The figure crawled down to meet Miles face to face and asked if Miles' father was still alive in his universe. The Prowler then unmasked himself to reveal Earth-42 Miles, who had become the Prowler in that universe. While being left on such a large cliffhanger, Across the Spider-Verse abruptly ended, leaving fans with hundreds of questions that have gone unanswered.
How Does Across The Spider-Verse Set Up The Sequel?
Sony had already stated that rather than one single sequel to Into the Spider-Verse, there would be two more movies. One is Across the Spider-Verse, and the third movie, which has been named Beyond the Spider-Verse. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will release in theaters on March 29th, 2024. To make way for a sequel,Across the Spider-Verse leaves fans on a massive cliffhanger as Miles is captured by an alternate version of himself, who had become Prowler.
Fans can only expect a few things in Beyond the Spider-Verse, as anything can happen in a world with infinite universes and Spider-People. What many Spider-Man fans expect, though, is that Miles will have to face off against himself in Earth-42 and possibly even Uncle Aaron. This showdown may happen all while Gwen and her team of Spider-People work to track down Miles and rescue him from the universe he was sent to. If and when Gwen finally finds Miles, the two may work together to help stop the Spider-Society and bring a realization that the 'canon' isn't necessary for the multiverse to exist.
Is There a Post-Credits Scene in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse?
Once fans find Miles Morales facing himself as the Prowler in another universe (Earth-42), the movie abruptly ends. Many Marvel fans may stick around hoping for any more scenes during or after the credits, but there are not any.
Although there aren't any post-credits scenes in Across the Spider-Verse, it is highly recommended for fans to stick around and admire the credits scene. This not only informs the audience who worked on Across the Spider-Verse but also reveals even more art used in the animation and lets fans vibe to one of the songs that Metro Boomin' produced for the Spider-Man movie.