Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Ending, Explained: A Shocking Miles Morales Reveal

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to the award winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has finally been released and it was well worth the 5 year wait. Joaquim dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Directed by Thompson, the animated film features the voices of Hailee Steinfeld, Shameik Moore, Daniel Kaluuya, Oscar Isaac and others. The film delves deeper into Spider-Man canon while uncovering a deeply emotional journey. However, the journey is not complete. Across the Spider-Verse is part one of a two-part saga that leaves a lot of loose ends. Between all the Spider-People and Miles’ turbulent tenure through multiple dimensions, there’s a lot that demands explanation. And it all ends on a solid cliffhanger.

Here’s a full breakdown of the shocking ending to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

What happens at the end of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

Following the grounding Miles Morales’ (Shameik Moore) story – a kid navigating his double life between family and crime-fighting, a large portion of the film sees our hero web-slinging his way through the multiverse . This is where he meets Indian Spider-Man aka Pavitra Prabhakar (Karan Soni), Hobby aka Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and others. including several important Spider-People. They are part of a Spider Society tasked with preventing anomalies from popping up and threatening the flow of the multiverse. Miles’ friend Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) is also a part of the collective.

Gwen meets Miles during a mission to survey The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a supervillain and self-proclaimed nemesis of Miles Morales. Now spots a scientist named Dr. Jonathan Ohn who transports a radioactive spider to Miles’ timeline, which is Earth-1610. The spider is originally from Earth-42. It’s important to remember that in Into the Spider-Verse, Miles steps in as the Spidey after the Peter Parker of his timeline dies. Miles stops the Kingpin by detonating his particle collider. The explosion transforms Dr. Jonathan into Spot who gains the ability to open portals and travel through space and different dimensions. It is a great threat to the Spider-People of all universes. These events make Miles the OG anomaly. Furthermore, his transformation into Spider-Man leaves Earth-42 without Spider-Man to save it. No wonder he’s not welcome in the Spider Society.

See Also: Movie Review: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

The film also established the Spider-Man canon. Each Spider-person must go through major life events – being bitten by a radioactive spider, losing a loved one and ultimately becoming a hero. Another event in canon is the loss of life of a police captain close to Spider-Man. Upon learning the truth, Miles is devastated as his own father, Jefferson Davis-Morales (Brian Tyree Henry) is set to become police captain. Miles grows tired of everyone telling him how his story should be. So in an attempt to find his father, he goes on the run from the Spider Society with hundreds of Spider-People trying to stop him. However, when he uses a technology that sends the Spideys back to their timeline, he is sent to Earth-42 where the original radioactive spider came from. And boy is the dimension bleak!

What does the shocking ending mean for Into the Spider-Verse?

In the absence of Spider-Man, chaos ensues in this universe. The streets are full of crime and the Sinister Six are controlling New York City. He learns that Miles’ father has died in this dimension and that his uncle Aaron is alive. In a shocking revelation, Miles from this universe has turned to a life of crime and dons the Prowler suit. The two come face to face with Prowler Miles holding Miles of Earth-1610 captive. And he has a lot of questions for her. Miles must leave because meanwhile, Spot is still after his father on Earth-1610. This time, however, he is not alone as Gwen is still out to save Miles. By the end of the film, she is joined by a small task force including Peter B. Parker, Spider Noir, Spider-Ham, Spider-Punk, Pavitra Prabhakar, Penny Parker, and Spider-Bite. And they’re ready for a full fight.

The shocker twist sets up the events of the next installment – Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. It looks like a Miles vs. Miles contest is unfolding and the stakes are higher than ever. The film does not have a post-credits scene and ends on a cliffhanger with “To be continued…” on the screen.

See also: Indian Spider-Man, Pavitra Prabhakar from Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, explained