TV & Movies

Major theories for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse

Lucy-Jo Finnighan
Miles Morales and Miguel O'Hara in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-VerseSony Pictures

Beyond the Spider-Verse will complete Miles’ story, and will no doubt include many twists and turns. Here are the most popular fan theories.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is considered by many to be the best Spider-Man movie of all time, so to say that people were excited for the film’s sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, would be an understatement. And at long last, it’s finally here.

Now, we’ve already discussed the film’s shocking ending, which left fans on a cliff-hanger, wondering aimlessly what was going to happen next. And while it may be a wait for the upcoming Beyond the Spider-Verse, fans don’t just sit and wait patiently.

Instead, the internet has been filled with tons of theories about what could happen in the future of the Spider-Verse franchise. Considering Into the Spider-Verse hinted at many reveals for the sequel, no doubt the sequel has laid the groundwork for the upcoming threequel. Let’s get into these theories, but first: SPOILER WARNING FOR ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE!

Other dimensions will show up, possibly of the musical, or non-spider variety

The novelty of a multi-verse theory is the sheer amount of Spider-variants that can cameo. Across the Spider-Verse gave us a ton, but there’s the potential for Beyond the Spider-Verse to go even further, with appearances such as Tom Hardy’s Venom, or the live-action 1978 Japanese Spider-Man.

One Spider that fans have been hoping for isn’t actually a movie Spider, but a musical one. Specifically, Reeve Carney from the 2011 Broadway Musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. This musical is infamous, as it’s one of the most expensive -and dangerous – musicals in history, all to be rather panned by critics and audiences alike.

The musical has now reached cult-classic status, and fans are hoping that the singing web-slinger will appear in the threequel. Considering this is a large part of Spider-Man history, said demands would be hard to ignore.

Fun fact: The original songs for the musical were going to be by the band Imagine Dragons. The song Radioactive? Meant to be a Spider-Man tune. No, we’re not kidding.

Miles could also land in a bunch of new dimensions, including said Broadway production. Maybe even our own dimension, which would no doubt give Miles a shock at the concept of Spider-Man merely being a fictional character, since this TikTok pretty much confirms who our Spider-Man is.

Prowler Miles will help Miles instead of harming him

miles prowlerSony Pictures

As we describe in our ending of the film explanation, “Miles is attacked and taken back to Aaron’s apartment. In this universe, his uncle isn’t the Prowler – he is, while his uncle works with him as a sidekick.” This new Miles seems very much like a problem, however some fans have theorized that we could simply being set up for a twist next time.

One TikTok in particular, which you can watch below, goes into depth about how The Prowler has been redeemed in multiple Spider-Man stories, and rebranded themselves as the Hornet. It could very well be that this Miles – who was originally meant to be a hero, as he was destined to get bit by the Spider that later bit Miles – could get redeemed too. This will then wrap up the whole issue of Earth 42 not having a Spider-Man type hero, as they’ll have the Hornet instead.

One common theme of this franchise is how easily events and people can change, and that believing someone to be set on a singular path can be harmful. So what better way to get this message across than to have a character appear villainous but then change for the better?

One of Miles’ parents will die

Rio Morales and Jefferson Davis in the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse castSony Pictures

In the movie, it’s set up that Miles’ father, Jefferson, who is just about to become Police Captain, is destined by the Canon to be killed by one of the movie’s villains, Spot. As stated by the villain to Miles: “I’m gonna take everything from you, just like you took everything from me.”

Ultimately, this death could happen. Despite Miles’ efforts, Spider-Man sometimes can’t save everyone, especially if you’ve got the whole Spider-Society after you, ensuing that it will happen.

However, things seem to point a little too heavily towards his dad dying. As in, it feels almost like the third film will subvert our expectations, and kill off another parent instead: Miles’ mother, Rio Morales. We actually go a lot deeper into this theory in another article, which you can check out here.

Something else destroyed Miguel’s universe and he hasn’t revealed everything

Miguel O'Hara in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-VerseSony Pictures

Miguel is an interesting character, as he is both a hero and a villain. While he goes to rather terrifying lengths to stop Miles from disrupting the canon, we can at least understand why he’d be so afraid of the consequences, regarding what happened to his – or rather, another Miguel’s – daughter.

Then again, some fans have pointed out issues with his story. As the TikTok below explains, considering how much Canon disruption has happened in other universes – including the events of ITSV – Miguel’s new dimension being completely wiped out just for replacing himself seems odd. His change of dimension happened while he was helping other universes get back to normal – Peter was even with him to help when his new universe collapsed – so there’s plenty of “hammer-space” for information we don’t know yet.

Not only that, there’s the theory that Miguel wasn’t even the Spider-Man in the universe he immigrated to. Instead, his daughter was, and his death was her Canon Event.

Considering how different of a character Miguel is between that post-credits scene in the first film and who he is presently, a lot must have happened that we don’t know about. Maybe Miguel did something else that damaged the Canon. Maybe he’s simply jealous of other Spiders having a family when he doesn’t and has over-rationalized his feelings. But, as the trilogy isn’t over yet, neither is Miguel’s story, so no doubt we’ll be finding out more about him next time.

The Spider-Verse canon won’t matter

Still from Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse trailerSony Pictures

A large conflict within the series has been this idea of the Canon, and how disastrous things can become should any Spider-Man deviate from it. However, we’ve also seen this idea challenged by Miles, and by the events of the previous movie. As mentioned above with Miguel, the Canon seems rather inconsistent with whether or not it will wipe out a universe, and with the Canon merely being based on an algorithm, algorithms can be wrong.

The reason the multi-verse exists is because of differences; different events and choices that have effected each Spider in a unique way. Ultimately, the idea of a “Canon” is inherently a flawed one. It’s likely that the fate of Miles’ father will determine whether or not the Canon should be held so religiously, and no doubt this will effect every Spider around Miles. Who knows, maybe no character has to die at all, despite what we ourselves expect to come from a story such as this one.

As stated in the first film, anyone can wear the mask. Background canon doesn’t matter, as anyone can change or be a hero. Maybe the Spiders who have been through Canon events have simply chosen to believe that these events are set in stone to alleviate their own guilt, and it’s not actually the truth. Some have even suggested that a revelation surrounding the canon will induce a change of heart in either Miguel or the Spot – though the latter is a less popular candidate for redemption.

There will be a multi-versal battle, with Spiders switching sides

Across the Spider-Verse Miles Morales and charactersSony

Considering how much Miles questioned the Canon in Across the Spider-Verse, and how Gwen has now assembled a team against Miguel, the final film in the trilogy could be gearing up for an all out battle, not just against the spot, but within the Spider-Society as a whole.

One TikTok in particular theorised that the main poster for the movie will play a foreshadowing part. Meaning that those on the left will be against Miles, and those on his right will stand by him, be his right-hand spiders, so to speak. Note how Gwen, Hobie, Pavitr, and Peter are all on his right, while Miguel, Ben, and Jessica are on his left.

True, Spectacular Spider-Man, along with many others, was on Miguel’s side at first, but things could always change, especially considering the below TikTok.

Either Gwen or Peter will die

peter and gwen spider-verseSony Pictures

Continuing what we said about Miles’ parents earlier, its expected for at least one important person in Miles’ life to die by the end of the trilogy, to raise the emotional stakes. And if not Miles’ parents, then perhaps his closest allies, Peter and Gwen.

It’s unlikely that both of them will bite the bullet, but considering the history of Spider-Man films, one of them definitely could. Gwen Stacy’s often don’t fare well in Spider-Man stories and Peter dying would fit the classic mentor demise so often seen in superhero origin stories. Right now, fans expect Peter to die more than they do Gwen, as ATSV promotional material falsely teased Gwen’s death to the point of disbelief, but our expectations could be subverted.

There’s so many theories throughout the franchise as a whole – one major one being that MJ from Miles’ universe is actually a villain that betrayed her Peter Parker – but we will have to wait and see how things play out.

While obviously the films are based on comics, that doesn’t necessarily mean the comics have all the answers, as Lord and Miller may take things in a whole new direction. Plus, with the concept of multiverse, literally anything is possible, and there are a million possible explanations for everything. So it’s up to which choices the writers make, and what cannon events will spawn from those choices.

Ultimately, it’s just another amazing reason to admire Across the Spider-Verse.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is in cinemas now. Check out our other coverage below:

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