The Big Picture
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was originally going to end right after Miles gets trapped on Earth-42 and meets his darker self, the Prowler Miles.
- The filmmakers took inspiration from The Empire Strikes Back, adding a hopeful epilogue with Spider-Woman and other Spider-Heroes joining forces to save Miles.
- The wait for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is longer than expected due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, with no new release date announced yet.
The Oscar-nominated feature, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, was nothing short of an overwhelming success. Creative visionaries Phil Lord and Christopher Miller hit their animated expansion into the Spider-Man universe out of the park. The film was incredibly well received by both critics and fans alike. Across the Spider-Verse is a satisfying adventure across the Multiverse —or the Spider-Verse in this franchise —, and it ended on one hell of a cliffhanger. Although the film ends with a jaw-dropping reveal, it nearly concluded on a much different note. The ending for Across the Spider-Verse was changed at the last minute before the film was released. So, what was changed? It’s time to unpack the original ending for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
PG
Animation
Superhero
Action
Adventure
Miles Morales catapults across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.
- Release Date
- June 2, 2023
- Director
- Joaquim Dos Santos , Kemp Powers , Justin K. Thompson
- Cast
- Shameik Moore , Hailee Steinfeld , Oscar Isaac , Jake Johnson
- Runtime
- 140 minutes
- Main Genre
- Superhero
- Writers
- Dave Callaham , Phil Lord , Chris Miller
- Studio
- Sony Pictures Animation, Marvel Entertainment, Arad Productions
'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Ends With a Heroic, Hopeful Cliffhanger
Fans will recall that in the final act of Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), thinks he has returned home to his original universe. Miles has essentially gone renegade from the Spider Society, led by Spider-Man 2099, aka Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac), who wants to keep Miles from protecting his father, Jefferson Morales (Brian Tyree Henry), from being killed by the unstable supervillain, The Spot (Jason Schwartzman). O'Hara reasons that Spider-Heroes are destined to suffer preordained "canon events" that define their journeys as heroes. He hypothesizes that preventing these canon events could potentially destabilize the Spider-Verse and create singularities that could threaten the fabric of the Spider-Verse's reality. Of course, that reasoning doesn't work for Miles, so he rejects O'Hara and the Spider-Society and goes on the run to save his father from The Spot.
That leads us to the final act. Miles Morales, aka the Spider-Man of Earth-1610, becomes trapped on Earth-42. Soon, he's knocked out and captured by a darker version of Miles Morales (also Moore), who has assumed the role of the new Prowler under the mentorship of his still-living uncle, Aaron Davis (Mahershala Ali), in his dimension. On Earth-42, Jefferson is already dead, and Prowler Miles does not appear to be open to listening to reason from Spider-Miles. The clock is ticking because Spider-Miles must save his father from The Spot, who is seen arriving back in Miles Morales' home dimension of Earth-1610, as Miles' parents, Jefferson and Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Velez), are seen looking out at the city with concern for their son. Not to mention, Spidey 2099 and the other Spider-Heroes are still hunting Spider-Miles to prevent him from saving Jefferson. The New York City of Earth-42 looks like a dystopic hellhole because there is no Spider-Man in this dimension to protect it, and Miles Morales never became Spider-Man.
The good news is that Spider-Woman, aka Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), has also split off from the Spider Society. She enters the dimension of another Spider-Man, Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), to seek his help to save Miles. Before the end credits roll, Gwen is seen having organized her own team of Spider-Heroes, including Peter B. Parker, Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), Margo Kess/Spider-Byte (Amandla Stenberg), and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney). The implication is their new team will save Miles from his current predicament and help him return home to rescue Jefferson from The Spot and deal with the Spider-Society. However, the heroic epilogue was something that happened late into production for the superhero blockbuster.
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'Across the Spider-Verse' Originally Had a Much Darker Ending
While Across the Spider-Verse ends on a huge cliffhanger, with Spider-Miles stranded and held hostage in a dark dimension by a villainous version of Miles Morales, along with The Spot returning to Earth-1610, endangering Miles' family, it ultimately ends on a hopeful note. Despite the dark predicament, the audience receives an optimistic morale boost because Gwen and the other Spider-Heroes have decided to side with Spider-Miles to help him. Spider-Gwen received a wake-up call after she reconciled with her father, NYPD Captain George Stacy (Shea Whigham). She realizes that there might be a way to avoid the death of a father figure as a canon event, along with a dimensional collapse, convincing her to help Miles. But the scene with the Spider-Heroes coming together to help Miles was a late addition to the film.
During an interview with Empire Magazine, co-director Justin K. Thompson and writer and producer Christopher Miller revealed the original ending for the film and how they decided to fix it. The film was simply going to end with Spider-Miles being trapped on Earth-42 and meeting his darker self, the Prowler Miles. As Miller explained to Empire, "We were like, 'It's a cliffhanger, it's supposed to end on a thing where you're like, 'Oh no!'" He continued:
"So it ended with Miles meeting his alternate self, and he's trapped in an alternate dimension, oh no. But the audience really did need that moment of hope. Help is on the way. They're gonna figure something out. If we were smarter, we would have learned that earlier."
That means Across the Spider-Verse was likely supposed to end not long after Spider-Miles meets the Prowler Miles, who refuses to let Spider-Miles go, which would've been quite the downer ending and a shocking moment to end the film on.
The Filmmakers Took Inspiration From 'The Empire Strikes Back' To Fix the Ending
The updated ending ties back all the main story elements together. The epilogue shows The Spot returning to Earth-1610, reinforcing the imminent danger of The Spot's unstable powers, which could lead to the tragic demise of Jefferson Davis. However, the audience also receives the hopeful notes of Miles' friends and allies grouping up to save him. The production crew took inspiration from another classic middle film of a sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. As Miller also noted to Empire, "We learned the same lesson that [Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back] learned," which prompted the changes in the film's ending.
The Empire Strikes Back has a similar hopeful epilogue that was added late into the film's production process. While the sequel has its dark moments and ends with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) being frozen in carbonite and taken by Boba Fett, it ends on a note with the Rebel Alliance regrouping. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) are recovering from their recent ordeal, and the heroes live to fight another day. Meanwhile, they are preparing to find and rescue their friend, Han Solo. Across the Spider-Verse similarly ends with the Spider-Heroes back together preparing to save Miles Morales. The new ending complements the rest of the film and teases the return of characters from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse who sat out for most of the sequel. Not only does it give the audience a hopeful and rousing note to go out on, it leaves the audience abuzz in anticipation for the third and final entry of the Spider-Verse Trilogy, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which will arrive in theaters at a later date.
When Can We Expect 'Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse'?
It's clear that the filmmakers reading the room and tweaking the ending for Across the Spider-Verse paid off in dividends, with the film receiving widespread critical and commercial acclaim. However, the wait to see the next chapter of Miles' story in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will be longer than originally anticipated. The movie, which was originally due out on March 29, 2024, was delayed indefinitely due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes last year. We're still currently waiting for a new release date for the threequel, but hopefully, it will arrive in theaters early next year. Nonetheless, the ending of Across the Spider-Verse did its job, raising the stakes and anticipation for the third chapter of the epic superhero saga.
For now, fans can check out Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as they wait for updates on Beyond the Spider-Verse. The animated sequel is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
