Let’s talk about the biggest plot contradiction of Across the Spider-Verse

It’s no secret at this point Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ends with a gigantic cliffhanger – the solution of which we will not see until 2024.

A much The variety of themes and plot points led to this cliffhanger, but most importantly, there are two particularly big revelations for Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in this film that drive the final moments. But here’s the thing: These two great truths might contradict each other. Or they could mend each other, or serve as a giant jumping-off point for the franchise’s themes of destiny and connection. Or all of it! Let’s get into that.

[Ed. note: This post contains major spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.]

Image: SonyPictures

The first big thing Miles learns in Across the spider verse is that all of the alternate versions of him throughout the multiverse – the Spider-People who make up an elite reality protection team – are linked not only by their Spider abilities, but also by “canonical events” – major (often devastating ) moments in life experience, and more importantly, they all have

Miles realizes that this means his father Jeff (Brian Tyree Henry). Only recently promoted to captain – will die in a few days. Miles wants to save his father, but the interdimensional Spider Coalition’s boss, Miguel O’Hara (aka Spider-Man 2099, voiced by Oscar Isaac) says he can’t and then sets Miles in a trap to get him to keep from interfering. Miles breaks out of captivity and attempts to return to his home universe, fleeing from an entire army of Spider-Men.

As the chase escalates, Miguel reveals that Miles is actually the original anomaly, the reason for every glitch currently occurring in the multiverse. The radioactive spider that bit Miles and gave him his powers was from a completely different universe, according to the usual Spider-Man origin story. This universe now doesn’t have its own Spider-Man, and Miles should never have been his universe’s Spider-Man because without his presence, the Peter Parker in his world would still be alive. It’s quite a shocking moment. But when Miguel snarls that Miles doesn’t belong with the other spider people, he realizes what Miles’ mother told him before – that he shouldn’t let anyone tell him he doesn’t belong.

Image: SonyPictures

But therein lies the contradiction: if Miles isn’t his universe’s intended Spider-person, why is his father on the chopping block? It could be that the radioactive spider forced the role on Miles, but if he’s Spider-Man enough that his canon runs normally and he fills the usual Spider persona, why should his existence pose such a problem for Miguel? If Miles Is An anomaly that lies outside of the normal Spider-People. Why can’t he just go ahead and save his father and allow his connection to the rest of Spider-People to dissipate? Wouldn’t that make everyone happy even if they’re lonely? Miguel believes that breaking the canon would destroy Miles’ universe – would it also cause the entire multiverse to collapse?

That contradiction – either Miles is a classic Spider-Man or not – is one of the larger plot issues Across the spider verse leaves unresolved. In fairness, by the end of the film, the characters have more pressing issues to worry about than the details of the Miles paradox.

The Miles Paradox is not a plot hole. This movie is part one of two, after all, and there is one much of things for Beyond the Spider-Verse Thematically, the contradiction between Miguel’s core truths about Miles challenges the notions of fate, determinism, and free will built into the entire interconnected multiversal web. In terms of plot, the conflict could provide a solution to the Miles enigma. Or it could make things much, much worse. Whatever the case, given the amount of detailed detail that went into the Spider-Verse films at every level, it’s highly likely that this paradox is intentional and will affect everything in the Spider-Verse -Verse movies happened Beyond the Spider-Verse.