Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ending explained

Did you enjoy your journey across the Spider-Verse? Sony Animation’s sequel to the 2018 Oscar award winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was nothing short of breathtaking. The animation was beautiful, the story was exciting, and there were so many wonderful Easter eggs. With so much going on, it’s understandable if you have some questions as you leave the movie theater.

For example, what was up with that ending? When will the story continue? Don’t worry Spider-Verse explorers, because Popverse is here to bring you up to speed. You don’t need spider-sense or an interdimensional bracelet to make sense of this movie, because our handy guide will answer all of your questions. Let’s break down everything you need to know about the ending to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse!

How does Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse end?

There are a few dangling threads at the end of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The main cliffhanger involves Miles’ accidental detour to Earth-42 when he is attempting to head back to his own home. During the film, Miles learns that the spider that bit him came from Earth-42, where it was supposed to bite someone else. Since the spider came to Miles’ world, Earth-42 does not have their own version of Spider-Man.

After Miles saves a police captain in another universe to disastrous consequences, the Spider-Society teaches Miles about the importance of Canon Events. According to Miguel O’Hara, Canon Events are an important part of each world in the multiverse, and if they are disrupted, it can risk shattering all of reality. Miguel goes on to explain that in each world, Spider-Man fails to save a police captain who is important to him. Miles then realizes that his Canon Event will be the death of his father Jefferson Davis, who is about to be promoted to captain.

Defying Miguel’s orders, Miles tries to return home to Earth-1610 to save his father, but he accidentally winds up on Earth-42 (where his spider came from). Miles soon learns that Earth-42 is not as friendly as his home reality. His uncle Aaron Davis (who was killed in the first movie) is still alive, but he’s still leading a life of crime. Miles tries to blend in, but Aaron quickly realizes that he doesn’t belong. An unseen figure quickly knocks Miles out, and Miles wakes up tied to a heavy bag.

As Miles asks his uncle Aaron to set him free, he quickly learns that Aaron isn't the Prowler, but the alternate universe version of Miles is. The movie ends with a “to be continued” sticker as Prowler prepares to attack his multiversal doppelganger.

The other cliffhanger involves the Spot, who spends the film traveling through different realities to steal more power. The more power he steals, the more portals he can conjure. The more portals he can conjure, the more unstable the multiverse becomes. During the film, Miles has a prophetic vision of a giant version of Spot with unlimited power. Will this version of reality come to pass? We’ll have to find out in the next film.

The third cliffhanger involves Gwen Stacy. After Gwen Stacy breaks ranks to help Miles, Miguel O’Hara expels Gwen from the Spider-Society. Feeling heartbroken for her friend, Gwen escapes her own universe (with the help of Spider-Punk) to find Miles before the Spider-Society does. Realizing that she can’t do this alone, Gwen assembles her own team of spider-themed heroes. This team includes characters from the last film like Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, and Peni Parker as well as newcomers Spider-Punk, Spider-Byte, and Pavitr Prabhakar.

That’s three solid cliffhangers, which gives us a lot to chew on as we await the release of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

Does Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse have a post-credits scene?

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has a mid-credits title card telling audiences that Miles Morales will return in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse but no other mid-credits scene or post-credits scene.

While no end credits scene made it onto the screen, apparently there were a couple planned, or at least pitched. For one, there was a proposed scene which would unite the Spider-Men of the recent past, said producer Christopher Miller on Twitter.

"We pitched the Sony brass an ambitious tag involving Spider-Ham, Tobey, Andrew, and Tom. They felt it was 'too soon'" Perhaps following the multiverse crossover in No Way Home, Sony felt that another trio (now quartet) of Spider-Men would undercut that effect."

The second scene that has been mentioned, this time by Phil Lord to Indiewire, would have featured a follow-up to a scene that had been cut from the main film. The cut scene would have shown the villain Spot in a villain's bar attempting to order a drink to no avail (as no one notices him). He would turn to steal a drink, only for the drink to spill out of his holes while he attempted to drink it (one would assume to plenty of villain mockery). In the end-credits scene, Spot would return to the bar and beat all the villains who made fun of him earlier. This end-credits scene would only work if the movie hadn't cut the original scene though, as it was a follow-up. And, as Phil Lord told Indiewire, it would be "Hard to beat where we left off.”

Who dies in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

Well, that's a complicated question, isn't it? A central goal of the film (especially towards its end) is Miles trying to prevent his father’s death on his world (Earth-1610). According to Miguel O’Hara he only has a few days to prevent the death, though the movie doesn't get that far (we’ll have to wait until Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse to see if the Earth-1610 version of Jefferson Davis survives).

And yet, Miles’ father Jefferson Davis is dead in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, but there’s a twist. The Jefferson Davis who has died isn’t the version we know. When Miles is transported to Earth-42, he learns that the Jefferson Davis on that world died, while Aaron Davis survived. The circumstances behind Jefferson’s death are not revealed.

Do Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy get together in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

Some of the film’s marketing has focused on the chemistry between Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy. If you watched the first film, it’s clear that Miles has a crush on Gwen. In Across the Spider-Verse, when Gwen arrives on Earth-1610, she and Miles pick up where they left off. They enjoy some deep conversations, and it’s clear that they share a mutual attraction.

Even Miles’ parents can see that there’s something going on between the two of them-- and yet. Although the film contains some heartwarming romantic teases, Miles and Gwen do not get together in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Chin up Miles and Gwen shippers, there is always hope for the next movie.

Were there any surprise cameos in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had plenty of fun cameos that will leave fans grinning from ear to ear. For one, J.K. Simmons reprises his role as J. Jonah Jameson in a series of (typically angry) voiceovers.

Later on in the film, while touring the Spider-Society headquarters, Miles comes across holding cells for villains who jumped into the wrong reality. Donald Glover can be seen in one of those cells, reprising his role as Aaron Davis, from the 2017 film Spider-Man: Homecoming, but this time in a full Prowler suit. Although the scene is animated, Glover appears in live-action, which is pretty cool.

Even later, while the Spider-Society talks to Miles about maintaining the importance of canon events, an animated version of Spider-Man steps forward to share his thoughts. This is the version of Spider-Man from the Spectacular Spider-Man animated series. Josh Keaton, who voiced the character in the beloved cartoon, reprises his iconic role for this scene.

Watch on YouTube

Plus, there's a quick dash to the Venom-verse (which you can read more about below).

Does Across the Spider-Verse go to the Venom-verse?

When the Spot is testing out his universe-hopping portals, he enters a reality that is live-action instead of animated. During this brief excursion, the Spot has a conversation with Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu), who viewers might recognize from Sony’s Venom films.

Spot is surprised to see how calmly Mrs. Chen reacts to his presence, but he quickly infers that this sort of thing is old hat for her. Interesting fact: According to this scene, the Sony Venom films take place on Earth-668. There have been debates in the past about where the Venom movies take place, and this new Earth designation is an important piece to that puzzle.

Are Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

Do Tobey, Andrew, and Tom make an appearance in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? Tobey and Andrew kind of do. While they didn’t film any new footage for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, both Andrew and Tobey are seen in the film via archival footage from their respective Spider-Man films.

These clips show up when the Spider-Society is explaining the importance of Canon Events to Miles. The illustration of Canon Events is showcased through a bunch of animated versions of the same scenes, and with those animated versions comes footage of Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker holding a dying Captain Stacy from the 2012 Amazing Spider-Man film and Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker in the Uncle Ben death scene from the 2002 Spider-Man film.

While Tom Holland isn’t seen in the film, he is referenced by Miguel O’Hara. While talking about the instability of the multiverse, Miguel references the events of the 2021 film Spider-Man: No Way Home saying, “Don’t even get me started on Doctor Strange and the little nerd back on Earth-199999."

Apparently, Tobey, Andrew, and Tom came close to having a cameo appearance in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. According to producer Christopher Miller, the three Spidey actors would’ve appeared in an end-credits scene alongside Spider-Ham. Sony rejected the pitch, feeling that it was “too soon.” While Miller didn’t elaborate on what that meant, it’s possible that Sony thought the scene would’ve undercut their appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, assuming it had been planned that far in advance.

Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse connected to the MCU?

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is not an official part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the film does have some connections to the MCU. As previously mentioned, Miguel O’Hara references the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which implies that the MCU shares a multiverse with this film. In addition, Donald Glover reprises his role as Aaron Davis from Spider-Man: Homecoming, which is part of the MCU. In other words, while this film isn’t a part of the MCU, it does have a relationship with it.

Will Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse stream on Disney+?

There are currently no plans for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to stream on Disney+. Although most Marvel movies end up on Disney+, the situation with Spider-Man is different. That’s because Spider-Man’s film rights are owned by Sony Pictures, rather than Marvel Studios. Sony and Disney recently struck a deal which allowed their live-action Spider-Man films to appear on Disney+, but the Spider-Verse films were not part of that arrangement.

It’s possible that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will end up on Netflix, which has become the home to most of Sony Animation’s feature films. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was once part of Netflix’s library, but as of this writing, it is currently unavailable on the platform.

For now Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse can be enjoyed in theaters.

When does Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse come out?

If that cliffhanger had you on the edge of your seat, then you’re not alone. Don’t worry, you won’t have to wait too long for Miles’ story to continue. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is currently set for release on March 29, 2024. This means you won’t have to wait four years between movies like we did after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Work on both movies was done simultaneously, which allowed for the short gap between releases.

Keep your eyes peeled to Popverse, as we continue to bring you updates during the leadup to Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

---

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is in theaters now. Buy tickets on Fandango or Atom Tickets.

---

We're certainly excited about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. So much so that we've already reviewed the film as well as written about Miles swinging into Fortnite, covered the Spider-Verse Burger King takeover, looked into the new Spider-Jordans, and even eaten a Spider-Whopper. If that isn't enough Spider-writing for you, check out Five Spider-hero comics to read that aren’t about Peter Parker's Spider-Man.