Sophia Michaels
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has worked its way into the hearts of fans across the country since it was released on June 2. The movie stars Miles Morales as he meets many different versions of Spider-Man (and Spider-Woman) who are trying to keep the Spider-Verse itself from breaking apart. Their leader, Miguel O’Hara (aka Spider-Man 2099), tells Miles that he’s not supposed to be Spider-Man at all and that if he doesn’t let his story follow some specific canon events (like the death of his dad), the universe will fall apart.
Fans will have to wait for the sequel, “Beyond the Spider-Verse,” to arrive but in the meantime, they’ve come up with a lot of theories for it. One of the most popular is that Gwen Stacy, aka Spider-Woman on Earth-65, is actually trans.
Ahead, we break down some of the biggest theories about “Beyond the Spider-Verse” as we wait until March 2024 to find out if they’re true or not.
Earth-1610 Miles Was Fated to Become the Prowler
At the end of the movie, our Miles (from Earth-1610) accidentally heads to Earth-42, where the spider that bit him is from. He discovers that in that universe, his uncle Aaron Davis isn’t the Prowler — he is. Some fans have gone back to the first film (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”) and noticed that in that movie, Miles before he’s bitten is often associated with the colors green and purple — the Prowler’s colors. They think this means that our Miles was actually meant to be the Prowler in his universe until he was bitten by the spider, changing his story forever.
Earth-42 Miles Was Supposed to be Spider-Man
This theory is kind of the reverse of the one above. The spider that bit Miles was supposed to bite someone on Earth-42 and make them Spider-Man, but instead bit Earth-1610 Miles. As some eagle-eyed TikTok users have noticed that when the movie shows the flashback to when the spider was taken from Earth-42, it was about to bite someone who looks a lot like Earth-42 Miles. So fans propose that Miles was meant to be Spider-Man and he should have never become the Prowler.
Miles’s Mom Will Die in “Beyond the Spider-Verse”
In “Across the Spider-Verse,” Miguel tells Miles that every Spider-Person has a canon event where a police captain they are close to dies. Miles’s dad, Jefferson, is being promoted to captain, so he wants to hurry back to save his dad. But many fans think this is a red herring and, ultimately, Miles’s mom will die in “Beyond the Spider-Verse” instead. Notably, Miles’s mom Rio also dies in the comics.
Miguel O’Hara’s Canon Theory Is Wrong
Miguel tells Miles that there are canon events every Spider-Person must go through in some shape or form and that when Miles interfered with the story of Pavitr Prabhakar, aka Spider-Man India, he opened up a hole in the Spider-Verse. Miguel tells him that he has to let his dad, a police captain, die because it’s a canon event. It’s implied that this is also one of the reasons why Gwen hasn’t returned to see her own dad, also a police captain, in her universe.
However, at the end of the film, Gwen tells her dad she’s Spider-Woman and he decides to resign as captain, seemingly saving his life and changing a canon event. Some fans think Miles and his friends will continue to prove that so-called canon events don’t need to happen at all. That would also explain the sequel’s title; to break the canon is to go “beyond” the Spider-Verse.
Another TikTok user posted that the actual canon is that all Spider-People lose a family member, a mentor, and a significant other, as opposed to the very specific roles Miguel assigns them. That theory lets the “canon” still exist while opening up possibilities about what exactly will happen.
Miles Will Save His Dad By Making Earth-42 Miles Spider-Man
This theory builds off of a lot of the others. One TikTok user theorizes that since Miles’s spider was meant for Earth-42 Miles, if our Miles turns that Miles into another version of Spider-Man, it will fulfill the demands of a canon event because that Miles’s dad is already dead. This way, Miles’s version of his dad can stay alive.
