Film Theory: Spider-Man’s Biggest Threat is… the MCU?! (Spider Man Across the Spider Verse)

writing furiously in the comments. Just because these canon events haven't happened in these worlds yet doesn't mean they won't happen. And the order of canonical events doesn't necessarily have to be the same every time. And believe me, I hear you. That was also one of my initial thoughts when I was putting together this

theory

. But once again, it doesn't line up with what we see in the movie, all thanks to that necessary death of a police captain close to Spider-Man that drives the entire conflict. Remember, Mumbattan starts collapsing immediately after Miles saves Captain Singh, literally seconds after that event.

If Canon events don't have to happen at specific times, couldn't Captain Singh or another captain have died later in that world's history? And yet, here is Miles's world, which is totally fine. It didn't collapse when Peter Parker died. All of this tells me that what the movie says about canonical events and the consequences of breaking canon is wrong. Miguel has misidentified the problem. What we're seeing in these

film

s is not a break from canon. They are incursions like the ones we have been seeing in the Marvel Cinematic Uni

verse

. And that's way worse than any of these Spider-Mans think it is.

Now, if you left the main MCU after Endgame, you may not know what I'm talking about here. We first learn about Doctor Strange's forays into the Multi

verse

of Madness, when Strange is brought before the Illuminati of Earth 838. Basically, when people from one universe cross paths with another, the two universes begin to merge. Everything begins to break down until at least one of the universes breaks into pieces, killing all its inhabitants. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? This is a raid and they are not a joke. We see what remains of a universe after his incursion. And it is a wasteland.

It is a void of nothingness. This is such a big

threat

that the Illuminati thinks the mere fact that Doctor Strange exists in his universe is a major risk and needs to be dealt with. But he waits. Why do I connect   this movie to the MCU? Sony is the one making the Spider-Verse movies, not Marvel. And that is correct. But Spider-Verse goes to great lengths to make sure there's an established connection to the MCU. And it's not a blink-and-you-miss cameo or a casual reference either. As I said at the beginning of the episode, Miguel directly references the events of No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness within the first 15 minutes of this movie.

Earth-199999 is a designation for the MCU in Marvel Multimedia, first mentioned in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z. No Way Home connected the old Sony

film

s to the MCU multiverse. So the screenings of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire Spider-Men also connect this movie to them. The Spot briefly visits Mrs. Chen from the Venom films, a world also connected through No Way Home, and cameos by Donald Glover as a variant of Uncle Erin disguised as a prowler, the same role we see him play in the MCU. But the pivot that places this 100% in the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse now, as Miguel begins his explanation of the Spider-Verse to Miles, projects a simulation of the multiverse, one that looks exactly the same as how the multiverse has been portrayed throughout the universe.

MCU. . And I'm not just talking; "Oh, I guess it looks like that if you squint at it." These are the exact same bright, shiny white threads that branch out into multiple timelines, just like what we saw in Loki, just like what we saw in Quantumania. Having all these connections to the MCU, positioning it as part of the broader Marvel film franchise, means we have to incorporate the logic of the MCU here. Sony can't have their MCU cake and eat it too, even if they buy two cakes. If people from one universe cross over to another universe it's something that causes incursions, that's what we're seeing in this franchise.

And it explains everything. It solves all the problems we have been having. When Miguel crossed over to that other universe where he died so he could live a happy life with his family, he caused that world to be erased through an incursion. This explains why Earth 42, the world without Spider-Man, because our miles were bitten by his

spider

is totally fine despite breaking canon, no extradimensional visitor has spent significant time there, thus avoiding an incursion. It also explains what is happening in   Mumbaittan. Miles, Gwen, Spider-Punk, and Spot basically destroy a huge expanse of the city, leaving a giant footprint behind.

The hole opening up in Mumbattan is the beginning of an incursion, one that the Spider Society is possibly making worse by trying to fix. And that's the bitter irony of all this, Miguel's desire to try to fix the problem he mistakenly identifies as a break in canon. What does she do? He gathers

spider

people from all over the multiverse in one place and then sends them on missions to realities that are not their own. Every time it does that, the Spider Society risks another massive series of these universe-ending events. In short, by trying to help the situation, by forcing things to fit into a suitable mold, to be the right way, Miguel has made it exponentially worse.

Not only increasing the risk of incursions throughout the multiverse, but also indoctrinating a literal army of spider-people to simply stand by while innocent victims die. All this while ensuring that things are done “the right way”, “in the right way”. And thematically, this

theory

makes a lot of sense. The story I suspect the Spider-Verse franchise is trying to tell us is that anyone can be Spider-Man, but everyone will do it in their own way. Everyone will do it a little differently. Each one will assume that responsibility differently. But that doesn't mean they're doing it wrong. You are your own person and you can choose your destiny.

You are not the product of a bunch of events that preceded you. Miguel getting mad at Miles for messing up how things are supposed to happen, yelling at him because he's not supposed to be a Spider-Man? This could represent a substitute for a large part of the audience that resists change. An audience that wants to see the same stories over and over again "the right way." Or it can also be a substitute for where we are in today's society, where certain classes of people are allowed to do things with their lives that others are not, simply because they are "right" or "correct", just like certain People can and cannot be Spider-Man in Miguel's eyes.

But Miles turns that whole idea on its head. Being told he's not supposed to be Spider-Man gives Miles the freedom, the permission to stop trying to be Spider-Man, to stop trying to think about what Peter Parker or Miguel O'hara or Gwen Stacy would do. , and instead of just being himself, just being Miles, like he says right now. And that's the most heroic lesson any Spider-Man in any of the universes can teach. But hey! Being Spider-Man has to be hard on the body, especially now that the summer heat is approaching. Miles, Peter, Gwen, Miguel, they all need to stay hydrated to make sure they can fight regardless of the universe they are in.

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