Across the Spider-Verse Connects to the MCU
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has been a visual feast for superhero fans and has left them eager for more. The film continues to build on its predecessor while telling its own story, setting the stage for the upcoming finale, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, set to release next year.
Across the Spider-Verse raises the bar with its grander vision for the Spider-Verse, incredible attention to detail, and personal stakes for Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy. This film presents a different version of Spider-Man, unlike any live-action iteration seen before. Morales’ story unfolds uniquely, providing audiences with a fresh take on the character. The film also features unexpected references and Easter eggs that tie this trilogy more closely to the previous Spider-Man films and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Here are the top five ways in which Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse connects to the multiverse storytelling of the MCU:
1. Multiverse Visuals
One of the crucial ways that Across the Spider-Verse connects to the MCU is through the representation of the multiverse on-screen. The film uses a familiar visual of thin white lines branching into separate realities, which is also shown in MCU stories like Loki, What If?, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania. This similarity implies that the Spider-Verse films are operating in the same wide multiverse as the rest of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga.
2. Connection to Venom Movies
The villain, The Spot, tests his multiversal jumping abilities by visiting several different realities, including one that appears to be the same continuity as the Venom movies. The Spot briefly finds himself face-to-face with the convenience store owner Mrs. Chen, played by Peggy Lu, who has appeared in both Venom films. Although the villain does not encounter Tom Hardy’s Venom nor Jared Leto’s Morbius in this scene, his interaction with Mrs. Chen confirms the connection to that world. This indirect connection to the MCU ties the worlds of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and the animated Spider-Verse films together.
3. Donald Glover’s Prowler
Donald Glover makes a surprise cameo as a live-action iteration of The Prowler in containment at the Spider-Society headquarters. Glover famously also had a cameo in Holland’s first solo Spidey film, Spider-Man: Homecoming, in 2017. During his brief appearance in Homecoming, he played Aaron Davis, AKA the Prowler and uncle to Miles Morales. Glover’s Davis/Prowler has been noticeably absent from the MCU since then, though his appearance in Across the Spider-Verse could suggest that he was transported to another universe and taken captive by the Spider-Society.
4. Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home, cementing their characters and the films they originated from within the MCU’s multiverse. Their inclusion in Across the Spider-Verse via footage from those previous films directly connects the Spider-Verse films to the MCU. Maguire and Garfield also appear in the multiverse-explaining monologue from Spider-Man 2099 Miguel O’Hara, tying their stories with the Spider-Verse films together, with Holland and the MCU’s films being implicated in this interconnected web as well.
5. Miguel O’Hara References No Way Home
Miguel O’Hara references the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home in the film’s opening sequence. He explains how the multiverse has been ripped open, placing most of the blame on the events of the first Spider-Verse film, and adds, “and don’t even get me started on Doctor Strange and the little nerd back on Earth-199999.” This reference confirms that the events of the MCU take place within the same multiverse system as the Spider-Verse films, potentially setting up a crossover in the future.
In conclusion, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is not only a fantastic film in its own right but also ties in with the wider MCU universe. With the upcoming release of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, fans are eagerly anticipating what other connections and surprises the film will bring.
This article contains SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-VerseSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is making waves as one of the most ambitious and visually impressive superhero films to ever grace the big screen. The sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse tells its own coherent story, while simultaneously building off its predecessor and brilliantly laying the groundwork for the third film of this trilogy. That finale, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verseis set to release next year. Across the Spider-Verse ups the ante in just about every way imaginable, with a grander vision for the Spider-Verse, some truly astounding attention to detail and increasingly personal stakes for the heroes Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy.
The character of Spider-Man has often been considered the crown jewel of the Marvel film universe and the comics that it is based on. However, the Spider-Man presented in the Spider-Verse films is different from any of the live-action iterations that have come before. In addition to being an entirely different character altogether, Morales’ story also unfolds differently from what audiences have become familiar with through the eyes of Peter Parker. With some genuinely unexpected references and Easter Eggs, Across the Spider-Verse has tied this trilogy more closely to the previous Spider-Man films and the Marvel Cinematic Universe than was previously assumed. Here are five ways in which Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is connected to the multiverse storytelling of the MCU:
5 Branched Timeline Visual
One of the most crucial ways that Across the Spider-Verse ties itself to the MCU is through the representation of the multiverse on-screen. While Into the Spider-Verse embraced the idea of the multiverse years before the MCU did, the way that the multiverse is explained in both franchises seems to indicate that they are one and the same. In the new Spider-Verse film, Spider-Man 2099 Miguel O’Hara explains that the “arachno-humanoid-polymultiverse,” as he calls the Spider-Verse, exists within the overall multiverse. To show this, a familiar visual of thin white lines branching into separate realities is shown, which the Spider-Verse is then overlaid on top of.
This visualization of the multiverse is identical to how the branching “sacred timeline” has been shown in MCU stories such as Loki, What…If?, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania. This similarity implies that the Spider-Verse films, even though they are not produced by Marvel Studios, are operating in the same wide multiverse as the rest of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga.
4 Connection to the Venom Movies
Relatively early in Across the Spider-Versethe film’s villain The Spot tests out his multiversal jumping abilities by visiting several different realities that are notably different from his home. One of these realities that he pops into appears to be the same continuity that the Venom movies exist within. The Spot briefly finds himself face-to-face with the convenience store owner Mrs. Chen, played by Peggy Lu, who has appeared in both Venom films and is utterly unamused by The Spot’s antics in Across the Spider-Verse. While the villain does not encounter Tom Hardy’s Venom nor Jared Leto’s Morbius in this scene, his interaction with Mrs. Chen confirms the connection to that world.
As for how this connects to the MCU, the post-credit scenes of both Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home show Hardy’s Eddie Brock transported briefly into the MCU, only to accidentally leave behind a remnant of the Venom symbiote. Though this is an indirect connection to the MCU, it is still a throughline that ties the worlds of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and the animated Spider-Verse films together.
3 Donald Glover’s Prowler
One of the most unexpected surprise cameos in Across the Spider-Verse is that of Donald Glover as a live-action iteration of The Prowler in containment at the Spider-Society headquarters. Glover famously also had a cameo in Holland’s first solo Spidey film, Spider-Man: Homecomingin 2017. In that film, he played Aaron Davis, AKA the Prowler and uncle to Miles Morales. During his brief appearance in Homecominghe references a nephew who lives in the area, and a deleted scene even shows him calling his nephew Miles on the phone.
Glover’s Davis/Prowler has been noticeably absent from the MCU since then, though now, with his appearance in Across the Spider-Verseit could be believed that he was transported to another universe and taken captive by the Spider-Society. Interestingly, all of these variants were being sent back to their home dimensions by the Spider-Society, so it’s possible that Glover could appear in another Holland Spider-Man film sooner than later.
2 Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire
It still feels strange to say that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men have appeared in the MCU, but their significant roles in Spider-Man: No Way Home inarguably cements their characters and the films they originated from within the MCU’s multiverse. With that, their inclusion in Across the Spider-Verse via footage from those previous films directly connects the Spider-Verse films to the MCU.
Maguire and Garfield appear also appear in the multiverse-explaining monologue from O’Hara, as he explains the “canon events” such as the death of an uncle and a police captain. Live-action clips from both Spider-Man (2002) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) are shown to communicate these stories. This ties the stories of Maguire, Garfield and the Spider-Verse films together, with Holland and the MCU’s films being implicated in this interconnected web as well.
1 Miguel O’Hara References No Way Home
Finally, one of the biggest connections to the MCU that can be found in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse comes from O’Hara in the film’s opening sequence. As O’Hara and Jessica Drew arrive to help Spider-Gwen take on the Renaissance-era Vulture from another universe, O’Hara briefly explains how the multiverse has been ripped open. While he places most of the blame on the events of the first Spider-Verse film, he also throws in “and don’t even get me started on Doctor Strange and the little nerd back on Earth-199999.”
This is a clear reference to the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and it’s a direct connection to the MCU, which has been designated as Earth-199999 since an official MCU handbook declared it as such way back in 2008 (although in-universe it has been called Earth-616). Whatever you want to call it, this reference confirms that the events of the MCU do take place within the same multiverse system as the Spider-Verse films, which could potentially tee up a crossover somewhere down the line, perhaps in a film like Avengers: Secret Wars.
