Are there 2 versions of ‘Across the Spider-Verse?’ The new rumors, explained

Eagle-eyed fans have spotted a few differences between separate viewings of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, leading many to question whether Sony released more than one version of the film.

The supposed differences are only minor, something that would fly under the radar for most casual viewers. In most instances, you could chalk it up to bad memory or the Mandela effect if it weren’t for the fact that there’s actually some proof already out there that shows two videos of the same scene playing out in a slightly different way.

The scene takes place near the beginning of the movie when Miguel asks Lyla to call for backup in one version. After she says she already has, she points at Miguel, but in the second video, she takes a selfie with a bunny filter on Miguel’s mask. You can see the evidence for yourself.

This wasn’t the only change

People took to the replies to add to the list of subtle differences they spotted between separate viewings. One viewer noticed that Ben Reilly had slightly different dialogue. In one version he says “I’ve got you trapped in my well-defined musculature, so don’t even-“ yet in another he supposedly says: “This one’s called the sleeper hold, I’m using my bicep to constrict your-“. Personally, I definitely remember the second line being said, but I’ve only seen the film once so far. There were plenty more examples of tiny changes just like this one that fans described, although there’s no video proof yet.

But aside from all the witnesses who seem pretty convinced there are two versions and the video shared to Twitter, is there any more conclusive proof that there’s more than one version of the film?

As a matter of fact, there is, as one of the film’s editors, Andrew Leviton, jumped into the thread to pretty much confirm that there were indeed two versions of the film out there. Responding to the original tweet from Chisei, Leviton simply said “I was wondering when people would start noticing”, however, he did not elaborate on the reason for there being two versions and so fans were left to speculate as to why these changes were included.

So what is the reason?

Many started noticing the different versions after the audio fix. If you weren’t aware, on its initial release, Across the Spider-Verse had some pretty bad mixing issues. It’s particularly noticeable in Gwen Stacy’s opening monologue which can’t be heard over the backing track. A week after the film’s release, an updated version was sent out to theaters which fixed those problems. Of course, this lines up with when people started noticing the subtle differences. 

Other theories include it being a regional thing, with different edits for different countries. Makes sense, although the original poster claims they saw both versions in the U.S., so again, that doesn’t really explain it fully.

In a film full of Spider-Man variants, it’s pretty meta for Sony to release variants of the film itself, so we’ve got to give points for creativity. The true extent of the changes might not be unraveled until the movie releases outside of cinemas when people can take their time and compare the changes. That is assuming, of course, the two versions will still be a thing once it releases digitally and physically.