‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ ending, explained

Warning: the following article contains spoilers for ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’

After almost five long years, the insurmountable wait for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is finally over, with Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, and most of our other favorite Spider-folk once again gracing the big screen. 

The minds behind the Spider-Verse sequel have been shouting from the rooftops that the film is going to be ending on a cliffhanger, and if you’ve gotten around to seeing the film, you can probably understand why now. In short, the way the film wrapped up was absolutely brutal – playing out more like an episode of a hit television series that will be back next week, rather than a feature film that won’t be picking up its plot for another year. 

You’re probably just as dumbstruck by that ending as the rest of us, and gathering your thoughts on the matter may prove troublesome. So – for the sake of your sanity, here’s our breakdown of what went down in the closing minutes of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Second and final warning – either watch the movie, or have it spoiled for you in the next paragraph. You choose. 

What happens at the end of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

After being reprimanded by Miguel O’Hara in the Spider-Verse hub world (Nuevo York, Earth-928) for disrupting Pavitr Prabhakar (Indian Spider-Man’s) canon event, Miles learns that his father, the newly appointed police captain, is destined to perish at the hands of Spot, and any attempt to prevent this from happening will throw the Spider-Verse into disarray. 

Miles doesn’t take this news lying down – with a little bit of help from the anarchistic Hobie Brown, Miles breaks out of his restraints and makes his daring escape from Nuevo York. During a lull in the pursuit, Miguel reveals that Miles was never supposed to be Spider-Man, as Earth 42’s spider was never supposed to show up in Miles’ Earth-1610. The key crushing takeaway revelation is that if Miles hadn’t been bitten, his universe’s Peter Parker would never have died saving him.

This only momentarily deters Miles, whose newfound resolve and reaffirmation only spur him on further.  He finds his way back to the multiversal transporter, which traces his genetic signature to Earth-42 and sends him there. Gwen, meanwhile, is exiled from Nuevo York for helping Miles and is left stranded in her own universe, Earth-65 – where she is a fugitive. Keeping up so far? 

Miles makes his way home to his mother – and he recalls their earlier conversation about other people thinking less of him, and winds up telling her that he is Spider-Man. Unfortunately for Miles, his mom has no clue who Spider-Man is, because he landed in the wrong universe. The transporter sent him to the universe where it thought he belonged, per the spider that bit him, which originally lived on Earth-42. It was then brought to Miles’ home universe (Earth-1610) by Spot.

In short; Miles (Miles 1610, hereon) has landed in another universe where his father is dead, his mother is dating his still-living Uncle Aaron, and there’s another Miles skulking about somewhere in New York. Universe 42 Aaron arrives at Miles’ home and discusses some sort of heist that the pair will be undertaking. Miles 1610 feigns knowledge of Aaron 42’s plan and plays along, but is quickly ambushed and knocked out cold by Prowler 42. Still with us? 

Miles 1610 wakes up restrained and starts pleading with Aaron 42 to let him go, presuming he is Prowler, as he was in his home universe during the original film. However, Prowler then emerges from the shadows and comes face to face with Miles 1610, removing his mask and revealing himself as Miles 42. Miles 1610 appeals to his multiversal counterpart to let him go, but Miles 42 appears to be a lot more malevolent – and is in no rush to oblige him. 

Meanwhile, over on Earth-65, Gwen confronts her father, who was attempting to arrest her when the pair had last spoken. The pair mend fences in an emotional exchange, and her father resigns from his post as police captain, instead choosing to support his daughter’s endeavors as Spider-Woman. He then hands over a memento that Hobie left for her, a multiversal transporter wristband. 

She then proceeds to hop around the multiverse and starts rallying a lot of familiar Spider-people, presumably getting ready to mount a rescue mission for Miles 1610. In one of the final shots of the film, you can see Peter B. Parker, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham, and Peni Parker, as well as a number of newer faces we met during the film. We’re left with a shot of Miles 1610 and Miles 42 staring one another down, and we’re then met with a dreaded ‘To Be Continued.’ Roll credits, see you next year for Beyond the Spider-Verse.