Details regarding Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse have been revealed, and they tease a classic switcheroo.
This year’s animated epic Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse left audiences reeling with a major cliffhanger. And while we await the announcement of when exactly we will get to sit down and complete the story with the finale, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, writers and producer Phil Lord and Chris Miller, along with director Joaquim Dos Santos, have now offered some clues as to how the story of Miles Morales will continue. Here’s a hint, it’s inspired by a surprising Disney movie – The Parent Trap.
Be warned, as there are major SPOILERS to come.
After web-slinging his way across the Spider-Verse, the final moments of the sequel find Miles coming face to face with another, very different variant: Earth-42’s Miles G. Morales, aka The Prowler (voiced by When They See Us star Jharrel Jerome). With our Miles restrained and gearing up to make his escape, while Miles G. Morales readies himself to seriously hurt his counterpart, it sounds like Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will find the two versions of the character swapping places. Somehow.
Director Joaquim Dos Santos revealed to Empire Magazine that “there were some emotional touchstones resonating early on” in the initial plans for Across the Spider-Verse, explaining that “a Prince and the Pauper take” will happen with our Miles and his Prowler variant. Chris Miller meanwhile added:
“It was more about the alternate Miles. Basically, the thing that is now the very, very end of the movie was the bulk of the original concept.”
The pair then revealed that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse originally included “some Parent Trap elements,” and that all of this will instead be carried over into the third outing.
“Basically, that ended up becoming the second half of the movie, which then ended up becoming mostly the third movie.”
For those perhaps unaware, both The Prince and the Pauper and The Parent Trap center on two lookalikes who swap places in order to achieve something, whether that be to experience another life, or get their parents back together. Based on what we know about the characters in the Spider-Verse, the sequel is likely to involve the former, though to what end remains open to speculation. Could Miles G. Morales have a nefarious plan in mind? Will our Miles desire to see what it’s like on Earth-42? We’ll have to wait and see…
Will Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse Live Up to Its Predecessors?
While this all certainly sounds like an intriguing direction for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, the question remains, will the third and final adventure be able to live up to its critically acclaimed predecessors?
Someone who is concerned about this is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse star Karan Soni, who joined the fray in the sequel as Pavitr Prabhakar, aka Spider-Man India, and worries about how high the bar has been set.
“And [I’m] a little bit like, ‘How are they gonna make the next one?’ I’m just like, ‘What else is there to do?’ But, I feel worried for them. It’s like, you can only set the bar… Because, we’re so close to it being a perfect trilogy and now, I’m just like worried about what they’re gonna do, because I just feel anxiety for them of what is allowed to do.”
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse has had a hard time getting to screens. Initially intended for release in 2023, the follow-up was then given a release date of March 29, 2024. However, due to Hollywood largely being brought to a standstill amid the WGA and ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes, it is now unknown when audiences will get the chance to sit down in theaters and watch the trilogy come to its conclusion. No doubt it will be worth the wait.
