In recent years, the Multiverse has become sort of a staple narrative device for comic-book adaptations across different mediums, something that makes sense when venturing deep into a genre after multiple decades of its existence on the big screen. MCU has recently dipped its toes into the vast orrery of the Multiverse, and DC has used its CW properties to great effect to recreate the iconic “Crisis on Infinite Earths” on the small screen. In animation, however, the first single character-centric multiverse-oriented movie was “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018), an artistic splendor that respected the character’s legacy by bringing multiple spider-people on screen together. As seen from the trailer and poster of the upcoming sequel “Across the Spider-Verse,” the creators have increased the count of spider-people almost exponentially while retaining the main cast, following the comic-book storylines of “Spider-Geddon” and “Spider-Verse.” We will try to briefly introduce as many of those characters as possible to help readers keep track of them.
Spoilers Ahead
Spider-Man 2099
Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099’s appearance in the sequel was teased during the post-credits of the first Spider-verse movie. In comics, Miguel is a geneticist of Irish Mexican origin and resides in New York in the future timeline of 2099. After failing to replicate an experiment to create the original version of Spider-Man, he was betrayed by his colleagues and corporate chief as they set him up in an accident that altered Miguel’s genetic code to be 50% spider DNA. After gaining all the spider-related abilities and also additional talons in his hands and feet, Miguel dons a distinctive red and blue costume, which also looks like a stylish version of the Mexican “Day of the Dead” costume. Miguel operates as the Spider-Man of his era and is assisted by an AI named Lyla. In the movie, the character will be voiced by Oscar Isaac.
Spider-Punk
Hobart “Hobie” Brown of Earth-138 is known as Spider-Punk. A homeless teenager, Hobie, was bitten by a radioactive spider, which was experimented on as part of the toxic waste dumping practice of President Norman Osborn’s corporation. Assuming a punk-rock persona, Hobie united the downtrodden people of New York against the oppressive Osborn and led a rebellion. Later, Hobie killed Norman using his guitar and became a symbol of hope and anarchy for his people. In the movie, actor Daniel Kaluuya will voice the character.
Toei Supaidaman
In 1978, Toei and Marvel Comics entered into a partnership for the live-action TV series rights to Spider-Man. The ensuing series saw a newly created version of Spider-Man that had been designed to suit the tastes of the then-Japanese Tokusatsu fans and shared barely any resemblance with the original character except for the costume. Takuya Yamashiro, a young motorbike racer, gets injected with the blood of the only surviving Planet Spider alien, Garia. He gains spider-like powers, and Garia gives him a bracelet that activates his costume and shoots web lines. The relatively unknown series had gained cult status among hardcore Spidey fans due to its hilarious and nonsensical elements. “Across the Spider-Verse” will be the first time this character makes an appearance after being canonized by Marvel Comics recently.
Spider-Women Jessica Drew And Julia Carpenter
In order to save young Jessica’s life from prolonged uranium-radiation-caused cancer, her father, Dr. Jonathan Drew, injected her with various spider-derived serums and placed her in a genetic accelerator, where she remained for a few decades. Upon waking up as a teenager, Jessica gained spider-related powers due to a fusion of radiation poisoning and spider serum and donned the moniker “the first Spider-Woman.” This culturally significant character also had her own animated television series in 1979. In the movie, Issa Rae will voice her, and the character will be a pregnant biker of African American origin.
Julia Carpenter unknowingly became a test subject for a secretive government group and gained spider-like powers after being injected with a concoction of plant serum and spider venom. She debuted as Spider-Woman during Marvel’s biggest crossover event, “Secret Wars” (1984), and her bluish-black with white spider emblem attire later inspired the design of Peter Parker’s iconic black symbiote suit. Julia Carpenter’s presence in the movie was confirmed through the poster itself.
Spider-Man India
The iconic Spider-Man India, which had its four-issue run exclusively through Gotham Comics Imprint in India, will make an appearance in the movie, as confirmed by the makers and the poster. In an origin that bears a striking resemblance to original spidey-lore, Indian teenager Pavitr Prabhakar gains spider powers after an ancient yogi bestows him with mysterious abilities. But his negligence in using his newfound powers causes the death of his uncle, Bhim. Wracked with guilt and despair, Pavitr operates as Spider-Man in Mumbai. However, in the comics, the dhoti-clad design was an extremely clichéd portrayal of an Indian character, to begin with, and in the movie, too, the overly stylized jewelry adorning the character evokes a similar sentiment.
Spider-Girls Mayday Parker And Anya Corazón
In the continuity of an alternate universe, Mayday “May” Parker is the daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in the future and was named after Aunt May. She inherited powers from her father and operated as Amazing Spider-Girl after donning Ben Reilly’s (Peter’s Clone, more of him later) costume. A child version of Mayday had been revealed as a part of the movie’s character design, and she might have a future grown-up version in the movie too.
A teenager of Mexican-Puerto Rican lineage, Anya Corazón, was fatally wounded after getting caught up in a feud between mystic groups. To save her life, a mage named Miguel Legar of the Spider Society performed a ritual that imbued her with spider powers. Anya designed her costume, which suits her quirky outlook, and goes by both the monikers “Spider-Girl” and “Araa.” In the comics, she interacted with Mayday a number of times.
Mangaverse Spider-Man
Marvel Comics launched manga-oriented titles of its popular characters during the early 2000s, and Mangaverse Spider-Man was the result of such an initiative. In this alternate version, the character Peter is from Earth-2301 and is the last surviving member of a spider clan. He was taught martial arts by his sensei, Uncle Ben, and after his death at the hands of Venom, Peter donned the spider costume to seek justice in a secretive way.
Spider-Clones And Superior Spider-Man
After the villainous Jackal decided to hurt Peter Parker to take revenge for Gwen Stacy’s death (for which he blames Peter), he went on a ‘cloning spree’ as he cloned Peter Parker into multiple different persons. The first successful creation of Jackal was Ben Reilly, who later adopted the name Scarlet Spider. However, the first clone, who was left mentally unstable and deformed due to flawed cloning, was Kaine Parker. Being clones, these characters go through a severe existential crisis in the comics and later find their individual lives separately. Both these characters go by the moniker “Scarlet Spider,” and their costumes, along with their presence in Spider-Man lore, have become iconic through the years. Another weird clone named Spidercide will also make an appearance in the movie.
Although not a clone, Superior Spider-Man’s origin is related to Peter’s body. After the villainous Doctor Octavius gains control over Peter’s body and mind, he accesses Peter’s memories and gets inspired by his tragedies and heroism. Doc Ock becomes Superior Spider-Man, and this character quickly becomes a fan favorite.
Animated Spider-Man And Insomniac Gameverse
Attaining masterpiece status through the years, the 2008–09 “Spectacular Spider-Man” animated series’ version of Peter Parker will also make an appearance in the movie, as teased by the poster. Among other animated versions, the 99’s “Ultimate Spider-Man” and MTV’s animated adaptation of Raimi’s Spider-Man movie continuation, “Spider-Man: The New Animated Series,” – these two versions of Spider-man will appear in the movie. Insomniac’s bestselling Marvel “Spiderman” game universe will represent itself through the gameverse’s portrayal of Peter Parker and Miles Morales.
Lady Spider And Spinneret-Spiderling
An alternate young version of Aunt May, Maybelle Reilly, operates under the name of Lady Spider in Earth-803. She has no spider powers of her own but rather depends on self-designed spider-themed steampunk accessories and gadgets to fight crime. In yet another alternate future, Pete and MJ marry and have a daughter named Anna Parker. In this future, MJ gains Peter’s spider powers too, and their daughter inherits them as well. The mother-daughter duo goes by the names Spinneret and Spiderling, respectively.
Final Words
Aside from this ensemble of Spider characters, different iterations of Spider suits, like the different variations of the Iron Spider suit, Spider armor of the 90s, Future Foundation Spider-Man, Bombastic Bag-Man, Underoos Spider-Man, and Fear Itself Spider-Man suits, will appear as otherworldly versions of Peter Parker. Even dozens of lesser-known Spidey variations like Werewolf Spider-Man, Spider-Monkey, Poison Spider, Spider-Man UK, Dormammu Spider-Man, Carnage Spider, Spider Jock, and Cosmic Spider-Man are teased in a blink-and-you-miss sequence in the trailer. Rumors are making the rounds that Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland, and Tobey Maguire’s live-action Spideys will have another reunion, this time in animation, in the “Spider-verse” franchise with this upcoming sequel. The gateways of Multiverse have been wide opened by the web-benders; the possibilities are immense as nothing is off-limit anymore. If distinctive flair is properly given to a number of these fan favorites, the “Spider-Verse” franchise can surpass even the hugely successful comic counterparts it has taken inspiration from.