‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Explains the First Film’s Big Mystery

The following publish comprises a number of 42-related spoilers for the Spider-Verse motion pictures.

There had been 42s throughout Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. There was a 42 written on the again of the spider that bit Miles Morales and gave him the powers of the final Spider-Man. There had been 42s hidden in backgrounds of quite a few scenes. When Miles fell off a constructing and banged into an indication on the means down, the numbers “4” and “2” fell exactly so that they made a 42 on the floor.

READ MORE: The Coolest Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Easter Eggs

42s had been in all places in that film. But Into the Spider-Verse by no means totally defined what all these 42s meant. The viewer might guess, however the filmmakers by no means made their intentions specific — till the sequel.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse lastly reveals the fact about the thriller of the 42s. It’s not only a random quantity, it’s not simply an homage to baseball nice Jackie Robinson, it’s not a reference to a selected problem of a Spider-Man comedian meant as an Easter egg. It’s truly the variety of one in every of the many Earths that make up the Spider-Verse. And for Miles Morales, it’s in all probability the most vital Earth aside from this personal.

That’s as a result of Earth-42 is the alternate actuality the place the spider that bit him got here from. The spider was plucked from its house dimension by the scientists at Alchemax, utilizing the supercollider that was the point of interest of Into the Spider-Verse. In that film, the Kingpin is utilizing this experimental machine to attempt to discover an alternate actuality the place his spouse and daughter are nonetheless alive. When Peter Parker will get shoved into the collider, it inadvertently drags the different Spider-Heroes like Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, and Spider-Ham out of their house dimensions and into Miles’.

When you concentrate on it, that clarification was all the time the most evident one. In Marvel Comics, alternate realities are differentiated with numeric designations. The house of Marvel‘s original Spider-Man — along with Marvel Comics’ traditional Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Avengers — is named Earth-616. The world the place Tom Holland’s Peter Parker hangs out with the remainder of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is known as Earth-199999. Spider-Gwen hails from Earth-65. Miles Morales calls Earth-1610 house. So having the spider with an enormous 42 written on its again originate on Earth-42 makes loads of sense.

At the finish of Across the Spider-Verse, when Miles tries to return to his house dimension from the realm of Spider-Man 2099, he’s by accident despatched to Earth-42 by mistake. It seems to be a bleak actuality the place there isn’t any Spider-Man — as a result of its radioactive spider wound up biting Miles as a substitute. On Earth-42, Miles’ dad is useless and his Uncle Aaron remains to be alive, and he works for that dimension’s model of the Prowler: Miles Morales.

As for the way Miles will get house, that’s the large thriller that Across the Spider-Verse leaves for the subsequent film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, to resolve. It’s scheduled to open in theaters on March 29, 2024.