Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will be released in theaters in just a few weeks. But despite this, there are still many who are unsure who the real villain in the movie will be.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a follow-up from the 2018 film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This time around, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) will be facing other Spider-People (including Gwen Stacy) in this new film.
But while there are some whom Miles has encountered in the past, the new Spider-People may not see him as a hero. After all, we're dealing with a multiverse here.
One character that Miles will face in this movie is Miguel O'Hara (voiced by Oscar Isaac) aka Spider-Man 2099. And from his point of view, Miles is a villain.
This begs the question: who is the real villain in the upcoming animated film?
Is Miles the Real Villain In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
In the official synopsis of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Miles and Gwen are said to clash with the other Spider-People they meet.
The trailer also shows a new character voiced by Oscar Isaac that disagrees with Miles and asks him "Who do you think you are?"
It's possible that this comes from a disagreement between Miles and Spider-Man 2099 as they try to look for a way to stop the new threat around them. This also puts Miles as a possible villain in the movie since the other Spider-People are against him.
But since the movie follows Miles' viewpoint, we don't really see him as the villain in the story. It's simply a matter of each character's own experience with Miles from their own multi-verse version.
Who Is Spider-Man 2099?
So who is Spider-Man 2099 and why is he against Miles? Unlike the other Spider-People in the film, Oscar Isaac's Spider-Man 2099 plays a bigger role.
Spider-Man 2099 comes from a dystopian future with a cyberpunk version of Miles' reality. The character is actually Miguel O'Hara, a smart geneticist of Alchemax, who hopes to create loyal superhumans.
When he gets blackmailed by Tyler Stone (his boss), Miguel rewrites his own DNA to become a half-man and half-spider superhero wielding most of Peter Parker's powers.
He doesn't have Spider-Sense. But this allows him to adapt to other powers like having night vision and venomous fangs.
Compared with Peter, Miguel is a loner and can sometimes be a jerk. He doesn't have any friends except for an AI called Lyla.
In his multi-verse version, Miguel is a hero among ordinary Nueva York citizens as he goes against his former boss.
Is Spider-Man 2099 the Villain in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
Even though Miguel clashes with Miles, he is not the real villain in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Writer Christopher Miller spoke with Entertainment Weekly and shared:
"He's not the villain of the movie, but he's sort of an antagonist to Miles because they both think that what they're doing is the right thing."
The two have drastically different ways on how to deal with the multiverse, which only explains why their ideas are bound to clash.
So Who Is the Real Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Villain?
So while Miles and Miguel are definitely not the villains of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, we have to look at someone else. And that role naturally falls to Spot aka Dr. Jonathan Ohnn (voiced by Jason Schwartzman).
Spot has been a villain in the Spider-Man comics since 1984. Writer Phil Lord explains:
“I like the villains best when they reflect the journeys of the hero — sort of a dark mirror of the protagonist. And I think Spot’s no different. He wants to be seen as legitimate. He’s a character that has a silly costume and is not always seen as the top tier of Spider-Man foes, but like all of us, he wants to be taken seriously.”
So Who is Spot?
He is a powerful nemesis with the ability to create space warps (or dark holes) and create portals to various realities. Through the spots he creates, Spot is able to punch and kick his opponents.
What's interesting about Spot is that he shares a connection with Miles. So we'll have to see how Miles will try to save Spot instead of killing him.
Maybe this is why the other Spider-People will see Miles as a villain in the film. We'll have to wait and see how they deal with this conflict in the movie.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will be coming out in theaters on June 2, 2023.
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