The web of life and destiny ties together the fates of many heroes—and while Into the Spider-Verse introduced us and Miles Morales to quite a few, Across the Spider-Verse throws him into the deep end with a whole super group of them. There are plenty of new Spidey heroes in the sequel, but just as many are classic takes on the character from comics, games, and beyond. Here’s who we spotted, from the big heroes to the blink-and-you’ll miss ‘em.
It’s not really a spoiler for Across the Spider-Verse to say there’s a lot of Spider-people in it. Not only are there familiar faces from Into the Spider-Verse, but tons of nods to generations of Spider-hero comics and adaptations, alongside entirely new designs created for Across. Even then, whether they’re all-new or Easter eggs, many are in it for just a blink-and-you’ll miss it moment—in fact, we’ve probably missed a few. If you noticed one we didn’t include, let us know in the comments!
Of course, we’ll briefly touch on these Spiders’ roles in the film too, if you’ve still not swung your way into theaters and want to keep the Spider-surprises to yourself, consider this your last warning to turn back...
2 / 45
Earth: 1610
You know him, you love him, Brooklyn’s one and only Spider-Man was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli as the new Spider-Man to replace the Peter Parker of the Ultimate Marvel universe in 2011, after Peter died fighting the Green Goblin. Now ascendant as one of the most iconic versions of Spider-Man around, Miles has made his way in the comics over to the primary Marvel universe, Earth-616, as well as starring in his own video games and, well, you know, two wildly successful animated movies.
3 / 45
Earth: 65
Created for the first event in Marvel’s comics to be dubbed Spider-Verse in 2014, this version of Earth-616's most famous casualty of being a close friend of Spider-Man was so immediately popular that she began appearing in her own comic book series after Spider-Verse was over. Her popularity bolstered again by her appearance in Into the Spider-Verse, Gwen—commonly known as Spider-Gwen, occasionally Spider-Woman, and even less so during that unfortunate time Marvel really wanted you to think her codename was “Ghost-Spider”—takes on a major role in Across.
4 / 45
Earth: 928
The Spider-Man of the far-flung year 2099, Miguel O’Hara was created in 1992 as an Irish/Mexican-American scientist who found himself transformed into Spider-Man against his will by Alchemax, who also did a lot of horrible stuff like forcing Miguel into a drug habit in an attempt to keep him loyal to the company. It was a lot.
In Across, Miguel’s Earth and the futuristic city of Nueva York is home to the Spider-Society, a multiversal collection of Spider-heroes working together to maintain the “canon” that binds all Spiders across the web of life and destiny.
5 / 45
Earth: 404 (Across the Spider-Verse), 616 (comics)
Created as an attempt to stop rival companies from potentially cribbing off Spider-Man’s success in the ‘70s, Jessica Drew has had many iterations of her origins in the comics—and Issa Rae’s version of the character in Across is no exception. This Jess, Miguel’s second-in-command, is heavily inspired by more recent comics, in particular the 2014 All-New, All-Different Spider-Woman costume created by Kris Anka (who also worked on Across the Spider-Verse, designing myriad of unique extra designs for the film’s Spider-People). Also lifted from that comic storyline: the fact that Jessica is pregnant.
6 / 45
Earth: 616
The version of the ur-Peter seen in Into the Spider-Verse returns, now a father having re-established his marriage to Mary Jane Watson after the events of the movie. More on his kid shortly.
7 / 45
Earth: 50101
Pavitr is the Spider-Man of “Mumbattan” in Across, but in the comics, he was created for the 2005 miniseries Spider-Man: India. He made major appearances in the Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon comic events, before returning for a new miniseries this year to capitalize on his movie appearance.
8 / 45
Earth: 138
One of the alternate Spider-heroes introduced in the run up to Spider-Verse in 2014's Edge of Spider-Verse anthology, Hobie is the Spider of a dystopian reality where Norman Osborn was the tyrannical president of the United States. He’s a close friend of Gwen in Across.
9 / 45
Earth: 616 (Across the Spider-Verse), 982 (comics)
Peter B.’s little daughter lifts the name from the Spider-Girl of Earth-982, who first appeared in 1997's What If...? #105.
10 / 45
Earth: 616
Ben Reilly, star of the Clone Saga, former hero, former villain, former reformed Spider-Man, current villain again (and recently completely innocent doer of wrongs alongside fellow begrudged clone, Madelyne Pryor), is arguably the most famous clone in comic book history. The version we get here in Across is his iconic look as Scarlet Spider, complete with his hoodie, rather any of the other multitude of mantles Ben has taken on over the years.
11 / 45
Earth: 22191
Margo is the Spider-Society’s tech specialist in Across, a virtual vigilante introduced in 2018's Vault of Spiders miniseries, the Edge of Spider-Verse-esque prelude series to Spider-Geddon. From a reality where people spent most of their lives plugged into a virtual cyberpsace, Margo took on the identity of Spider-Byte to become a digital vigilante to fight cybercrime before she was recruited into the multiversal Spider-Army.
12 / 45
Earth: 53931
A riff on Spider-Man’s goofy car, the Spider-Mobile, created in 1973 as a marketing deal between Spidey and the car company Corona Motors, the version we see in Across is actually a Spider-hero from an Earth of sentient vehicles created for the 2014 Spider-Verse comics event.
13 / 45
Earth: 66
Created last year for the End of Spider-Verse storyline, he’s... well, he’s a Spider-Man who’s also a T.Rex. What more could you need to know?
14 / 45
Earth: 31913
Patrick and his horse Widow were both bitten by a spider doused in a mystical shamanic elixir, granting them Spider-powers, leading Patrick to use his powers and his sharpshooting talents as a vigilante hero called Web-Slinger. He’s not to be confused with Webslinger, the Medieval Marvel version of Spider-Man that’s a bit more Spider than he is Man.
15 / 45
Earth: 1048
The star of PlayStation’s Spider-Man games, this Peter is a long-time Spider-Man who wears a suit designed by himself and his mentor, Dr. Otto Octavius, before his transformation into the villainous Doc Ock. His name as the “Insomniac” Spider-Man in Across is not a reference to his lack of a consistent sleep schedule, but the developer of his games, Insomniac Games.
16 / 45
Earth: 9500
A TimeSpinner from the year 2211, Max is a scientist who helps control the timeline of his universe. He has history with Miguel in the comics, after Spider-Man 2099 helped him defeat the Green Goblin of Earth-9500, who was none other than Max’s own daughter, Robin.
17 / 45
Earth: 20023
Created by Dayn Broder originally as a fan-art “Spider-Sona,” Charlotte made her comics debut in the third volume of Spider-Verse in 2020 alongside several other community-created Spider-heroes. Charlotte uses a wheelchair when out of costume, but as Sun-Spider, she uses a set of crutches for stability.
18 / 45
Earth: 13122
He’s Spider-Man, but Lego! His sequences in Across were animated by 14-year-old Preston Mutanga, who had shot to viral fame for his recreations of the previous Spider-Verse trailers in Lego.
19 / 45
Earth: 120703
Andrew Garfield’s live-action version of Spider-Man makes a small but crucial appearance in Across, utilizing footage from the first Amazing Spider-Man film.
20 / 45
Earth: 26496
Star of the iconic 2008 animated series Spectacular Spider-Man, and owner of the best Spider-Man theme, Josh Keaton returns to voice his take on Peter in Across.
21 / 45
Earth: 96283
Like Garfield’s version of the hero, Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man makes a brief appearance through archival footage from Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man movie.
22 / 45
Earth: 751263
This is technically the Spider-Man of the ‘90s animated show, just in a much more obscure costume. Hoping to continue in the popular wake of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Unlimited followed Peter as he ventured to the Counter-Earth, a planet on the other side of the sun, in an attempt to rescue J. Jonah Jameson’s astronaut son John. The suit, featuring stealth technology and anti-symbiote sonic weaponry, was designed with the help of Reed Richards.
23 / 45
Earth: 6799
Back off of his post-credits cameo in Into the Spider-Verse, the walking meme and star of the 1967 Spider-Man animated series has a similarly brief appearance in Across.
24 / 45
Earth: 18119
A duo of Spider-heroines that are none other than versions of Mary-Jane Parker and Anna-May Parker, the wife and daughter of the Peter Parker who didn’t have Mephisto supernaturally erase his marriage from the timeline, as depicted in the “Renew Your Vows” comic series. They fight alongside Peter as partners in crime-fighting, with MJ taking on the name Spinneret, and Anna-May first taking on the pseudonym AMP, and eventually adopting a new costume and identity as Spiderling.
25 / 45
Earth: 803
Maybelle Reilly, the Lady-Spider, was first introduced in Edge of Spider-Verse, the prequel miniseries that ga Source: Gizmodo