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selenestarmoon · 8 months

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The Spot's Seek for Respect and Revenge

Contrary to what many people think, Spot is an interesting character but, as happens in the movie, he is underestimated by everyone, so I decided to write this post to analyse this character.

His arc is a perfect mix of a comic relief character who seeks everyone's respect and a character who puts his revenge above all else to the point of hurting himself and others.

DUDE, WHERE'S MY RESPECT?

Let's be honest, everyone looks down on Spot and when I say everyone I mean EVERYONE because not only is he treated by Miles as just another villain in the crowd, Miguel ignores the potential threat that Spot is to the multiverse and dedicated himself to chasing Miles for the entire half of the movie but even we the audience underestimated him by dismissing him as comic relief but Spot is tired of everyone underestimating him and he proved to be a real threat he took both all the characters and the entire audience by surprise.

This desire to be respected is quite reminiscent of characters like Inosuke Hashibira, King from The Owl House, and even Ken from the Barbie 2023 movie: characters who are considered comic relief by everyone but are frustrated that no one respects them or takes their feelings seriously and decide to take actions to make everyone respect them. These characters are tragic and have serious self-esteem issues but the narrative presents them to us as comic relief to make us, the audience, let our guard down.

Inosuke is seen as comic relief by bragging about how strong he is and doing weird things but is later revealed to be a boy who is deep down afraid of being a child whose parents abandoned him because they didn't love him only for it to be revealed that he is a boy whose mother allows herself to be killed by Douma to save him.

King is treated by everyone as if he were a living stuffed animal and the character clings to being a demon king when in reality he is a child who, like Inosuke, was abandoned and hidden by his father to save him from the titan trappers and the archivists.

Ken acts obsessively towards Barbie and acts quite funny because he was programmed to be her boyfriend and is treated like an accessory so his sense of identity is low to say nothing and he doesn't know anything else.

Spot also gets this treatment: he's introduced to us as a villain who tries to steal an ATM but doesn't know how to use his powers and even tries to convince the store seller that he's doing nothing wrong by taking the ATM and the store seller hits him and the way he introduces himself to Miles as he has loaves spilling out of one of his holes, calls him villain of the week and even his fight with Miles is basically Miles dodging him smoothly while chatting with his dad on the phone and even we the audience dismiss that his motivation to revenge on Miles is because he threw a bagel in his face when actually it's much more than that and the bagel thing is just the tip of the iceberg. At this point Spot is comic relief for both the characters and us.

But these characters seek respect and take actions that make them respected by others:

Inosuke proves to be a pretty good demon slayer to the point that he and Kanao with Shinobu's previous intervention manage to defeat Douma, King discovers his origins and his powers and is a key part of saving the Boiling Islands.

But just as respect is achieved through positive actions, the desperate search for respect makes others seek it through negative actions to the point of being threats to their world, just as it happened to Ken and is happening to Spot:

Ken sneaks into Barbie's car and together they go to the real world and Ken feels respected in the real world and after he discovers that the world is run by the patriarchy, he decides to bring it to Barbieland and turns it into Kendom, making the Barbies be the accessories of the Kens.

Spot learns to domain his powers and after merging with the collider from Mumbattan, becomes a threat to the multiverse.

Ken and the Spot go from being jokes at to being threats to their respective worlds. They prefer to be seen as villains than to be mocked by everyone because having power makes them important people and their very low self-esteem is raised.

It's okay to want to be respected, but when you seek respect through negative actions, you end up doing even more damage to yourself and those around you.

What happens to Spot is a reversal of Ken's character arc, so much so that I would dare to say that the Spot is the villainous and dark version of Ken:

Spot and Ken have the same funny personality but hide resentment and low self-esteem, they both discover something new and use it to gain everyone's respect, and Ken and Spot are obsessed with the attention of Miles and Barbie because they feel their existence is tied up in that but while Barbie, after she with the help of Gloria, Sasha, Allan and all the resistance make everything return to normal but giving the Kens the opportunity to have equality with the Barbies, Barbie becomes sincere with Ken and apologizes for not taking his feelings seriously and encourages him to discover himself, showing him that he is enough and Ken decides to follow his advice but when Miles tries to convince Spot that he no longer considers it a joke, he doesn't listen and merges with the collider.

The reason this works with Ken but not with Spot is due to two reasons:

Barbie knows it's not entirely her fault with regard to Ken's programming but acknowledges that she hurt his feelings, apologizes for it and even makes him see that he can be more than the role of being her boyfriend. While Miles knows it's not entirely his fault for the collider situation (it's Kingpin's fault for wanting to use it in the first place) and tells Spot that no one sees it as a joke, he doesn't acknowledge that he previously hurt Spot's feelings neither does Spot make him see that he can be something else than just his nemesis or that he can even be a hero with his powers which makes Spot even more attached to his role as Miles's nemesis.

Ken, despite being a doll, has a human appearance and has connections to others in Barbieland that aren't just Barbie. Spot, despite being human, does not have a human appearance nor does he have connections to anyone else, so he clings to his rivalry with Miles as the only "connections" he has.

Basically the entire arc of these characters can be summarized up in the chat beetwen Silco, Vander and Jinx from Arcane:

Vander: "You'll get people killed. For what? Pride?" Silco: "For respect."

Silco to Jinx: "It's okay. We'll show them. We will show them all."

REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

Speaking of Silco, Spot's obsession with getting revenge on Miles reminds me of Guts, Silco and Neo in the sense that they seek revenge because all of them lost everything they had and also because the only thing that makes sense of their lives is to take revenge on those who took everything from them and to make things worse none of them respect Spot, Guts Silco and Neo and even look down on them which makes Spot, Guts Silco and Neo have more reasons to get revenge but Guts, Silco and Neo differ from Spot for the following reasons:

Guts still has loved ones who love him despite how tough he can be.

Silco has a bond with Jinx that despite being flawed is also a bond he developed because he related to Jinx's pain and said bond humanizes him and makes him think of something other than revenge.

Neo has the opportunity to choose her new physical form and she has the opportunity to rediscover herself to start again.

But Spot? he has absolutely none of these things. Spot doesn't have loved ones to care for him like Guts, he doesn't have a bond with someone he can relate to or humanize like Silco, and he has no chance to change his form or start again like Neo, even worse, Spot doesn't even have a human appearance like Guts, Silco and Neo do. That's why when Miles tries to stop Spot from merging with the collider he doesn't listen to him and it's because revenge is the only thing that gives meaning to his life and Spot doesn't want to lose something again as he lost everything else.

Spot lost absolutely everything: he is no longer human, his coworkers make fun of him and he lost his job, his family does not want to see him because they see him as a monster, he cannot reverse his current physical state and I doubt anyone would want to give him a job or that a person wants to date someone who looks like Spot so having a life, a job, a normal appearance and even a romantic relationship with someone is impossible for him so he clings to the only thing he has is his anger and revenge towards Miles to the point that he wants Miles to lose everything, making the only thing he has is his rivalry and thus making Miles feel just as lonely and miserable as him.

#spiderverse #spiderverse spoilers #spiderverse meta #across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse spoilers #across the spiderverse meta #the spot #johnathan ohnn #spiderman across the spiderverse #jonathan ohnn

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gutsygremlin · 9 months

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Can y’all tell me what you think about Miguel’s character because some people are saying he’s really arrogant and I disagree? In a way.

I THINK that Miguel fulfills the character trope of X character hides behind layers of aggression and general thorniness in order to protect their soft core.

When I think about him, I’m reminded of the classic prison abolitionist argument of “you can’t imagine a world without prisons because you’ve never lived in one before.” His fear, above all else, dictates how he behaves himself. He attacked Miles and almost killed Gayatri’s father because the only example of breaking canon he’s come to fully understand is the one instance that left a universe in ruins, killed his daughter, and nearly destroyed him.

To me, the canon theory is Miguel’s world in which prisons exist, he knows nothing outside of it. He’s become a cop to enforce its existence through the way he runs the spider society.

Miles, Gwen, and Pavi demonstrating that he’s wrong about canon to me, represents that Miguel can be a better person once he’s shown that his fear is misplaced. That someone within him ISN’T a cop, and is instead a protective, strong, smart person. How else would he be Spider-Man?

Please tell me what you guys think I love discussing 👉🏾👈🏾

#atsv #marvel #miguel o'hara #across the spiderverse #beyond the spiderverse #marvel meta #across the spiderverse meta

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little-cereal-draws · 10 months

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My critique on the new spiderverse movie

It was good. I enjoyed it. But I do have a few things I would have done differently.

The most impressive thing in my opinion was the art. It was gorgeous, that goes without saying. The different styles, the textures, the lighting, every single little thing. I loved Gwen’s universe especially; how they water colored/blended the background during the emotional parts and how she was always the opposite color from the environment while her dad blended in. All the beautiful little tricks they did to help develop the characters like that. And then putting her mask motif behind her or having the background run like there was real water on it was so cool. I could watch it over and over without the sound and never get bored. It’s a visual feast.

I loved the extreme wide shots too. When Miles and Gwen are looking at the skyline, when Miles and his dad are talking by the portal rubble in the beginning, etc. When in the middle of a conversation, the characters are tiny little specks, and you can stop and appreciate the setting. Movies don’t normally do that in the middle of scenes; I liked it.

Or when they paneled it like a comic so you can see what multiple characters are doing at once. I don’t think it was as successful during the fight scenes because there was so much going on that I had no idea what was happening. But it worked very well in the slower scenes and really highlighted those emotional beats. Like when Gwen is unpacking a bag on her bed while talking with her dad at the beginning. They split the screen so you could see a full body shot on her dad but get a close up on her reactions at the same time. That was genius.

The acting was also phenomenal. All the dialogue sounded so natural and conversational. The emotional scenes were emotional and the funny scenes were funny. Everybody served. I loved the little background comments characters would make during conversations; it sounded very realistic. I would love to see more animated movies like that.

The writing… was good. I felt like for the most part it was really strong but this is where I start having problems. I felt that most of the movie was good but the pacing in Miles' arc felt weird. After his mom gave him that speech about loving himself and not letting people make him feel like he doesn’t belong, I was like 'ok that’s what he’s going to learn in this story, that’s the moral.' But he seemed to instantly get it and not have any problems until way later. Like it could’ve been easy to start having him feel intimidated by all the other spider-people or doubt himself after seeing Gwen doing all these cool things without him. He would feel bad for a while but ultimately realize that he is special/important/loved when fighting Miguel on the train and have the confidence to tell his parents he’s spiderman after. Instead, he was confident through the whole thing, was mildly jealous of the other spidermen, had a very brief crisis of faith after the Miguel fight, but seemed to get over it really quickly when he talked with his mom? Like he was telling her how strong he was but I felt like it didn’t mean very much because even though we saw him beat up all these people, it never felt to me like he felt weak. He never doubted himself, he just did it.

But I can’t judge his arc in its entirety because it’s not finished yet. I wasn’t expecting a cliffhanger and I don’t really like it. I was excited to see him fight Spot and save his dad but it never came. I was hoping that he would tell his parents he’s spiderman, they wouldn’t believe him, he would save them from Spot with help from his new friends, him and Gwen would show Miguel it’s ok if not everything follows canon, and Miles' parents would accept him, the end. That’s what I was expecting. Instead, they started another plot line with evil Miles? Like… I’m not opposed to that, I think it’s a really interesting idea, but I don’t know how it ties into the main plot. Maybe this is what causes Miles to have a crisis of faith in the next movie? idk, we'll just have to wait and see.

The next thing is the villains. I loved Spot, he was the perfect counter to the spidermans' mid-battle banter. His introduction was so funny, his powers are really cool, and his design is unsettling; the perfect villian formula. But the one thing I wished they expanded on was his backstory. He explained how his whole life was ripped apart by Miles but it felt like a very typical villain backstory to me. I wish that we, and Miles, got to see it rather than just get told it. Like in the first movie, we saw Kingpins' family and how much he cared about them and it gave a clear motive to his actions. I want to actually see the repercussions of Miles' actions because just being told. It gives a reason for Spot's actions but it's super easy to forget and think he's being evil for the sake of being evil. I don't know where they would have included that in the movie though so maybe I'm being too harsh. Also why is he going after Miles? Peter B and Gwen were also there for the bagel incident. Until I see how Miles specifically screwed over his life, I feel like his backstory could be fleshed out a bit more.

Now I want to talk about Miles' fight with Miguel on the train. This is no fault of either of their characters or the writing in that scene, but I missed a lot of what they were saying. The battle was so fast (jumping on cars, swinging underground, flying, flashing colors, different art styles, etc) and there were so many different characters on screen that I was focusing so hard on what I was seeing that I missed most of what they were saying. This might just be a me thing, I asked my sister and she said she understood that whole scene perfectly, but I would have changed that sequence. Either slow down the chaos of the fight a bit or have the big emotional confrontation before or after the fight. It's not a major problem with the movie and probably my autism causing problems but that was an important story beat that I missed because it was a bit too busy.

The last thing I want to say is my reaction is probably affected by the fact that I went in with a bias/expectations. I know I'm seeing this movie way late and I've done my best to not spoil it for myself but you know how the internet is. I knew who Pavitr and Hobie were, I knew everyone was obsessed with them and Miguel, I knew there was an evil Miles, I knew Spot was the big bad, I knew that his dad being a police captain was a big deal. So I expected to walk out of that theater completely obsessed with a new character and immediately go home and reblog everything about them like everyone else was. That didn't happen. Pavitr and Hobie had way less screentime than I expected and Miguel... was ok. They were all really good characters with amazing designs but I didn't find myself particularly drawn to any of them. I think expecting my reaction to this movie to be as extreme as other people's was a mistake and contributed to my lack of enthusiasm leaving the theater.

It was still really good, and I definitely enjoyed it, it just didn't change my brain chemistry like I thought it would. I laughed (I laughed so much), I gasped, I felt scared, I loved the art and the blend of different mediums. I know for sure I'm watching it at least one more time, probably more, there are just a few things I would have done a bit differently. Amazing movie, very glad I watched it.

#this got long... whoops #idk if anyone cares what i have to say about this but here it is #spiderverse #spiderman across the spiderverse #spiderverse meta #across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse meta

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whaliiwatching · 9 months

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diagnoses u with fanfic tags

yeah i caved. welcome spideysona

their universe is 1990s san francisco. by day they work as a struggling writer for the bugle, sort of following in the footsteps of (movie-adjacent) eddie brock; by night they’re spider-scrawl, fighting systemic injustice, writers’ block, and the occasional mad scientist invention. his world is less rife with supernatural evils than most, but he’s also fucking with the government and corporations and all, so it balances out

their unique thing is that they have, like, shitty meta clairvoyance in the form of inherently understanding tropes, clichés, story structure, etc. like if cinemasins/wins were a superhero. they were approached to join the society because miguel thought they’d be chill or even helpful with canon events—unfortunately scribble here is not whatsoever into following rigid plot structure for the sake of unnecessary thematic suffering, saw the plot twist a miles away, and peaced. but not before snagging a day pass so they could watch atsv in person

they never take off their mask, and no one knows their name—he says it’s because he doesn’t want to lose his identity in a sea of spider-people, leading most to theorize that san-fran-spidey is some flavor of peter parker, but who’s to say for sure? the doylist reason, which he is in fact aware of, is that i don’t know either lol

#spider man: across the spiderverse #spidersona #spider scrawl #spider punk #spider noir #hobie brown #noirpunk #just a tad ;)#brass tacks means facts!#haha do you get it miles like a mile away but miles was the one wh—#so anyway sona shit #eddie in their universe has left the bugle for better things (read: got fired movie style)#still a bangin journalist tho and scrawl aspires to be like him #their deadpool is just as meta as them. they’re buddies #usually i’m not one for sonas but this was fun #static and colors inspired by that can u ever forgive me movie from 2018 #scrawl puts on the mask to feel more confident about fighting the system #hopin & prayin it’ll do the same for me :’)

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ithinkthingsaboutstuff · 10 months

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Ok I saw across the spidervese and i loved it!

But I have been thinking of a mini theory. I think our main spider crew are all are/ have anomaly's in their reality's, (and most of them came from their time with miles)

noir's event was that he brought colour into a world that was not meant to have it (the rubrics cube).

peni's is that her spider suit was destroyed just before she left. (so it could not be destroyed in the 'canon' way on her earth.

Ham had moments of true seniority, he's the one to tell miles "in this job[..]you can't always save everyone." and he has real tears as he leaves, which in the style he is presented in cartoons al a loonytoons by design don't learn/have deep moments of reflection (that aren't jokes/ aren't rug pulls)

pavitr happen when miles saved the captain.

Gwen was not meant to make another friend like her perter again but she found one in miles

and Peter B would not of had mayday without miles influence

I'm not sure about bite and punk, but i do think its interesting that miles has such a profound effect on everyone he meets that they would fight for him and even break the laws of their reality because of him.

#atsv #peter b parker #hobie brown #pavitr prabhakar #gwen stacy #mayday parker #miles morales #across the spiderverse #spiderverse #meta #spiderman noir #spider ham #peni parker

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yellowocaballero · 11 months

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Miguel is Fine, Actually (Being Spider-Man's Just Toxic As Hell)

Before I watched ATSV I said that I would defend my man Miguel O'Hara's actions no matter what, because he's always valid and I support women's wrongs. I was joking, and I did not actually expect to start defending him on Tumblr.edu. But I'm seeing a lot of commentary that's super reductive, so I do want to bring up another perspective on his character.

Miguel wasn't acting against the spirit of Spider-Man, or what being Spider-Man means. Miguel isn't meant to represent the antithesis of Spider-Man. Miles is the antithesis of Spider-Man. Miguel represents Spider-Man taken to its extreme.

Think about Miguel's actions from his perspective. If you were a hero who genuinely, legitimately, 100%, no doubt about it, believed that somebody is going to make a selfish decision that will destroy an entire universe and put the entire multiverse at severe risk - if you had an over-burdened sense of responsibility and believed in doing the right thing no matter what - you would also chase down the kid and put him in baby jail to try and prevent it. He believed that he was saving the multiverse, and that Miles was putting it in danger for selfish reasons. Which is completely unforgivable to him, because selfishness is what he hates the most. And then he goes completely out of pocket and starts beefing with a 15yo lmfaooo he's such a dick.

But why did Miguel believe that? Why did he believe that Miles choosing himself and his own happiness over the well-being of others was the worst possible thing? Why did he believe that tragedy was inevitable in their lives, and that without tragedy Spider-Man can't exist?

Because he's Spider-Man.

Peter Parker was once a fifteen year old who chose his own happiness over protecting others. It was the greatest regret of his life and he never forgave himself. Peter's ethos means that he will put himself last every time, and that he will sacrifice anything and everything in his life - his relationships, his health, his future - to protecting and helping others. Peter dropped out of college because it interfered with Spider-Man. He destroyed his own future for Spider-Man. He ruins friendships and romantic relationships because Spider-Man was more important. If Peter ever tries to protect himself and his own happiness, then he's a bad person.

That is intrinsic to Peter. Peter would not be Peter without it. A story that is not defined by Peter's unhappiness is not a Spider-Man story. If Peter doesn't make himself miserable, then he's just not Peter.

That is a Spider-Man story: that not only is tragedy inevitable, that if you don't allow yourself to be defined by your tragedy then you're a bad person. If you don't suffer, then you're a bad person. If you ever put anything above Spider-Man, then you're killing Uncle Ben all over again. Miguel isn't the only one that believes this - as we saw, every Spider-Man buys into what he's saying. There's no Spider-Man without these beliefs.

Miguel attempted to find his own happiness, and he was punished in the most extreme way. He got Uncle Ben'd x10000. He tried to be happy, and it literally destroyed his entire universe. It's the Spider-narrative taken to the extreme. Of course Miguel believes all of this. Of course he believes this so firmly. He's Spider-Man. That's his story. And the one time Miguel tried to fight against that story, he was punished. And like any Spider-Man, he'll slavishly obey that narrative no matter the evil it creates and perpetuates. Because if he doesn't, the narrative will punish him. The narrative will always punish him. It's a Spider-Man story.

I don't think the universal constant between Spider-Mans, the thing that makes them Spider-Man, is tragedy. I think it's the fact that they never forgive themselves. And Miguel is what that viewpoint creates. He doesn't believe this things because he's an awful, mean person. He believes them because he's a hero. He's a good person who hates himself.

Across the Spider-verse isn't really a Spider-Man story. It's a story about Spider-Man stories. Miguel's right: if this was a Spider-Man story, then Miles acting selfishly really would destroy the universe. But Miles' story isn't interested in punishing him. It pushes back against Peter's narrative that unhappiness is inevitable and that you have to suffer to be a good person. It says that sometimes we do the right thing from love and not fear, and that Peter's way of thinking is ultimately super toxic and unhappy. ITSV was about Miles deciding that he didn't need to be Peter Parker, that all he needed to be was Miles, and ATSV is about how being Peter Parker isn't such a good thing. Miguel shows that. Whatever toxic and unhealthy beliefs he holds - they're the exact same beliefs that any Spider-Man holds. He's a dick, but I don't think he's any more awful a person than Peter is.

TL;DR: Miguel isn't a bad person, he just has Spider-Man brainrot.

#across the spider-verse #atsv #atsv spoilers #across the spider-verse spoilers #across the spiderverse #across the spider verse #miguel o'hara #atsv meta #source: i recognized an embarassing amount of those cameos #im also seeing a lot of ppl make a lot of assumptions about what miguel was injecting and why #we dunno guys! im not gonna suppose anything #I just think that Miguel and Miles are great foils #and that what makes them interesting as foils #is the fact that they're both good people who want to do the right thing #miguel shows how that gets twisted #to the point where you beef with a 15yo sometimes which is still so funny #im a big spidey 2099 fan #which I love bc it is NOTHING like spiderman and yet it's such a good spiderman story #but talking about comics migs is useless bc he has 0 in common with atsv migs #but there is a lot of VERY cool stuff to say about how #the sm2099 comic has nothing to do with spiderman at all whatsoever extremely pointedly #but its still a wonderful spiderman story that finds its own way #tbh it was kind of a breath of fresh air to read a spider-man story that wasn't about spider-man for once #and that was just about miguel #anyway stan women's wrongs #miguel o hara #miguel ohara #my writing

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biioshocker · 11 months

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Why Spider-People Suffer

Subtitled: How “Othering” Miguel Killed Hundreds of Cops

I loved seeing Miguel getting othered by his fellow spider-people so casually during this movie, both intentionally and unintentionally, and I believe it’s the reason he convinced everyone their loved ones had to die.

“Othering” Moments in the Movie

I’ve only seen the movie twice so I may have missed something more subtle, but here are the moments I remember where the main cast othered Miguel:

Gwen (unknowingly) making a joke (from Miguel’s perspective, re: “You’re not funny!”) of the fact Miguel doesn’t have a spider sense by letting him get decked by the Vulture.

Peter B. Parker commenting, “You’re not funny, spider-men are funny.”

Miles blatantly in fear of Miguel, on the tram shouting, possibly half-joking, “You have claws? Dude, are you sure you’re a spider-man?”

These seem like inconsequential, even humorous, moments but I believe they’re a lot more meaningful to Miguel than he lets on. It’s not that these moments are massively consequential in and of themselves, but more so that they are part of a persistent, consistent assault on Miguel's Spider-Man Authenticity™ that began with his very…

Origin.

In the comics, and what it appears to be in the movie, Miguel isn’t a “natural” spider-man. Not in the ‘bit and changed’ sense. There actually wasn’t even a spider surrogate for the virus in Miguel’s origin story. Instead, in Miguel’s universe the lab he worked in was attempting to directly recreate their original, dead-slash-vanished Spider-Man by splicing actual spider DNA with human DNA. This immediately deviates from the “typical” spider-person origin story as, usually, tests were being done on spiders and the subsequent escape, bite, and transformation that followed was a complete accident. The only actual accident within Miguel’s origin story was that it was Miguel at all, every other aspect was more or less exactly what the institute Miguel worked for was actually trying to accomplish.

A pretty notable difference between the comics and the movie is the introduction of Miguel’s injections. From what I know of the comics, Miguel doesn’t need to ‘re-up’ his spider-human powers, but we see in the movie that this Miguel needs some kind of supplement. Whether it be to replenish his abilities or to keep his delicate spider-human balance stable, we don’t know yet, but what we do know is that no other spider-person does this and it seems like a private, shameful ritual. A subtle nod to this theory, in my opinion, is Miguel’s “I’m different than them” line taking place at, or almost at, the exact moment he injects.

So, his origin is “wrong,” his creation was a “mistake,” in some manner he has to supplement is spider abilities, and believe it or not those aren’t even the most obvious discrepancies he has from other spider-people. Actually, some of his most noticeable differences lie with his…

Powers.

Compounding that “otherness” Miguel already feels within spider society, he doesn’t have “typical” spider-person powers, notably lacking a spider sense. This is because he wasn’t made the same way other spider-people were. As a literal spider-human hybrid, Miguel derives his powers — talons, paralysis, fangs, light sensitive eyes turned red by super sight — from just some normal, non-radioactive version of whatever spider breed was used in the splicing experiments. The lab didn’t actually know what gave the original Spider-Man his distinct powers, and so what Miguel ends up with is a lot more off-putting than other spider-people.

Humans, and even other spider-people (re: Gwen feeling she needs to reassure Miles he doesn’t need to “be afraid”) are frightened, or at the very least are put-off, by Miguel. I believe this can be attributed at least somewhat (if not entirely) to his powers. Yes, he doesn’t have a very approachable demeanor, but I would hazard that that wall he puts up is in response to the reactions he gets to his powers (ex: “I’m a good guy!” “You don’t look like a good guy!”). They aren’t the pretty, petite, charming powers that other spider-people have. They’re very gritty and raw, and they’re lifted directly from a species of bug that people are notoriously afraid of. And while it’s true that the other spider-people also have behaviors that associate them with the creepy crawler as well, those spider-people have a way to combat their negative character associations that Miguel doesn’t. They’re funny.

Humor is an under-appreciated, though well-established, part of a typical spider-person. The movie even goes so far as to call spider-person humor a “crutch,” but it's more than just making light of dark situations. Humor is how other spider-people connect with their community. This is why despite a persistent hate campaign from the Daily Bugle and calls of vigilantism from local police organizations, spider-people are almost always able to stay in the good graces of the communities they serve. Spider-people, through humor, are able to reassure, console, and win over the hearts of millions of New Yorkers.

So, it is especially obvious to other spider-people that Miguel is distinctly not funny. He is reminded both in comics and in the movie that he’s not approachable like a spider-man “should” be. Miguel doesn’t have humor to use as a “crutch” to offset his unsettling characteristics and because of that, he’s not well-liked by… really anyone.

These perceived shortcomings take a toll on Miguel, and are why he is so convinced of the importance of…

Canon.

Miguel views canon events as the holy grail of spider-person origins because he didn’t have one himself. I don’t think Miguel fully believes he is a true spider-man. Not only were his (atypical) powers acquired through a (botched) scientific experiment, and not only is everyone constantly reminding him that he’s not a “normal” spider-person, but Miguel’s universe already had its “canon” Spider-Man, and he died.

Or, at least he did in the 2099 comics. We can’t be certain about the movie-verse yet, but on the assumption it and the comics share a backstory, Miguel knows the full extent of his Spider-Man’s life. Beginning, middle, and end. That Spider-Man’s story is over and done within Miguel’s universe, which means that Miguel isn’t a “real” spider-man. He’s a knockoff. He was an accident, a fluke, a recreation.

With this in mind, I feel Miguel’s reasoning for dedicating himself to The Canon is two-fold:

Firstly, I think it stems from the idea that because his universe’s Spider-Man story is “complete” that is how the story must be told. There was a set beginning, middle, and end to the Spider-Man of his universe, and he’s easily able to reference it. There’s no guesswork around his Spider-Man’s story because it’s concluded. And to him, that finality is infallible, so he plays it out over and over and over in other spider-verses.

Secondly (most speculatively, but most importantly), but I don’t think Miguel has told anyone that he isn’t a bitten (or born) spider-person. In his introduction, we don’t get the usual “I’m the one and only Spider-Man” cinematic intro we had with the rest of the main cast (excluding Jess). He keeps his introduction short, sweet, and secretive. This leads me to believe he hasn’t told anyone of how he became his universe’s Spider-Man. He might think that if he did, the other spider-people would shun him. He might think they would hate him. He might think they would leave him.

A very, very prominent theme across many of the main cast’s stories is that they felt alone in the world until they found other spider-people, and I believe Miguel feels this isolation the strongest of all of them. He set up the Spider Headquarters in his own home universe. He recruited hundreds and hundreds of spider-people to join him and it looks like many of them live there for at least some period of time. I believe he’s so afraid of being left out of the social spider network that he has outright lied about his origin story, calling on the only Spider-Man story he knows the entirety of— his universe’s Peter Parker. Then, to cover his tracks he began collecting similarities across every spider-person’s reality, enshrining them in gold, and cementing them as The Canon.

And, unfortunately, what many spider-people have in common is…

Suffering.

Suffering isn’t unique to spider-people. Prematurely losing a loved one isn’t even unique to spider-people. Sadly, it’s not very uncommon at all, and those moments are often defining in people’s lives; they can be even more impactful than the joyful moments. I believe because of their efficacy, tragedies are something that Miguel could most easily use to connect with the spiderverse. Not because these tragedies were meant to happen, not because they’re a part of some greater, cosmic prophecy— but, sadly, because they’re so prevalent in every person’s life.

And most compelling of all, tragedy rarely ever has any reason behind it.

Miguel wasn’t able to find some incredible, world-defining Canon Event among the many hundreds of spider-people he met— he was simply able to find tragedy. The senseless, horrible, incomprehensible moment in every person’s life where they’ve lost someone they cared very deeply for, and no one could tell them why. There was no rhyme or reason to it, their loved one just simply ceased to exist— and what was so insulting about it was that the world didn’t end. The planet didn’t stop spinning, the sun rose the following day, and no closer came. Everyone else’s story just continued to be writ, and that was just as painful because it left them alone with their grief in a moment where they felt helpless, hopeless, and inadequate; in a moment that was impossible to reconcile because they wanted so badly, just like all of us, to understand why it had to happen. But there isn’t a why. The universe is random and underwhelming and every day a few unlucky people will draw a card that ends their game, completely by chance.

And then Miguel came along and he assigned the importance to that tragedy that the spiderverse, and all of us, felt like it deserved.

Miguel told them that their suffering wasn’t random. He told them it wasn’t just another case of wrong place, wrong time. He told them there was a purpose to their suffering. All the pain they endured, it had served to make them better, stronger, more resilient. Finally, there was a reason for it to have happened.

Miguel told them they weren’t alone. He reassured them that this horrible Thing that seemed to happen to all of them was cosmically indomitable, universally inevitable, and entirely inescapable— it was Canon. It was the price of power, it was the universe’s exchange. But now, in that tragedy, they would never be alone in their grief again, and that made all the difference.

When Miguel gave them a reason for their hurt, it became a rallying point among the spiderverse. Not only could they alleviate the guilt and the grief their loss has crippled them with, but they had something more tangible to blame it on— The Canon.

The Canon Miguel introduced to them didn’t have feelings, it didn’t feel anger or resentment or spite. It didn’t hurt them for no reason— it was simply the vehicle navigating them through to the landmarks of their lives. And there was comfort in believing that these tragedies were ordained by some unfathomable, all-knowing narrative. And so the spiderverse seemingly collectively decided it was easier to believe in the Canon than it was to believe in an unpredictable universe, until…

Miles.

Miguel sees his own perceived “flaws” in Miles.

Miles wasn’t supposed to become spider-man in his universe.

Miles has an atypical spider-man origin story.

Miles’ “canon” Spider-Man is dead.

For all intents and purposes, he and Miles are likely the most closely related spider-people to one another, but a key difference between them is Miles… doesn’t care. Sure, Miles is lonely in his own universe; and sure, Miles is overwhelmed by the expectations heaped onto him social and familial; and sure, Miles doesn’t even know he’s an accident. But he’s happy. He’s a happy kid and he was close friends with other spider-people who love and accept him, trained and mentored him. That’s not something Miguel had, and he resents of Miles for it.

We still don’t know for certain if there were other reasons Miguel chose to isolate Miles, but from what we can gather in Part One, it seems like Miguel only had the “original anomaly” excuse. Which he used to prevent Miles from interacting with other spider-people, and other spider-people with him. His reasoning doesn’t really add up though. In theory, the “damage” to the multiverse “caused” by Miles was concluded at the end of the first movie. Outside being an anomaly, Miles isn’t causing any harm to the multiverse by just existing in it (that we know of currently). So why restrict his access to other spider-people? It certainly wasn’t because Miles hasn’t experienced a crucial story beat (Dead Police Captain), because as we saw in the movie, Pav hadn’t experienced his either. Yet, Pav was allowed to join the spiderverse. From this perspective, there was no actual reason to exclude Miles from the spiderverse when he could have helped the cause.

Instead, for what appears to be no other reason than jealousy (or fear) that Miles was (and would be) so well liked by other spider-people, Miguel isolated him in his own universe for a year and four months, barring him from a society he had every right to join, and forbidding any other spider-person from even visiting Miles.

I think that’s what it comes down to with Miguel, really. Jealousy that Miles is an anomaly like himself, but unlike Miguel, people don’t question Miles’ Spider-Man Authenticity ™. They don’t make a joke of his shortcomings. They don’t “other” him. They like Miles. No one likes Miguel.

And on top of it all, probably the most infuriating (and frightening) part to Miguel is that Miles isn’t ashamed. He isn’t ashamed of being an accident; he isn’t pouring over his Spider-Man’s history trying to meet made-up expectations; he didn’t even parody the spider-people who were right in front of him when he was just coming into his own. Miles decided at 14 years old that he wasn’t, and couldn’t, be a Peter Parker copy. He accepted himself as his own, unique Spider-Man, and in breaking that mold and allowing himself to take a leap of faith, he became something incredible.

I think that scares Miguel, not only because his entire organization is founded in the belief that all spider-persons must experience specific events, and not because if Miles refuses to follow his story beats then the entire multiverse will unravel, but because if Miles is right and the multiverse can be as diverse and varied as it wants to be, then Miguel has hated himself for so long for no reason.

And I think that fear and jealousy and resentment all comes to head on…

The Tram.

Miguel’s meltdown during the tram scene felt like it came almost out of nowhere. The abuse he hurled at Miles just didn't correlate with what could reasonably be expected of an annoying chase around the city— and it was completely unnecessary. By the time it happened, Miguel had already subdued Miles. He was pinning him to the tram, he had already caught him. There was no reason to be so viscous at that point.

Except Miles had just moments ago done what everyone else had been doing to Miguel this whole time. Miles had “othered” him.

“You got claws? Dude, are you sure you’re a Spider-Man?”

The skepticism must have felt different coming from Miles, because Miles was supposed to be like Miguel. They were both mistakes, they were both the product of a dead Spider-Man, they were both supposed to be outcasts, but instead, here was Miles acting like all the others. Treating Miguel as different and lesser, and I think that was the final straw for Miguel.

I wouldn’t say Miguel had kept his cool up until that point, but he certainly hadn’t set out to hurt Miles— at least emotionally. In fact, he had previously just been trying to ease Miles into his Canon. Miguel had been trying to console him in the same way he had consoled hundreds of other spider-people before Miles.

But then Miles made a hurtful joke because spider-people make hurtful jokes (a theme, maybe, since hurtful jokes had been what provoked the Spot into a rampage, too: “I’ll become strong enough to be your nemesis. Then you’ll take me seriously.”) and Miguel, who already saw so much of his own story in Miles, was enraged by his audacity— dragging Miles down (to him, to his level), pushing his way into Miles’s personal space (look at me, hear me, respect me), and forcing him to listen to just how “other” he was too (we’re anomalies, carry the shame of it like I do).

There’s really no excuse for it. Miguel was clearly in the wrong. No one should be told they were a mistake, or that they’re the reason someone else died— and especially no one should be made to believe that the value of their life was less than another’s.

It’s horrible what Miguel said to Miles. I do believe Miguel was venting his own self-loathing, but he leveled his abuse squarely at Miles and now Miles is forced to struggle through the aftermath, and there’s no excuse for that.

Conclusion?

I don’t think Miguel is a villain, I think he’s just a damaged man. That doesn’t absolve him of the shitty things he’s done, especially to Miles, but I do think it helps to explain them somewhat. Ironically, as much as he feels ostracized from spider society, I think he’s just like every other spider-person. He’s looking for friendships and acceptance and his happy ending, and above all, he doesn’t want to be an outcast. Much of that feeling probably comes from his unwillingness to accept himself as he is and pave his own way as Spider-man.

I hope in the next movie Miguel begins to consider the similarities he has with other spider-people rather than focusing on the differences, because while the Canon may not be real (or maybe it is, guess we’ll see in Part Two), the connections he made with others through loss and grief were. He helped the entire spiderverse find comfort in one another and because of him, they aren’t alone anymore.

#atsv #miguel o'hara #across the spiderverse #spiderverse #spiderman: across the spiderverse #atsv spoilers #miguel meta for the thirsty soul 😌#corrected this bc i said he didn’t make organic webs but i misremembered lol

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