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honoka-marierose · 7 months

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While it's still up to debate among fans whether disrupting Canon Events in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse destroys universes, several such events were featured prominently in Sony Pictures' animated sequel.

When Miguel O'Hara gave Miles Morales his lecture on Canon Events, he defined them as "chapters that are a part of every Spider's story, every time. Some good. Some bad. Some very bad."

However, despite what Miguel said, that doesn't mean that every Spider-Person has the same Canon Events or experiences them the same way.

Every Canon Event in Spider-Verse 2

1.) Spider Bite

In both the comics and Spider-Verse films, the origin for most Peter Variants involved being bitten by a radioactive spider as a teenager, bestowing them spider-like powers.

Not all of them would get the same abilities from this bite, with Peni Parker being a prime example, but it's no surprise for it to be a Canon Event for nearly all of them with a handful of exceptions.

One exception is Miguel O'Hara, who audiences saw injecting himself with a mysterious green liquid, foreshadowing to non-comic fans that the source of his powers wasn't a spider bite. Miguel even acknowledged his unique status among Spider-People in his inner monologue: "...I'm not like the others."

2.) First Loss

The most defining moment of Peter Parker's life as Spider-Man was, without question, the death of Uncle Ben. Peter B. Parker best expressed this event's significance to Miles when his orientation turned into an intervention:

"If not for Uncle Ben, most of us wouldn't be here, Miles, and all the good we did—it wouldn't have been done."

But as Peter said, "most of [them]" wouldn't be there. So for other Spiders, instead of Uncle Ben, it was another uncle, a father, or even a best friend.

Across the Spider-Verse puts this Canon Event under one umbrella, making it more a Spider's first loss that leads them to learn their first crucial life lesson, good or bad, on their road to being a hero.

It's the defining Canon Event that instills in them the mantra of Spider-Man: "With great power comes great responsibility."

3.) Upside-Down Kiss

One of the few "good" Canon Events on this list (that didn't originate from the comics) is the upside-down kiss from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man.

This would be its own Canon Event for multiple Spiders because, at least in the case of Raimi's Peter Parker, it was when they finally got to kiss the person they were only brave enough to love from afar before getting their powers.

One shot from Across the Spider-Verse paralleled this iconic moment when Gwen was preparing to leave Miles' universe. These two may eventually share their own upside-down kiss in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, fulfilling this Canon Event.

4.) The Death of a Captain

The only Canon Event on the list to have a designation (ASM-90 (The Amazing Spider-Man #90), Miguel described it as "a police captain close to Spider-Man dies saving a kid from falling rumble during a battle with an arch-nemesis."

Like a Spider's first loss, this Canon Event isn't restricted to Captain Gregory Stacy from the comics but encompasses multiple Captains "close to Spider-Man." It was also revealed that this event already happened to Peter B. Parker, Jessica Drew, and Hobie Brown and that the same will soon happen to Gwen and Miles.

However, Gwen realizes that with her father quitting the police force, he's seemingly avoided his untimely death. This proves to her that Canon Events aren't unavoidable nor preventing them will ending the universe.

It further strengthens her resolve to save Miles and his father from The Spot, with the help of Peter B. Parker and the rest of her newly formed Spider-Band.

5.) The Death of Gwen Stacy

The second most defining moment of Peter Parker's life as Spider-Man was the death of Gwen Stacy and his failure to save her. But what was another tragedy for Peter Parker was no doubt an existential nightmare for this film's Gwen Stacy, who likely learned the fate of her endless Variants after joining the Spider-Society.

It's also, unfortunately, the reason why she's so hesitant to pursue a relationship with Miles since "in every other universe, Gwen Stacy falls for Spider-Man, and in every other universe, it doesn't end well."

This is something that already nearly happened to Pavitr Prabhakar's girlfriend Gayatri Singh, another Variant of Gwen Stacy.

6.) The Birth of Venom

The only event on the list to focus on one of Spider-Man's supervillains is the birth of Venom, who would hound the web-slinger for years before becoming an anti-hero (or dying).

Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker from Spider-Man 3 and a Variant of Jessica Drew are shown struggling with the alien (or Earth-made) Symbiote, while others depict Eddie Brock or Anne Weying transforming into Venom and She-Venom.

The last Spider shown is interesting, as it's seemingly this film's Gwen Stacy turning into her Venomized counterpart, Gwenom; she debuted in Spider-Gwen #24 and used the Symbiote to go on a path of vengeance when her father was put in a coma.

7.) "If This Be My Destiny...!"

One of the most character-defining moments of Peter Parker's superhero career was when he saved himself from a literal ton of debris in The Amazing Spider-Man #33, the concluding issue of the "If This Be My Destiny...!" story arc.

The reason this was monumental for the character is that it was the first time he displayed what would become his most defining trait: his boundless perseverance.

Trapped, injured, and about to drown, Peter had all but given up until he remembered why and who he was fighting for and used that to gain the strength to lift the machinery off himself.

It was such an iconic moment for the character that The Spectacular Spider-Man and even the MCU's Spider-Man: Homecoming adapted this act of triumph in the face of doubt.

Considering that this happens fairly early in Spider-Man's career in the comics, it's interesting that this film's Jessica Drew seemed to experience it as an adult, pointing to Canon Events not having to happen at the same time in a Spider's superhero career.

8.) "Spider-Man No More!"

The story arc "Spider-Man No More!" is the first instance of Peter Parker quitting as the wall-crawler. Not only did it result in one of the most iconic pages in all of comics, but it also reinforced why Peter had to keep wearing the mask.

In the original story, Parker quit because he got no respect from the public for his heroic actions, which The Daily Bugle would often twist. However, after quitting, he realized that without him being Spider-Man, people that he could save would get hurt or even die.

The motivation for any Spider quitting varies, whether it's the same lack of respect, the loss of their powers, or the injury/death of a loved one. It's tempting to wonder what would make Hobie Brown, a Spider who openly declared his disdain for glory, temporarily quit.

9.) Spider-Man's Wedding

Peter Parker's editorially mandated deal with the literal devil to annul his marriage in the comics is infamous at this point. Regardless, his union with Mary Jane Watson was the status quo for over 20 years, making it no surprise that a Spider's marriage is a Canon Event.

Before the events of Into the Spider-Verse, Peter B. Parker was happily married to his MJ before they had a mutual and legal divorce over Peter's reluctance to have children. However, in Across the Spider-Verse, not only did he and MJ remarry, but they had a kid, May "Mayday" Parker.

10.) "Kraven's Last Hunt"

Another surprise Canon Event that Gwen has already experienced is a near-death confrontation with Kraven the Hunter from the iconic Spider-Man storyline, "Kraven's Last Hunt."

Gwen is shown digging herself out of her own grave, the same way Peter Parker did in Web of Spider-Man #32. She's also wearing her old costume from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (note the forearms), indicating that it already happened.

It's also something that Gwen's comic book counterpart never experienced, further showing the franchise's willingness to diverge from her depiction and reality in the comics.

11.) The Collider

It's highly suggested through Miguel's verbal (and literal) beatdown of Miles that Spider-Man destroying a world-ending collider was a Canon Event, saying that "[Miles' Peter Parker] would have stopped the collider before it ever went off" but that "instead, he died, saving [Miles]:"

"You're a mistake! If you hadn't been bit, your Peter Parker would have lived. Instead, he died, saving you! He would have stopped the collider before it ever went off! Spot wouldn't exist, and none of this would have happened!"

On top of that, one plot point is Spot scouring the Multiverse for a universe "with a full-sized collider," which he found in Pavitr's dimension. Miguel's artificial intelligence assistant, Lyla, even mentioned how "every dimension [Spot] stops at has an Alchemax."

It's possible that Pavitr would have eventually had to stop his own Alchemax from using the machine for some other nefarious purpose, but The Spot's preemptive use of it likely averted this potential Canon Event from happening.

How Spider-Verse 3 May Deny Destiny

There's no doubt that Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will address Miguel's claims about Canon Events and whether breaking them has catastrophic consequences. It's already been shown through Gwen's father that averting a Canon Event is both possible and even harmless.

Of course, it doesn't mean that Miguel intentionally lied about Canon Events, as there is evidence of correlating life-changing moments between (nearly) every Spider-Person. But whether he understands them fully himself is another question.

It'll be interesting to see how Canon Events will be further explored in the reported final entry of this trilogy and how Miguel will react to his ideology being proven wrong.