The sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse had plenty of twists and turns thanks to the different dimensions and Spider-People that exist throughout the multiverse. When the first movie came out, it was kind of ahead of its time, at least in the movies — this was around the time the Marvel Cinematic Universe was only beginning to play around with the multiverse concept, and it definitely wasn’t as common a subgenre as it is today (shoutout to Everything Everywhere All At Once). But that leaves one big question on Marvel fans’ minds: Is the Spider-Verse part of the MCU?
The confusion here requires some backstory, if you’re not familiar with Marvel history: Marvel Studios (which is under Disney as of 2009) is the home of the MCU, but Sony owns the film rights to Spider-Man. That’s why we had iterations of Spider-Man starring Tobey Maguire and then Andrew Garfield that weren’t integrated into the MCU (until Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, that is). When the Avengers started forming in the MCU, Spider-Man couldn’t join in initially, and it wasn’t until Sony and Marvel Studios reached a deal in 2015 that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was allowed to bring the web-slinger into the MCU. There was a brief time in 2019 when Sony and Marvel Studios split up, but they worked it out and reached a new deal, thankfully.
For a while, we all figured the MCU was totally separate from any other Spider-Man properties under Sony, and that seemed to be the case, until No Way Home blew that out of the water with Maguire and Garfield’s appearances and revealed that all three Spider-Men were connected, and just living in different universes. The MCU’s Multiverse Saga was in full swing by this point, having started with WandaVision earlier in 2021. So, now we know that Sony’s live-action Spider-Man films and the MCU do have a connection. But the Spider-Verse movies are under Sony, too, so what does that mean for the MCU? Well, Across the Spider-Verse may have given us a few hints — either that, or the movie is playing tricks on us. Spoiler warning: Spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse follow.
The first reference to the MCU in Across the Spider-Verse was actually teased as part of the film’s promotion prior to its release. In the scene, Miles comes back to the dorm room he shares with his roommate Ganke Lee, and when he asks him for a favor, Ganke’s response is, “I’m not your guy in the chair.” Sound familiar? It’s a reference to the MCU’s Ned Leeds, played by Jacob Batalon. (In fact, it seems like Ganke and Ned have a ton of commonalities, one reason the filmmakers haven’t given him more to do in the Spider-Verse is for fear of audiences finding them too similar.)
But, OK, we can excuse that one as a throwaway joke. How about Miguel’s line in the film about “Doctor Strange and that little nerd on Earth-199999,” which also caused a frenzy when it was revealed in the trailer ahead of the film’s release? Earth-199999 is the MCU’s earth, according to CBR, and “that little nerd” is probably a reference to Holland’s Spider-Man and the events of No Way Home wherein Doctor Strange’s spell opened the multiverse and introduced all the old villains and Spider-Men into the MCU. So Miguel knows about the MCU’s Peter Parker. Is this just a cheeky wink at MCU fans, too, or something deeper?
There are two more MCU connections in the film, and these ones are pretty major. The first happens when Miles first visits the Spider-People headquarters set up by Miguel, and is walking through the lobby. We see “anomalies,” aka villains or other people and creatures that were found in the wrong dimension thanks to all the multiverse-hopping, that are being kept there until they can be returned to their own world. One of these anomalies? A live-action Aaron Davis, aka “The Prowler,” in a cameo by none other than Donald Glover! This is huge, but you might need a refresh as to why: Aaron Davis is Miles’ uncle, but he was specifically played by Glover in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming in the MCU. That’s right, same guy, same role — so same universe?
The other MCU connection happens when Miguel has Lyla use technology to explain to Miles why it’s so important not to disrupt a canon event in the timeline, in any universe. He’s using the police captain’s and Uncle Ben’s deaths as examples, showing those deaths in multiple universes to get the point across to Miles. In those examples, we see brief clips from both Uncle Ben’s death in Maguire’s Spider-Man, and George Stacy’s (father of Gwen Stacy) death in Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man.
Of course, since both of those films are under Sony, there’s no issue with showing them in Across the Spider-Verse. But if they exist in the Spider-Verse, that means that Holland’s Spider-Man in the MCU does too, thanks to No Way Home. That plus the Glover cameo reads to me as pretty clear-cut confirmation of the Spider-Verse and MCU co-existing in the multiverse.
However, director Kemp Powers wants fans to hold their horses. In an interview with SFX, Powers said, “The world of Miles Morales and Spider-Verse, it’s not tied into the Marvel Cinematic Universe or anything like that. But this is a Lord and Miller film. We like to have a little bit of fun, we like to be a little bit meta and to acknowledge the world in which we are creating these stories. That’s the best way to explain it.”
He continued, “This isn’t something where we did anything in conjunction with Marvel. Miles’ universe, trust me, there’s plenty to work with.” About the Doctor Strange bit from the trailer specifically, he added, “That gag is one of many, and my favorite gag is one that people don’t know about yet.” My guess is he’s referring to the Glover cameo — there were gasps and cheers in my theater when he appeared on screen. But with that, it seems like the MCU references are just meant to be gags after all.
I kind of don’t want to believe this, since four references in one movie seems like a lot if they aren’t planning something bigger. But hey, maybe they’re just leaving the door open for the future — after all, we know we’re at least getting a third Spider-Verse movie, so who’s to say what could come? All I know is that I’m going back to see Across the Spider-Verse a second time, for sure. If you’re planning to do the same, check it out in Dolby Cinema: Dolby Vision’s wider range of color and Dolby Atmos’ object-based surround sound will let you pick up on all the little details, related to the MCU or not.