The ending of Sony’s animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is made even more heartbreaking after Miles Morales’ true struggles are revealed in the Spider-Verse’s new short film, The Spider Within. Taking place in the space between 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story was released on March 27, 2024, by Sony Pictures Animation in conjunction with the Kevin Love Fund. Set outside the MCU, The Spider Within focuses on Miles Morales’ mental anguish during his time as Spider-Man, but has a larger impact on the Spider-Verse franchise as a whole.
Shameik Moore and Brian Tyree Henry reprised their Spider-Verse roles of Miles Morales’ Spider-Man and Jefferson Davis in The Spider Within, with the animated short acting as a reminder of what makes this franchise so incredible while audiences wait for updates concerning Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. The Spider Within takes place before Miles’ journey through the multiverse in Across the Spider-Verse, during a time when he focused on protecting Brooklyn from day-to-day crime. However, the intense narrative of The Spider Within makes the cliffhanger ending of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse even more heartbreaking, drastically changing the 2023 movie’s climactic moment.
One of the more personal storylines in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse saw Miles Morales incapable of opening up to his parents, Jefferson Davis and Lauren Vélez’s Rio Morales. The Spider Within provides more context for this storyline, as the short film sees Miles struggling to speak to his father. Instead of watching horror movies with his father, Miles spends the evening alone in his bedroom, but is plagued with visions of his greatest fears coming to life, including a terrifying shadow figure with yellow eyes that transforms into a spider, and then into thousands of spiders, leaving Miles cowering alone.
The manifestation of Miles Morales’ fears and mental struggles shows just how difficult he has been finding his double-life as Miles and Spider-Man. At the end of The Spider Within, however, Miles asks to take a walk with his father, and begins to open up about his troubles, including his interest in “a girl,” who is presumably Hailee Steinfeld’s Gwen Stacy. While this is a cathartic narrative to explore in the short film, The Spider Within’s focus on Miles’ struggles to open up to his parents makes one moment in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse even more important, and more tragic.
After escaping from Miguel O’Hara’s Spider-Man 2099 and the Spider Society towards the end of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales heads home and confronts his mother, confessing that he is actually Spider-Man. Unfortunately, Miles has inadvertently found himself on Earth-42, the home of the spider that initially gifted him abilities, rather than his home of Earth-1610, meaning this confession was meaningless. The Spider Within makes this moment even worse, as it proves just how much Miles has been struggling with his new work-life balance, but also suggests that his Earth-1610 parents would be open to hearing his Spider-Man confession.
After Miles’ experiences facing the manifestation of his fears in The Spider Within, he asks his father whether they can talk, and Jefferson is immediately open to having a heart-to-heart with his son. This suggests that, if Miles had told his parents that he was Spider-Man, they would have supported him, and he wouldn’t have to battle his demons alone. The fact that Miles confesses his heroism to an alternate version of his mother in Across the Spider-Verse means he’ll need to again battle with the decision of whether to tell his real parents, assuming he even makes it home.
The Spider Within suggests Miles Morales’ parents would be understanding and supportive of his career as Spider-Man, which begs the question of why he finds it so difficult to open up to them. Perhaps Miles believes that telling them that he is Spider-Man would put them in danger, but the fact that his father is now threatened by the Spot means he’s in danger anyway. He may also simply not want his parents to worry, though his mother’s speech in Across the Spider-Verse may have assured him that they value his freedom, as long as he returns to them safely.
Jefferson Davis’ receptiveness to speak to his son in The Spider Within, and the heartfelt moments Miles Morales shared with his mother in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, surely led to his decision to reveal the truth. Despite being trapped in another reality, the fact that Miles has confessed the truth once means he likely will again, so Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse could feature an emotional moment as they discuss his superhero antics. This would surely take a weight off Miles’ shoulders, allowing him to rid himself of the fears seen in The Spider Within, and become an even better Spider-Man.