Of course Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse has a post credits scene–it would, frankly, be pretty irresponsible if it didn’t, considering just how deeply embroiled in comic book culture the whole movie is. There are certain expectations for superhero stories and this is a film that understands that intimately, and is more than happy to deliver.
Needless to say: Into The Spider-Verse spoilers ahead, so please proceed with caution from here on out!
We’ve known for a while that Sony has been planning on developing more Spider-Verse or Spider-Verse adjacent movies, which is what the very brief mid-credits scene starts to set up. We see Miles on his bed back in his dorm room before, off screen, a portal seems to open on his ceiling, glowing neon. We never see her, but Gwen’s voice chimes in, saying Miles’ name to get his attention. The implication here is pretty obvious–Gwen has found some way to hop through the multiverse on her own, without causing a black hole to open up under Brooklyn, and has figured out how to use this–tech? Magic?–to link back up with Miles.
Obviously this leaves some major questions. We all want Miles and his interdimensional friends to be able to join back up and go on adventures again, but a major part of Into The Spider-Verse’s story was the fact that dimension-hopping is potentially lethal for the people who are leaving their home universe. This certainly puts a damper on all the potential fun to be had, unless a solution was worked out somewhere off screen. Also, we can’t tell by this brief moment whether or not the only person able to hop dimensions now is Gwen or if the rest of Miles’ ragtag Spider-crew are going to be invited along as well. We certainly hope so.
Spider-Man 2099
The actual post credits scene may even give us a little insight into that particular problem. It introduces an entirely new character comics fans will recognize as Miguel O’Hara (voiced by none other than Oscar Isaac), AKA Spider-Man 2099. He’s accompanied by his holographic personal assistant, Lyla, who seems to be helping him with new tech, assuring him that if he succeeds, he’ll be the first person to pull off an autonomous dimension jump.
For those of us not super well versed in ’90s Marvel comics, Miguel might be a bit of a mystery. He’s basically exactly what it says on the tin: a Spider-Man from the year 2099, in keeping with the extremely ’90s superhero tradition of advanced, cyberpunk alternate futures–think Marvel’s own version of the Batman Beyond concept.
Miguel’s Spider-Man origins are similar to Peter’s in that they were the results of genetic experimentation. As an adult, Miguel became the head of a genetics program at the semi-shady corporate juggernaut Alchemax, where he begins working on a project based on records of the original Spider-Man’s exploits. He invents a machine that would, ideally, fuse human DNA with spider DNA and attempts to test it on himself, but the process was sabotaged by a jealous lab assistant who cranks the ratios up by 50%. Miguel survives the accident, but is mutated to have a more physically extreme version of Peter’s abilities, including talons that are now growing out of his hands and feet.
Though the 2099 line of comics is largely defunct these days, Miguel still crops up in his own solo books or other Spider-adjacent titles even now. During the Secret Wars event, Miguel was set to the present and stranded, but he was eventually able to make it back in one piece. His last proper solo title wrapped up in 2017.
Spider-Memes and Stan Lee Quotes
Spider-Verse’s Miguel is more than happy to use his experimental tech to make a dimension hop, so the question is: where does he want to go? The answer is, hilariously, “the beginning,” of course–Earth-67, otherwise known as the Earth where the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon takes place. Miguel’s actual landing place won’t be a surprise to anyone familiar with Spider-Man memes–he inserts himself right into the middle of the infamous “two Peters pointing at each other” scene–a riff on the “first” time multiple Spider-people crossed over into one moment.
It’s all a pretty elaborate gag aimed specifically at deep-cut loving, very online comic book fans but it does mean that Sony has an animated design and model ready to go for both Miguel and Lyla in the future–and voices cast for both of them–so, even if you’re not a fan of vintage memes, there’s still good news to be found. Maybe keep an eye out for future Spider-Verse announcements to see just where the 2099 cast ends up.
The movie actually ends, after all the 60s camp, on a touching note with a Stan Lee tribute quote–simple white text on a black background, encompassing the whole message of the film. “That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero.” Rest in peace, Stan.
