The Surprise Across The Spider Verse Villain Explained
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VOICE OVER: Rebecca Brayton
“Across the Spider-Verse” had some great villains, one of which came as a total surprise. For this video, we'll be exploring the origins of where the final antagonist of the movie came from and where the twisted big bad may go next in the third film. If you haven't seen “Across-The-Spider-Verse” yet, beware of major spoilers swinging your way. We'll be covering the two comic book characters that influenced the on-screen villain as well as speculating on what it means for a third "Spider-Verse" movie.
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re taking a closer look at the surprise villain from “Across the Spider-Verse." For this video, we’ll be exploring comic history to see where the final antagonist of the movie came from and where the twisted big bad may go next in the third film. If you haven’t seen “Across-The-Spider-Verse” yet, beware of major spoilers swinging your way. Who’s your favorite animated Spidey villain? Let us know in the comments.
Although “Across-The-Spider-Verse” was full of great surprises, they saved a shock stronger than a venom blast for last. After Miles Morales escapes the Spider Society by hopping in a dimensional device, he ends up on a world known as Earth 42. He’s only there for a short while before his uncle Aaron shows up with very bad intentions. Before long, Miles gets knocked out by the Prowler and tied to a punching bag. After the hero comes to, it’s revealed that Aaron isn’t the purple suited villain. It turns out that the Earth 42-version of Miles is the one who wears the Prowler suit. And this evil Morales doesn’t want to let the hero swing free. To figure out why the sinister Miles wants to keep his counterpart, we’re going to take a look at the character’s origins.
The evil Morales we saw onscreen is actually the combination of two distinct and equally wicked copies of the original hero. Miles just has an unfortunate knack for running into people with similar powers or abilities that want him dead. In any case, the first person the evil Morales is based on was an older version of himself. To keep things simple, we’ll refer to the mature miles as Mr. Morales AKA Ultimatum from now on. This character first surfaced after the big “Secret Wars” event. While we won’t dive into the crossover’s full details, the most important thing to know is that Miles had to leave the Earth-1610 universe behind so he could live in a new world. When a curious Peter tried to find out who Mr. Morales was on Earth-616 he found…nothing. Not even private investigator Jessica Jones could find a scrap of information on the guy. However, it turned out that Ultimatum had purposely taken himself off the radar.
Years before the new Miles arrived on Earth 616, Mr. Morales was a criminal working for a powerful family. The antagonist was so loyal to his bosses that he handed himself over to the police and went to jail for the organization. While in jail, Mr. Morales befriended an imprisoned Kingpin. Ultimatum even went a step further and kept the big bad safe from an assassination attempt within the walls. While the incident left Mr. Morales with a face full of scars, he gained a permanent friendship with Kingpin. The two quickly took over the crime scene in New York City upon their release. And when Mr. Morales wanted to hide away from the world to spend time with his love interest Barbara, Kingpin helped erase his friend’s digital footprint. Ultimatum was ready to live a happy life…until his girlfriend died. Kingpin comforted Mr. Morales by saying that since there was a multiverse, his love interest was still out there. Ultimatum soon became obsessed with reaching a world where Barabara was alive.
Eventually, his mission to enter the multiverse attracted the attention of Miles. The hero tried desperately to reach his Earth 616 counterpart without any success. When they finally met, Mr. Morales shot his counterpart, walked into a new universe and found a new version of Barbara. It seemed like Ultimatum would get a new happily ever after…until his relationship failed. Although we don’t have all the details as to why, Mr. Morales decided to return to his homeworld of Earth-616 to conquer Brooklyn again. He also happened to come back with a Captain America like shield and a suit that granted him all the size changing powers of Ant-Man. Mr. Morales decided to use his new powers to try and kick Miles off Earth-616
First, Ultimatum got an unwilling Prowler and a very eager variant of Green Goblin onto his payroll. Next, he sent an exact clone of Miles to capture the original hero. The mission finally succeeded when the new Spider-Man was knocked out in a huge explosion. Once Miles awoke, Ultimatum immediately tried to send the hero to earth 1610. Fortunately, Prowler broke out and saved his nephew. But Aaron ultimately appeared to sacrifice his life to send Mr. Morales through a multiverse portal. Miles didn’t have much time to mourn before a younger yet equally sinister copy of himself showed up.
This new character called himself Selim. Shortly after meeting Miles, the villain revealed that was yet another Spidey clone. Since Selim had recently gone around the city committing crimes while wearing a Spider-man costume, Miles wasn’t too happy with this copy. The hero was so angry that he infiltrated the villain’s base and destroyed its contents. When Selim arrived at the ruined warehouse, the clone revealed that he was dying and looking for a way to extend his life. Upon realizing that Miles had destroyed vital research and materials, the villain tried to rip the hero’s family apart. Fortunately, two other clones rebelled against Selim and tried to stop him. The villain retaliated by unleashing a gigantic venom blast that seemingly led to the deaths of both him and another clone. After Selim’s apparent death, the comic Miles finally got a break from evil versions of himself trying to assassinate him. But now it’s time from the “Across the Spider-Verse” hero to experience what it’s like fighting someone with his face.
Based on what we know so far, the evil Prowler Miles in the movie has a criminal history and relies on advanced weaponry just like Ultimatum did. He can also pass for the young hero because they’re about the same age. And lastly, the teenage Prowler has just become aware that the multiverse exists. So, what’s his next move? We think it’s likely that the villain wants a taste of the power Miles has. The teenage Prowler may be holding onto his good counterpart so he can find a way to get Spider-powers on his own. Alternatively, the villain may want something he can only get in Earth-1610. That’s why we may see the teenage Prowler hop to another world while pretending to be Miles. No matter what the villain’s endgame is, we have a feeling the final battle will see these two Spider-people trading blows and venom blasts.
Bringing in an evil Miles was one of the best and most exciting choices “Across the Spider-Verse” made. Since this new villain has similarities to two different antagonists, he still feels completely fresh and unique from his inspirations. And we’re also very excited to see what happens when he runs into a dimension hopping Spot that already has a grudge against Miles. While we’re sure the hero would prefer not to punch someone with his face, we don’t think the villain will give Spider-Man an ultimatum.
The Surprise "Across the Spider-Verse" Villain Explained
Although “Across-The-Spider-Verse” was full of great surprises, they saved a shock stronger than a venom blast for last. After Miles Morales escapes the Spider Society by hopping in a dimensional device, he ends up on a world known as Earth 42. He’s only there for a short while before his uncle Aaron shows up with very bad intentions. Before long, Miles gets knocked out by the Prowler and tied to a punching bag. After the hero comes to, it’s revealed that Aaron isn’t the purple suited villain. It turns out that the Earth 42-version of Miles is the one who wears the Prowler suit. And this evil Morales doesn’t want to let the hero swing free. To figure out why the sinister Miles wants to keep his counterpart, we’re going to take a look at the character’s origins.
The evil Morales we saw onscreen is actually the combination of two distinct and equally wicked copies of the original hero. Miles just has an unfortunate knack for running into people with similar powers or abilities that want him dead. In any case, the first person the evil Morales is based on was an older version of himself. To keep things simple, we’ll refer to the mature miles as Mr. Morales AKA Ultimatum from now on. This character first surfaced after the big “Secret Wars” event. While we won’t dive into the crossover’s full details, the most important thing to know is that Miles had to leave the Earth-1610 universe behind so he could live in a new world. When a curious Peter tried to find out who Mr. Morales was on Earth-616 he found…nothing. Not even private investigator Jessica Jones could find a scrap of information on the guy. However, it turned out that Ultimatum had purposely taken himself off the radar.
Years before the new Miles arrived on Earth 616, Mr. Morales was a criminal working for a powerful family. The antagonist was so loyal to his bosses that he handed himself over to the police and went to jail for the organization. While in jail, Mr. Morales befriended an imprisoned Kingpin. Ultimatum even went a step further and kept the big bad safe from an assassination attempt within the walls. While the incident left Mr. Morales with a face full of scars, he gained a permanent friendship with Kingpin. The two quickly took over the crime scene in New York City upon their release. And when Mr. Morales wanted to hide away from the world to spend time with his love interest Barbara, Kingpin helped erase his friend’s digital footprint. Ultimatum was ready to live a happy life…until his girlfriend died. Kingpin comforted Mr. Morales by saying that since there was a multiverse, his love interest was still out there. Ultimatum soon became obsessed with reaching a world where Barabara was alive.
Eventually, his mission to enter the multiverse attracted the attention of Miles. The hero tried desperately to reach his Earth 616 counterpart without any success. When they finally met, Mr. Morales shot his counterpart, walked into a new universe and found a new version of Barbara. It seemed like Ultimatum would get a new happily ever after…until his relationship failed. Although we don’t have all the details as to why, Mr. Morales decided to return to his homeworld of Earth-616 to conquer Brooklyn again. He also happened to come back with a Captain America like shield and a suit that granted him all the size changing powers of Ant-Man. Mr. Morales decided to use his new powers to try and kick Miles off Earth-616
First, Ultimatum got an unwilling Prowler and a very eager variant of Green Goblin onto his payroll. Next, he sent an exact clone of Miles to capture the original hero. The mission finally succeeded when the new Spider-Man was knocked out in a huge explosion. Once Miles awoke, Ultimatum immediately tried to send the hero to earth 1610. Fortunately, Prowler broke out and saved his nephew. But Aaron ultimately appeared to sacrifice his life to send Mr. Morales through a multiverse portal. Miles didn’t have much time to mourn before a younger yet equally sinister copy of himself showed up.
This new character called himself Selim. Shortly after meeting Miles, the villain revealed that was yet another Spidey clone. Since Selim had recently gone around the city committing crimes while wearing a Spider-man costume, Miles wasn’t too happy with this copy. The hero was so angry that he infiltrated the villain’s base and destroyed its contents. When Selim arrived at the ruined warehouse, the clone revealed that he was dying and looking for a way to extend his life. Upon realizing that Miles had destroyed vital research and materials, the villain tried to rip the hero’s family apart. Fortunately, two other clones rebelled against Selim and tried to stop him. The villain retaliated by unleashing a gigantic venom blast that seemingly led to the deaths of both him and another clone. After Selim’s apparent death, the comic Miles finally got a break from evil versions of himself trying to assassinate him. But now it’s time from the “Across the Spider-Verse” hero to experience what it’s like fighting someone with his face.
Based on what we know so far, the evil Prowler Miles in the movie has a criminal history and relies on advanced weaponry just like Ultimatum did. He can also pass for the young hero because they’re about the same age. And lastly, the teenage Prowler has just become aware that the multiverse exists. So, what’s his next move? We think it’s likely that the villain wants a taste of the power Miles has. The teenage Prowler may be holding onto his good counterpart so he can find a way to get Spider-powers on his own. Alternatively, the villain may want something he can only get in Earth-1610. That’s why we may see the teenage Prowler hop to another world while pretending to be Miles. No matter what the villain’s endgame is, we have a feeling the final battle will see these two Spider-people trading blows and venom blasts.
Bringing in an evil Miles was one of the best and most exciting choices “Across the Spider-Verse” made. Since this new villain has similarities to two different antagonists, he still feels completely fresh and unique from his inspirations. And we’re also very excited to see what happens when he runs into a dimension hopping Spot that already has a grudge against Miles. While we’re sure the hero would prefer not to punch someone with his face, we don’t think the villain will give Spider-Man an ultimatum.
