Sony Pictures' animated Spider-Verse sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, concluded with a massive cliffhanger and surprise reveal which may go down as one of the most shocking twists in superhero movie history.
After managing to escape from Miguel O'Hara and his fellow Spideys and make it back to what he assumed was his own reality, Miles Morales discovers that he's actually landed on Earth-42, where his father was killed instead of his Uncle Aaron.
Without a Spider-Man, crime is rampant, and The Prowler is right at the center - but it's actually Miles' alternate universe counterpart, not his uncle, under the mask.
It's a brilliantly-orchestrated reveal, and perfectly sets-up what's to come in the final instalment of the trilogy, Beyond The Spider-Verse... and it almost didn't happen.
While chatting to Games Radar, directors Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Justin K. Thompson revealed that the big Miles/Prowler twist was actually a last-minute addition.
"So, Aaron was still The Prowler and this is rather far along into development too," Powers explains. "I remember we had a meeting over Zoom and something just came to me – that Miles should be The Prowler. I felt bad as someone was presenting, but I texted the guys and we were all so excited. There was already a design for that Miles, but we sent our wonderful designer back to the drawing board, asking him to redesign the character as The Prowler."
"It's like a Pottersville or It's A Wonderful Life kind of moment. It was always thematically the same – if Miles never got powers, what would become of him – but the original wasn't as impactful. We had Miles as Aaron's sidekick, his Robin, but him becoming The Prowler evoked a whole different emotion. When we screened the original, people wouldn't get it, they just saw another Miles with cornrows and wondered what the deal is. But with that Prowler twist, that made people go, 'Woah,' as it's symbolic of so much. And after that, we threaded in all the references to The Prowler throughout the movie."
It's difficult to imagine the ending playing out any other way, so props to Powers for getting this lightbulb moment so late in the game!
"After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. However, when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders. He must soon redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most."
Beyond the Spider-Verse will feature returning voice actors Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, Brian Tyree Henry as Jeff Morales, Luna Lauren Velez as Rio Morales, Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, Oscar Isaac as Miguel O'Hara, Jason Schwartzman as Spot, Issa Rae as Jessica Drew, and Daniel Kaluuya, as Hobie Brown.