 About halfway through Spider-Man across the Spider-Verse Real Morales tells her son that no matter where he goes He has to promise to protect himself to remember who cares for him to remember who loves him She makes him promise to remember who he is because everyone won't root for him like his own will Across the spider-verse builds on what the previous film had established Into the spider-verse had Miles's father aid him in creating a sturdy base A foundation the core of who he is Jefferson amidst all the chaos Makes sure that his son knows that he is a bright bright kid a kid so radiant that it's hard to see what's ahead sometimes His presence is sometimes so blinding He tells Miles that he has a spark and it's amazing and that he'll be great at whatever he chooses to do with His father established a foundation of love in the first film and his mother ensures that he never forgets that he is Deserving of that love in the second instructing him to never stand for any treatment that doesn't accept who he is The spark that Jefferson Morales speaks about is infectious. It has impacted everyone around him Peter B Parker was a man who was alone struggling and hesitant about his future lost in a sense Miles's very existence as his mentee was such a gratifying experience for him that he decided to take control of his life and Even choose to have children when he didn't want to just for the chance that that child could be as kind and as cool as miles Morales That spark Miles carries infects those that he barely knows Miles knew Hobie for about half a mission in the film But quickly Hobie was pulled in by Miles's radiance Understanding that Miles stands for everything he does that being spider-man means being for the people no matter what and Hobie is impacted by this kid to the point where he even helps Miles escape the spider society and joins his cause It's that same spark that has him save Pov's inspector sing and the child saved him from the potential heartbreak Miles's spark has Gwen absolutely smitten Gwen as we know her is guarded She's lost her only friend ever and that made her afraid to form any connections in this film She's coming off her and her father's falling out She doesn't have a home to go back to anymore Gwen's own father is afraid of her She is now afraid of going home and she still has these feelings about miles On top of that over the past few months as she's joined the spider society She's visited all of these worlds these universes and she's dead in a lot of them She's fallen for spider-man in so many timelines and so that makes her even more guarded Even more afraid of confronting the feelings that she has but miles that ray of sunshine He's always willing to be different to try and be different to take that leap of faith And he tells her on that building that there is a first time for everything and she is constantly in awe of his willingness to try Gwen is head over heels for miles fully in love She risked a universe-threatening mission just to see miles again in her own world She thinks about him constantly as the memory of his face paints the train windows She adores him. You're amazing. She says like he always is Miles represents the very small tiny chance that the impossible is possible His very existence and his passion are proof of that His act of defiance against the society sparked her desire to try one more time to reach her dad and Yet having reached all these people Gwen Peter Hobie all of the spider people from the first film Miles still finds himself alone at the end of this film Miles only knew spider-man to be a collaborative effort He's never had to be alone and figure it out all by himself in the first half of this film He lives the authentic spider-man experience to a degree There's this inherent loneliness when it comes to the idea of spider-man in general, right? All spider people introduce themselves as the one and only spider-man this idea that on the most grounded level Spider-man is the sole hero of New York and he has to ultimately juggle this incredible Responsibility juggle the few friends that they have their personal life and most of the time They don't tell anybody about it out of fear of getting others involved hurt and or in Miles's case fear of the repercussions So when Miles has to experience this and balances all by himself in the sequel It's a bit harder for the young spider-man having lived the other side of it So when Gwen gets the chance to visit Miles She tells him about everything that's going on in her life He already knew the loneliness that she had experienced the friends that she didn't have and couldn't make The unique bond they shared Gwen was the one person who knew down to the smallest details of that specific brand of Isolation that Miles felt and in comes Gwen raving on about the adventures that she's had the friends She's made the community. She's felt in mumbatin. He sees the camaraderie that he's missed out on She's been traveling to all these different dimensions for months and not once did she come to see him It hurts He's then brought to the spider society and is greeted with everything he ever dreamed of Miles wanted to go to school to study interdimensional travel to be able to visit his friends. This was it Miles expected to feel the love of a community that was just like him the exact opposite of the loneliness He felt back home and Instead it was met with hostility and immense disappointment He joined the spider society to befriend hundreds of people with stories like his to see people who look just like him and To bond with those who felt the exact same emotions that he has and Instead left feeling more alone than ever before I Got the chance to watch the movie a few times now and still that Scene when miles his voice is shaking and you can just hear the sadness in his voice on the brink of tears Talking about how badly he wanted to just see his friends is still as moving as it was the first time And then that realization settles in the heartbreak settles in that even Gwen and Peter his two best friends Want to stop him and that they knew all along Gwen says that it's for his own good that his father dies Miles literally gets beaten by this idea that he is different Miguel tells him that he was a mistake the original anomaly that it's his fault for creating this interdimensional supervillain that miles needs to suffer to become spider-man and Miles is then expected to conform and follow what Miguel tells him to do just like everyone in the spider society has Because they have all been forged by death and suffering and sacrifice as Miguel calls it They've been forged by their shared trauma their canon events So Miguel and all the other spider people including Gwen and Peter B believe that spider-man is Spider-man because of those events This movie then begs the question what exactly does it mean to be spider-man? What does this character represent? Is it the strict canon events that makes the character is spider-man then defined by this shared destiny and fate? by tragedy Are you really spider-man if these things don't happen to you if you don't look a certain way? Can anyone really wear the mask? Throughout the entire movie miles has been told that he has to follow the path that has been set out for him He has to follow fate or destiny Everyone is actively telling him what he can and can't do telling him who he is He is not spider-man. He's an anomaly the guidance counselor tells him that he can't have his cake and eat it too Spider pig once told him that you can't save everyone Miguel tells him that he can't save the world and his dad But still miles doesn't fold not even when hundreds of spider people are hunting him down Miles at the end of this film says and believes that he is strong because of his parents He fights and fights in this film because he just knows at his core that spider-man doesn't just let things happen Spider-man doesn't let people die Even against all odds his foundation will never falter because that is who he is and it's how he was raised Aaron told him to keep going Miles is an Afro-Latino kid that wants to go to Princeton a predominantly white institution He is the one spider-man that was never supposed to get bit the original anomaly being different is baked into his DNA And as his mother says people will root against him because of that He won't always be accepted and loved the way he should be but to him that just doesn't matter He will do things his own way Miles has been spider-man for a year his whole life though He has watched spider-man and the one thing spider-man always did was try Miles fully believes that there is a way to save both his father and his world He fully believes spider-man can do both he always does a boat and even if he fails at least he tried at least He tried to defy fate destiny Canon he tried to have two kicks He never chose to get bit he never wanted to he was never supposed to again the original anomaly Yet here Miles Morales stands atop everyone as spider-man as the only one who understands what spider-man is supposed to be Miles being a quote-unquote anomaly is proof that anyone can wear the mask anyone who understands the responsibility of it Miles believes that spider-man is not defined by his failures or losses He's not defined by guilt or grief or trauma as Miguel O'Hara has become Miguel has become paralyzed by his fear to the point of inaction and that isn't spider-man That's not miles Morales. It never has been Miles through these films has been defined by his willingness to take that leap of faith Miguel and Peter tell miles that being spider-man is sacrifice, but miles disagrees Spider-man is not sacrifice. He's not in action. He's never going to just stand by and watch Spider-man is hope and miles has the opportunity to offer himself that hope But being different has a price and by the end of this film that price is his loneliness Stranded in a dimension where no one can help him His only friends have deserted him. The spider society has turned against him His parents can't save him and this universe is miles Morales is the prowler All because that spider bit him instead There is this inherent loneliness to being spider-man and all miles ever wanted to do is to go against that idea That spider-man needs to be alone, but it feels like fate is forcing him to be both physically and ideologically Spider-man like he's always been is alone To trust yourself your teachings your gut despite everyone telling you you're wrong Despite your best friend and your mentor telling you otherwise is a lonely road But it is a leap of faith