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Across the Spider-Verse: The Prowler Twist Was A Production Plot Twist

The twist at the end of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse shocked audiences. It also surprised the directors, who added it well into the movie's development.

While not everyone knew that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was essentially a part one without putting those words in the title, that became very apparent in the film's final scenes. It's the slowly dawning horror that comes with not quite realizing how wrong everything around you is, and everything falls into place. It makes sense within the film's plot that the universe that gave Miles his powers would have gone to hell because no radioactive spider means no Spider-Man of any kind and no one to stop all of the villains. To see the ramifications of that world was one thing, but it was a whole other kick in the gut when it was revealed that Miles was The Prowler in this world. Apparently, the death of his father and everything in his universe being so bad pushed Miles over to the other side. It's one of those twists that felt like it must have been thought up early in development, and we'd been making our way toward it, so that's what makes it all the more surprising that it was a very late addition to the film. Total Film got the chance to speak to the three directors of the film, Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Justin K. Thompson, and Powers revealed that the epiphany came to him during a Zoom meeting."

"So, Aaron was still The Prowler, and this is rather far along into development, too," Powers said. "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," Powers continued. "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."

Miles, as the sidekick to Aaron, makes plenty of sense. In the first film, it was obvious how much Miles idolized his uncle, and the people who tend to drag you down the lowest are usually those who are supposed to lift you up. You can only assume that when Miles's dad died, his uncle took on a more fatherly role, so, of course, Miles would start working for him. However, making Miles The Powler sets up such an interesting dynamic between the two. It makes this version of Miles so much more interesting and proves that every version of Miles Morales is a leader in one way or another. We have the Miles we've been following for two movies on one extreme and the Miles of this new universe on the other. It makes us wonder if we will ever meet a version of Miles that doesn't become Spider-Man or the Prowler in the next film and what that version of Miles is doing to make a difference in his Spider-Verse.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. 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. But when the heroes clash on handling a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson with a screenplay by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, and David Callaham. It stars Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Jason Schwartzman, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Greta Lee, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone, Shea Whigham, and Oscar Isaac. It was released on June 2, 2023, and is currently available to purchase on digital.

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