Why Spider-Verse's CLIFFHANGER Hits Different

#spiderman #milesmorales

This ending is FASCINATING in its structure and pacing, from Miles revelation to 42 Rio, to the shock of seeing Uncle Aaron, to Gwen creating her rebel spider force, and of course the introduction of 42 Miles.

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[jimstoesz]

I feel like Miles' personal arc about telling his parents the truth DID conclude, though. The obstacle wasn't that his parents didn’t know, it was that Miles was too scared to tell them. He's not anymore. He tells the wrong Rio the first time, but he's proven to himself and the audience that he'll he able to tell the right one as soon as he gets home.

[misteryA]

And this new beginning, where Miles realizes an alternate version of him is the Prowler, directly ties into his fears and insecurities- that he wasn't meant to be Spiderman and therefore doesn't deserve to be Spiderman. He's face to face with a him that didn't get to be Spiderman and this is who he became. It's so emotionally charged- I love it!

[marykatezehr]

Also, I like that Rio said "Who's Spider-Man?" instead of just "Who?"
It's almost like we figured she'd respond this way as if she's a typical mom who forgot who a famous celebrity is. That's what we didn't really suspect anything was wrong until Miles glitched and the camera zoomed outward. Super well done

[maddyh]

0:35 "I wasnt feeling typical cliff-hanger pain"
Tell that to the guy at my screening that yelled "FUCK YOU" when the credits started rolling 😂

[Brenilla]

I think the trust gotten in the movies in this series also helps alot. Like even if a movie or series pulled off a perfect to be continued ending. If a studio or franchise hadnt been shown to have a great track record it could backfire.

[andy_hay]

I feel like with the narration at the start of the movie and the first 20mins being dedicated to Gwen, it’s actually her movie. She had the full complete arc, so while ending the movie excited to see how Miles go I had the sense of satisfaction of Gwen going from a total outsider and “never joining a band” to “starting her own”

[kharyrobertson]

I don't mind a cliffhanger at the end of a movie as long as it's not the same resolution I came into the movie looking for. I don't like when a cliffhanger in a movie is used instead of a resolution, but rather as a setup for another movie or property.

[richardmillhousenixon]

I'm gonna go on a bit of a rant here, so bear with me.

I went into the theater not realizing it was a two parter, and because of that the ending hit twice as hard for me as it probably did for those that knew there would be a part 2. But unlike the cliffhangers in a lot of other stories, I didn't leave the theater feeling robbed, or feeling anxiety for the rest of the story. I left with something I'd never felt in the cliffhangers of any other stories. Hope. The last time we see Miles in shot, he's not panicking, he's not resigned to his fate. He's confident, staring back at Miles G and figuring out a way to break free of the chains. And then to mirror that, the last shot we see of any character is a close up of Gwen, with a confident smile on her face, and the V/O ending with "You want in?" Its just about the best cliffhanger ending to any story I've seen, because you aren't feeling like you were left with half of a story. You're left with a full story that has another full story following it. I'll compare it to HL2:E2. At the end of that, we are left with a huge unfulfilled story, which makes it all the more disappointing that we never got an episode 3. But with ATSV, they left it in such a way that it could end there, and it wouldn't feel unfinished, all the while not taking away any of the impact of the cliffhanger for the next film.

[huaen]

Another background detail, but the ending score (Across The Spiderverse: Start a Band) mirrors the score at the beginning of the movie (Across The Spiderverse: Intro), but instead of collapsing into a confused mess like in the beginning of the movie, the score keeps building to a triumphant end, which both gives the ending a sense of closure and makes it feel incredibly epic. Hearing the band build to a crescendo as Miles prepares to venom blast the chains and Gwen prepares to jump into the portal with her new band to save Miles adds the additional touch required to make the ending feel great, even if it's a cliffhanger.

[sydposting]

I feel like the use of Gwen's narration to open and close the movie was absolutely instrumental to pulling this off. Just one line - "You want in?" - made it clear that this was just Gwen giving the *opening pitch.* Getting the backstory out of the way for something even more incredible to come. I left the theater befuddled as to why the story stopped *here* exactly, but that was far outweighed by my excitement - because I *knew* we were getting answers later.

[SaiyanHeretic]

Structurally, it helps that ATSV does tell a complete story. At the start, Miles knows what he wants but isn't sure how to get there and he's just skating by on false confidence. By the end, Miles has overcome an obstacle to what he wants (more on that) and his false confidence has been tempered by struggle into real steel. And speaking of obstacles, Spot might be a villain, but he's not the antagonist of this story because he's not (yet) standing in the way of what Miles wants. Miguel is the antagonist — Miguel opposes Miles's desire to reconnect with his Spider friends (before they even meet), Miguel opposes Miles's interest in joining Spider Society, Miguel opposes Miles's efforts to thwart The Canon and save his father, Miguel opposes Miles very existence as a Spider-Man. In overcoming all of that, Miles has accomplished something tangible (proving himself to people who's opinions matter to him) and changed as a person (newfound focus on his goals and the courage to reveal his secret). The twist might subvert our expectations of endings should go, but it doesn't undo or negate anything that Miles just achieved. ATSV does all of his, unlike Fast X, which literally ends in the middle of an action sequence with Dom having accomplished nothing of consequence to his ultimate goal.

[uli]

I think people struggle with this ending. A lot of people say that this was an element of the film they did *not* like. And I disagree with them. I was *SOOOO* hyped and felt so excited. For me I'm left feeling curious about whats next, and am bummed I have to wait so long to find out.

[gc]

I loved this video, but I do think that there is one other important thing at play here. For example, there is a very glaring closed question that is left unanswered by the end of the movie, “Will Miles’ dad live or die?”. Why isn’t that frustrating? Definitely the open ended questions and pressure valve moment help take away from that closed question frustration but something else that I think helps is that this movie did get a conclusion: Gwen and her dad! Despite there being a cliffhanger for miles’ story, this movie delivers a satisfying conclusion to Gwen’s story with her dad (which is the first conflict that we get introduced to in the movie)! We as the audience get to experience all that well earned good conclusions feelings with the hero that we started the movie with, priming us to accept the open-ended questions and “beginning plot elements” at the end of the movie. Again, absolutely loved the video, can’t wait to see more Spider Verse analysis!

[sny]

Totally agree with what you said about the start of the movie feelings. Across the spiderverse is one of my favorite movies, but in the end, when we see prowler miles and everything I was like: wait, isn't the movie supposed to end by now? I felt like it was just beginning 2.5 hours in... and I loved this cliffhanger, although most of my friends didn't

[batmanvsjoker]

The thing that sets this cliffhanger apart from so many is that it does leave us wanting for more, but Miles and Gwen's arcs are still concluded in this film. Miles is all alone in a different dimension with the risk of desintegrating and face to face with a twisted version of himself, yet he's calm and he's become independent enough to face it on his own. Gwen learned to follow her heart, start defying fate and go be with Miles like she always wanted to. They both have completed arcs, there's just more to the story.

[bhji]

I feel like the other reason the ending works is because Gwen simultaneously completes her arc by launching her splinter cell. Like I know really the scene with her dad was the climax of her arc but taking this bold step as the realization of that self actualization is the actual conclusion IMO. And unlike the first movie, Gwen was really just as much a main protagonist as Miles was, even if Miles was the main POV.

[isabellhoward]

This guy is insane, I love how I can listen to his deep rabbit holes for hours AND NOT GET TIRED, he can go on and on about something and still find more and more!! Seriously amazing, I feel like I appreciate this movie a million times more than I already did which is physically impossible and it's all because of ✨schnee✨

[CobitoAventurera]

I think what also helped this different cliffhanger feeling was that we experienced closure in Gwen's arc story. The movie actually starts with her conflict. So we could say that when she finally gets to talk with her dad, the movie (or the main story) technically ends there, allowing us to see also the start of a new story.

[SteveJubs]

As one of the ones who did feel incredibly cheated by this ending, this video actually does help me appreciate it from a storytelling perspective. And now that I think about it, what really matters to Miles’ arc is that he did the right thing at the end (telling his mom the truth and owning his identity), and not the credit he gets for doing the right thing (his mom doesn’t end up making—in your words—“ending noises” lol). And what could be more quintessentially Spider-Man than doing the right thing and not getting the credit for doing the right thing?

I think what fell flat for me is that the moment his mom doesn’t know who Spider-Man is, I immediately knew exactly what was happening, and kind of feel like I can guess where the next movie might end, especially since the spider our Miles was bitten by was specifically from that earth he ends up on. Still hyped for it though, and this video really did take some of the sting out of that cliffhanger for me.

[effmltalks]

I think for me it was a realisation that the bigger picture that the movie teases us with especially towards the end couldn't possibly be captured in the final 10 minutes, that it cleverly got me to mentally prepare for not having the full picture, but also excitedly ready to wait for the next movie knowing how big the picture is going to get! It's so well done!!