Spider-Verse 2: Why Spider-Man 2099 And Miles Morales Will Fight

In the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) trailer, Spider-Man 2099, also known as Miguel O’Hara, attacks Miles Morales for a mysterious reason. Miles enters a portal into the multiverse, and just as he finds his footing – or webbing – in an alternate India, Miguel shoots through another portal straight for him. The scene ends in a futuristic highway in Nueva York, cutting when Miguel hurls a yelling Miles down, highlighting their conflict. Beyond the dynamic action, the scene raises the question of how and why the two Spider-Men come to blows in the first place.

The Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse post-credits scene may give some background. Miguel is first introduced in this scene alongside his holographic assistant Lyla, who informs him that the multiverse hasn’t collapsed despite Kingpin’s actions and the events of the film. Miguel then wears a gadget that allows him to make “autonomous multiverse jump[s].” He uses it to “start at the beginning, one last time” for some sort of mission. This leads him to Earth-67, where he lands right in the hilarious, infamous pointing scene with the 1967 animated Spider-Man.

The side-splitting sequence and the amicable way the Spider-Verse post-credits scene characterizes Miguel endears audiences to the futuristic Spider-Man. Despite this, however, he strangely seems like an enemy to Miles in the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer. The contrast might be due to Miguel’s mission, as set up in the post-credits scene. When he lands in Earth-67, he tells the older alternate, “I’m Spider-Man. I need you to come with me.” His mission seems to be to gather Spider-Men from across the multiverse for some heroic reason, which points toward him having a positive role in the Spider-Verse sequel.

He may be fighting Miles in the trailer because they are on opposing sides toward the same goal. Miguel might fear that Miles will ruin his plan or the timeline itself with his independent actions, and so forcefully takes him to his home-dimension. On the other hand, perhaps Miles refused to join Miguel’s assembly of Spider-Men in an earlier scene for some reason, and so he attempts to capture Miles. Another possible reason Miguel wrestles with the younger web-slinger is to save him from something he’s not aware of. This might just be “a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered,” to quote the film’s official description.

It’s evident that Miguel endeavors to assemble a “new team of Spider-People” in order to defeat the villain. But the fact that Miguel doesn’t speak a word to Miles throughout the intense confrontation might alternately indicate that he is being mind-controlled by this force for evil to fight Miles. Ultimately, although mind-control is a possibility, it is perhaps more likely that lines of dialogue were edited out of the scene to keep the film’s plot a mystery. Such a tactic isn’t anything new for Marvel movies, with the studio known for editing trailers to keep viewers guessing. Either way, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse already has an intriguing premise.