‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Explains the Big Mystery of the First Movie

The following post contains 42 related spoilers for the Spider-Verse movies.

All were 42p Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. 42 was written on the back of the spider that bit Miles Morales and gave him the powers of the ultimate Spider-Man. 42s were hidden in the background of many scenes. When Miles fell off a building and hit a sign on the way down, the numbers “4” and “2” fell precisely making 42 on the ground.

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There were 42s everywhere in that movie. But Enter the Spider-Verse he never explained what all those 42’s meant. The viewer could guess, but the filmmakers did not make their intentions clear – until the sequel.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse finally revealing the truth about the secret of the 42s. It’s not just a random number, it’s not just a tribute to the great football player Jackie Robinson, it’s not a reference to a specific case of Spider-Man comic meant easter egg. It is actually the number of one of the many Earths that make up the Spider-Verse. And for Miles Morales, perhaps the most important Earth besides this one.

That’s because Earth-42 is the alternate reality where the spider that bit him came from. The spider was plucked from the home side by the scientists at Alchemax, using the supercollider at the heart of the Enter the Spider-Verse. In that movie, the Kingpin uses this experimental device to try to find another reality where his wife and daughter are still alive. When Peter Parker is moved into the incinerator, he accidentally drags the other Spider-Heroes like Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, and Spider-Ham out of their home dimensions and a -into Miles’.

When you think about it, that explanation was always the most obvious one. In Marvel Comics, alternate realities are distinguished by numerical designations. Earth-616 is known as the home of Marvel’s original Spider-Man – along with the classic Marvel Comics Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Avengers. The world where Tom Holland’s Peter Parker hangs out with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is called Earth-199999. Spider-Gwen comes from Earth-65. Miles Morales calls Earth-1610 home. So the spider with a giant 42 written on its back originally on Earth-42 makes a lot of sense.

At the end of Throughout the Spirit-Verse, when Miles tries to return to his home dimension from Spider-Man 2099’s realm, he is mistakenly sent to Earth-42. It appears to be a reality where Spider-Man doesn’t exist – as his radioactive spider bites Miles instead. On Earth-42, Miles’ father is dead and Uncle Aaron is still alive, and working for that size version of the Prowler: Miles Morales.

As for how Miles gets home, that’s the big mystery Throughout the Spirit-Verse leave for the next movie, Spider-Man: Beyond the The Spider’s Verse, solution. It is scheduled to open in theaters on March 29, 2024.