Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse divides fans with ‘frustrating’ ending

‘I’ve never heard a reaction like the one I heard in the cinema,’ one viewer wrote

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is receiving huge acclaim – but its ending is proving quite divisive among cinemagoers.

The film, which follows 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, catches up with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) for a sequel that many fans are saying is even better than the first.

But there are others who have been left feeling frustrated by how the film ends.

*Spoilers follow – you have been warned*

At the end of Across the Spider-Verse, Miles realises that the world he returns to after his multi-versal adventure is not his own. Miles finds himself in danger when he comes face-to-face with this world’s incarnation of the villainous Prowler – an evil version of himself.

Viewers then see Gwen, who realises Miles is in the wrong world, assembling a team of superheroes in order to save him, and the film ends with the words: “To be continued.”

During the credits, it’s then revealed that “Miles Morales will return in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse”.

However, many people were left feeling “frustrated” by this cliffhanger, with some cinemagoers even reporting a smattering of boos in their showings.

“I just think a lot of people (me included) had no idea there was a third coming and were completely engrossed in where the third act had built to,” Twitter users @acameron78 wrote, adding: “I've never heard a reaction like the one I heard in the cinema on Thursday when credits hit. Mixture of confusion + anger.”

“I loved the movie but can admit that the ending did annoy me a little just bc it felt a bit unsatisfying,” @raviolipancakes added.

‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (Sony Pictures Releasing)

However, the cliffhanger has its fans, with one person arguing that the ending made sense as the film provided closure to Gwen’s arc.

“I loved the cliffhanger, from the start ATSV felt like Gwen’s story so to end it with her becoming part of a ‘good’ spider-society gave a satisfying resolution to her arc while still leaving Miles’ story unfinished, making room for Beyond the Spider-Verse to end Miles’ story,” @Xanos693 wrote.

Others, including @CaveHag_, said that, that while the ending “made me mad at first”, they have warmed to it.

Addressing the frustration, @levdot wrote: “If anything ppl should be happy we’re getting another incredible movie in like a year or so.”

Find more reactions below.

The film has become a huge hit. It had a huge opening weekend, making $120.5m (£97m) at the domestic box office. This was the second biggest premiere for a 2023 film behind fellow animated film The Super Mario Bros Movie.

Find The Independent’s four-star review of the film here.