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.

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“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.