Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s directors are having a good time reading all of your fan theories about the forthcoming movie. Unfortunately for you, though, most of them are “way off base”.
Speaking exclusively to TechRadar during a long lead press day ahead the next Spider-Man film's launch, Kemp Powers and Joaquim Dos Santos confirmed they were yet to see a fan theory that was close to being right.
Given the secrecy surrounding Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s plot, it's understandable why that would be the case. Even so, some movie and TV show lovers – particularly those who frequent rumor-filled forums like Reddit – have accurately guessed certain plot points about forthcoming films or TV series. A case in point is The Mandalorian season 3, which recently finished airing on Disney Plus – director/executive producer Rick Famuyiwa exclusively telling TechRadar that some Star Wars fans had correctly guessed the direction of this season's narrative.
Powers and Dos Santos, though, say the same cannot be said of Across the Spider-Verse. In fact, of all the fan speculation that the duo has read online, around “90 percent” of it is completely wrong.
“I've not [been] on social media much,” Powers said. “But the theories I've seen, I have to say 90 percent of rumors are way off base, to the point where it's almost annoying how wrong they are!” *laughs*
“We live in a time where a bad rumor kind of spreads and people start accepting it as the truth. Or, say Phil [Miller] and Chris [Lord, Across the Spider-Verse‘s executive producers] might have said something in an interview four or five years ago, fans then go ‘They said that might happen! Now we know it's going to happen'. Guys, the movie is almost ready. You will see it. But yeah, the vast majority of rumors are false.”
“There have been some doozies, for sure,” Dos Santos added. “On the other side of it, though, it's like, we're happy people are talking and pontificating on it, rather than not at all. Believe me, for a million years, I raged about who would win in a fight between Spider-Man and Wolverine or, you know, if we'd ever see a big Marvel and DC crossover. People are going to talk and that's just part of being in the fandom.”
Analysis: a web of misdirects, or fanning the flames?
Given the lengthy involvement in Across the Spider-Verse‘s development, Powers and Dos Santos' comments can be taken at face value. They know what the film's story is about, which characters will show up, who'll get the most character development, how it'll end – and lead into its sequel, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which is currently slated to launch in theaters in March 2024.
That said, the pair are sure to have thrown a few misdirects our way over the last 12 months. Even if a solitary Spider-Man fan had correctly guessed the movie's story, including its ending, Powers, Dos Santos, and company aren't going to let us know that someone has got it right. That would only further fuel the fire, and result in fans of the webslinger searching for the correct theory online.
We aren't averse to speculating on what'll go down in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, either. We've discussed our thoughts on the movie's direction in our hub (linked above), as well as in our Across the Spider-Verse trailer breakdown article. We can't sit here, then, act all high and mighty, and tell fans of the wallcrawler to stop theorizing and simply wait for the film to arrive in theaters.
With certain members of the movie's cast and crew dropping the occasional tease our way, too, we can't help but speculate on what we'll see when one of our most anticipated new movies of 2023 works its way into cinemas, either. Just this week, Powers told CinemaCon attendees (via Total Film) that the film has secret cameos that its main voice cast doesn't even know about (opens in new tab) – one of which is “gonna blow your eyeballs out the backside of your head”. Meanwhile, The Lonely Island's Instagram account (opens in new tab) has teased Andy Samberg joining fellow comedian/actor Jorma Taccone in voicing a character in the film, even though Sony and Marvel haven't confirmed his involvement.
Across the Spider-Verse‘s own creative team, then, is helping to drive discussions and fan theories about the flick pre-release. As Dos Santos and Powers say, that's part and parcel of the world we live in today. Even so, in partaking of these online discussions, they're fanning the flames of the very same fan theories they state are “off base”, which we're sure is amusing them greatly. Curse you both!
Still, we don't have much longer to wait for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to swing into theaters worldwide, so we'll soon know which fan theories were bang on the money. Be sure to check back in with TechRadar next week for a more in-depth, exclusive discussion with Dos Santos and Powers about the movie, too.
In the meantime, find out how to watch the Spider-Man movies in order, or read our Spider-Man movies ranked piece. Alternatively, see how one Across the Spider-Verse poster spoiled some of its biggest cameos and see why the Miles Morales-starring film might be more connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe than we realize.
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