MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
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The Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse after-credits scene introduces Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), so here's what it means for the movie and its sequel. While Marvel Studios is continuing to develop their own live-action Spider-Man, with Tom Holland reprising the role of Peter Parker in two movies next year, Sony is expanding their own Spidey-related universes. First, the studio has the live-action film franchise launched by Venom that will follow Marvel villains and anti-heroes but is so far unconnected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Additionally, Sony is establishing a Spider-Man multiverse - the Spider-Verse - with the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
The movie introduces Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), who lives in a world where Peter Parker (Chris Pine) is already an established Spider-Man. However, when Miles acquires Spidey powers and his world's Peter dies, it falls to him to stop Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) from destroying the universe with his experiments on the multiverse. Further, because of Kingpin, multiple Spider-People from around the Spider-Verse are trapped in Miles' world, including Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), and Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn).
Related: Sony's Three Spider-Man Movie Universes Explained
By the end of the movie, though, Miles has returned all the alternate universe Spider-People back to their home worlds. Still, the ending of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse establishes the already announced sequel will see the return of certain characters from around the multiverse, particularly Spider-Gwen. Going even further, the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse after-credits scene even introduces two other versions of Spider-Man (though it's unclear if both will appear in the sequel). Now, we dive into the post-credits scene and break down what it means for the movie as well as the sequel.
- This Page: Spider-Man 2099 Explained
- Page 2: What Spider-Man 2099 Means For Spider-Verse 2
Spider-Man 2099 Explained
The Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse after-credits scene introduces Spider-Man 2099, which Marvel fans will know from the comics. Created by writer Peter David and artist Rick Leonardi in the 90s, Spider-Man 2099 is a version of the classic wall-crawler who lives in one possible future of the Marvel Universe where there are no active superheroes. Instead, this version of the future is a dystopia where North America is ruled by megacorporations - one of which is Alchemex, the company Kingpin uses to assist in his experiments in Into the Spider-Verse.
Spider-Man 2099 is the alter-ego of Miguel O'Hara, a geneticist with genius-level intellect who attempts to recreate the powers of Spider-Man, but winds up splicing his DNA with that of a spider's, granting him Spider-Man-like abilities. Like Peter Parker, Miguel lives in New York City, though this version is more of a cyberpunk dystopia, and the character is the first full Latino character to don the mantle of Spider-Man. Though Spider-Man 2099 has many of the same powers as the original Spider-Man, he does not have a spider-sense. Instead, Miguel has enhanced vision and hearing, though the increased vision makes him oversensitive to light. Further, Miguel has venom and fangs, which he can use to bite opponents and paralyze them for a time.
Now, thanks to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the character of Spider-Man 2099 has officially joined the multiverse established in Sony's animated film and will no doubt return for the sequel.
Related: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Voice Cast & Surprise Cameo Guide
Oscar Isaac Is Miguel O'Hara aka Spider-Man 2099
In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man 2099 is voiced by Oscar Isaac. The post-credits scene opens in Nueva York, where Miguel is returning from a mission. He's approached by Lyla, his holographic personal assistant who was introduced in the comics as LYrate Lifeform Approximation, and they discuss Miguel's latest mission Their conversation also reveals that Miguel has an interdimensional transporter, allowing him to travel between worlds in the Spider-Verse, seemingly without damaging the universes like Kingpin's machine.
As for the actor, considering how much of a mainstream star Isaac has become thanks to his role in Star Wars, he's a major addition to the cast of Spider-Verse, and arguably too big to be relegated to a single after-credits scene. It only makes sense if he's already signed on to return for a followup to the animated Spidey film. So, between his interdimensional transport and the big star voicing Spider-Man 2099, it's clear that this post-credits scene is meant to officially introduce the character before he plays a much bigger role in the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sequel. But there's still more that we can glean about Spider-Man 2099 and how he'll factor into the sequel from the post-credits scene.
Next Page: What Spider-Man 2099 Means For Spider-Verse 2
Spider-Man 2099 Is Monitoring All The Universes
As we can see in Miguel's home base during the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse after-credits scene, he's keeping an eye on the other universes - likely using tech that's an extension of his interdimensional transporter. Since he's set in the future of a world that was likely impacted by Kingpin's experiments with the multiverse, it stands to reason Miguel has working and non-harmful versions of the tech Alchemex was attempting to create in Miles' time. It's with this tech that he sees all the Spider-People have returned to their home universes.
However, another big clue that Miguel is keeping an eye on the Spider-Verse arrives in the credits, where Isaac is listed to play a character simply called "Bystander." Though it's possible Spider-Man 2099 is visible in the background of a scene in the movie, indicating he's a literal bystander keeping an eye on the goings on of Miles, viewers have yet to spot him. Bystander might just be a simple code-name for the credits so Isaac would be included by the movie wouldn't spoil its own after-credits scene. But it's likely that word was chosen for a reason, and it makes it clear Miguel is at least aware of the events of the movie, even if he didn't get involved.
Related: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse's Ending & Future Explained
What remains to be seen, though, is what exactly Spider-Man 2099 will do with the information he learned while monitoring the Spider-Verse. If he kept an eye on the events of the movie, it would seem he has an interest in Miles. But, when Spider-Man 2099 travels to a different Earth in the multiverse in the after-credits scene, it's not to Miles' world.
Spider-Man 2099 Visits The 1960s Spider-Man Animation
Miguel uses his transporter to "start at the beginning," which takes him to Earth-67 and the universe depicted in the 1967 animated Spider-Man TV show. Specifically, Miguel travels to the season 1 episode "Double Identity," in which an actor impersonates others to avoid being captured by the police. At one point in the episode, the villain impersonates Spider-Man, leading to the scene of two Spider-Men pointing fingers at each other - which has become an internet meme.
In the Spider-Verse post-credits scene, Spider-Man 2099 and Earth-67 Spider-Man recreate this finger pointing scene to hilarious effect. But this part of the after-credits scene largely seems to be included for the laughs. It doesn't establish why Miguel is traveling back to the beginning, nor what he wants from this incarnation of Spider-Man. Since this seems to mostly be a joke, it's unlikely the Earth-67 Spider-Man will return for the Spider-Verse sequel - but it's not out of the realm of possibility either. The post-credits scene confirms this classic animated Spider-Man is part of the multiverse, so he could feasibly return, even if it's only for another joke.
Still, the more important Spidey character introduced in the post-credits scene is no doubt Spider-Man 2099, who stands to play a big role in the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
What Spider-Man 2099 Means For Spider-Verse 2
It's unclear from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse post-credits scene what exactly Miguel wants. What we know is that he's from a future world, he has technology that allows him to travel safely between dimensions, and he wants to use that tech to travel to other dimensions and confront other Spider-People. From that little bit of information, it isn't known whether he'll be an ally or an antagonist to Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse sequel. Certainly, Spider-Man 2099 is a hero in the comics, but he's a little bit of a darker hero, and his methods may conflict with how Miles believes heroes should act.
What it all comes down to is the reason Miguel is traveling between dimensions looking for other Spider-People. Maybe he's looking for help with defeating Alchemex in the future. After all, Miles was bitten by an Alchemex spider that suffered from the same temporal distortion as the Spider-People in Miles' universe, hinting the spider was from another dimension - perhaps even Miguel's dimension. Maybe the Alchemex of Miguel's world is sneakily altering other universes using interdimensional travel and Miguel is trying to set things right by searching each alternate Earth for signs of Alchemex's tampering and fixing it.
Since we don't know Spider-Man 2099's reasons for traveling between worlds, we can't deduce his exact role in the Spider-Verse sequel. However, with Peter B. Parker having returned to his heroic ways and ready to be the hero he once was, there's little more potential for future character development. That leaves Miles without a mentor, and Spider-Man 2099 could potentially fill that role. Though Miles is undoubtedly a hero in his own right by the end of Spider-Verse, he is still new to the world of superheroes. Spider-Man 2099 could potentially teach Miles a great deal about being a hero or, at the very least, simply be someone who teams up with Miles on a new adventure.
Further, Spider-Man 2099 joining the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sequel means the franchise is willing to introduce even more Spidey characters from the comics and other mediums. Arguably, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham and Peni Parker were mainly used for jokes in the movie, but Spider-Man 2099 looks to be a major character in Spider-Verse 2 - if not in a mentor role like Peter B. Parker, then at least in a supporting role as significant. So while Spider-Man 2099 is all but confirmed to be a major player in Spider-Verse 2 because of this post-credits scene, he may not be the only new Spidey character introduced for the sequel. Still, although the post-credits scene does offer plenty of teases for the next movie, how exactly Spider-Man 2099 will fit into Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 remains to be seen until we learn more about the sequel.
