It’s impressive how many callbacks to “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” took place in the sequel and how many set-ups paid off. In the first movie, the spider is clearly labeled as “42,” and it even glitches, hinting that it’s not from Miles’ reality. This factors into the follow-up, as Miguel O’Hara has a real axe to grind with Miles, seeing how he’s an anomaly that shouldn’t exist because the spider wasn’t meant to bite him. But it paid off in thrilling fashion, with Miles relegated to a different universe where that Miles is now the Prowler.
However, the Go Home Machine actually tells the audience where Miles is going. After it scans Miles, it shows how it’s going to send him to Earth-42. This should’ve been a red flag to anyone who paid attention when the film first went to Miles’ universe. Big letters on the screen indicate that Miles’ reality is officially designated Earth-1610, so the machine misreading his DNA was right there in plain sight.
Some fans managed to catch on early, such as Redditor u/Ishmit_singh, who was disappointed that paying attention ruined the twist: “I am so mad at myself that i caught onto the Earth-42 part wayy too early on When miles goes into the machine and it scans his eye , it already shows Earth-42 right there.” Others noticed it but didn’t catch on to what was happening, like u/Bucen: “I was so stupid. I saw the earth 42 and literally thought ‘what a blunder from the creators. The spider is from earth 42, not Miles’.” It goes to show how “Across the Spider-Verse” will reward rewatches, and there’s plenty of time to do that until “Beyond the Spider-Verse” arrives in theaters on March 29, 2024.