Across the Spider-Verse with a Leap of Faith

 

 

Miles, exhausted and excited, tries to explain to his “mom” of the events that took place earlier that day. He paces back and forth as words come out of his mouth and try to form a coherent story, jumping from unbelievable event before explaining yet another, none making sense and he knows it. Exasperated he sighs as his mother looks on. His eyes closed, straining as his mind tries to piece everything together to say what he wants…then he pauses. His eyes open “I beat them…” he says realizing it for the first time himself. His slouched demeanor straightens, and he looks right at his mom and finishes his thought: “I beat them all.”

As with any movie worth its salt in this day and age, Spiderman: Across the Spider-verse tries to tackle multiple different themes at once. The theme in across the spiderman that sticks out to me the most is the same one that has driven my fandom for the Matrix Movies and even my own spiritual understanding: Is life about Causality or Destiny – or…is there a third path?

Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse, released in 2018, largely was a coming-of-age story. In that movie Miles is portrayed as boy who is special (intelligence wise) but doesn’t want to accept being special. He wants normalcy and throughout the movie he is trying to come to grips with the concept of what it is to be normal and what it is to be special – vis a vis – what is it to be a hero: Spiderman. The lesson Miles learns at the end is that being special and being normal are both choices. “Anyone can be spiderman, anyone can wear the mask” he concludes at the end of the movie. “It’s all a leap of faith”.

Across the Spiderverse however attempts to shatter that thesis. Miguel O’Hara (Spiderman 2099) forms an entire Spider-Society devoted for ending anomalies and stabilizing the spiderverse. He concludes that “anomalies”, beings that shouldn’t exist in a certain universe, will ultimately cause the universe they invaded to unravel. He reaches this conclusion after a universe he chose to live in disappeared and he was unable to save it despite enlisting the aid of other spider-people.

The most unfortunate plight revealed at the climax of the movie is that Miles IS the original Anomaly. The way Miguel sees it – the catastrophe of unstable universes is directly caused by Miles becoming spiderman, which was an unnatural event. The spider from universe 42 was never supposed to have bitten miles, and if Miles had not arrived to see spiderman trying to shut off the original collider, then his universe’s peter parker would not have died and he would have destroyed the collider preventing any breaches in universes. For Miguel, everything that has happened since that event (mostly bad in his eyes) is due to the original Anamoly.

At the Climax of the movie we learn about something called “Cannon” events. These events are “SUPPOSED” to happen and are a way of solidifying the role of Spiderman in a universe and ultimately stabilizing it. If Cannon events do not happen then the universe is torn apart. Miguel reaches this conclusion based on his own experience of altering a canon event so that he can be happy, and this was hinted at by the original Spiderman in “Into the Spiderverse” in his conversation with the Kingpin (who wanted to reunite with his dead wife and son in another universe).

The plight that Miles grapples within the movie is that he actually does believe in the concept of Causality. Afterall, the reason he is spiderman isn’t just because he was bitten by a Spider – but because he chose to be a Hero by taking his leap of faith. This is why he’s shown to be very much affected by Miguel’s words. We conclude that all Spider-people shown in the Spiderverse movies are believers in Causality. It is why they are all so readily able to accept Miguel’s premise and it is what they (the ones shown in Into the Spiderverse) try to teach Miles. That being spiderman isn’t just something that happens, it’s a choice you make. However – this isn’t actually why Miles becomes Spiderman. It boils down to the idea of a “Leap of faith”.

I’ve heard this term for many years in many medias. I don’t think I’ve ever given it as much thought as I have after watching Across the Spiderverse. Often times in media we are given the debate of Causality vs Destiny. Causality we have covered here extensively, is all about making a choice. Destiny is the opposite. Destiny is the fact that the choice has already been made and the results are unavoidable. Across the spiderverse however offers a third path – the leap of faith.

The concept of the leap of faith is a hybrid of Causality and Destiny. The notion here is that you willingly choose to take a leap with no idea of what the landing will hold, and you put faith that the landing will hold whatever it is you’re meant to be. To me there is nothing more Islamic than that idea.

Islam to me has always built a special relationship with Allah(SWT). The idea that the almighty knows your intentions and the results of your efforts, knows where you will go and what you will do. However, Islam also preaches the idea that Humans have free will, the freedom to choose. The original reason for humans to exist on earth was to determine who would choose to be a Muslim.

I have often imagined that Allah (SWT) can see our lives like the nodes shown in Across the spiderverse. The branches of all of our choices, where those decisions lead and who we become as a result of those choices. I also believe that Humans are given a great gift, the power of dua. The ability to make a choice, a leap of faith in a request, and the hope that Allah(SWT) will potentially move us from a branch that ends in ruin for us, to one that is more prosperous. This is the fundamental concept of being a Muslim – believing in the power of dua and taking that leap of faith.

So it’s important here when Miles despite being given the logic of causality decides to break through and try to go home. When he finally leaps off the train headed to the moon, taking one last leap of faith and trusting in his strength and his belief – that the choice to be made isn’t the one chosen by an algorhtim, but ne made in the heart.

So when he stands in front of his “mom” and proudly says “I beat them all” it resonates for me. Because he couldn’t have beat them all if he wasn’t meant to be Spiderman, he shouldn’t be stronger than all these other spider-people if they were in the right. His strength isn’t derived from a radioactive spider that bit him – it’s derived from something far deeper. It’s derived from his faith of what it is to be “Special” - to be a hero. And being special isn’t just something that happens, it is something that is earned through a choice, by your own willingness to take that leap of faith.

Across the spiderverse to me is just an amazing demonstration of the idea of a leap of faith and putting the entire concept of Causality and Destiny and putting it on it’s head – one that I think I really connect with as a Muslim – and one that I think embodies what it truly means to be a special person. Whether Miles is an Anamoly or not is besides the point – he is what he chooses to be, and his faith in his choice is what drives his strength and that is why he is Spiderman.