TikTok is Still Obsessing Over "Canon Events" After Across the Spider-Verse

In one of the more hilarious cases of pop-culture trends (and the resulting confusion they inspire), the hit animated sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has inspired a new trend that's blown up in popularity over the last few weeks: "Canon Events" 

What Are Canon Events – And Why Are People Posting About Them

(Spoilers) In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man/Miles Morales meets a group called The Spider Society, which is made up of different variations of Spider-Men and Spider-Women from the various realities of the Marvel Multiverse. Lead by Miguel O'Hara, the futuristic Spider-Man 2099, The Spider Society travels the Spider-Verse eliminating multiversal villains that invade other realities while preserving the web of destiny by ensuring that each Spider-Person's tragic origin plays out as intended so that they become the hero needed to help protect their respective worlds. 

 The moments of great tragedy in each Spider-Man story is referred to as a "canon event"  – meaning a core life event that is crucial to inspiring the hero to be a hero in the first place. 

What Is "Canon"?

If you don't know, "canon" is a shorter term for a "canonized" storyline. Within comic books and/or the larger geek culture, "canon" is a term that refers to the parts of a character or franchise's story that count as "official" or "real" and therefore must be included in the larger mythology of that character or franchise. Non-canon stories are looked at as "experimental," "just for fun" or "what if?" imaginings, that aren't part of the main "official" storyline of a character or franchise. 

Now, thanks to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse the term canon is taking on new meaning, as TikTok users – the ones who get the references at least – turned "canon" into ironic (if not actually painful) reflections on their own formative life events. 

And as you can see below, the applications come in a LOT of varieties: