Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Director Addresses MCU Connections

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse dropped a bombshell in its second official trailer. Miles Morales's next animated adventure is already set to increase the ensemble tenfold, bringing in dozens of new Spider-Man variants from, as the title alludes, across the Spider-Verse. While 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse limited Miles to interacting with only Spider-Man variants, Across the Spider-Verse appeared to hint at the possibility of a live-action crossover. While lecturing Miles, Spider-Man 2099 declared that he didn't even want to get started on "Doctor Strange and that little nerd on Earth-199999."

While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness labelled the MCU as Earth-616, Earth-199999 is the accurate comic label for the live-action franchise. This led to many believing that Spider-Man 2099 was directly referencing the events of 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, which saw Tom Holland's Peter Parker break the Multiverse in an effort to conceal his identity once more.

With that in mind, questions about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's greater MCU connections came into play. According to co-director Kemp Powers, there are no ties to the Marvel Studios empire.

"The world of Miles Morales and Spider-Verse, it's not tied into the Marvel Cinematic Universe or anything like that," Powers told SFX. "But this is a Lord and Miller film. We like to have a little bit of fun, we like to be a little bit meta and to acknowledge the world in which we are creating these stories. That's the best way to explain it."

That Doctor Strange namedrop is similar to 2004's Spider-Man 2, which featured the Sorcerer Supreme being mentioned in a conversation with J. Jonah Jameson. Spider-Man 2's tease led to nothing, as it was simply a fun nod to Marvel Comics, which is what Across the Spider-Verse's Doctor Strange line might amount to as well.

"This isn't something where we did anything in conjunction with Marvel. Miles's universe, trust me, there's plenty to work with," Powers continued. "That gag is one of many, and my favorite gag is one that people don't know about yet. But I think when they see it, they're going to be pretty stunned. It's a serious film, but it's also a film with a lot of fun in it."

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swings into theaters on June 2nd.