Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is similar in many ways to Back to the Future Part II. I’m too excited to say much more than that in this introduction, so let’s just fly through their connections and see what sticks.

A Mentor Brings the Main Character’s Girlfriend Along Despite His Reservations

At the start of each film, an older, wiser mentor brings a girl to another time and place in spite of his misgivings about doing so. Doc Brown doesn’t want to bring Marty McFly’s girlfriend Jennifer Parker (no relation to Peter Parker) to the future because of the problems that could create if she meets her older self. Similarly, Miguel O’Hara doesn’t want to bring Miles Morales’s girl friend (not girlfriend, got it?) Gwen Stacey to his world because of the problems that could create if she meets Miles again.

The Main Character Gets Interrupted by a Friend and Taken to a Different World

The first film ended with the main character getting a mysterious message from a friend he thought had left him behind. Doc Brown went to the future at the end of Back to the Future, but he showed up in the final scene to take Marty and Jennifer from 1985 to solve a problem. The second film shows what that leads to. He plays coy with Marty on the details, telling him they have to prevent a disaster involving Marty’s future children.

Gwen Stacey went back to her world at the end of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but she showed up in the final scene in Miles Morales’s world to ask him if he had a minute to talk. The second film shows what that leads to. She plays coy with Miles about her mission, telling him everything is fine even as things spiral out of control.

The Main Character Meets Multiple Versions of Himself

There are a lot of Marty and Miles duplicates running around in these films. Marty sees two other versions of himself in Back to the Future Part II. He meets his cowardly son, who is also played by Michael J. Fox, and he spots his earlier self at the high-school dance from the previous film. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse goes bigger, letting Miles see hundreds of versions of Spider-Man. He even meets a darker version of himself who’s a villain rather than a hero.

The Main Character Accidentally Creates His Nemesis

The bad guy in both films is a product of the hero’s actions. Marty fights Griff Tannen early in Back to the Future Part II and inadvertently clues Old Biff Tannen into the fact that he can use a time machine to go anywhere he wants. Biff wants revenge for what Doc and Marty did to him in the first film. He plans to take away everything they love.

Miles fights Spot early in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and inadvertently clues him into the fact that he can use the dimensional machine from the first film to go anywhere he wants. Spot wants revenge for what Miles did to him in the first film. He plans to take away everything Miles loves.

Complications Arise When One Problem Is Solved

The timeline changes so that something tragic never happens, but a bigger problem happens as a result. Doc Brown meant to bring Marty to the future to prevent a disaster involving Marty’s son and Griff. Marty prevents his son from going to jail, but he gets greedy and sets into motion a series of events that threaten to destroy the entire space-time continuum.

Gwen didn’t mean to bring Miles to another world to prevent a disaster involving Spot and another Spider-Man. But Miles steps in anyway, preventing a police chief from being killed. This sets in motion a series of events that threaten to destroy the entire Spider-Verse.

The Hero’s Dad Is Dead in an Alternate Timeline

Both Marty and Miles experience the tragedy of losing their father. When Marty goes back to 1985, he doesn’t realize at first that he’s in an alternate timeline. The final nail in the coffin that everything is different comes when he sees his father’s grave. George McFly was happy and healthy in his timeline.

When Miles goes back to New York, he doesn’t realize at first that he’s in an alternate timeline. The final nail in the coffin that everything is different comes when he sees a mural memorializing his father after he died. Jefferson Morales is happy and healthy in his world.

The Movie Ends on a Cliffhanger

There are a lot of loose threads to tie up at the conclusion of these films, and they end with the words “To Be Concluded” and “To Be Continued,” respectively. Marty was able to fix the timeline and save his father by the end of Back to the Future Part II. But he gets stranded in 1955 after Doc Brown gets transported back to 1885 by a bolt of lightning. So Marty still has a lot to do to rescue Doc and get back to 1985 where he can live happily ever after with Jennifer. Thankfully, Doc organized things and sent Marty a letter to help him.

Miles wasn’t able to defeat Spot or save his father by the end of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Instead, he gets stranded in the wrong world after having been transported to it in a flash of light by a machine. So Miles still has a lot to do to rescue his father and get back to his world where he can hopefully live happily ever after with Gwen. Thankfully, Gwen is organizing an army to save him, and she invites Peter B. Parker to help.

What About the Future?

Pretty heavy, huh? Two films that seem like they shouldn’t have much in common are incredibly similar. The Back to the Future Trilogy is one of the best film series of all time, ending on a high note. So far, a lot of people have enjoyed the two Spider-Verse films, and they’re hopeful that Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse can finish that trilogy strong as well.

It’s on the right track. Taking inspiration from another film series that managed to do just about everything perfectly is a good idea. We’ll see where it goes from here.

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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