Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse producers Christopher Miller and Phil Lord teased the potential for a romance between Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy in Sony's next Spider-Man feature.
After experiencing delays and premiere-date changes, the long-awaited sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, named Across the Spider-Verse, will release on June 2, 2023. Despite a cavalcade of new Multiversal heroes entering the fray, Spider-Verse 2 will still focus heavily on Miles and Gwen’s interplay.
When fans last saw them in Into the Spider-Verse, Miles and Gwen had agreed to become friends, finding ways to stay in touch despite the dimensional difference between them. The sequel's trailer, which was released in December 2021 back when the movie was set to premiere closer to then, shows this friendship continuing.
But could these two pals blossom into something more? The film's producers have addressed exactly that.
Will Miles and Gwen Be More Than Friends in Spider-Verse 2?
In an interview with Empire, Producers Christopher Miller and Phil Lord explained that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will show Miles continuing his coming-of-age journey, as he "is going through different phases in his life."
This relatable premise, however, will be told on "a big, multi-dimensional superhero scale:"
Empire: "Where do we find Miles in this film?"
Miller: "Miles is going through different phases in his life. Now he's got confidence, but he's starting to find out where his place in the world is, and he's feeling ready for his next challenges. He wants to leave the nest. He has to figure out who he is and who in his life matters, and what's important. As a teenager those are a lot of the big questions that you're asking yourself, and this is playing it out on a big, multi-dimensional superhero scale."
Miller and Lord revealed that the 2023 movie "opens in Gwen's world," giving fans an extended look at her corner of the multiverse. The pair also teased "the romantic possibilities for her [Gwen] and Miles," though there remains "a desire to keep their friendship intact:"
Empire: "Is Spider-Gwen on her own journey, too?"
Miller: "She sure is. The movie opens in Gwen's world, and she has a lot of things going on. There's a lot of her world in this movie."
Lord: "There's tension between the romantic possibilities for her and Miles, and their desire to keep their friendship intact, and not to risk it. That's a really interesting place for two characters to be, especially when they're so young."
What Spider-Verse 2's New Romance Could Do To Spider-Interactions
After falling in love with these two main characters back in 2018, alongside Miles' pseudo-father figure Peter B. Parker, fans can get excited for further fun interactions among the three main Spider-characters.
After Gwen offered Peter romantic advice regarding his relationship with Mary Jane Watson, it will be interesting to see if the roles reverse now that Gwen might be romantically involved — especially given that the involvement is with Miles, someone for whom Peter cares so much.
Further, by the end of the first film, Miles had inspired Peter to re-consider having children with MJ, so it will also be exciting to see how Peter responds when his pseudo-son is dating now too.
Additionally, Miles and Gwen themselves will be toeing the friend-partner line throughout the film, leading to what are sure to be silly, relatable moments in the sequel that match perfectly with the storytelling style of the first film. How this will all slot in with the introduction of Spider-Man 2099 and a scary new villain remains to be seen.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse releases on June 2, 2022.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
