The Spider-Man Variants Across the Spider-Verse Left Out, From Meows Morales to PS2 Tobey Maguire

Across the Spider-Verse was a fantastic film, but I could not help noticing that some incredible versions of Spider-Man were blatantly left out of it. So here are the spider people I believed Sony would be silly not to include in Beyond the Spider-Verse, the next chapter that was still to come when I put this list together in June 2023.

To be fair, that film was pretty crowded. "I'll forgive you this time" Lord Miller, but only this once. One ground rule for this list: no live action Tobey, Andrew or Tom. Back then I felt we all already knew we were going to get our favourite spider trio eventually, in some form, in this trilogy, so I left them off and focused on everyone else.

The 1994 animated Spider-Man made the character cool for a generation

If I am making a list of the most important spider people who needed to be in Beyond the Spider-Verse, I would be remiss not to start with the hero of the 1994 animated Spider-Man series. For a lot of kids developing their imagination in the 90s, this version was our first ever exposure to the character. It was the first animated Spider-Man that felt like a real hero, after the 60s and 80s versions spent so much of their time being goofy.

The funny thing is that this Spider-Man was never actually able to punch any of his villains, because of the strict limits on violence in kids' television at the time. I honestly never noticed until I became an adult. That is because the show made Peter Parker's struggles with all of these complex villains so interesting that the missing punches never registered.

Leaving this Peter Parker out of Beyond the Spider-Verse would be a crime. He is one of the biggest reasons Spider-Man animation is still so big today. As I see it, he is the one who made it cool: "he made Spider-Man cool."

Meows Morales is the bravest spider in the multiverse

The next spider on my list is the only one I would trust with my entire life, my bank account information, my social security, everything. Frankly, this spider is the bravest and most skilled of all the spider people in the Spider-Verse. Just look at him. Look at his little paws. It is a cat in a jacket, living his best life.

Meows Morales was first introduced in the pages of 2019's Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham Annual. He is the cat variant of Miles Morales, and he lives in Spider-Ham's world of animal themed Marvel characters. His uncle even has a secret identity of his own, a detail I only recently learned, and my life is better for it.

Including this variant of Miles in a Miles Morales trilogy struck me as an absolute must. If Sony did not put Meows Morales in Spider-Verse 3, I said I would personally come down to their offices and cry, so hard that it would be a very awkward day at work. I love cats, okay?

Donald Glover's Miles from Ultimate Spider-Man paved the way

Next up is Donald Glover's Miles Morales from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, the first appearance of an animated Miles. In case you did not already know, the main reason Miles Morales exists as a character at all is Donald Glover. Specifically, it traces back to the old Donald for Spider-Man internet campaign, and to an episode of Community in which Glover's character Troy wore a Spider-Man shirt in support of that movement.

Marvel creative legend Brian Michael Bendis saw Donald Glover in that shirt and was inspired to create Miles Morales for the comics. That is a big reason Glover has been attached to Spider-Man projects ever since. Uncle Aaron was watching him on Community in the first Spider-Verse movie, he actually played Aaron in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and he showed up again in Across the Spider-Verse in that prison.

So having Donald Glover reprise his role as that Miles variant was a no-brainer to me. In my words, "he paved the way for this new Miles in more ways than one."

Silk has the origin and the powers to stand beside Miles and Gwen

Speaking of no-brainers, I was honestly shocked that the lovely and amazing Silk had not appeared in any of the Spider-Verse movies. Cindy Moon was bitten by the same spider that bit Peter Parker, right after he was bitten. So where was she? I certainly did not see her at Miguel's big spider gathering.

Was she locked in a bunker or something? As it happens, that is exactly what happened to Silk when she got her spider powers in the comics. She was locked away in a bunker to keep a group of Spider-Verse hunters called the Inheritors from feasting on her very flesh. She was eventually freed by Peter Parker, and he inspired her to become New York's newest spider hero on the block.

Unlike Peter Parker, though, Cindy Moon can shoot organic webbing out of her fingertips, a little like Tobey Maguire. That ability is why I saw her as the perfect asset for Miles and Gwen in Beyond the Spider-Verse.

PlayStation 2 Tobey Maguire deserved his pizza time cameo

I said I was not going to include a live action Tobey Maguire on this list, but I never said anything about Tobey Maguire from the PlayStation 2. For the longest time, the Spider-Man 2 video game was considered the definitive Spider-Man experience for anybody who wanted to feel like Spidey.

After Across the Spider-Verse threw in Insomniac's PlayStation Spider-Man as an Easter egg, I got so excited to finally see video game Tobey make a cameo in these films. He simply did not show up. I humbly requested that Sony Pictures correct this for me, because all of us old gamers needed to hear him say the line: pizza time.

If they teamed this Spider-Man up with the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 5 versions in the next film, my life would be complete. That trio is the gaming trio.

Spider-Man UK, Scarlet Spider and the rest of the spiders I wanted in Spider-Verse 3

Those were my top five, but there were plenty of other spiders I felt should definitely be included in the sequel. First, the Spider Gwen variants played by Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard. Then Spider-Man UK, because where was he? They found room for a popsicle and a car version of Peter Parker before Spider-Man UK, and he is a major Spider-Verse player in the comics.

I also wanted all four Spider-Men from the Shattered Dimensions video game, because that game inspired the creation of the comic Spider-Verse in the first place. Then there is the Japanese Toei Spider-Man. You know how much I love Power Rangers, so where was he? If Miles had been crushed by a spider Megazord, I would not have been mad, because at least I would have got a Megazord.

The rest of my list: the 80s cartoon Spider-Man from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends; Kaine Parker, the Scarlet Spider; J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson Spider-Man from that Spider-Man 2 deleted scene; Neil Patrick Harris' Spider-Man from MTV's short lived Spider-Man: The New Animated Series; and Spoderman, the internet meme, who I would really love to see because he is so silly.

Finally, Cosmic Spider-Man, the Spider-Man with the powers of Captain Universe; The Electric Company's version of Spider-Man; the Superior Spider-Man, preferably with Kathryn Hahn in the role, though Alfred Molina is also legendary and would be great too; and the ruthless assassin Spider-Man, who is just a really tough character. Those are all the spider people I believed should be in Spider-Verse 3.

Which spider person do you think I left out, and who is your personal favourite to join the multiverse?