The Spider-Verse animated movies centered around Miles Morales spanning across different universes are now one of the most revered of Spider-Man movies. Setting a precedent for how superhero movies should be, the two flicks are a complete package having every ingredient (and more!) that makes a movie successful.
While the first film went on to earn a much-deserved Oscar, the second film, Across the Spider-Verse, has been hailed as one of the best web-slinger sequels of all time. Yet the second movie would have never turned out to be as good if it was not for the test audience. With roughly six weeks to go before its release, the makers had to scramble to find a new ending since the fans hated the original one and ultimately it was one of Star Wars’ darkest moments that ended up inspiring them.
The Test Audience Hated Across the Spider-Verse’s Original Ending
The Spider-Verse movies are one of the most incredible superhero/animated movies ever to be made. From striking visuals to well-developed characters, narrative arcs, or musical scores, there is hardly anything that the movies lack. While Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse went on to earn an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, its sequel has been nominated for the same award this year.
Yet the second movie would have hardly done as well if the three directors, Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Justin K. Thompson had not listened to the audiences’ reaction during the early test screening. At the end of the sequel, Miles Morales ends up being stuck in an unfamiliar universe aka Earth-42, the same one where his spider is from.
Since Morales becomes the Spider-Man, Earth-42’s Miles Morales is never able to be a web-slinger and instead ends up being the villain, Prowler. This was the original ending of the movie, a huge cliffhanger that would have stayed if the test audience had not disliked it so much as the trio revealed during an interview with Collider.
And so they went back into the office, brainstormed, and eventually got inspired by one of the darkest moments of the Star Wars franchise.
How Star Wars Inspired Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Star Wars is one of the biggest franchises of all time with multiple disheartening and gloomy moments that are bound to leave fans teary-eyed. However, the franchise’s The Empire Strikes Back ending is said to be one of the most memorable and dark moments in the entire franchise spanning countless movies, series, and features.
It was the end of this film that ultimately inspired Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Justin K. Thompson to write Across the Spider-Verse’s ending which was eventually released. Thompson stated to Collider-
“We ran back and we quickly scrambled and brainstormed and realized. We went back and watched The Empire Strikes Back again, and said, ‘How did Empire Strikes Back do it?’ And we realized, ‘Oh, they gave you hope at the end.'”
