Film Theory: Spider-Man is His Own WORST Enemy! (Spider Man Across the Spider Verse)

so Miguel thinks that miles is an

anomaly in Spider-Man across the

spiderverse okay but wait isn't the

Peter Parker from the PlayStation

Spider-Man games in across the

spiderverse video game guy but love

video games another video game guy are

you talking to me and there is a

spiderverse cameo in the Insomniac

universe and if Miguel comes looking for

these tell them Finders Keepers wait

who's Miguel so they're definitely

connected but miles is also Spider-Man

in the PlayStation universe so why

spiderverse miles an anomaly but

PlayStation miles isn't is it just

because of the multiversal spider bite

we need

answers hello Internet welcome to film

Theory the show that does whatever a

theory can guys I love Spider-Man always

have probably always will and a lot of

that love comes from his long and stored

career up on the Silver Screen Lally was

the perfect age when the Sam Ry movies

came out and since then and though there

have been a lot of UPS oh it's good to

see you dear boy it's good to see you

and a lot of downs I'm not sure how I

got here has to do with Spider-Man I

think the Webhead has been a constant

companion in the cinema but some of the

best films in the franchise have to be

the spider-verse films from Sony

animation let me tell you these things

came out of nowhere no one expected into

the spiderverse to just crush it or

across the SPID to live up to its Hefty

expectations pretty much the only thing

I wasn't a fan of was that Cliffhanger

at the end H it's been a year and we

still don't know where the story is

going but don't you worry Sony planned

ahead and knew we'd want the conclusion

to this story ASAP and scheduled for the

sequel beyond the spiderverse to release

last week on March 29th 2024 so you can

imagine my surprise and disappointment

when I rolled up to the theater and

realized that they've indefinitely

delayed the movie they stole it from me

Carmine they took it that was today

today n but for real though I would have

loved to see the conclusion to this

story wrap up this quickly the artists

and animators should definitely take

their time and make this the ending this

story deserves oh while in a healthy

working environment but in the meantime

to tie us over the fine folks over at

Sony animation decided to release a

short film set in the spiderverse titled

the spider within for free right here on

youtube.com so please go check it out

after this theory if you haven't seen it

already short story shorter the spider

within sees miles confronting a

terrifying inner demon before realizing

that it's all in his head his spider s

is just cranking up the mundane threat

Smiles his feeling to the inth degree

reflecting real world mood disorders

like anxiety it's a cool way to tell

that story and a fun spin on that power

a nice short film and nothing more right

wrong see this isn't just some superhero

nonsense what miles is feeling here and

everything he's confronting Shadow Demon

and all are real things that can happen

in the real world and what's even worse

for Miles this can be deadly with the

danger only Amplified by miles's very

own superpowers these visions and

miles's spider since reaction to them

could be leading him to an early grave

pull down your masks loyal theorists

we're spping into it so first things

first let's get on the same page about

what exactly happens in the spider

within the short film starts with Miles

thinking about how his lack of

superpowered work life balance is

stressing him out miles tries to go to

bed but before he can lay down his

spidey sense goes off he whips around

and nothing there's no one else in the

room he tries to relax but again is

overwhelmed oh man I'm bugging before

long miles is confronted by a shadowy

version of himself that pushes him into

his bed into a dream here miles and the

shadowman fight before the shadow turns

into a giant spider and chases miles it

explodes into a swarm of smaller spiders

that cover miles before he screams and

curls up in the corner of his room after

a moment he calms down and all the

spiders are gone realizing that he needs

to talk to someone miles takes a walk

with his dad confiding about what's

stressing him out and his crush on a

certain somebody and yeah that's it so

what happened here well clearly my

Spidey Sense went haywire and created a

sort of hallucination or dream that

attacked him but how did it do that well

to explain that we'll need to discuss

the history of the power and how it's

been portrayed in film and TV Spider

Sense is one of the web head's most

iconic abilities and it's found its way

into most adaptations of the character

in the comics Spider Sense was one of

Peter Parker's original Powers dating

all the way back to the character's

debut since then it's evolved into sort

of a precognitive warning of impending

danger described as a tingling sensation

in the back of Peter's skull it

overrides his reflexes and automatically

gets his body to do what it needs to to

keep himself and others around him out

of danger also apparently it's a

connection to the Web of Life and

Destiny Multiverse that Madam Webb

oversees he was in the Amazon with my

mom when she was researching spiders

right before she died no no no no no no

no no get out of here we are not talking

about you anyway when it comes to how

the spider since has been depicted in

film and TV they've mostly gone with it

as a sort of early warning system for

Peter though interestingly enough each

iteration has done its own thing

regarding how they show this in the Toby

McGuire Trilogy it's sort of a slow

motion effect where Spidey is suddenly

aware of everything going on around

him wow great reflexes in Andrew

Garfield's films it's like a

high-pitched ringing that comes up as

Peter notices something or does some

slapstick comedy though The Amazing

Spider-Man 2 does have a pretty slick

slow-mo sequence the MCU really

downplayed the ability as just the Peter

tingle please do not start calling it my

peter tingle and initially portrayed it

as Spidey just getting Goosebumps that

being said no way home really amped it

up allowing his body to move on its own

without Peter spirit and a more comedic

scene while also taking advantage of the

classic Dolly Zoom effect to make it

really unsettling in a more serious

moment and meanwhile most of the

Animated Series Incorporated some

flashing imagery and high-pitched

musical notes uh-oh Spider Sense or

lines around spidey's head the

spider-verse films again lean into the

spider sense being a sort of early

warning system for most of its spider

people I thought I was the only one and

the power is visually represented by

those same wavy lines and despite how

much I hate to say it the power also

seems to tie into the whole Web of Life

and Destiny Thing by letting spider

people identify each other through just

their senses whether or not they're in

costume or even from the same universe

you think you're the only people who

thought to come here however this spider

Within in short portrays Spider Sense

unlike any of the other big film or TV

adaptations likening it to an anxiety

disorder specifically with panic attacks

if you don't know anxiety disorders are

exactly what they sound like they're a

type of mental disorder that make those

who suffer from them feel uncontrollable

fear or unease and there are several

different types generalized anxiety

hypochondria social anxiety separation

anxiety you get the idea meanwhile panic

attacks can be the result of anxiety

disorder that involve well intense Panic

it's straight up in the name they feel

like you're dying like you're having a

heart attack it's pretty awful stuff get

this throughout this short we see miles

exhibit several symptoms of anxiety

disorders connected to his Spider Sense

feeling nervous Restless or tense when

he's trying to relax in his room he

can't keep still or stop thinking about

his problem so check there avoidance

behaviors miles self isolates in his

room instead of watching movies with his

dad so check trouble concentrating on

anything other than hisid doesn't worry

well those worries prevent him from

watching movies or even listening to

music you always seem so distracted

he miles you're late again check again

having a sense of impending danger Panic

or Doom other than the obvious

precognitive effect of the spider s

keeping miles safe in battle it also

triggers during this short when there's

no danger around him at

all so again big check there sweating

Che breathing rapidly or

hyperventilating another check trouble

sleeping massive check there are even

some reports where anxious individuals

can feel like there's a tingling

prickling or crawling sensation across

their whole body just like we see with

Miles check again in fact despite

seeming like something completely

fictional or pulled from a horror comic

book miles seeing that shadowy version

of himself that turns into a giant

spider is something that could be a

symptom of anxiety disorders one of the

potential side effects is known as sleep

paralysis and this can be seriously

traumatic for individuals suffering from

it basically this is a state while

falling asleep or waking up during which

a person is fully conscious but can't

move their body at all their mind is

awake but their body is asleep this can

happen because of a weird glitch in the

brain During the period of Deep Sleep

known as rapid eye movement or Rim sleep

there's heightened activity in the brain

which is partially the cause of vivid

dreams and nightmares at the same time

during rim sleep your body usually

enters muscle atonia basically paralysis

so you don't flail around and hurt

yourself during said dreams you're

supposed to sleep through this whole

thing but if your brain crosses some

wires as you enter or exit Rim sleep

you'll be paralyzed but conscious and

still experiencing those vivid dreams

just while you're awake and laying in

bed it's wild stuff and sleep paralysis

like this can cause super Vivid

hallucinations including sleep paralysis

demons that Loom over you while you

can't move sometimes s putting pressure

on your chest so that you struggle to

breathe yeah sleep paralysis demons

that's what they're actually called and

again wouldn't you know it but all of

this is exactly what we see happening to

miles in this short film miles lays down

and tries to get some rest clearly

trying to calm down and go to sleep but

shortly into it miles looks up and sees

this shadowy version of himself at the

foot of his bed this particular shadowy

figure in the spider within reminded me

a lot of stories of shadow people or the

hatman Fairly common variations of these

sleep paralysis demons that just look

like shadowy human Silhouettes so he's

clearly terrified even with his Spider

Sense miles can't move at all like he's

paralyzed we see him trying to move his

fingers his feet looking around as the

demon miles approaches him from the

ceiling pressing his hand into miles's

chest as he hyperventilates struggling

to breathe all exactly like a sleep

paralysis demon so okay in this short

miles's spider sense as a representation

and amplification of his anxiety and it

sort of supercharges a panic attack

that's a really cool and unique way to

dep pick to the superpower but why does

this matter in the long run well this

could be very bad news for Miles because

the long-term effects of this sort of

anxiety can be deadly now I want to be

very clear upfront that if you ever

having a panic attack like miles does in

this short film even though it sucks you

will be okay it might feel like you're

having a heart attack like you can't

breathe like you're dying but you're not

going to that's important and I can't

stress it enough that being said if left

untreated the long-term effects of these

sorts of panic attacks and general

anxiety disorder can lead to heart

problems these include increased blood

pressure decreased heart rate

variability or a rapid heart rate all of

which can lead to potentially serious

complications down the line none of that

would be good news for miles and given

the severity of the panic attack we see

in the spider within I worry that the

kid is a ticking Time Bomb waiting for

his heart to just give up the ghost God

speak Spider-Man now I already hear some

of you typing away in the comments

letting us know that because of his

powers as Spider-Man Miles has enhanced

durability endurance and a healing

factor that should protect him from

these sorts of long-term effects and

that's correct but I think we also need

to consider that this isn't normal

anxiety or a normal panic attack it's

super anxiety and a super panic attack

wildly Amplified by his Spider Sense an

ability so powerful it can take control

of Spider-Man's body and apparently

transcend the Multiverse and given that

Spider-Man has died from the effects of

illness or poison in the comics before

don't count this out for Miles his

superpowers are killing him in the long

run so is that it is Miles doomed to die

a slow death as his heart gradually

gives out from the weight of this

anxious pressure of suffering panic

attacks whenever The Balancing Act of

his personal and superhero lives becomes

too much thankfully no though I would

hesitate to say that an anxiety disorder

is out right curable they are treatable

firstly there are some medications that

can help ease many of the side effects

of anxiety disorders but even without

that there are plenty of ways to fight

anxiousness seeking professional help

from a therapist is a great way to

handle anxiety especially ones that

specialize in cognitive behavioral

therapy or CBT this is a wildly

simplified explanation but CBT is an

action-oriented form of therapy where a

professional helps a patient identify

the problems they want to solve and give

them specific strategies on confronting

said problems for example if a patient

is say suddenly feeling overwhelmed by

the great responsibility of leading a

double life as a student and a superhero

that leads to panic attacks the

therapist might help the patient develop

ways of recognizing when those panic

attacks are starting and then grounding

themselves so the panic attacks don't

completely overwhelm them then they can

wait the Panic out in a healthy way and

then continue on with their day but even

just talking with your loved ones about

your problems is a great way to start

the Journey of overcoming your anxiety

and you want to know the best part we

see miles take those first steps in the

short itself remember the whole thing

ends with Miles confiding in his dad

about his problems the mundane stress in

his life from homework and girl troubles

and what's more miles is actually

probably in the best position a

superhero with anxiety can be in he

knows for a fact that there are other

people like him out there facing the

same struggles and depending on where

beyond the spiderverse goes they'll even

have access to an entire Multiverse of

spider people friends colleagues and

even a professional Spider-Man therapist

that he can confide in and talk through

his problems with this is actually

something I really connected with when I

first watched into the spider verse the

idea that you're not alone in your

struggles that's been one of the main

themes of the series in into the spider

verse after miles loses his uncle Aaron

all the other spider people check in on

him they empathize with the loss and

help miles through it they know what

it's like they let him know that he

isn't the only one wearing the mask so

to speak having to move forward with his

everyday life and the great

responsibility thrust onto his shoulders

despite this unimaginable pain and the

same thing happens with his dad miles

lost an uncle in this movie but remember

Jefferson lost a brother too and miles

and his dad are able to help each other

through that shared pain just like

Jefferson does in this short with

miles's anxiety all by just asking

what's bothering him and listening the

first step in Miles treating his

condition and that's the lesson that we

should be taking away from the spider

within whether you're stressed about

your homework or have anxiety about

someone you like or feel like you have

the weight of the world on your

superpowered shoulders there are people

out there who are willing to listen

willing to share that load with you to

lift you up when you fall down get up

Spider-Man all you got to do is take the

leap but hey that's just a theory a film

Theory and cut if you want another

spider-verse theory right now go check

out our video talking about how miles

could be the death of the MCU or if you

want another theory about a Spider-Man

dealing with mental health check out our

video talking about why Spider-Man lost

his powers in Spider-Man 2 and as always

I'll see you next week