You & I Might Have Seen Different Cuts of ‘Across the Spider-Verse’

Viewers of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse have seemingly discovered that multiple versions of the film have played in theaters. The discovery was made when social media users realized that they had seen different versions of one particular scene featuring Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac) and his A.I. assistant Lyla (Greta Lee). Now, it’s not wholly unusual for films to have multiple versions. Films have been known to have directors cut, extended cuts for DVDs, or even separate cuts for American markets and international markets. However, it’s a completely different matter to secretly have alternate versions of a film doing rounds at the theater at the same time.

Viewers can’t help but notice that it’s a fitting choice for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, though. The film follows Miles Morales’ (Shameik Moore) second adventure through the multiverse, where he meets even more alternate versions of Spider-Man from countless other universes. As a result, the film is already filled with fun Easter eggs, cameos, and trippy animation details that take advantage of the flexible premise. So, it’s pretty clever that the film would have alternate versions to reflect the alternate worlds it depicts.

Are there alternate versions of Across the Spider-Verse?

As mentioned above, the theory of alternate Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse versions was proposed by social media users who caught on to some discrepancies when watching the film in theaters multiple times. The one scene that garnered attention was one where Lyla grates on O’Hara’s nerves by forcing him to admit he needs backup. Some viewers recalled that scene ending with Lyla pointing at O’Hara, while others recalled her posing for a selfie and putting a bunny filter on O’Hara. Twitter user @balisonqs found and posted video footage that showed the different scenes playing out side by side.

That alone was pretty strong evidence of there being two versions, but Andy Leviton soon entered the mix to further back up the speculations. Leviton is credited as an editor on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on IMDb. He reshared @balisonqs’ post and seemingly confirmed multiple versions, stating that he was waiting for fans to start noticing.

Hence, it does seem as if there are at least two versions of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse playing in theaters. With only Leviton’s vague confirmation to go off of, we don’t know the how or why of the alternate versions. We’re unsure if there are more than two alternate versions or when these versions were released. GameSpot speculated that Sony could’ve implemented the changes a week after the film’s release when it sent a new sound-enhanced Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to theaters. While all the details are unclear, viewers have been devoted to finding out more differences between the films. Viewers have claimed to have spotted multiple variations in certain phrases and scenes, as well as having certain lines and frames cut in certain versions.

It remains to be seen if Sony will officially comment on the alternate versions, but for now, we’re on our own to navigate the trippy Mandela-effect-like situation of having likely seen different versions of one of this year’s biggest films.

(featured image: Sony)