Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the best Spider-Man movie so far, but it also has plenty of plot issues that Sony and Marvel will have to explain in the future. I’ve already detailed these issues and how the more you think about them, the bigger they are. However, there is a simple way that might fix every Across the Spider-Verse plot hole. Before I get into it, I’ll advise you to see the film in theaters first. Big spoilers will follow below.
The Spider Society makes no sense
My biggest gripe with Across the Spider-Verse is that the Spider Society that Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac) leads makes no sense. I won’t repeat myself. You can read all about the Across the Spider-Verse plot holes here.
Essentially, there are a few big issues with the organization that we don’t really acknowledge about while we enjoy the action in Spider-Verse 2. But the more you think about it, the more you realize there’s something wrong. The Spider Society can’t exist and function as the TVA does in the MCU.
I’ll also note at this time that, yes, the Spider-Verse is part of the multiverse. According to an insider, everything that happened in the animated movies is canon to the MCU. And we have evidence that Marvel consulted on Across the Spider-Verse, as Sony worked with Jeff Loveness on the multiverse aspects of the movie.
Moreover, Micheal Waldron was also consulted. He set the multiverse rules in Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Let’s talk about Lyla and Miss Minutes
This information comes from The Cosmic Circus’s Alex Perez. He also emphasized an interesting similarity during the same Cosmic Circle podcast.
If you’ve seen Loki and Across the Spider-Verse, you’ve probably noticed it too. Lyla (Greta Lee) is the AI that assists the Spider Society. And she feels a lot like a Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) alternative. She’s orangey and snarky, just like the TVA’s main AI.
While watching Across the Spider-Verse, I couldn’t help but wonder if they’re the same. There are obvious differences. Miss Minutes knows what will happen, as she’s been helping the good variant of Kang keep the timeline intact. Lyla appears to be an algorithm that only predicts what might happen but isn’t certain. Or maybe she’s just pretending.
Perez speculated on the podcast that Lyla and Miss Minutes could be one and the same. And this would be a mind-blowing development. The Marvel insider also noted that Marvel wants to bring in Spider-Verse characters to Avengers: Secret Wars. Such a tie would be amazing, assuming Sony wants to go there.
How to fix the Across the Spider-Verse plot holes
Having Lyla and Miss Minutes be one and the same would be a mind-blowing development. Just like that, Lyla would be a villain of the entire Spider-Verse story. I’m not necessarily sure that Sony would want to go that way. But I did say that Loki is enough to tie Across the Spider-Verse to the MCU before we got confirmation that was the case.
Miss Minutes becoming Lyla would make incredible sense for Kang’s AI. I said before that the main problem with the Spider Society concerns Kang directly if the Spider-Verse and the MCU multiverse are connected. A team of Spider-People would be an incredible adversary to a team of Kangs, although I think the latter group would be favorites.
What if Kang had created the Lyla AI to specifically control the Spider-Verse? He’d be aware of the canon events in the lives of Spider-People and the need to keep those in place. The good version of Kang from Loki would probably want to have those canon events unchanged so parts of the multiverse do not collapse.
But even good Kang was a villain at some point. And I hope the Kang version in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania eventually becomes a He Who Remains variant. Such a Kang would also create Lyle to ensure the Spider-People are never a real threat.
Maybe Lyla’s purpose is to manipulate characters like Miguel. To create discord between Spider-People and nurture civil war. Because, make no mistake, by the end of Across the Spider-Verse, that’s what we have. We have two factions of Spider-People ready to face off against each other.
We might learn that canon events aren’t real. They don’t lead to the destruction of realities. They just weaken them. And that’s something a Kang would want.
There’s precedent for bad AI in the MCU
Miss Minutes becoming Lyla for those realities that have Spider-Man variants would explain all the Across the Spider-Verse plot issues. Why the Spider Society exists. It would be easy for AI to fool someone like Miguel that they created Lyla. Then, the AI would convince Miguel of the multiverse threats and provide resources and tech to handle everything.
But in reality, we’d be looking at a carefully orchestrated plan to control the Spider-People. And destroy some of them. Variants like Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and others who refuse to conform.
We have experienced bad AI in the MCU already. That’s the Ultron in the primary reality that the Avengers think they beat. What If…? showed us an Ultron that became so strong he could travel the multiverse and crush entire timelines.
The difference is that Lyla and Miss Minutes have yet to show independence. If Lyla is a Kang creation, she’d still be working for the ultimate puppeteer, just like Miss Minutes.
That’s just speculation, of course. We’ll see Miss Minutes again in Loki season 2 this year. Then Beyond the Spider-Verse will deliver more Lyla next March.
