Fate vs Free Will in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 

I had the same thoughts when it came to the entire concept of the canon events, with the whole cause and effect thing going on, and thinking the idea that every single spider man across the multiverse has to experience all these exact events just seems very implausible and inconsistent with how the multiverse should work. I doubt Miguel is lying about it though, I have a feeling maybe that he’s just misinformed due to what he experienced when he destroyed the other universe. That had to have happened because Peter B and a bunch of other spider people were there during the event when that universe died, no doubt they probably wouldn’t want to test that any further at the risk of potentially destroying another entire universe.

That cop would probably have been in danger even if The Spot hadn’t been there. That’s the point of "The Web of Life and Destiny" and "the Canon" it’s not a timeline, it’s a set of abstract events. "A police captain close to Spider-Man dies trying to protect a kid while Spider-Man fights a nemesis." Any set of circumstances can lead to these events. Miguel is Spider-Man 2099, supposedly his dimension’s Peter Parker went through the exact same events. Hell, there was a Peter Parker in Miles’ dimension who’s life beats Miles is supposedly doomed to repeat (though he probably stole them from him when he died prematurely) The point is the event has to happen, like a rule, the circumstances of it aren’t set. Probably if The Spot hadn’t shown up, it would’ve happened when Alchemax activated the Collider on their own. The events are also tied to a dimension so any interference on a Multiversal scale has a chance, not a 100% chance but a chance to fundamentally screw up the event. Now, there are obvious holes in logic in what we know. How is Miguel entering another dimension to live the life of his dead counterpart him breaking a canon event? How come Miles’ universe didn’t get destroyed when he became an anomaly? What’s the deal with Gwen changing her dad’s fate at the end when he decides to resign? You could find explanations around those but they’re clearly setup to introduce a reveal that will alter the way we understand the concept.

I couldn't watch the video cuz the way you say Miguel :(

I love these short essay-esque videos keep it up

Meegoo-el

Glad to see u return, Mintrom.

Wake up babe, mintrom drop 🎉🎉

mi-gwell

I really like your video but I couldnt care less about determinism, even if our acts of free will are determined by our nature and nurture, we can still make those choices. So being negative about it is meaningless... With this I'm saying uhh, I like that Miles is doing the right thing since clearly Miguel has no idea what he's doing (he refuses to see the contradictions to why the multiverse is damaged because of his trauma, I can't wait to see how the next movie tackles it all)

This is a damn good summary of my only issue with the film. fate is rather overplayed and I loved how they toyed with the idea of it, however I'm still waiting on beyond to entirely break the formula. I watched the flash recently and it handled time travel, multiverse shit, AND fate TERRIBLY so it's great to see mainstream movies like spiderverse use these usually bad tropes to its advantage yk?

The ending of the video encapsulates why the perspective of the people about determinism is so misguided. Determinism ain't nihilistic. In fact, it consolidates the idea of the conection between all things. Everything being neccesary. Everything meaning something. The overrating of freedom is result of actually the evil within us (that is if we consider evil as selfishness) because being determined is being dependant of the other and the other of you. Maybe that's also the point of love as selflessness?...

Miguel O’Hara It’s pronounced MIG-L Miguel I feel like you would know this since you watched the movie and had enough time to make a video on said movie Like not to be disrespectful or anything, but mispronouncing a characters name can be off putting