Sony’s Spider-Man Universe Spider-Totems Explained

Morbius‘ director, Daniel Espinosa, has revealed the Spider-Totems are central to Sony’s understanding of the multiverse. For years there’s been speculation about the precise relationship between Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That was finally cleared up in the post-credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, in which Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock was whisked into the mainstream MCU by a multiversal phenomenon – ultimately revealed to be Doctor Strange’s misfiring spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Morbius director Daniel Espinosa has recently clarified Spider-Man’s link to the Sony films. He first referred to the standard multiverse model from the comics; “So in almost all verses, you have Spider-Man, or a Fantastic Four, or a Tony Stark, or a Morbius. But they will be different in tone. That’s not quite the way that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (is) approaching the idea, but they’re remaining to some core truth.” He then developed this idea, however, by introducing something viewers will be a lot less familiar with; the idea of Spider-Totems. “Then you have the second kind of legend, which is about the totem. Which is that, in all universes, there is a Spider-Totem. Which means that in all universes, there has to be a Spider-Man. Or a Spider-Woman.“

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Espinosa’s words are the first real hint viewers have had about the multiversal lore Sony is exploring in their Spider-Man Universe. What’s more, he’s not just free-wheeling; these ideas are already in play in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and they fit well with Sony’s future plans for Madame Web. Here’s all viewers need to know about the Spider-Totems.

Spider-Man’s Spider-Totems Explained

The Spider-Totems are the brainchild of writer J. Michael Straczynski. His Amazing Spider-Man run revealed that, centuries ago, there was a wise man named Kwaku Anansi who lived in the forests of West Africa. He was the first spider-like being, and he struck a deal with the sky god Nyame to learn the secrets of past, present and future. In return, he became Nyame’s agent in the Web of Life and Destiny that transcends the multiverse itself. This web serves as the connective tissue binding the dimensions together; it holds past, present, future, and all other dimensions in place. Anansi himself vanished into the depths of the multiverse, but lived on through his children, the spiders.

Each dimension possesses its own Spider-Totem, a champion of the Web of Life and Destiny. In the comics, Peter Parker is the Spider-Totem of Earth-616; he was granted super-powers when a spider was exposed to radiation and bit him, passing on its properties, but none of that was actually a coincidence. It was all according to the will of Anansi; as Spider-Man’s mentor Ezekiel explained it, “You are a child of the spider and a child of science.” Certain Totems are beings of multiversal significance; the Great Weaver is responsible for continuing to spin the threads of the multiverse, while the Bride weaves hidden threads, enabling new Totems to emerge through chaos and luck. All this aligns perfectly with Espinosa’s comments.

Madame Web, Silk & The Web of Life & Destiny

All this fits well with Sony’s focus on Madame Web, envisioned as Sony’s Doctor Strange equivalent. In the comics, Madame Web is traditionally portrayed as a blind precognitive woman who interferes with Spider-Man’s life when she sees the need. In reality, she is far more; rather, she is bound to the Web of Life and Destiny, and it is through her connection to this multiversal force that she intuits the patterns of past, present and future. Indeed, in some stories Madame Web is even able to manipulate the strands of the Web at will, even transporting Spider-Totems across the multiverse to ensure they play their assigned role in what she calls the “Great Pattern.” Sony is pushing on with a Madame Web movie, starring Dakota Johnson as the character and recently confirming Sydney Sweeney for an undisclosed part. There’s been speculation Sweeney could be the Black Cat, but it’s more likely she is playing a Spider-Totem of some kind.

Related: Why MCU Spider-Man 4 Isn’t As Exciting As Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man 3

Meanwhile, Sony is also developing a Silk TV series. Former Watchmen producer Tom Spezialy has signed up as showrunner, although production is yet to begin. Silk, too, has a notable connection to the Web of Life and Destiny; she is the Bride, described as “the spinner at the center of the Web. Second bitten. The unseen silken thread… pulling on the hand of fate.” It’s never been entirely clear what this means – Silk has focused more on operating as another street-level in the Marvel Universe rather than exploring her multiversal role – but it’s certainly interesting that the Spider-character Sony is working on is so closely tied to the Web of Life and Destiny.

Spider-Totems Transform Sony’s Spider-Man Universe

The concept of Spider-Totems can bring a degree of structure to Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (or multiverse). They could play into Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One), with images from the trailer showing Miles Morales plunging through the Web of Life and Destiny; thus the animated movies could be established as part of the same multiverse, just as Marvel Studios’ animated What If…? is part of the same multiverse as the mainstream MCU. If every dimension has its own Spider-Totem, then there really are an infinite number of different Spider-Men out there; thus future films could feature characters as disparate as Spider-Punk, the Steampunk Lady Spider, or Spider-Man 2099. But such a multiverse of spiders naturally presents the possibility of a team-up, akin to the comic book “Spider-Verse” event.

Meanwhile, this multiversal concept also allows Sony to capitalize on the return of both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in their own Spider-Man universes. Spider-Man: No Way Home brought three live-action Spider-Men together, and it could serve as a launchpad for the return of Maguire and Garfield as their own dimensions’ respective Spider-Totems. For Garfield, this could mean the opportunity to make The Amazing Spider-Man 3; for Maguire, it could mean using his injury to force his Spider-Man to retire, leading to a Spider-Girl taking over as she did in one comic book timeline. Because there must always be a Spider-Totem, when one steps down – however unwillingly – another takes their place. Thus Espinosa’s brief reference to Spider-Man‘s Spider-Totems has the potential to complete transform Sony’s multiverse.

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