Who’s Who in Across The Spider-Verse‘s Spider Society

If you have a favorite incarnation of Spider-Man in any form—comics, films, TV series, games, whatever—chances are you’ll catch a glimpse of that version somewhere in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. The previous film, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, introduced the concept of the multiverse and parallel worlds. Now the sequel has taken that concept, multiplied it by the infamous pointing meme, and brought together an elite, interdimensional protection force called the “Spider Society.”

We don’t want to spoil any of the reveals, so let’s just say the creators (including directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, and writers Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham) stuffed so many Spider heroes into it you may have to watch the film two or three times to catch them all. We’ll leave the background characters for you to discover, but there are featured members of the team you may want to know more about—either before or after you see the film. Read on for a handy explainer to help you get to know some of the amazing Spider-People you’ll be meeting.

Miles Morales/Spider-Man

When we catch up again with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) more than a year after the events of Into The Spider-Verse, he’s working alone and missing his Spider pals from other universes, especially Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld). We saw his origin story in the previous film, but in case you need a refresher, Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider and decided to become a superhero. He was initially trained by the original Spidey, Peter Parker, until Peter dies saving him from a collider explosion. Not long after, he meets an older version of Peter from a different universe, who reluctantly agrees to continue his training. Miles also discovers that one of his classmates, Gwen Stacy, is a Spider-Woman from yet another universe. They team up with a handful of other Spider heroes, ultimately defeating Wilson Fisk before everyone returns to their proper universes, leaving Miles on his own. Miles has the same abilities as Peter, with the addition of invisibility and the power to emit blasts of bio-electricity from his hands.