What that explosive Miles Morales ending means for Spider-Man 2

Much like its 2018 predecessor, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales ends with an explosive final chapter in which our hero and those closest to him are put in dire jeopardy, but overwhelming forces threaten New York City as well. And in a somewhat formulaic fashion, not everybody makes it through unscathed.

Here's what went down and how it'll impact the inevitable full-on sequel, Spider-Man 2.

Needless to say, MAJOR spoilers for Spider-Man: Miles Morales follow.

What you need to know first

The entire game takes place during the winter holidays, which for many is a time when we reconnect with loved ones rather than fight crime with spider-themed superpowers. Miles manages to do both by reconnecting with his old friend Phin Mason, a girl he grew up with — while also fighting against the criminal organization called the Underground that Phin is a major part of.

They grew apart after going to different high schools, and rather quickly in the game's story, we learn that Phin's last couple of years have been just as transformative as Miles'.

Her older brother Rick worked for Roxxon Energy Corporation on a substance called Nuform that promises endless renewable energy, but the company's CEO Simon Krieger has gone to great lengths to conceal the fact that Nuform has a deadly impact on anyone exposed to it over time. Rick himself had been terminally ill when he began trying to destroy Nuform altogether, but Krieger killed him.

Phin takes up the moniker of "The Tinkerer" and joins the Underground in the hopes of destroying Roxxon completely, designing a kind of programmable matter that can seemingly do just about anything. (It's similar to what Tony Stark uses in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.)

So while Miles and Phin reconnect as two young people who really should just get married already, they wind up fighting directly as the Tinkerer and Spider-Man with Roxxon caught in the middle. Along the way, Miles uses his newfound bioelectric Venom powers to destroy as much Nuform as possible; He can absorb all of the energy and then release it from his body in a small explosion.

How it all plays out in the end

Everything comes to a head when Phin tries to blow up the Nuform reactor in Harlem, thinking it would just destroy Roxxon's HQ with no casualties. But in reality, the chain reaction would level the entire area, perhaps killing millions. She and Miles fight, almost to the death, as the reactor destabilizes.

Miles absorbs all of the reactor's energy, which is what's happening in the original announcement trailer.

With moments to spare before the energy bursts out of Miles and kills everyone in the vicinity, Phin has a change of heart. She channels all programmable matter she can muster into her boots to rocket them far up into the air where Miles can explode safely. Miles survives and falls to the ground without his mask on, but Phin does not. The status quo is mostly restored, except now a handful of trusted people discover Miles' true identity.

What's next?

The people of Harlem begin referring to Miles as "our Spider-Man," and he seems more on equal footing with Peter's Spider-Man compared to before. Krieger is put in prison after the Prowler, a villain (who's actually Miles' uncle), provides the evidence and testimony. While Roxxon and the Underground are mostly in shambles, they could still show up in the future. Phin seems like the only character here that won't ever return.

It's unclear exactly how the inevitable Spider-Man sequel could play out, but the very end of Miles Morales implies that both versions of Spider-Man could be playable in the sequel. It would make for an interesting way to tell a new kind of Spider-Man story.

Like the 2018 game's post-credits scene, there are also hints here that Harry Osburn will show up in the next game as some version of Venom, as he's infected by the Venom Symbiote.

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is now available.