I Asked 20 Across the Spider-Verse Filmmakers About the Smiling Kid

I asked 20 Across the Spider-Verse filmmakers about the smiling kid who mysteriously shows up in the background of both Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. And as I hunted for the answers to this Spider-Verse easter egg, I think I dug a little too deep...
In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Into the Spider-Verse, there is a hidden detail in the background. Miles Morales may be busy facing threats like The Spot and Miguel O'Hara AKA Spider-Man 2099. But there is a strange character lurking in the background of both films. Dubbed the "Smiling Kid" online, this random background character sports a wide, unnerving grin, and almost breaks the 4th wall by looking at the camera.
I was determined to find out who this guy is, so I asked the people who worked on the Spider-Verse films. Was the Smiling Kid a character from Marvel Comics? A future villain? Or just an inside joke among the animators.
Someone knows...
#acrossthespiderverse #beyondthespiderverse

[@stephenolive]

Thank you for all the kind comments!! I have a couple more videos in the works, but let me know if there is anything specific you want me to investigate and I'll see what I can do!

[@Redst0neBoy]

I think he IS the villain, when we are in the nuevo york train chase where miles is running from the spider society and is riding on the train thats headed towards the moon there is a moment where miles falls ontop of a car that is carrying the smiling kid, but hes different, he has mouth guards and is completely immobilized inside of some metal straitjacket, like he was dangerous, VERY dangerous, to the point he is fully immobilized and being sent to the moon, possibly a place where in Miguel O'hara's universe holds some of the most dangerous villains and if this is true the smiling kid IS the next villain, possibly one that has been spying on miles throughout the franchise, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

[@Redst0neBoy]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/d32aYmB8h9ymgJY 2:05 is where he is

[@icybricksss]

@@Redst0neBoy OH MY GOD YOURE RIGHT

[@LavaLampStuidos]

Remember me when your famous

[@Kimnino]

I just like to think he is a alternative spot spying on miles lol

[@stephenolive]

Ooh that’s interesting!

[@user-nn6yd2oj2e]

Personally he look like a Peter Parker I think it’s Miguel spy to see everything what miles do since he was bitten and how he was bitten by the spider beceaus there is no real explanation how did he learn that miles was an anomaly so I found this could be a reason

[@Fehudbro]

Bro threw random words and called it a theory

[@iqzario4animations203]

@@Fehudbrolol

[@AgentGrsMan]

I believe he is gonna be the EVIL SMILING KID master of evil and his smile will infect the Spider-verse.

[@tomby_]

Funny, I have a character like that. They even have the same hair colour and height

[@RedKnight26]

I get Otto Octavius Vibes from him...

[@stephenolive]

Very true

[@RedKnight26]

​@@stephenolive Or maybe he is a crazy Fanboy. Either way I hope they give him a role in beyond the spider-verse, maybe a live action version of "Smiling Kid."

[@thatoneguyisuppose.890]

Wasn't there already a doc ock in the first spiderverse? Could mean they had a son :0

[@samirsantos7387]

The smile reminds me of Willem Defoe green goblin a little bit

[@iank768]

@@RedKnight26INCREDIBOY?????

[@gauvain572]

At this point, I will be disappointed if he is *not* a twist villain

[@kobbsy7441]

Or at least somthing more the creepy background character

[@Drifter-while-hungry]

He’s gonna get the venom symbiote, that’s why venom has that big smile on him all the time

[@KE-yq2eg]

Eddie Brock?

[@coolguydoesstuff7876]

HOW DO YOU ONLY HAVE 629 SUBS??? this video was so well made! keep it up!

[@The_desiresideofthings]

Bro deserves at least 1 million

[@Jael69420]

It’s now 664 subs

[@Special_Agent_Frank_Horrigan]

​@@The_desiresideofthings1 million of what?

[@pryt0n180]

​@@Special_Agent_Frank_Horrigansubs

[@PauTheDeo]

​@@Special_Agent_Frank_Horrigansubs

[@ragemuffin7427]

The only times he looks at the camera is when the camera is miles’ pov

[@Chasling_]

and that asks the question, why is he smiling at miles like that?

[@SuperRamtin]

​@@Chasling_ He could be gay- 💀

[@poptropicuh415]

Crazy video quality. Underrated KZbinr

[@stephenolive]

Appreciate that!

[@ricniks4619]

He is going to be the villain of one of the Spin Offs when they wrap up the Miles trilogy.

[@stephenolive]

That’d be an interesting tie-in

[@nota13xxsweaponsupplier7]

He’s probably going to be another obscure spider man villain, soon to become iconic similar on what they did with the spot.

[@Bukwheat]

He's Big Wheel

[@fosamil]

@@Bukwheat No, no, he's definitely The Wall

[@TheIqbal227]

Is “the guy who got hit by a bagel” turned into THE SPOT, I think the smiling kid HAS to have a bigger role

[@Godzillavsmechagodzilla]

Imagine if he was final boss of the trilogy

[@Steveobrine_Official]

Dang, fantastic video! I can’t believe you actually reached out to the animators! Personally I don’t think the smiling kid will be important, but it would be REALLY funny if he did. Still, I don’t want that to detract from all the other arcs beyond the spiderverse will have going on

[@tracypascua1038]

He is going to be the villain of Beyond The Spider Verse

[@unknownchannel3541]

This is a great job! So much researches and good explaining and theories. You're so cool!!

[@techmast6920]

00:52 - Dan Slott (one of the Spider-Man comic books’ writers) mentioned on Twitter that he was the one who suggested to filmmakers that Spot should be the Bagel guy

[@trevcwalsh]

Soooo good man!! Never noticed that before.

[@stephenolive]

Thanks man!! I appreciate the support!

[@Funky_Troll_Studios]

Imagine if sony will make a series about him

[@Slicedude2004]

HE'S MILES'S EARTH'S VERSION OF DEADPOOL

[@Andypatino7612]

I think he's the Polar Express kid

[@Ryderboycolor9]

you deserve more subs man your amazing this video had a lot of Effort I'm sure we will see the smiling kid in Beyond maybe he will have a major role later on the fact one of the animators could not talk about him kinda implies there is something more to him.

[@stephenolive]

Thanks, that means a lot! I think there's a good possibility they'll do something more with the smiling kid. We'll see though!

[@randomwarehousestudios]

Bro what?! that was so cool! i’m so surprised that you don’t have over 1 Million subscribers yet?! i subscribed! great job!

[@stephenolive]

Thanks so much!!

[@professionllyidiotic]

i feel like he could be the chameleon to a certain extent

[@stephenolive]

That’s definitely a possibility. I feel like he could be a good villain for the third one, especially since there’s already a lot of uncertainty and changes for Miles in Earth-42

[@_MECHA_]

oh my god you are so underated!!!!!!!! this is such an amazing editing style,it just feels so fresh to me! +1 sub

[@ZaniacPrime]

Next villain

[@tahaylmaz7370]

Well thank you for nothing but more questions

[@kevinjoy155]

Awesome video man , truly underrated ❤

[@stephenolive]

Thanks for watching!

[@DIGGY_DOG]

Jesus finally, I’m happy other people noticed this guy, he’s been here just smiling and I thought he was a bit weird

[@SRobotOG]

Thanks for your research :D

[@kirboioproductions74398]

Amazing video dude

[@AdrianHernandez-zr1rm]

Watched a documentary, and something that struck me is that smiling guy looks shockingly like a criminal named Jason Handy when he smiles...

[@yellowrobertorty]

Ive always thought of that kid as the main character of the background since he is all over the place and so visible and distracting

[@AbhinavSrinivasan]

Really underrated

[@mcnorcan]

Great video, well done.

[@Dadoodadaydee]

THE 4TH WALL BREAK FREAKED ME OUT, I NEVER EVEN REALIZED IT 😭😭😭

[@davidgmirsky]

Here before bro hits 1K he’s really underrated

[@phaydhaygaming6388]

Well that told us nothing lol

[@Walterwhite_cooks]

Very intresting man who didn’t give up very inspirational and intresting video ❤ u earned a sub

[@TonyBorda]

Your channel's gonna blow up

[@TheRegularChannel225]

cool little deep dive :)

[@stephenolive]

It was a fun one to do!

[@WTSD850]

I have some theories already what if he was ultimatum an alternate version of mile miles who was white and a thief, or he could be an alternate peter parker, or he could phil urich who by the hobgoblin moniker for a short time. or lastly he's Richard fisk back from the dead

[@Spubbily01]

Beyond the spider verse's main villain is gonna be Indrid Cold lmao.

[@Broswald_Inc]

Great video

[@Beemysingingmonsters]

I subscribed this is great!!

[@jovakhiin]

Idk maybe this kid is either Cletus Cassidy or the next carnage host. His smile seems almost deranged.

[@Extremechannel123]

Maybe going to be a post credit scene for the next movie 🤔

[@SilkySilver12]

I think he’s going to be the main villain of Beyond The Spider-Verse. He was there all along just like the Spot.

[@number1biggiecheesefan]

probobly gonna be one of the members of the sinister six cartel in earth 42

[@ShreckHarvey1]

I think that he is the lizard because his eye color changes

[@InfernoFLAME3]

This youtuber is so underrated! Get him more subs NOW

[@JordanWilliams-vh6em]

The more I look at this kids horribly happy face the more I see how absolutely nightmarish his smile is… I won’t be sleeping tonight

[@noahdominguez1847]

Could be a younger version of The Spot pulled from another earth to watch over Miles

[@siege1686]

He could be that one spiderman villain made of spiders with a skinsuit. This character bullied Peter Parker when they were young and was bitten by the same spider. They would have to tone down the creep factor though, lol.

[@moxchien]

blud went all out

[@Cubular_LG]

I, too, heard this kid was an in-joke of actors who have the annoying habit of looking at the camera. If I remember correctly, it was an offhand comment in one of the movie’s commentaries or other BTS features. Now I’m curious to see if he’ll be made into something more…

[@daelenevans2934]

Everyone says it possibly is Doc Ock I used to believe he was a potential villain. But now I have a weird feeling that he’s the Beyonder disguised as a human being learning about the Spiderverse kind of like he did back in the 90’s Spider-Man the animated series😎👍🏽💯

[@Animation_stuff_person]

first of all he gives me hob goblin vibes i bet he's gonna turn out to be this universe's Ned Leeds and also secondly in the first film if you notice all the times he smiles at the camera we are at Miles's point of view and idk abt any other scenein itsv but in atsv he smiles only at Miles as spider-man and we aren't in Miles's point of view so my guess is that he knows Miles's identity as he might have seen Miles change into his suit at some time in between itsv and atsv and he figured out Miles's identity and in itsv he was smiling to be kind but that's just a theory AAAAA FILM THEORY

[@stephenolive]

Ooh those are good points! I didn't think of Ned Leeds Hobgoblin tbh. That makes more sense than Roderick Kingsley though haha

[@attackofthecopyrightbots]

after this video i wont be surprised if he gets more screentime

[@chrisburch281]

He's Richard Fisk.

[@macaemeia146]

Smiling kid will save miles next movie

[@Highschool-Jrotc]

He is the actual supervillain that created spot.

[@joshliddiard7928]

Hear me out but because the movies focus on alternate universes what if he’s from out universe in some way found out he should of been a spider-man but realised he can’t be and found a way to enter the movies so he can enjoy living in a world he wanted to be in

[@jzilla003]

His name is oliver osnick, a fan of spiderman who later becomes spider kid

[@OllieODonoghue-li3ok]

He could be electro like tasm a fan of spiderman turned foe

[@GingaBricks]

There are some theories that the smiling kid is doc ocks son and I think it could be true but it’s a young doctor Otto octavius from the comics idk wat do u think about it ??

[@Lesopal]

it's Rowley from diary of a Wimpy kid

[@stephenolive]

😂

[@user-nn6yd2oj2e]

As Folow mistery u should discover why are all the powers of the kid from incredible so so so different from they parents power

[@cmaster584]

Interesting video gonna have me thinking for a bit I'm a diehard spiderman fan that has enjoyed literally every piece of media no matter how bad and I study the concept art religiously but I have no clue if I had to take a guess it was a spider person or someone that has a connection to the web of life and destiny think about it in the first film gwen says her spider sense led her to Brooklyn visions where miles was at what if his spider sense is telling him where miles was that's why he always happens to be in the right place at the right time imma try and think of why he would not help the other spider people my guess he was one of the spider society's earliest members and first gathered data on miles earth and eventually was tasked with routinely checking that earth

[@Moose_Bricks]

Theory: He will become a second spider-man of miles universe but turn evil

[@1v1.EDITTS]

WINNING SMILE

[@spluff]

He's definitely the villain

[@suchitathakur.8026]

Man remember me when you get famous

[@jh66444]

My theory is that he is Mephisto, the Satan of the Marvel Universe who serves as the arch-nemesis of Ghost Rider and is also a villain to multiple other Marvel characters, including Spider-Man and Mayday Parker’s Spider-Girl

[@Slicedude2004]

Eric Voss need to get on that

[@cappowergames]

Dock ock maybe

[@justyouraverageblackstar3672]

Plot twist, he’s the Major from Hellsing

[@thatoneguy4515]

At 4:50 he has brown eyes, at other scenes he has blue so that’s a different dude

[@eatchickeninthekitchen8665]

That's Eater B. Parker

[@francescozenocchini4428]

I'm saying it now: The kid will be revealed to be Spot's son in the next movie (I had to remember that the guys that made this movie put the detail of Miles supposed to be the Prowler and the Bagel guy beign the sequel's villain back in 2018).

[@Justice_858]

Maybe Mysterio, but at the same age miles is

[@maxkull2899]

Imagine if he's the Mysterio of Miles's Universe... OR hear me out... Doctor Olivia Octavius's son, Otto.

[@Mr.D0rAdE326]

Peter Parker he looks like him

[@jacko8218]

My fellow warframe fans already know it’s the man in the wall

[@JosephWolfson]

Only character I could think of would be Oliver Osnick

[@PeytonBergin-is8bv]

Like Steel Spider? It actually makes sense looking at both of them.

[@JosephWolfson]

@@PeytonBergin-is8bv yes, that character. I do think the smiling kid is probably a joke. Like, an animator being like “no way I get away with this lol.” But, if I were to pick one character that would fit this universe the most, I think Oliver would be a good fit that they could rework as needed. I do think they would still need to keep his obsessive personality. The character does fit the smiling kid perfectly. If we want to go really crazy, maybe it’s the spot in disguise and he can shapeshift and bend through time and space. Though, again, that would be a bit nuts.

[@ahmadmuhammad8880]

i will say that there is 40% chance he ill be one of the beyound the spider man villain but i think the purpose of hes apperance is just to make the viewers theorising what might be hes character in beyound the spiderverse.But for my own opinioun i dont think he ill have a big character in the next movie unless if they decided to do it now

[@rositaespinosa953]

maybe he's clayton cole? (clash)

[@thecommentator9442]

Wait a minute. I don't know if I've already said this, but.. What if this curious kid is the responsible of Miles' dad trying to save him from a falling building or chimney, so that could cause his canon ev.. ?

[@thecommentator9442]

If this happens in 2027, I'm gonna..

[@yellowrobertorty]

It's funny how everyone knows that kid

[@MCIsSquared]

There should be an M on the view count instead of a K for this level of quality

[@stephenolive]

Haha I appreciate that!

[@TheReaIAura]

probably task master

[@bernardogarcia6039]

Maybe I'm the only one who thinks this, but what if he's a version of Mr negative?

[@RockTheSlayer]

he cauld be LIke kang 'I was watchIng you" or somethIng Idk

[@nkeshpatel4296]

It’s Peter Parker from an alternate universe

[@massivecsgo]

It’s Eddie Brock 😲😲😲😲

[@SebDystic]

It’s Olivia Octavious’s son 👀

[@samworld5000]

Guys it’s medic JR (from TF2)

[@v1z3]

tl;dw: only 1 animator responded, didnt disclose any information, and so we're back to square 1

[@GhostyProductions-nv2cb]

Nah bro is my sleep paralysis demon tho 💀💀💀💀💀

[@Zachoro]

I thing every one knows him

[@LovelyAstronaut-qy7qx]

Spider-Man Spider-Man ride or yeah