What Are 'Canon Events?' The 'Spider-Verse' Meme Trend Explained

It's been two weeks since the release of the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse movie, and there are already tons of memes and trends going viral on social media inspired by its events and themes. Without going into too many spoilers (but It's worth being careful if you hate spoilers), the Spider-Verse establishes a very important element for this arachnid multiverse: the canonical events!

What Is A 'Canon Event?'

A "canon event" is an essential and unavoidable event that must and will happen to Spider-Man or any other comic book character. Whether it's the death of Uncle Ben, Gwen Stacy, Captain Stacy or Peter Parker himself, the "Spider People" have losses they cannot avoid. It's a bittersweet statement about the weird phases in our lives that, when looking back at the events, made you the person you are today.

The film's plot tries to answer a dilemma in the "canon event" rule: what if Miles Morales chooses his own path instead of allowing the '"canon events" to dictate his way of life? For this hero, there is no other answer than "Nah, I'mma do my own thing," as he states in one scene.

Why Are 'Canon Events' Important?

For the fans, the use of "canon events" is of particular importance with regard to reboots or re-imaginings of established franchises. While there is no consensus regarding who has the authority to decide what is or isn't canon, following some original concepts of the material being adapted to the screens influences the viewer experience, for better or for worse.

In the Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse case, canon events are the shared moments that bind the Spider-Verse together. Disrupting this rule can put all of the Spider-Verse in danger. Spider-Man 2099, Miguel O'Hara, explained he once saw the destruction of an entire universe for disrupting a "canon event."

How Did 'Canon Events' became A TikTok Trend?

As soon as the Spider-Man movie was released, the idea of "canon events" in real life became a viral meme on TikTok. One of the earliest viral examples of the trend was a video posted by TikToker @greekos_nikos on June 2nd, 2023, captioned, "Realizing it was never trauma, just a canon event," garnering over 4 million views in one week.

The trend has since transformed into a spiral of traumatizing or important events in one's life that one has to go through, no matter how hard it will be. The videos are often paired with the overlay text "this is a canon event," either from the person posting the content or that they are observing someone else's events. For example, TikToker @0verth0se described him watching his little cousin "create the most abysmal Playstation username of all time," but he didn't interfere since it is a "canon event all men go through."

For the full history of the Spider-Verse canon event memes, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.