Is there an event in your life that defines you so clearly that you wouldn't be who you are if it didn't happen? You (and every version of you) may have a "canon event."

The release of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" in June 2023 brought forth a conversation about these so-called "canon events" and how changing them (or getting rid of them entirely) could alter someone's life.

Maybe you've heard someone use the term "canon event" and weren't quite sure what it meant. We'll explain.

What is a canon event?

The term "canon event" derives from the 2023 movie sequel "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." In short, a canon event is something that shapes a person and defines who they are.

The concept blew up on social media following the movie's release. On apps, like TikTok, some videos would be captioned, "can't interfere, it's a canon event."

In the film, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) is the Spider-Man of Brooklyn, New York, on Earth-1610. He reunites with Spider-Woman Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), whom he befriended in the series' first installment "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse."

Stacy, alongside several other Spider-Man variants, is tasked with addressing anomalies that are occurring across the multiverse, or Spider-Verse. The Spider-Verse contains every timeline of every Spider-Man variant and their subsequent stories.

Morales decides to follow Stacy to help. Instead of making things better, Morales only causes more problems by stopping a "canon event" in the timeline of Pavitr Prabhakar, another Spider-Man variant from India (Karan Soni).

Miguel O'Hara, Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Issac), explains that canon events are what connect all the Spider-Man variants throughout the Spider-Verse. "Miles, you disrupted a canon event," he says.

Spider-Man has certain events that parallel one another throughout his infinite timelines, such as a spider bite and the death of a loved one. Without these canon events, said Spider-Man variant couldn't exist and the Spider-Verse would fall apart.

While canon events may keep the Spider-Verse intact, they have also connected people in the real world – regardless of someone's location or identity – based upon a mutual, formative event.

Following the film, users on social media began labeling certain instances in their lives as "canon events." Examples include having an "emo phase" in middle school or experiencing your first "situationship" breakup.

One TikTok user posted, "I'm told it's a canon event to bring a Lululemon lunch bag to your first day of middle school," gaining around 486.6 thousand likes.

Another Tiktok user shared a video of their younger cousins showing their family a dance they made up with the caption, "it's a canon event."

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