A canon event is a term that originated from the movie "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" and has become a viral trend on social media, particularly on TikTok. It refers to an occurrence or event that is unavoidable and unchangeable, and that can alter ones experience or way of life in big or small ways. The concept of canon events plays a crucial role in the plot and the very foundation of the Spider-Verse. In the movie, every Spider-Person across the multiverse has to go through specific canon events to become the friendly neighborhood superhero of their world, such as being bitten by a spider and losing someone very close to them like Uncle Ben or Captain Stacy. These events end up shaping a series of fundamental elements, including personality traits, insecurities, career prospects, and more.

The canon event trend on TikTok involves users sharing embarrassing phases of their lives, moments that felt like failures at the time but led to better things, and other life-changing events that shaped their personal life journeys. The trend sees TikTokers describing a situation, either from their own past or that they are observing someone else in, saying they cant or no one can interfere, and ending with something along these lines in parentheses "this is a canon event". The trend uses pop culture jargon to make sense of our lives and is a bittersweet and comical acknowledgement of the impact of weird phases on ones life and ones inability to spare others from having those chapters.