Discovering the multiverse was just the beginning. I saw the animated superhero film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, released on June 2, 2023. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, it is rated PG. Starring Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, and Brian Tyree Henry, it takes place, fittingly enough, across the multiverse, including Miles’ hometown of Brooklyn.
A year after Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man and helped his other selves get back to their dimensions, he is still committed to being a superhero. It does cause him personal problems, as he debates whether to tell his parents the truth. After getting a surprise visit from Gwen Stacy, he finds himself outside his universe, where he meets a whole organization of Spider-Men dedicated to protecting the multiverse. However, when a disagreement of how to handle things occur, conflict arises. Will Miles be able to save everyone his own way?
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was such a brilliant Spider-Man movie that this one had quite the shoes to fill. After viewing it myself, I feel that this film stepped up to the task. I will explain why first by talking about the animation. Even as someone who dislikes computer animation and despises how it has completely taken over hand-drawn animation, the way it is done in this movie is amazing. It already was in the first one, which they continue here. The characters and settings are all made to resemble a comic book drawing. They even change the style at points to reflect which kind of Spider-Man is there. There are much more interesting qualities to talk about than just animation though.
The plot takes a rather dark turn here. This movie was not what I was expecting at all. From the Spider Society to the disagreement, everything is much different than what I thought it would be. It ends up becoming a rather complex debate as to what the right course of action is. It really makes you think, to the point where you wonder what really is going on. I was kind of disappointed that the story does not get going until after an hour in and does not feel that long, but it gets fascinating once it gets going. To top it all off, the story ends on a huge cliffhanger to set up the third movie. It was so well delivered that I was upset I was not going to know what happened yet. Truly a brilliantly told plot.
The first movie had such a memorable team of different Spider-Men. As such, it was a shame that only Miles, Gwen, and Peter get important roles here. Regardless, the number of new Spider-Men we get are also memorable. I do not want to give away too much due to spoilers’ sake, but I can talk about the Spider Society leader, Miguel O’Hara. He makes himself different from the others by being rather serious and not comedic. He becomes interesting because his methods seem messed up, even though you can understand why he does them from his point of view. Miles is also interesting due to his determination to be a hero above all else, regardless of the consequences. His struggles make him easy to root for and provide some good emotion in the latter half.
Overall, this was yet another amazing treat. While I still think Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the best Spider-Man movie we have ever gotten, with this not being as good due to the pacing and lack of certain characters, it is still quite an experience. It really gets you hooked for the final film in the Spider-Verse trilogy.
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