In perhaps the most anticipated Spider-Man sequel in a pop culture that has been littered with them, Spider-Man- Across the Spiderverse, the animated follow-up to the Oscar winning, industry altering Into the Spiderverse, isn’t a franchise killer, like the Andrew Garfield-era; it surpasses the original, swinging by sophomore efforts by the MCU or Raimi.
Into the Spiderverse, like all Spidie incarnations before it, contained the web-slinging wit, rogues gallery of goblins and scorpions, radioactive spiders and a talented cast of Hollywood’s finest. It was the first big-screen Marvel foray into the multiverse, though, pre-dating Loki and No Way Home. What really differentiated it, though was the animation revolution: the hybridization of computer and traditional comic book styles. In Across the Spiderverse, directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson and their army of animators break the mould again
In the sequel that was five years in the making, new Spider-Man, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), is alone and still trying to fit in at home and school while ruing the loss of his compatriots from other dimensions, particularly Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson). Gwen, meanwhile, is beating to her own drum back on her world, and just can’t find the rhythm without Miles. Soon, both Miles and Gwen discover, through the intervention of ninja vampire Spider-Man Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), that they didn’t quite save the day entirely at the end of the first film, so their worlds collide again as the chase down the seemingly innocuous new villain, the Spot (Jason Schwartzmann).
Across the Spiderverse traverses six dimensions, with each featuring a distinct animation style; Gwen’s home is washed out and impressionistic, like a Monet; it’s emo and achingly beautiful. O’Hara’s world is cold, metallic, futuristic. It’s such a visual feast that one viewing will never be enough to digest all the Easter eggs, the comic book and meta references and in jokes. When the multiverse explodes open, it is almost too much to process, too many threads to follow. It never loses its heart, though; this is a film about love and loss; about longing for someone who is out of reach, about wanting to be understood by your parents, and reckoning with the reality that one day they will die.
As with the MCU, Across the Spiderverse embraces diversity: there’s punk-British (Daniel Kaluuya), a female and pregnant African-American (Issa Rae) and Indian (Karan Soni) variants, and each steal the show; particularly Kaluuya, who, like Isaac and Steinfeld, is no stranger to Marvel blockbusters, having previously starred in Black Panther.
If Across the Spiderverse has a criticism, a full understanding requires more than a passing awareness of, at very least, the first film and, preferably, all previous films, and even the comics. Even casual film goers, though, can bathe in the luxurious visuals and chuckle at the gags. Be warned, it ends on a cliffhanger, but this time we only have one more year to wait for the next instalment.
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