Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Does Its Own Thing

In the last few years, superhero movies have generally come to be exhausting. Superhero multiverse movies designed largely to synergize brands especially so. But ground zero for that trend is a movie that breathed a whole new life and energy into the genre and expanded what it could do like no other. Much as others have endeavoured to latch on to the conceptual idea that colours 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, none have captured those qualities of style and spirit that really gave Spider-Verse its power, that made it unquestionably in the conversation with the greatest superhero movies of all time (and I for one would make that case for it). Five years later as both the MCU and DCCU attempt to make their versions of the multiverse work, the Spider-Verse returns to explore and challenge this facet of superhero architecture just as it had the origin story before. And in so doing, it shows these other franchises how it’s done and demonstrates why they won’t succeed in their own enterprises. Pulling from other recognizable versions of the same narrative is surface level; it takes breaking that narrative to truly stand apart.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ties this in rather nicely to the personal feelings and head-space of Miles (voiced once again by Shameik Moore), now fifteen and conflicted about revealing himself as Spider-Man to his parents, as he ponders his real identity and purpose. He’s struggling to live up to their expectations and his own, and in true Spider-Verse fashion, he’s not the only one. A few universes over, Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) has an even more difficult relationship with her father, who is relentlessly pursuing her Spider alter-ego for the death of that universe’s Peter Parker. Both are isolated, hungry for growth, and they yearn for an honest relationship with their parents –the kind that by their understanding as Spider-people they can’t have.

The movie actually opens on Gwen and her mesmerizing pastel-coated world (the closest a film like this gets to the like of Loving Vincent). Moody colour schemes accentuate her desperate, lonely state –there’s quite literally emptiness around her; and when a devastating confrontation arises, she chooses to retreat from her world. Miles meanwhile continually finds ways to put his own confession off. The movie remembers how the heart of Into the Spider-Verse was Miles’ relationship with his dad –the man who inadvertently inspired him to both take his leap of faith and get back up when knocked down– and that crucial bind is expanded on twofold here. In a time when the regular people of superhero media are less and less represented, most of the time this movie spends in Miles’ world concerns the Morales family, specifically the sad, slow erosion of trust taking place between Miles and his parents Jeff (Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio (Luna Lauren Vélez). The bedrock of Miles’ life is important, and it carries significant weight for what he finds when he follows Gwen off into the Spider-Verse.

I emphasize these thematic points and their vitality to both Miles and Gwen, because this movie is sold on its expansive, reference-savvy comic world-building and intense multiversal plotting when these things aren’t nearly as important or impactful as the human elements at the core of this movie’s soul. At the same time though, this eye-catching stuff is not mere set dressing. Rather it is once again an excuse for this movie’s team of exceptionally talented animators to push the envelope on what can be done with the form. Whether it’s in replicating the look and aesthetics of watercolour paintings, underground comics, even Da Vinci sketches, the worlds of this movie are each unique, vibrant, captivating, and intensely detailed. From Miles’ sharp Ben-Day dot Brooklyn to Gwen’s lush broad-stroked Manhattan to the richly textured kaleidoscope of Mumbattan -home to the Indian Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni). There are several new Spider-people introduced: the pregnant biker Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), London anarchist Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), and futuristic Spider-Man Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), who assembled this organization of multiverse Spider-people, of which Gwen is a recent member and Miles desperately wants to be. And of course there’s a return of Jake Johnson’s Peter Parker who trained Miles in the first film, now with a kid in tow. Each is strongly-defined with features that leave an impression, and every Spider-person and their effects interacts with one another in gloriously thrilling cohesion. Additionally, this is a movie that can balance bombastic, original, and viscerally intoxicating action sequences that lose no tangibility in spite of their complexity and fast pace, while also being breathtakingly beautiful and soulful where it needs to fulfil a rest or an emotional beat -the moment where Miles and Gwen sit upside down on a skyscraper overlooking the city is particularly sublime. Across the Spider-Verse is a typical sequel that goes bigger, but in doing so it fully satisfies, and in its scope and ambition certainly exceeds the first.

And miraculously it doesn’t get bogged down in the vastness of its universe, the goals of its plot -even as it introduces a lot of new elements, both visual and narrative, into the picture. Sure it’s more reference-saddled than its predecessor –doubtless mandated by Sony. This movie officially confirms that yes, other Spider-Man movie realities are part of the Spider-Verse (there are cameos from both the Raimi and Webb movies as well as the much hyped reference to No Way Home from the trailer, and an awkward visit to the Venom universe); but mixed in are some smart bits too, like a particularly funny acknowledgement of the 60s cartoon and a charming live-action cameo if you know the context. It handles most of these with an incredibly sharp tongue-in-cheek humour, which fills out the movie overall and bolsters its spontaneity.

Yet while indulging in easter eggs, Across the Spider-Verse is keen to subvert and expand the qualifications that connect them in the first place. Across the Spider-Verse doesn’t much care for predetermination; on a more opaque level it doesn’t much care for canon -that artificial rule-book that dictates what is and isn’t allowed for certain stories within larger universes. Miguel is obsessed with the canon, and attempts to regulate across the multiverse the strict set of parallels and experiences that supposedly determine what a Spider-person is. He argues, supported by other Spider-people, that the canon needs to be adhered to, Spider-Man’s basic narrative must play out a single way, it must be tinged with a certain sacrifice and trauma. Miles however is an unwelcome anomaly, having been bitten by a spider intended for another, and moreover, he rejects the fate imposed on those of his universe by this all-important canon. Canon is gospel, as irrefutable …as it is irrelevant; only worth as much as can be gleaned by breaking it. And canons must be broken -something no other comic book movie has dared to acknowledge. Yet comic writers have been doing it for decades -another way in which these movies perfectly represent their original medium. More often than not, canon is a creatively stifling thing, constricting vision, expression, diversity; and it makes sense that those who would make a movie about Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino teenage superhero, would have a problem with arbitrary structures designed to support one kind of narrative. It’s fitting that he is the one to openly repudiate it in favour of taking charge of his own story. It’s likewise fitting that in relation to this, his main perceived enemy of the film is the Spot (a wonderfully dynamic Jason Schwartzman) –typically one of the sillier of Spider-Man’s rogues, but here a figure capable of being a substantial threat. More great art has come from challenging canon than following it and it’s immensely gratifying to see the creatives behind this movie acknowledge that in a pointed way.

The creatives in question include writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller -ever on a winning streak- and directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson, and Kemp Powers, author of One Night in Miami and co-writer-director of Soul -incidentally, something this movie has in spades. The music by Daniel Pemberton is smooth and tantalizing, pulsating and intensifying, and always atmospheric. Metro Boomin curated the soundtrack and while it isn’t as instantly iconic as the original, it has its share of strong evocative beats like “Am I Dreaming”, “Link Up”, “Another Dimension” and especially “Self Love” and “Mona Lisa”. Once again, the rhythm of the music and animation is tonally, aesthetically perfect all throughout.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is really one-half of a two-part movie, ending on a cliffhanger and some interesting new plot developments to carry into next year’s Beyond the Spider-Verse. But unlike something like Dune, Infinity War, or the individual installments of the Hobbit trilogy, Across the Spider-Verse does resolve its main character arcs, leaving it satisfying on its own merits. It is hard to make a sequel so good –especially for a movie so beloved and game-changing. Against what could have been deemed the easy choices, Across the Spider-Verse stood its ground thematically and visually –every frame is striking, each emotional beat feels earned, each principle firm and vindicated. The movie on a whole is disarming: it pushes the contours of its artistry, roots itself to tethers of honest character building, and challenges its’ audience’s understanding of convention. Across the Spider-Verse does its own thing, and are we ever lucky for it!

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