Miles Morales/ Spider-Man (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy/ Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld) reunite in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to battle a new threat that threatens the multiverse. But this new villain is hellbent on making things personal.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
David Callaham (writer), Joaquim Dos Santos (director), Phil Lord (writer), Christopher Miller (writer), Kemp Powers (director), Justin K. Thompson (director)
Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman (cast)
June 2, 2023
Let me preface my review by saying my expectations for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse were high. So high. Into the Spider-Verse is one of my favourite superhero films. I have since read a lot of Miles Morales books and I’ve particularly enjoyed Saladin Ahmed’s run which also had Miles visiting the Spider-Verse. In fact, I enjoyed the first movie so much that I got myself a handful of Miles accessories. Needless to say I was really looking forward to the sequel.
I got to see Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse at an early IMAX screening held by Sony in Toronto. Despite a few hiccups, the experience was quite comfortable. As much as I love superhero films, the trailers give away so many details that the audience just spends the entire film screaming in excitement. So a quiet hall was just perfect.
As much as I love Miles and I couldn’t wait to see him on the big screen, I did feel the first film didn’t do Gwen Stacy much justice. We only got a brief glimpse into her story but she was very much a supporting character.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse more than gives Gwen Stacy her due. I‘ve been reading Spider-Gwen comics and we get a pretty comics-accurate backstory for her. At times I thought this film was over-correcting on the mistakes in the first film by putting Gwen in the spotlight at Miles’ expense, but fortunately that’s not the case. Miles is still our hero — but Gwen does get to share in the heroics while having her own inner life, motivations and arc.
There was quite a bit of discourse online about a possible romance between Miles and Gwen in Across the Spider-Verse. I was very worried about this. I’m not a romance fan generally and in superhero properties, hetero romances tend to be intrusive and very annoying. Just look at Amazing Spider-Man 2–the romance almost completely took over. Having said that, I remember a friend of mine loving that film precisely for that reason so, to each their own.
I was relieved to see that the romance was not central to the film. Yes, there are strong hints to it but Miles and Gwen aren’t driven by their undying puppy love for each other. They have other sources for their motivation and so does the plot.
I would say parental affection and fear of their rejection is a primary motivator for Miles and Gwen in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. They’re both Spider-people dedicated to keeping the people in their orbit safe. They’re also on their own and unwilling to share their identity with their parents. They really do have a lot in common! But they’re also children who have dreams and they need their parents’ support to realise them. However, being Spider-People does make family life so much harder. Leading to a lot of heart-to-hearts. There may have actually been a few too many of those scenes in this film. I think the first film got the balance between heartfelt conversations and action just right. In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the conversations Miles has with his parents, Rio (Luna Lauren Velez) and Jeff (Brian Tyree Henry), go around in circles and aren’t effective in progressing the story. Instead, they slowed the film down and made me want to get back to the Spider-People. However, while Miles does seem to run in place with his parents, Rio and Jeff show some growth. Rio, especially, gets some of the limelight, which was a relief because she was little more than an afterthought in the first film.
But the highlight of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has to be all the Spider-People. There. Were. So. Many! I hadn’t met even 10% of these characters in the comics I’ve read. I loved it!
Of course, some Spider-People get more screen time than others. Despite a fair amount of pre-release coverage, Jessica Drew/ Spider-Woman (Issa Rae) didn’t appear as much as I expected. She’s a really popular character in the comics, so her curtailed screen time was disappointing. There was altogether too much online discourse about Jessica fighting while pregnant, but Peter B. Parker/ Spider-Man (Jake Johnson) taking his infant daughter into fights was definitely more terrifying to watch. It’s played for laughs but uhhhh, I’m not entirely sure what the film was trying to say with that? At least the incessant fat shaming of Peter B .from the first film was absent. What. A. Relief! It would have been nice if Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse counter-balanced that awfulness with some fat Spider-People, but aside from a couple of nameless fat Spideys in the background, no luck.
I did really enjoy three new Spider-People. First up, Hobie/Spider-Punk, voiced very attractively by Daniel Kaluuya. An anarchist who wants to fight every system and believes in nothing, Hobie never allows anyone to know where they stand with him. However, he’s pretty good at dropping words of wisdom. I hope we see a lot more of him because Hobie had a lot of layers to him! Does make me miss Kaluuya in Black Panther, though. The zine-inspired animation for Hobie was apparently very challenging but it’s seamless and beautiful in the film!
Despite my best efforts at avoiding all news about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, I did see that there would be a South-Asian Spider-Man. Pavitr Prabhakar/ Spider-Man India is voiced by Karan Soni, who already stole hearts as Deadpool’s clueless friend Dopinder. Pavitr is much more his own man and not as much of a stereotype. And I will never tire of diatribes against the terms “Chai tea” and “Naan bread.” You’re literally saying the same word twice! And compared to Pavitr’s introduction in the Marvel comics, the suit in the film is a massive upgrade. As amusing and sweet as Pavitr is, I do wish Hollywood wouldn’t get Indian-American actors to do that weird fake Indian accent. Soni spent his first 18 years in India, so I’m not sure why he had such a Dopinder-like fake accent here. Pavitr was a joy to watch, though, with movements inspired by the Indian martial art kalaripayattu.
Into the Spider-Verse had already teased Miguel O’Hara but he has a big role in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. I love Oscar Isaac’s voice for this role. It’s perfect for Miguel, broody, simmering annoyance, with powerful hints of sarcasm. I’m actually so glad I didn’t watch any previews because everything with Miguel caught me by surprise and was incredibly exciting. His backstory; his connection to the Spider-Verse and the other Spider-People; his mission and how Miles fits into it; all slowly unveiled so I learned about it just as Miles did. That’s how I like my plot twists!
And it all leads to an ending that was completely unexpected and had me and everyone else at the edge of their seats. What. An. Ending! I kind of figured it out but that didn’t take the sting off of the shock.
The animation style of Into the Spider-Verse was groundbreaking; requiring years of work from animators to complete the film. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has taken about five years because of this. I was a little concerned about the animation going in. When I watched the first film on the big screen, I found the animation styles jarring to watch. It was only on subsequent rewatches on the small screen that I could appreciate the work that went into the film. I’m not sure if the IMAX screen was smoother, but I didn’t have the same issue this time around. The changing styles didn’t hurt my eyes; instead, I was floored by the scale of the animation in this film. Almost every new character has a unique visual style and I loved seeing all the styles interact with each other.
Having said that, there were some colour choices on Gwen’s world that I didn’t quite understand, at least not after a single viewing. Were the colour changes mimicking how art changes with different comic book artists? Or was it more the emotional resonance of the scene? That didn’t come across very well. The art was beautiful, though, just a little confusing.
Another aspect of the first film that I loved was the film score and soundtrack. I listen to them regularly when I need a pick-me-up. The sequel’s music didn’t disappoint, and tThere were definitely some themes in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse that stood out. I’m looking forward to adding the soundtrack to my rotation when it’s available.
Were my expectations of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse met? Hell yes! I got all the Miles I wanted. I got more Gwen, which I really needed. I got to listen to Oscar Isaac and Daniel Kaluuya’s sexy, silky voices for two fascinating and beautiful characters. I got a South-Asian Spidey in Pavitr who was funny and sweet and not a joke. And I got an ending that had me holding my breath and has me absolutely desperate for the next instalment. I cannot wait till this film is available to watch at home so I can rewatch it and catch all the details I missed in the theatre. And I’ve found a new annual rewatch during the holiday season. What more could you want?
