movie review of spider man across the spider verse

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movie review of spider man across the spider verse

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My esteemed colleague Christy Lemire opened her review of “ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ” with a quote from her nine-year-old asking if he could see it again, so I think there’s some synergy in quoting my nine-year-old to open this one: “That might be the best movie I’ve ever seen.”

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” explodes onto screens this week, building on the foundation of the masterful “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” with stunning animation, unforgettable characters, and complex themes. The first note I took after seeing it was “so much movie.” Like the work of a young artist who refuses to be restrained by the borders of the frame, “Across the Spider-Verse” is loaded with incredible imagery and fascinating ideas. It is a smart, thrilling piece of work that reminded me of other great part twos like “ The Dark Knight ” and “ The Empire Strikes Back .” Like those films, it leaves viewers anxiously anticipating the next chapter (which will come in March 2024), and it earns its cliffhangers by grounding them in a story of young people refusing to submit to a concept of what a hero’s arc needs to be.

“Across the Spider-Verse” opens just over a year after the action of the first movie. Gwen Stacy ( Hailee Steinfeld ) is back in her universe, trying to keep her identity secret from her father, George ( Shea Whigham ). When an alternate version of the villainous Vulture ( Jorma Taccone ) drops into her reality, the bad guy ends up trailed by the intense Spider-Man 2099 ( Oscar Isaac ) and confident Spider-Woman ( Issa Rae ). They reveal to Gwen that they’re part of a secret Spider-Society that has been cleaning up inter-universe messes, capturing villains who end up in the wrong one and sending them home again. When Gwen’s identity is blown with her dad, she joins the Spider-Crew, correcting the errors of multi-verse.

Of course, fans will remember that Miles Morales ( Shameik Moore ) is essentially one of those errors. The Peter Parker of his universe died trying to save him, and the spider that bit Miles was never supposed to be there. But it was. So now what? This story's backbone is about pushing back against determinism and moving forward with what's in front of you. Superhero culture has used multiverse stories to expand on the concept of potential, but this film (and I hope these themes really land in its sequel) suggests that it’s way more important to hold onto the reality in your hands than imagine all of the other ones that might have been. It’s about controlling your own fate more than giving into a scripted narrative of heroism. More than most superhero movies, it’s about empowerment instead of destiny. And that’s powerful stuff.

Back to Miles. He’s in his version of Brooklyn, trying to balance being a good student with being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He’s considering telling his mother, Rio (Luna Lauren Vélez ), and father, Jefferson ( Brian Tyree Henry ), the truth, but worries what it could do to their relationship if he does. One day, an odd duck that Miles thinks is just a “villain of the week” pops up in the form of The Spot ( Jason Schwartzman ). Formerly known as Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, the once-Alchemax-employee was forever altered by the first movie's action, able to control time and space through a series of portals. At first, it’s kind of cute how he tries to steal an ATM with a portal, but The Spot ends up being significantly more dangerous as his powers grow, opening passages that can destroy worlds.

Naturally, the emergence of The Spot gets the attention of the Spider-Society, which sends Gwen and company back into the life of Miles Morales. The first sequence of their reunion is an absolute marvel as the two characters swoop and swing through the city, flirting their way through the sky. It culminates with a series of shots high above the city as the pair sits upside down, the skyline inverted behind them. It’s a quiet sequence in a movie that’s often very loud and a reminder of the film’s stunning visual confidence, just as striking in its calm as its noise.

If the first film interrogated who gets to be a hero, the second film takes that further to ask how heroism is defined. Why does every hero’s arc have to be the same? Why does so much superhero mythology lean into the idea that it is only through tragedy that heroism can be born? In an era when superhero movies have taken over the culture, writers Phil Lord , Christopher Miller , & David Callahan use animation's freedom to unpack the structure of a world they know and love. It's a script that earns every one of its 140 minutes, almost overwhelming in its abundance of ideas. (To be fair, my youngest also turned to me at one point and said, “I have no idea what’s going on.” He said it with a smile.)

Of course, most will remember its imagery more than its ideas. Directors Joaquim Dos Santos , Kemp Powers , and Justin K. Thompson build on the first movie's aesthetics with one of the most strikingly conceived and executed animated films ever made. From the very beginning, the animators are using their form to do things that would never be possible in the MCU, and the art of “Across the Spider-Verse” feels even more self-assured than the first film. It’s not just that every action sequence would cost half a billion dollars in a live-action film. It’s that this freedom has been employed artistically and cohesively instead of just extravagantly. Even in a film where characters defy time and space with every leap and dive, the choreography of the action is easier to follow than some of the Hollywood blockbusters released already this season. There’s a true craftsmanship to the action that’s breathtaking, especially in a late sequence when Miles breaks free from what the canon says he has to be.

It helps greatly that the entire cast here brings their vocal A-game. There are so many celebrity voices here—including a number of cameos only villains would spoil—but I want to give some praise to Shameik Moore, who finds the perfect register for the odd intersection of youth, manhood, and heroism in which Miles finds himself. It’s a vocal performance with just the right blend of curiosity, vulnerability, and growing confidence. Steinfeld, Henry, Rae, Jake Johnson , Schwartzman, Velez, Daniel Kaluuya , Isaac—there’s no weak link. Everyone was clearly inspired by the creative potential of this script.

Mediocre sequels repeat what came before, knowing that fans will return for more of the same. Great sequels build on what came before, enriching themes and setting the table for what’s to come. I wish that we weren’t seemingly in a blockbuster era of non-endings, but I feel like “Across the Spider-Verse” earns its open conclusion. It’s not just a way to guarantee that ticket buyers return. It’s not a threat to finish an incomplete story. It’s a promise to continue one that’s already so rewarding.

In theaters tomorrow, June 1st.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse movie poster

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Rated PG for sequences of animated action violence, some language and thematic elements.

140 minutes

Shameik Moore as Miles Morales / Spider-Man (voice)

Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman (voice)

Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker / Spider-Man (voice)

Oscar Isaac as Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 (voice)

Issa Rae as Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman (voice)

Daniel Kaluuya as Hobart 'Hobie' Brown / Spider-Punk (voice)

Jason Schwartzman as Jonathan Ohnn / The Spot (voice)

Brian Tyree Henry as Jefferson Davis (voice)

Luna Lauren Velez as Rio Morales (voice)

Greta Lee as Lyla (voice)

Rachel Dratch as Principal (voice)

Jorma Taccone as Adrian Toomes / The Vulture (voice)

Shea Whigham as George Stacy (voice)

Andy Samberg as Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider (voice)

Joaquim Dos Santos
Justin K. Thompson
Kemp Powers

Writer (characters)

Christopher Miller
Dave Callaham
Mike Andrews
Daniel Pemberton

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Across the Spider-Verse is an animated masterpiece that upends Marvel’s Spider-canon

Sony’s Into the Spider-Verse sequel is a bigger, bolder, more ambitious film than its predecessor — and a powerful deconstruction of Marvel’s Spider-Man mythos.

By Charles Pulliam-Moore , a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.

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A tight shot of a boy hanging upside down and looking forward solemnly. Behind the boy stand an array of masked people.

The concepts of multiverses and people traveling from one reality to another existed long before Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse . But the 2018 animated feature did such a tremendous job of using those ideas to define Miles Morales and deconstruct the very idea of Marvel’s iconic webhead that it almost single-handedly got the whole of Hollywood hell-bent on producing as many genre-bending multiversal epics as it possibly could. Save for Everything Everywhere All at Once , few of these other parallel dimension narratives have really been able to hold a candle to what Sony and Marvel managed to achieve with Into the Spider-Verse — a movie that told one of the most powerful Spider-Man stories of all time.

Similar to the way Into the Spider-Verse never felt like it was explicitly trying to stunt on any of Sony’s previous Spider-Man movies, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — from co-directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson — always feels like it’s thoughtfully drawing upon the stories that came before it in hopes of tapping into some deeper, fundamental truth about what it takes to wear the spider-mask. But rather than simply using Miles to expand upon and celebrate Marvel’s 60-year-old Spider-Man mythos the way Into the Spider-Verse did , Across the Spider-Verse is much more focused on artfully blowing the webhead’s canon so wide open that it’s almost hard to believe as you’re watching it.

Like Into the Spider-Verse , Across the Spider-Verse ’s story revolves around one Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), the one and only Spider-Man operating on Earth-1610 after the untimely (but cosmically fated) death of his reality’s Peter Parker. As an experienced savior of the multiverse, Miles has every reason to think of himself as hot shit and one of the more impressive Spider-People thwipping around in any universe. But as the sole costumed hero working to protect his New York City from its supervillains, Miles can’t help but feel profoundly alone in his day-to-day civilian life, where he’s surrounded by normal people like his mother Rio (Luna Lauren Velez) and father Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry).

Much as Miles’ parents love their son, Miles knows that they’d never be able to understand how being bitten by a radioactive spider turned his entire world upside down the way Gwen “Gwanda” Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and Peter B. Parker could. Miles also knows there aren’t many ways to just pop over into someone else’s universe without trouble ensuing. When Gwen appears in a glowing vortex one afternoon with the promise of adventure, though, not only can he not get his super suit on fast enough but he also can’t pick up on the complicated web of secrets she’s hiding.

Though Across the Spider-Verse is undoubtedly a Miles Morales story, one of the more immediately noticeable ways the film differs from Into the Spider-Verse is in the amount of time it spends showing you what the world looks and feels like from other people’s perspectives. To Miles, both his loneliness and newly romantic longings for Gwen are emotions unique to him and his (relatively speaking) sunny, brightly lit universe that’s rendered in an array of warm, highly saturated tones. But Across the Spider-Verse takes care to establish up top how reciprocal those feelings actually are — not just to frame itself as a love story but also to help showcase how differently and imaginatively the common narrative threads shared between Marvel’s various Spider-people can be realized.

Across the Spider-Verse doesn’t just give Gwen more screen time; it commits itself to making you understand why it’s difficult for her to talk about her past and how truly thorny a Spider-hero’s personal and professional relationships with the police can be. Even if it were simply prose, the nuance Across the Spider-Verse digs into Gwen’s character with would make it a tremendous piece of superhero storytelling. What ultimately takes Across the Spider-Verse ’s handling of Gwen and other characters to the next level, though, is the way the movie uses a wide range of character / dimension-specific design languages to explore ideas that are more impactful when depicted visually as opposed to verbalized through dialogue.

As has been the case with all of Marvel’s recent projects touching on the multiverse, Across the Spider-Verse ’s story quickly becomes something of a curious nightmare for its hero as Miles’ reunion with Gwen puts him on the radar of an interdimensional body of Spider-folks known as the Spider Society. Though Across the Spider-Verse also features a very interesting take on the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) as its central villain, it’s really Miguel — a hulking Spider-Man from the future — who brings the most menacing energy to the film as the embodiment of a militaristic order that runs counter to everything that makes Miles who he is.

It’s often discomfiting to see Miguel, Jessica Drew (Issa Rae), and swarms of other Spiders ganging up on and chasing after Miles as Across the Spider-Verse starts to make good on its title. Every single one of the movie’s masterfully produced fight sequences is designed to emphasize how, in a multiverse overfull of Peter Parkers and variations of him, Miles’ differences — his Blackness, his Puerto Rican cultural roots, the fact that he was never a Silver Age comics dweeb — make him so unique that it’s easy for people to question whether he actually belongs. While Into the Spider-Verse touched on something quite similar, Across the Spider-Verse takes a much more pointed, meta approach with its commentary about Miles and, in doing so, encourages you to think very critically but meaningfully about who Miles represents and what it means when people dismiss the very simple fact that he is Spider-Man .

Across the Spider-Verse is a bigger, bolder, and more ambitious project than its predecessor in almost every way — so much so that its entire story doesn’t at all fit into a single movie with an especially satisfying ending. Across the Spider-Verse leaves little question that Sony’s forthcoming follow-up, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse , is going to bring this whole thing home and solidify the studio’s status as being the architect of one of Hollywood’s most successful takes on the multiverse. But Across the Spider-Verse also lands on a cliffhanger so delicious that waiting for the next sequel to drop next year’s going to be absolute hell.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse also stars Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya, Greta Lee, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone, Shea Whigham, Andy Samberg, and Amandla Stenberg. The movie hits theaters on June 2nd.

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‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Review: Worlds Wide Web

This charming sequel to the 2018 animated movie expands the multiverse concept, without shamelessly capitalizing on fan service.

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An animated scene of the character Mile Morales, as Spider-Man, shooting a web from his hand.

By Maya Phillips

Question: How many Spider-Men does it take to make a successful multiverse sequel?

I’m not certain, but it might be the countless number of Spideys that appear in the delightful “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”

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A follow-up to the appropriately lauded “ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ,” this animated movie takes place a year after the Brooklyn teen and newly minted Spider-Man, Miles Morales (voiced again by Shameik Moore), was bitten by a radioactive spider. In “Into the Spider-Verse,” from 2018, Miles learned how to be his city’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man with the help of five other Spider-heroes — all different Spidey incarnations transported from their original universes after a super collider explosion tore through the multiverse. Now Miles is 15, and though he has a handle on his powers, he’s struggling to balance academics with his extracurricular hero work, on top of the usual adolescent woes.

As Miles’s parents get increasingly suspicious about their son’s double life, he has to fend off the pesky villain Spot (Jason Schwartzman, as the perfect goober), who powers up into a “transdimensional super-being” who poses a real threat to the multiverse.

In her separate universe Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), a.k.a. Spider-Woman, Miles’s pal and quasi-romantic interest from the first film, joins a task force of multiverse-jumping heroes called the Spider Society. They chase anomalies stuck in the wrong world in missions led by the brooding Spider-Man 2099, Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac). But once Gwen and Miles reunite, and Miles discovers the Spider Society, he finds out he might actually be the real threat to the Spider-Verse.

“Spider-Verse” achieves the challenging task of building a sequel that not only replicates the charms of the first film but also expands the multiverse concept, the main characters and the stakes, without overinflating the premise or shamelessly capitalizing on fan service. In other words, “Across the Spider-Verse” pulls off a “ Spider-Man: No Way Home ,” the Tom Holland vehicle that also played with alternate versions of Spider-Man, better than “No Way Home” did. That includes its inclusion of clips and cameos from former animated and live-action Spider-Man media, which nicely cohere with the rest of the film.

The Spider Society, with its delightfully bizarre potpourri of spider-entities (i.e., a Spider-Cowboy, Spider-Cat, Spider-Baby and Spider-Dinosaur), offers many opportunities for the movie to show off a compelling blend of visual gags, palettes and animation styles. The eye-catching action sequences among the Spider-folk serve the delectable chaos of a meme ( yes, that pointing meme ) exploded in a big-screen format.

Each Spidey we encounter, even briefly, is fully realized, and a welcome addition to the story, even for those who might not pick up on the deep-cut references to the ’80s and ’90s comics. Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), a.k.a. Spider-Man India, is designed with nods to contemporary Indian fashion. Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), a contrarian cool-guy rocker with combat boots, piercings and a devil-may-care attitude, is drawn in the wild 2-D-collage style of album covers, concert fliers and zines from the ’80s London punk scene. And the way they move — Pavitr’s fluid web-slinging, Spider-Punk’s stomps and thrashing and Gwen’s graceful acrobatics and en pointe landings — express as much about the characters as the buoyant dialogue and highly stylized character designs.

That’s not even counting the work of the impressive voice cast. Issa Rae brings an affable tough-love vibe to her pregnant, kinky-haired, motorcycle-riding Spider-Woman Jessica Drew. And Isaac, who brings as an exacting a performance as he did in the Disney+ series “Moon Knight,” is well-cast as the slightly unhinged and self-serious Spider-Man, à la the Dark Knight.

Steinfeld’s Gwen, a fan fave, thankfully gets more spotlight in this film, which delves deeper into her tragic back story and her feelings of displacement in her world, particularly in her own home. She gets a driving pop-punk theme — part of a killer soundtrack raging with rock, hip-hop and reggaeton — and a stunning color-streaked aesthetic, with soft pinks and lavenders and heavy brushstrokes, creating an almost immersive comic book experience.

The directing team, Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, builds a beautifully realistic, multicultural New York through details: a wheelchair basketball game in full swing on a nearby court, or a shelf of beef patties displayed in a Jamaican bodega.

Both “Spider-Verse” films, in what will be a trilogy, create dimension in these kinds of details, and I don’t just mean the animation. (Though, to be fair, the infinite reach of the city skyline, as viewed upside down from Gwen and Miles’s purview , is a satisfying visual callback to the first film and its own illustrative feat.) The dimension is in the thrust of the story itself.

This isn’t just another multiverse slogfest but a bildungsroman. Because what else is adolescence but a confrontation with the various possibilities in life, the infinite selves you can be? It’s about figuring out one’s identity — superhero or otherwise — and finding a place to belong. The fact that Miles and Gwen also shoot webs and swing around skyscrapers is incidental to their emotional arcs in the film.

“Spider-Verse” also asks intriguing questions about the limitations of the canon, and whether tragedy is a prerequisite for a Spider-Man origin story — the death of an Uncle Ben or Aunt May or Uncle Aaron. And whether trauma completely defines these heroes — and, if so, if they can find kinship in that.

The most disappointing part of “Spider-Verse” is the merciless cliffhanger of an ending, ushering the film into a tradition of two-parters with too much story and too little time to tell it. But “Across the Spider-Verse” is never dull, nor precious with its characters and comedy. Which I suppose just proves that when it comes to a Spidey census, two’s a team, three’s a party and hundreds is a multiverse crawling with opportunities.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Rated PG. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes. In theaters.

Audio produced by Tally Abecassis .

Maya Phillips is a critic at large. She is the author of “NERD: Adventures in Fandom From This Universe to the Multiverse” and the poetry collection “Erou.” More about Maya Phillips

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Reviews

One of the most artful and entertaining films of 2023, advancing the craft of animation in ways few have done previously.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 15, 2024

Across The Spider-Verse truly explodes the idea of what a comic book movie can be. This is thanks to the boundlessly exuberant and adventurous way it both constructs and captures its world(s) during this jaunt through the multiverse.

Full Review | Jan 13, 2024

The web-slinging sequel takes the Marvel superhero to new heights. The artistry is jaw-dropping, and the script is absorbing throughout.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Dec 30, 2023

Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse leaves room for the moments that make its heroes humans worth caring about.

Full Review | Dec 29, 2023

It takes everything amazing about the first film and kicks it up a notch.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Dec 4, 2023

The problem is that I don’t see anything new being learned or discovered here. It's fun and the characters are engaging, but all of it is ultimately connected to past movies or themes. And it's familiar.

Full Review | Dec 3, 2023

The problem is that the movie is constantly, almost compulsively, deflecting in order not to make it too, too clear what it’s actually about.

Full Review | Nov 24, 2023

It's super fun, exciting, and surprising. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Oct 26, 2023

…a hard-sell for a 60 year old product you already bought, used, grew out of and got bored of some time ago…

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 30, 2023

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is AMAZING and a REVOLUTIONARY achievement in animation. It’s a wild and darker journey that is FULL of JAW-DROPPING surprises. Spider-Man has never looked so good.

Full Review | Sep 20, 2023

Everything audiences have seen thus far from the first frame of "Into" to the last of "Across" means something to the larger story, and it’s been in front of us the whole time.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Sep 18, 2023

A sequel that’s just as good as its predecessor.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 9, 2023

For a 140 min film, you’ll feel like you’re in an art gallery in the sense that you know there’s not enough time in the day to see everything, so you go ahead and make an internal commitment to come back.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Sep 7, 2023

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a brilliant film with empathetic writing and characters we care about not to mention a visual masterpiece. It transcends genre to be one of the most enjoyable and engrossing releases of 2023.

Full Review | Sep 6, 2023

'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' travels worlds to upend its own status quo, spinning a truly unique and sometimes devastating narrative that finally matches its visual ambitions.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 2, 2023

A giddying swing through a dizzying array of animation styles, this sequel to ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ is an epic joy-ride on the space-time continuum

Full Review | Aug 27, 2023

Thank you for the contrasting animation styles that express and enhance each separate universe. Thank you for the unparalleled artistry, the emotional story, the playful humor, and the invigorating action.

Full Review | Aug 23, 2023

Against all odds, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is even better than its predecessor laying credible claim to one of the strongest comic book entries ever. No need for an asterisk limiting it to just the animation category.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Aug 19, 2023

The result is a production that is so overwhelming, it may never be fully appreciated even with a multiverse of viewings.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Aug 9, 2023

Its visual design is preceded by nothing save for the first Spider-Verse, and Lord and Miller oversee further progression by crafting distinctive aesthetics for each of the half-dozen or so universes within this narrative.

Full Review | Aug 8, 2023

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‘spider-man: across the spider-verse’ review: a thrilling sequel marks the return of miles morales.

In the second chapter of the Spider-Verse series, featuring voice work from Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Oscar Isaac and Issa Rae, Miles must face challenges across the multiverse.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Lovia Gyarkye

Arts & Culture Critic

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Spider-Man/Miles Morales Shameik Moore in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ SPIDER-MAN ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE.

In Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales is all grown up. Well, sort of.

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‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Review: A Dazzling Reminder of What Superhero Movies Can Be

Kate erbland, editorial director.

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Set a year after “Into the Spider-Verse,” “Across the Spider-Verse” makes a pit stop with Gwen Stacy (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) before checking in with our hero Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) and further pulling tight the duo’s special bond as Spider-Woman and Spider-Man, respectively. Since we last left her, Gwen’s universe has grown still more complicated — girl, aren’t they all? — but other issues beyond her own web-based problems have kept her from skipping through the multiverse to see Miles in his. Per that packed prologue, Gwen soon finds herself fighting alongside Miguel O’Hara (a dark and haunter vampire ninja Spider-Man, voiced by Oscar Isaac) and Jessica Drew (an ebullient, heavily pregnant, and motorcycle-riding Spider-Woman, voiced by Issa Rae), who arrive in her universe to essentially clean up some multiverse-threatening collateral damage from all the wild stuff that happened in the first film. Eventually, the bad-ass duo take her into their crime-fighting fold when they realize how dangerous this particular world has become to ol’ Spider-Gwen. Related Stories The Best Visual Effects Oscar Winners of the 21st Century, Ranked Despite the Panic, Generative AI Won’t Be on the Big Screen Any Time Soon

Spider-Man (Shameik Moore) and Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE.

In Miles’ own world, things are going mostly alright. He’s a bit stretched by the whole being-Spider-Man and also being-a-totally-normal-teen thing, but which iteration of Spidey hasn’t endured such worries in the course of this iconic tale? When a wacky new baddie shows up (his name is Spot, he’s voiced by Jason Schwartzman, he is perfect), Miles takes this particular “villain of the week” in stride.

That’s just about the worst thing he could do to Spot, who is filled with ineffectual rage, an insatiable hunger to pump up his own powers, and a burning desire to punish Miles, who he believes is responsible for his predicament. “I am your nemesis!” Spot frequently yells at Miles, who spends the majority of their first battle texting with his parents (diss!). But that also means it’s far too late when he realizes that Spot actually is someone to be afraid of.

The multiverse is already in a tenuous state, and Spot’s growing ability to create his own portals, skipping and jumping between worlds at whim, is about to crack it even further. And that’s just one part of this story, written by producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller (plus “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” scribe David Callaham) and content to grow and mature right alongside Miles.

“Into the Spider-Verse” was astute and funny, complicated and emotional, unique and daring, and its sequel only grows and expands on those aims. If the first film showed what superhero movies could be , “Across the Spider-Verse” goes even further: It shows what they should be. In a genre built on the literally super and special, these films are unafraid to stand out and do something truly different, something that pushes the limits, to show the genuine range available to this subset of stories and feel damn good in the process (and look, dare we say, even better).

And Dos Santos, Kemp, Thompson, and their mighty band of animators don’t skimp on them at all, every action-packed sequence — from a lovely bit that sees Miles and Gwen reuniting while webbing through the city, to a last-act chase that involves a dizzying amount of players and goes on for twice as long as most movies would dare — is still thrilling from top to bottom. It’s an eye-popping visual feast and a satisfying one to boot. Why can’t all blockbusters even attempt half as much as what “Across the Spider-Verse” puts, so lovingly and so smartly, into all of its setpieces?

When Gwen finally arrives back in Miles’ world, she’s forced to hide nearly all of her motivations from her Spider-BFF, who mostly just wants to hang out with her (and, later, his delightfully sarcastic mentor, Peter B. Parker, voiced by Jake Johnson) and can’t quite see just how much his world (his very universe ) is hanging in the balance. Miles has always been exceptional to the point of being the exception, and while he might believe that being part of something bigger, perhaps in the form of the Spider-Society, is the ticket, he’s about to learn that’s simply not the case. As high-flying and heart-pumping as Miles’ next chapter is, it also cleverly moves toward a series of massive reveals — the kind that feel earned, the kind that feel personal and inevitable, a far cry from the what-if-the-whole-universe-was-gonna-be-destroyed boredom and uniformity that plague so much of this genre — that speak to the distinctive pleasures of this franchise.

Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and his daughter Mayday in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ SPIDER-MAN™: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE.

That’s not something Miguel and company (with some notable exceptions, including the Daniel Kaluuya-voiced anarchist Brit Spider-Punk) are ready to hear, if only because they’ve become convinced of the power of Spider-Man’s mythology to quite literally hold the multiverse together. Miles, at first purely on accident and then totally by force of will, cannot abide by living the same beats as the rest of his brethren, and that puts him on a staggering crash-course with just about everyone and everything. Miles has always broken the mold, and once he sees the mold itself, he’s gotta do it again, his way.

Spider-Man (Shamiek Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE.

And if all of this sounds like a tremendous amount to pack into a single film, there’s the rub. In a somewhat disappointing twist, “Across the Spider-Verse” isn’t really a single film, it’s instead one-half of a planned two-film sequel. The decision to split the sequel into two films seems to have been lost on plenty of fans. Lord and Miller announced the two-part sequel, complete with “Part One” and “Part Two” title addendums, back in December 2021. By April 2022, the two films had been renamed “Across the Spider-Verse” and “Beyond the Spider-Verse,” a move that seems to have caused the bulk of the confusion. Even in this critic’s well-attended screening, the end reveal that this story is very much not over was met with cocked heads.

It’s a heck of a problem: to simply have too much good stuff to stuff into just one film, leaving the audience on tenterhooks for when they can see this particular superhero story actually wrap up ( it’s March 29, 2024, by the way ). It’s the only thing about “Into the Spider-Verse” that feels familiar, too, a choice that puts it on the “Fast X” or “Harry Potter” or “The Hunger Games” route, with one exception: this conclusion will surely be worth the wait.

Sony Pictures Animation releases “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” in theaters on Friday, June 2.

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Spider-man: across the spider-verse, common sense media reviewers.

Spidey sequel is an action-packed delight; peril, violence.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Strong messages about courage, empathy, friendship

Miles is brave and committed to doing the right th

Main character Miles Morales, who's Puerto Rican a

Intense large-scale action violence/destruction/ex

Captain and Mrs. Morales embrace more than once. M

Several uses of "shoot," as well as "what the..."

On camera: Marvel comics, Sony headphones/electron

Adults drink red wine and an unspecified beverage

Positive Messages

Strong messages about courage, empathy, friendship, mentoring, perseverance, the importance of power and responsibility, and working with others for the greater good. Also a lesson about not allowing "imposter syndrome" to make you feel like you don't belong. Trust yourself and your instincts instead of just following the rules. Parents teach the importance of unconditional love. Another prominent message is about gatekeeping and who gets to decide what "has" to happen in a story or fandom.

Positive Role Models

Miles is brave and committed to doing the right thing, even when it puts him at risk or causes his family and friends to wonder why he's frequently late, absent, or even hiding something from them. Miles' parents are supportive, encouraging, and make it clear that they have high expectations, but they also love him unconditionally. Gwen is brave and protective. She doesn't want to lose any more friends. Various other Spider-people each have talents and strengths, but they also have to balance the rules with their beliefs. Peter continues to mentor Miles, learning about patience and parenthood in the process.

Diverse Representations

Main character Miles Morales, who's Puerto Rican and Black (and is voiced by Jamaican American actor Shameik Moore) is the first Afro-Latino superhero to headline a Marvel movie. Other Black characters include Miles' father and uncle, Jess Drew (Issa Rae), Hobie Brown (Daniel Kaluuya), and Margo Kess (Amandla Stenberg). The head Spider-Man in charge, Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac), is cued as Latino (he speaks Spanish with Miles), and Miles' mom, Rio (Luna Lauren Velez), is Puerto Rican. In smaller roles, Spider-Man India is voiced by Karan Soni, who's Indian American; Peni Parker is voiced by Kimiko Glenn, who's biracial White and Japanese; and Sun-Spider is voiced by comic Danielle Perez, who's disabled and queer. Unlike in the first movie, Gwen Stacy is basically a second main character here, and Rio and Jess Drew have pivotal roles, improving the gender balance. A poster in a background frame briefly depicts the transgender flag and reads "Protect Trans Lives." There's also a brief glimpse of pickup wheelchair basketball.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Intense large-scale action violence/destruction/explosions and close-up confrontation. Property is destroyed, people are put in danger, and characters are held prisoner. Several fights, which range from humorous to destructive. Frequent suspense/peril and potential for danger or capture. For the most part, superhero powers/black-hole-like weapons are used for fights/combat. A montage of flashbacks shows how various Spideys lost characters they loved and also what happens when a canonical event is missed or interrupted. A character is held, bound and captive, more than once.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Captain and Mrs. Morales embrace more than once. Miles and Gwen have obvious romantic tension but don't do much more than stare at each other and hug. Others, including Miles' parents, assume that they're in a relationship. A character references the fact that Gwen falls for "Peter" in nearly every universe. A character says that he feels the chemistry between Gwen and Miles. The villain is shown basically naked, but he's a white humanoid being with various black spots/holes on his body and doesn't have any genitalia. He makes repeated comments about his (literal) "holes," which some may take suggestively.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Several uses of "shoot," as well as "what the..." (unfinished), "crap," "butt," "hell," "dang," "freakin'"; insults like "mistake," "anomaly," "stupid," "dumb," "dear God, no," and a use of "ass."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

On camera: Marvel comics, Sony headphones/electronics, a Spider-Man video game, and Nike sneakers (specifically Air Jordans), Spalding balls. Off-camera: lots of Spider-Man and Marvel-based comics, apparel, toys, games, collectibles, house goods, much more.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink red wine and an unspecified beverage out of red cups at a party.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the highly anticipated sequel to 2018's excellent Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse . More than a year after the events of the first film, both Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore ) and Gwen Stacy ( Hailee Steinfeld ) -- who are co-main characters this time around -- are dealing with threats in their parts of the Spider-Verse. When a "villain of the week" decides to strengthen his power, Gwen and an elite team of Spideys try to step in, and Miles unintentionally causes a multi-verse catastrophe. Expect fairly intense peril and violence -- fights, large-scale destruction, explosions, weapons, and more. But there's also a lot of humor, plus references to various other Spider-Man iterations. Language includes "crap," "shoot," and "ass," and Miles and Gwen's slow-burn romance is more about longing and lingering looks than action. The diverse cast includes prominent Afro-Latino, Black, and White characters, and the movie's messages focus on empathy, courage, perseverance, teamwork, and (of course!) the nature of power and responsibility. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

Parents say (32)
Kids say (87)

Based on 32 parent reviews

FANTASTIC movie, but could be overstimulating for younger kids

What's the story.

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE starts off with narration from Gwen Stacy (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld ). After her Peter Parker dies, she joins Miguel O'Hara's ( Oscar Isaac ) elite squad of Spider-People who help protect the multiverse from dangerous threats and anomalies. One of Gwen's assignments leads her to the Earth where Miles ( Shameik Moore ) is now a year older, dealing with how to balance his responsibilities as a student and a son with his duties as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He keeps having to lie to his parents about why he's late to or absent from important events. For example -- he nearly misses a family meeting with his school counselor because a villain dubbed the Spot ( Jason Schwartzman ) wants to defeat Peter. Gwen's visit (her first since the events of the first film) confuses Miles, who uses his invisibility powers to follow her to another Earth, where Spider-Man India ( Karan Soni ) needs protection from the multiverse-hopping Spot. After Miles unintentionally triggers a catastrophic event, he's summoned to the Spider-Person HQ, where he reunites with Peter B. Parker ( Jake Johnson ) and meets a new crew of cool Spideys but discovers he's not as welcome as he'd hoped.

Is It Any Good?

This imaginative, intense sequel impresses with its layered, touching storyline that highlights the difficulties of being a lonely Spider-Person without anyone who knows the truth. Like the first film , this installment will be a joy to watch and rewatch, with repeat viewings practically required so viewers can (try to) capture all of the movie's various Easter eggs, in-jokes, and references to bits and pieces of Spider-Man lore. While the ambitious nemesis, Spot, isn't as initially frightening as other supervillains (he's funnily bumbling at first), his single-minded focus on destroying Miles and everything he loves is downright eerie. Then there's Miguel, a Spider-Man leader who's a compelling stand-in for everyone who demands canonical conformity in their fandoms. He seems like a good guy, but his rigid adherence to "the canon" transforms his protectiveness into an insidious gate-keeping that threatens Peter just as much as the Spot does.

Steinfeld stands out as Gwen, who has an even bigger role here than in the first movie. She and Miles share a deep connection, but, due to the circumstances, it's not yet defined as romantic, considering how the Gwens in most multiverses fall for their Peter Parkers with disastrous consequences. The effects here are stellar, combining live-action characters, video footage, and more with different forms of animation. Some of fans' favorite Spider-People from the first movie aren't in this film, but the new ones are fascinating, particularly Jess Drew ( Issa Rae ), who's somewhat of a mentor to Gwen, and Hobie Brown, aka Spider-Punk, a Black, Cockney-accented anarchist voiced brilliantly by Daniel Kaluuya . He's got a Basquiat-meets-Jimi Hendrix vibe and is so cool that Miles is part in awe, part jealous. The movie's ending is sure to spark debate, but directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson have given writer-producer Phil Lord's vision enough Spidey Sense to lock in audiences for another must-see movie.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . Do you think comic book-style violence impacts viewers differently than live-action violence? Why, or why not?

Which of the new Spideys is your favorite, and why? What do you think of the references to the live-action Spider-Man franchises as well?

Discuss the concept of "canon" when it comes to comics and pop-culture fandoms. Do you consider yourself a canon purist like Miguel, or are you open to new storylines like Miles?

What do you think of Gwen Stacy's larger role in this installment? Where do you think Gwen and Miles are headed? Do you prefer them as friends, or do you hope for a romantic relationship?

How is Miles' cultural background explored in the sequel? Why do representation and diversity matter?

Movie Details

In theaters : June 2, 2023
On DVD or streaming : August 8, 2023
Cast : Shameik Moore , Hailee Steinfeld , Jason Schwartzman , Jake Johnson
Directors : Joaquim Dos Santos , Kemp Powers , Justin K. Thompson
Inclusion Information : Black directors, Black actors, Female actors, Asian actors, Multiracial actors, Latino writers, Asian writers
Studio : Sony Pictures Releasing
Genre : Family and Kids
Topics : Superheroes , Adventures
Character Strengths : Courage , Empathy , Perseverance , Teamwork
Run time : 140 minutes
MPAA rating : PG
MPAA explanation : sequences of animated action violence, some language and thematic elements
Award : Common Sense Selection
Last updated : November 4, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Review: A Bedazzling Sequel, and the Rare Comic-Book Movie That Earns Its Convolutions

Miles Morales is back for a head-spinning adventure that ups the trippy imagery, and the stakes too.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Variety Critic's Pick.jpg

Or maybe the second, since “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was like that too. Released in 2018, it was a comic-book movie so spry and urgent, with such hypnotic imagery, that it left most comic-book movies in the dust. A reason for that relates to one of the least-remarked-upon insanities of our comic-book-movie culture, which is that comic-book films, or 98 percent of them anyway, couldn’t be further removed — in tone, look, attitude, and effect — from comic books. They’re really two entirely different forms.

Comic books, as I recall them from my youth, are fleet, terse, and puckishly deadpan, and you never know what the next panel will bring. But big-studio comic-book films tend to be top-heavy, rib-nudging, and visually bombastic, with rigidly overdetermined arcs. Within that, a lot of them are fun enough, but there’s no mystery to them. That’s what Martin Scorsese meant when he declared, in 2019, that Marvel movies aren’t cinema .

One of the many pleasures of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was that, as the first “Spider-Man” movie (and one of the only films of the Marvel/DC movie era) that was animated, it channeled the look and spirit and knowingly flat wonder of comic books. It drew on the elegant film-noir expressionism of the graphic novels of the ’90s, and it tapped their terse wit. (Grungy veteran Spider-Man: “Most people I meet in the workplace try to kill me.”)

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” set the bar high, and one reason I wondered if “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” could live up to it is that the original film’s co-directors (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman) have returned only as executive producers, replaced by three other directors (Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson). Could the new trio reproduce that heady combustible mutating pop-art magic, that sly storytelling finesse, that understanding of the inside-out logic of comic books that seems to elude almost every live-action comic-book film?

They’ve done it. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” doesn’t just extend the tale of Miles Morales. The film advances that story into newly jacked-up realms of wow-ness that make it a genuine spiritual companion piece to the first film. That one spun our heads and then some; this one spins our heads even more (and would fans, including me, have it any other way?).

The movie opens with a prelude designed to throw us, because it fills in the story of Gwen Stacy ( Hailee Steinfeld ), the rock drummer and Spider-Woman in white, in images of broad-brush expressionism that make the first film look like a vérité documentary. We think: Is this where they’re going? No, they’re just playing. But Gwen’s story sets the stakes, as her father, a police captain, blames her (wrongly) for the death of Peter Parker. This will be a movie about the gravity of responsibility.

Miles, voiced with a growing cockiness by Shameik Moore , is now a 15-year-old crime-fighting master of his New York Spider-Man domain, but as we learn that’s more or less tiddlywinks. The film enmeshes us in a bit of soap-opera conflict between Miles and his parents, Jefferson ( Brian Tyree Henry ) and Rio (Luna Lauren Vélez), who still have no idea that he’s Spider-Man and therefore find a lot of his behavior erratic and disturbing. He comes off as a liar, a teenager with hidden problems (which is why his folks keep grounding him). But that’s the least of his problems.

A supervillain shows up: The Spot, a.k.a. Jonathan Ohnn (Jason Schwartzman), a former science geek who worked for Alchemax and was genetically maimed by the spectacular collider implosion caused by Miles in the first film. Ohnn is now an all-white figure with splotchy black-hole ink blots on his body that turn out to be portals to the multiverse. He’s got more power than he knows, and he’s out for revenge. Between the family drama and this livid shape-shifter nemesis, we think we’re being set up for a conventional comic-book showdown: the version of this movie it would be if it were another live-action Marvel spectacular.

The film has great fun with this, trotting out versions of Spider-Man who are cars, video games, cats, and dinosaurs. Jake Johnson’s Peter Parker returns, now with his act together and a Spider-tot in tow. But if this were all just a lark, the whole thing might collapse. Instead, the stakes are raised, with the Spider-Man brother/sisterhood taking on a more complex and even sinister dimension. The place is run by Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), the “ninja vampire” Spider-Man and the only Spider-Man who apparently lacks a sense of humor; he’s a glowering scarred figure who maintains the hallowed order of the place. To preserve that order, there are stories in the Spider-Man canon that cannot be violated, such as the death of Uncle Ben. They’re like mythologies. And as Miles’ testy but loving father gets promoted to the position of PDNY captain, he becomes one of those characters. Miles is going to have to do something very dark to preserve the integrity of the Spider-Verse.

It’s a thorny situation, and a dramatically compelling one, all spinning off the line that someone says to Miles: “There’s no playbook for being someone like you.” That hits home in the dizzying chase sequence where Miles, pursued by hundreds of dementedly diverse Spider-Men, attempts to escape the Spider-Man HQ and get back home. In the first film, he was still learning to swing from his web like vines. In this one, drawing on his powers of invisibility and electrification, it’s as if he’s got to become an existential gymnast operating according to the laws of three-dimensional chess. The movie plugs us into an altogether higher echelon of video game.

Without giving away more, I’ll say this: “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” ends with that old-fashioned thing, a cliffhanger. (The decision was made several years ago to slice the sequel in two.) At the preview showing I attended, I heard a surge of playful testiness in the audience : We have to wait? To find out what happens? For how long? The original cliffhanger serials, the ones that inspired “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” kept you waiting one week. In this case, we have to wait closer to a year. But the impatience I heard was really about the investment the audience felt. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has made a pact with us, one that’s increasingly rare in the pop movie universe. It’s promising that the series is going to keep us hooked, in every frame, on surprise.

Reviewed at Regal Union Square, May 30, 2023. MPA Rating: PG. Running time: 140 MIN.

Production: A Sony Pictures Releasing release of a Sony Pictures Animation, Marvel Entertainment, Arad Productions, Lord Miller Productions, Pascal Pictures production. Producers: Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Avi Arad, Christina Steinberg. Executive producers: Brian Michael Bendis, Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Aditya Sood, Rebecca Karch Tomlinson.
Crew: Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson. Screenplay: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dave Callaham. Editor: Mike Andrews. Music: Daniel Pemberton.
With: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Schwartzman, Daniel Kaluuya, Issa Rae, Shea Whigham, Amandla Stenberg, Karan Soni, Rachel Dratch, Andy Samberg.

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Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Review: Thrilling, Stunning, And Emotional Perfection

It’s everything you want it to be, everything it should be, and more..

Miles diving in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

The bar doesn’t get set much higher than what was accomplished by Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse . We live in a time when Spider-Man is ubiquitous on the big screen and technology is constantly evolving the world of animation, and yet the 2019 blockbuster is unlike anything that came before it and stretches imagination to extremes. It’s an emotional and laugh-out-loud funny adventure centering on a web-slinger brand new to the big screen, and the animation is executed with style that is staggering in its inventiveness and rewarding with every rewatch thanks to a jaw-dropping attention to detail. It was immediately and appropriately recognized as one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of feature-length animation.

Gwen and Miles in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Release Date: June 2, 2023 Directed By: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson Written By: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham Starring: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, and Daniel Kaluuya Rating: PG for sequences of animated action violence, some language and thematic elements Runtime: 140 minutes

So what if I told you that Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is even better? Would you believe me? Incredulity would certainly be understandable given all of the aforementioned, but it’s not a lie. The sequel is everything that is great about its predecessor but even bigger and more impressive. Tonally, it swings between hilarious and devastating; the main characters only develop to be more complex and fascinating; the dramatic stakes are magnified and impressive; and the massive artistic swings are bliss. It’s everything you want it to be, everything it should be, and more.

The multi-faceted story catches up with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy ( Hailee Steinfeld ) independently, as the two heroes have been separated since their multiverse-crossing adventure in the previous movie. Miles has matured into a veteran Spider-Man on Earth-1610, balancing heroics and school while keeping his secret identity from his parents ( Brian Tyree Henry , Luna Lauren Vélez), but Gwen’s life has gotten significantly more intense. Her home life on Earth-65 has been fractured, and as a result she has elected to join a universe-hoping strike force of Spider-People variants organized by the hulking, dark Miguel O’Hara ( Oscar Isaac ).

When a villain who claims to be Miles’ nemesis named The Spot (Jason Schwarzman) emerges, Gwen ends up being sent on a mission back to Earth-1610, and she makes a detour so that she can see her friend. This decision ends up having calamitous consequences, however, as Miles discovers that an immense secret is being kept from him, and as he ends up getting pulled across the multiverse following Gwen and learning devastating realities about the nature of being Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse digs deep into its characters and gets impressive emotional results.

Much as it enjoys mocking origin movies (“Let’s do this one last time” comically repeated in narration throughout), Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is a film that very much has the narrative responsibility of laying a franchise foundation, and all of that superb table-setting lets Across The Spider-Verse come out of the gate sprinting. With the worlds, concepts, and characters established, what’s left is for the sequel to dive into everything deeper, and this is accomplished both in exploring the emotional dynamics between the heroes and their families as well as in outlandish sci-fi ideas. Both have equal weight in the film and are executed phenomenally.

Spellbinding as all the action is (and, holy wow, is it special), the most captivating sequences in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse are those that are overflowing with pathos, as Miles and Gwen are respectively struggling with strained relationships with their parents – the latter’s painfully influencing the former’s. Miles’ mom and dad are worried seeing their son grow into an independent adult, fearing how the world will treat him, and Miles is pained having to keep his identity as Spider-Man hidden from them. It’s a truth that Gwen encourages him to hide given that her own father, Captain George Stacy (Shea Wigham), has been long hunting for Spider-Woman of Earth-65, believing that she is responsible for murdering Gwen’s best friend, Peter Parker.

These deeply human and love-based conflicts prove to be the backbone of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse . Without spoiling the twists and turns of the story, all the universe-hoping wildness in the film leads to a true battle between logic and emotion in the third act, and it’s because of how much heart is on display and care is put into the characters that it’s all as fascinating as it is powerful.

Dramatic as it can get, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is a multiverse-hopping blast.

The intensity of the drama in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse stands out because it’s unexpected, but don’t be concerned: the animated film is also outrageously fun and it is constantly looking for new ways to make you laugh. There is no end to the quippy, snappy dialogue; the inelegant early fights between Miles and the portal-covered The Spot are a riot; surprises and quick dips into alternate universes get a nice collection shock giggles; and there’s no shortage of background details that you’ll catch out of the corner of your eye and get you smile.

And then there are all of the new Spider-People. Hobie Brown a.k.a. Spider-Punk ( Daniel Kaluuya ) is the greatest scene-stealer in the film, both being excessively cool and anarchic to the point of comical contradiction, and Pavitr Prabhakar a.k.a. Spider-Man India (Karan Soni) brings a wonderful effervescence. But Miles’ introduction to the headquarters of Miguel O’Hara’s base of operations in its entirety will be remembered among the high points of cinematic delight for 2023, as fans will pore over frames trying to spot as many wall-crawlers as they can and be amazed at the wackiness and variety.

You've never seen anything like Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.

As the film’s tone nimbly bounces hitting the comedic highs and dramatic lows, what’s most consistent about Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is that it’s a visual feast. While its predecessor stunned by featuring an ensemble of characters who are each presented in their own unique animation, the sequel doubles down on that idea not only with new characters featured in new styles, but with full worlds that are beautiful enough to conjure tears. Gwen’s world is breathtaking, as every frame feels like it is hand painted and backgrounds melt into dripping color palettes that reflect the mood temperature… but that’s just a single example. Spider Punk is an aesthetic wonder, as he is too much of a rebel to maintain the same look from moment to moment that he is screen, and your eyes won’t get sufficiently wide enough to drink in everything to see in Pavitr Prabhakar’s home of Mumbattan and Miguel O’Hara’s Nueva York.

It should be noted that the film is deliberately constructed to be a “Part 2 of 3” story, featuring a third act that is built to be more about cliffhangers than conclusions – but not to be ignored in the big picture plotting is the successful evolution of the main characters and craft that brings it to life. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is a genius success unto itself… but audiences are also going to exit the theater counting down the seconds until Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse arrives in 2024.

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse review – a dizzying, dazzling sequel

The first Miles Morales animation was a sensation, but this second film, with fresh characters, writers and energy, goes above and beyond

I s it possible to equal a film as boundlessly inventive, stylistically bold and effortlessly cool as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ? Could a sequel ever match that film’s freshness, energy and visual verve? The answer, it seems, is an emphatic yes. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is sublime. There’s not a frame of this rich, kaleidoscopically detailed animation that isn’t dazzling. It takes the basic themes of the first film – adolescent isolation, communication breakdown, the messy, stressful business of growing, of finding your people – and builds whole worlds with them. It’s a dizzying onslaught of ideas and graphic references. It has heart. It even has a font gag.

In the film-making team and in the story there’s a pleasing combination of original talent and fresh blood. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller return as writers and producers, but there’s a new directing team that includes Kemp Powers (Pixar’s Soul ). Once again, the story focuses on the bond between fellow Spider-people Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld). But there is a host of new characters, each with their own distinctive look, including Hobie (Daniel Kaluuya), a spider-punk anarchist, drawn with a graphic style that borrows from Jamie Reid’s Sex Pistols aesthetic and Jamie Hewlett’s Gorillaz.

It’s densely plotted, almost overwhelming at times; Daniel Pemberton’s score is an Escher staircase of anxiety. But the soul of the film lies in the tiny human details: like the way Miles, about to gain access to an inner Spider-circle, bounces lightly on his toes – still, at heart, an excited kid waiting for a treat.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse review: an animated superhero extravaganza

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a bold, colorful blockbuster that raises the bar for all the superhero films that are set to follow it.”

Stunning animation throughout
A cast of compelling characters
Endless visual experimentation
A slightly unsatisfying ending

You’ve never seen a movie quite like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . Even its predecessor, 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , seems a bit quaint in comparison to the new film. It’s not Across the Spider-Verse ’s plot that makes it all that unique, either. In a time when multiversal tales are all the rage, the film’s story feels unavoidably similar at times to those told in recent titles like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home . But none of the Marvel movies or TV shows that have come before it have been able to capture their viewers’ attention or ignite their imaginations quite like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse does.

The film is an atomic, rainbow-colored blast of pure wonder. It’s a superhero blockbuster that experiments with the form of animation in such consistently awe-inspiring ways that it’s impossible not to be overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the artistry on display throughout its admittedly long 136-minute runtime. It’s a film that invites multiple rewatches not just because of the intricacies of its plot and the depth of its characters, but because of all of the little details and secrets featured at the very edges of every one of its immaculately drawn frames, which demand to be noticed and seen.

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Not since Into the Spider-Verse has a big-screen comic book adventure felt this interested in playing with the actual medium of cinema. To put that another way: It’s been a long time since a superhero movie has felt this alive, this vibrant, and this vital.

Like all great sequels, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse builds on the tricks of its predecessor. The film takes the multi-perspective structure that Into the Spider-Verse toyed around with and fully adopts it. This time, viewers aren’t just invited to see the continuation of Miles Morales’ (Shameik Moore, The Get Down ) story, but also Gwen Stacy’s (Hailee Steinfeld, Hawkeye ). Both stories are, in typical Spider-Man fashion, shaded in the tragedy of their respective, personal losses. More than anything, though, what’s truly striking about Gwen and Miles’ stories in Across the Spider-Verse is just how lonely both are when the film picks back up with them.

As Gwen’s opening narration reveals, the loneliness that comes with her and Miles’ vigilante lives has only been amplified by their interactions with each other in Into the Spider-Verse . Now that Gwen and Miles know they’re not only the ones in the multiverse who know what it’s like to be a friendly neighborhood web-slinger, they’re both desperate to recapture that feeling. It’s that desperation that leads Gwen to so eagerly join up with Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae, Insecure ) and Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac, Moon Knight ), a pair of commanding multiversal web-slingers, in Across the Spider-Verse ’s predictably action-packed, surprisingly melancholic prologue.

With the help of some technology provided by Miguel, Gwen inevitably finds her way back to Miles’ universe. Their flirtatious, lovelorn reunion is cut short, however, when a mission to capture and contain a bumbling but nonetheless dangerous villain known as The Spot (Jason Schwartzman, Asteroid City ) goes awry. When Miles consequently finds himself on a multiversal journey with Gwen to stop The Spot, he not only meets more alternate versions of Spider-Man than he ever knew existed but also ends up coming to philosophical and physical blows with Isaac’s Miguel. As visually exciting as it is to see different versions of Spider-Man combat each other on-screen, too, Across the Spider-Verse never loses sight of its characters and their journeys.

Miles’ conflict with Miguel and his sacred Spider Society opens the door for Across the Spider-Verse ’s script, which was penned by Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Dave Callaham, to explore complex emotional ideas. Across the Spider-Verse is fittingly compelled by the notion of one’s personal sense of responsibility, and not just to the world at large, but also to those who are closest to us. These themes, combined with the film’s focus on Miles and Gwen’s existing familial relationships, allow Across the Spider-Verse to slowly but surely build a shockingly rich tapestry of emotions within its story.

The expansiveness of its story is visually reflected throughout the film, which sees Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson taking over for Into the Spider-Verse directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman. Over the course of its runtime, Across the Spider-Verse bounces between so many different art styles and forms of animation that the film might feel visually messy were it not for the fact that every world and character introduced in it looks and feels fully imagined. This writer was particularly enamored with the watercolor-esque, pastel-heavy way in which Gwen’s home universe is brought to life. Not only is Gwen herself drawn in different shades of green, blue, and pink every time she travels home in the film, but the colors of the environments around her constantly bleed together.

The film’s various forms of animation help lift up even its most tangential of detours. One trip to Mumbattan, the home of Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India (Karan Soni), goes on a bit too long and feels like one of Across the Spider-Verse ’s least necessary sequences, but it’s such a joy to watch that its superfluousness doesn’t matter all that much. The vibrancy of Mumbattan, combined with the humor that’s immediately established between Pavitr, Gwen, and Miles, makes it easy to get caught up in the characters’ antics — even when there are moments throughout the sequence when Across the Spider-Verse ’s plot becomes a bit too convoluted for its own good.

As strange as the comparison may initially seem, the film that Across the Spider-Verse most strongly calls to mind is Denis Villeneuve’s Dune . Like that sci-fi epic, Across the Spider-Verse is an immaculately built construction, one that’s overflowing with more vividly-realized ideas, characters, and images than it knows what to do with. Unfortunately, like Dune , Across the Spider-Verse also tells just half of its story. The film pointedly ends with the promise that its plot will be wrapped up in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse , which is already slated to hit theaters next March.

The good news is that Across the Spider-Verse is such a lovingly made, astonishingly effective sensorial experience that its power isn’t diminished much by the fact that it’s ultimately an appetizer. It’s a superhero adventure film that cares just as much about its characters and their struggles as it does the visual possibilities of its medium. By the time it’s come to an end, the film has managed to do the impossible: breathe new life into a genre that had begun to feel increasingly lifeless as of late. Odds are, you’ll likely leave Across the Spider-Verse feeling a little rejuvenated yourself.

For the first time in a long time, Hollywood has delivered a superhero movie that’ll actually leave you hungry for more.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters. For more related content, be sure to check out Across the Spider-Verse’s ending explained , is there a post-credits scene in Across the Spider-Verse , and all the Easter eggs in Across the Spider-Verse .

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A big part of a superhero's appeal is their costume. Whether they're brimming with color or dark as night, these super-suits help convey to their audience the kind of hero they'll see wearing them.

While some comic book movies have taken liberties in creating realistic costumes, many times, the heroes rock outfits that look exactly like what they wore in the source material. Out of the many costumes seen on film, these ten have reached the height of superhero fashion. 10. Doctor Strange (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

The time has finally arrived. The long-awaited Marvel Comics sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now in theaters, and if early reactions are any indication, the movie is just as awe-inspiring and great as its predecessor. After a five-year absence, Miles Morales, Brooklyn's own web-slinging hero, is back on the big screen, and he brought with him Spider-Gwen, Peter Parker, and an army of new Spider-Men and Spider-Women, including Spider-Man 2099, Jessica Drew, Spider-Byte and Ben Reilly.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse came out in December 2018, so it's been a while since most fans have seen it. With Across the Spider-Verse now on everyone's mind, there's sure to be some desire to go back and watch that animated classic. But where can you watch it? Digital Trends has the answers for you. Where to watch Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

There's no rest for Marvel's famous web-slinger. Spider-Man is, perhaps, the most popular superhero across the entire pantheon of Marvel heroes. For decades, the spunky young hero has been pummeling criminals with both his fists and comical wit. He's moved from the pages of comic books to headline several TV series and blockbusting cinematic adventures. Spider-Man's presence in the pop culture fandom simply can't be understated. And with recent storyline innovations and animated adaptations like Across the Spider-Verse, Peter Parker is just one of countless wall-crawlers who dons the title. Each Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, or uh, Spider-Rex (that's right, there's a T-Rex with spider powers) has their own story and individual capabilities.

Whether we're viewing the world from the Peter Parker lens or any of his countless inter-dimensional compadres, there's a wealth of Spider-Man stories at our fingertips across multiple mediums. In our multimedia age, Spider-Man is everywhere and some of the best stories featuring the iconic hero aren't always within the pages of comic books. So, if you're looking for a Spider-Man story oozing with thrills, character-centric story arcs, and enthralling conflicts, look no further than our handy list featuring Spider-Man at his best. 10. The Amazing Spider-Man 31-33: The Master Planner Saga

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Across the Spider-Verse review: Spider-Man sequel is even more colorful and creative, if incomplete

The long-awaited follow-up expands what we loved about 2018's Oscar-winning hit, though it can't be contained by a single movie.

Christian Holub is a writer covering comics and other geeky pop culture. He's still mad about 'Firefly' getting canceled.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse might be the best superhero movie of the past five years, and even if not, it is absolutely the single most influential superhero movie of recent times. That influence extends across both live-action (with the Marvel Cinematic Universe fully aping the movie's multiversal magic in Spider-Man: No Way Home ) and animation (where its energetic mash-up of different visual styles and eye-popping colors have been embraced by other recent cartoon standouts like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and The Mitchells vs. The Machines ). Needless to say, the bar for the long-awaited Spider-Verse sequel has thus been raised very high.

Now that it's finally here after pandemic delays, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse totally exceeds expectations when it comes to visual aesthetic and character development. Where the first movie was a coming-of-age story about how fun it is to become Spider-Man, this movie is about how hard it is to actually be Spider-Man — day in and day out, making all kinds of sacrifices to live up to the awesome responsibility of the mantle.

That's not the only thing different about the storytelling this time around, either. While Miles Morales ( Shameik Moore ) is still a major focus, the central POV of Across the Spider-Verse actually shifts over to his friend from another dimension, Gwen Stacy, a.k.a. Spider-Woman ( Hailee Steinfeld ). It's a refreshing change!

In EW's original review of Into the Spider-Verse , writer Darren Franich criticized how that movie still spent so much time on the original Peter Parker character even as it elevated new heroes like Gwen and Miles. Thankfully, that's not as much of a problem this time around. Although Peter does pop up again, still voiced by a hilariously frazzled Jake Johnson , he mostly serves as a funny parody of new parents who can't stop making everyone look at baby pictures on their phone.

Across the Spider-Verse spends much more time with Gwen, unpacking her traumatic backstory with the Peter Parker of her dimension and delving into her difficult relationship with her police captain dad (Shea Wigham), who feels duty-bound to pursue Spider-Woman without realizing he's actually hunting his own daughter. That fascinating dynamic is distinctly different from anything Peter and Miles have gone through. And while the romantic tension between Gwen and Miles (briefly hinted at in the first film) is expanded here, most notably with an absolutely romantic and balletic rooftop swing sequence across Brooklyn, giving Gwen her own arc prevents her from being boxed in as the male hero's love interest — a long-standing problem for female characters in Spider-Man movies.

Eventually, Gwen gets recruited into a multiversal superhero team. If you thought the six Spider-Heroes of the last movie were a lot, get ready to feast your eyes on a true Spider-Society, with a seemingly endless membership that includes a Bollywood-inflected Spider-Man India (Karan Soni) and even a Spider-Dino.

With such an expanded cast of characters, not everyone pops equally. While Spider-Man India is a delightful exploration of how archetypes can translate across different cultures (with impeccable timing to boot, coming off the huge stateside excitement around the breakthrough success of last year's RRR ), the motorcycle-riding Spider-Woman ( Issa Rae ) falls a little flat. She spends much more of her screentime insulting Gwen, Miles, and Peter than doing much heroism of her own, and her bike doesn't really feel connected to spiders, even if it does bring kinetic action.

What's so impressive about Across the Spider-Verse — which was directed by the trio of Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, from a screenplay by David Callaham and super-producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller — is how almost every character comes with their own specific animation style. Gwen's homeworld is painted almost entirely with the neon pinks and greens of the Spider-Gwen comics she hails from, while Spider-Punk ( Daniel Kaluuya ) ripples with the loud fonts and cut-up collages of 1970s anarchist zines.

One particular highlight sequence comes early, when Gwen's world is invaded by a version of the Vulture (Jorma Taccone) from a Renaissance-inspired universe who fights with projectile weapons and flying contraptions that might have been sketched out by Leonardo Da Vinci. The collision of this Vitruvian Vulture with Gwen's neon animation and the cyberpunk tech of Spider-Man 2099 ( Oscar Isaac , first teased in the post-credits scene of the first movie) is absolutely mind-blowing to watch. Movie frames are sometimes complimented by saying they "look like a painting," but this looks like a painting thrown at a comic book holographically projected as part of a tech-art installation. It's awesome!

Not all the characters agree about the coolness of these mash-ups, however. The Spider-Society would prefer to maintain the barriers between dimensions, and its membership is laser-focused on keeping the "canon" of Spider-Man consistent across the multiverse. People don't always like being put into a box, though. When Miles initially dismisses the Spot ( Jason Schwartzman ) as a replaceable "villain of the week," his new nemesis takes it upon himself to grow his power and evolve into a truly terrible threat worthy of said "canon."

It's shaping up to be a great summer for Schwartzman, between this and his starring role in Wes Anderson's Asteroid City . His sharp line readings here pair unsettlingly with the Spot's disturbing body-horror powers. Transformed into a hairless, featureless white form by a freak accident, the Spot can now use his titular black splotches to create portals across space and time. Be careful putting your hand in one; you never know where it may stick out.

But for all the highs of Across the Spider-Verse , this critic feels responsible for reminding viewers that when the film was originally announced back in December 2021, it had "(Part One)" in the title. Although that parenthetical has been excised from the final product, the reasoning for it has not. Just when you think the movie is gearing up for an absolutely epic conclusion, it ends with a "to be continued" card.

This is now becoming a trend in blockbuster cinema, perhaps with 2021's Dune as the most recent starting point. (Even though the MCU was always teasing the next installment, each movie also told a contained story.) While this all may just be a matter of personal preference, Denis Villeneuve's Dune at least felt like a full three-act structure even if it left much of Frank Herbert's original novel for the sequel (perhaps because Herbert's books are paced oddly by modern standards).

By contrast, Across the Spider-Verse ( like last month's Fast X ) feels like it cuts off right before the climax. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is due next year, but unless that movie has some tricks up its sleeve, the outcomes all seem eminently predictable from where we leave off in this movie. It's a little sad to say that aside from certain surprises, much of Across the Spider-Verse 's contents were in the trailers. The job of a trailer is to show viewers the premise of a movie without spoiling the conclusion — but there's no conclusion here!

The result is a mixed bag. Gwen gets a complete arc, while Miles does not. The two-movie split does give the filmmakers more time with Miles' family, and his mother Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Vélez) especially pops as a warm, loving character. Too many superhero movies try to imitate Batman and his missing-parents motivation, but Across the Spider-Verse mines greater emotional depth by exploring the familial relationships of Gwen and Miles from the perspectives of both parents and children. It truly is a family movie in that sense, with relevance for viewers of many different ages. Grade: B+

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Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Review

02 Jun 2023

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Okay, let’s do this one last time: five years ago, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse changed… well, everything. The big-screen arrival of Brooklyn-based Spider-Man Miles Morales not only thrillingly remixed the arachno-hero’s oft-told origin story and preluded a deluge of live-action multiverse stories — it also entirely redefined what mainstream animated movies could look like with its wildly expressive visual style. It was a cinematic lightning strike; a single film that fundamentally shifted an entire medium — and a genre — in one quick thwip. Now what?

As sequel logic dictates, you go bigger, bolder, darker. Which Across The Spider-Verse (to be followed by 2024’s Beyond The Spider-Verse ) does, on all accounts — if the last film was a punky, all-killer no-filler debut, the back-to-back sequels are leaping into psychedelic rock-opera double-album territory. And fear not: Disc 1 is another instant classic. Last time, several Spider-beings entered Miles’ universe; now, Miles is heading out into a handful of other ’verses, with wormhole-spewing baddie The Spot (a brilliantly off-kilter Jason Schwartzman ) and other reality-destabilising anomalies threatening a multiversal collapse. Misanthropic Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099 (teased at the end of Into The Spider-Verse ), has assembled an elite Spider-team to stop it.

The overwhelming power of Across The Spider-Verse remains the sheer eye-sizzling excellence of its animation

Narratively, Across The Spider-Verse is as satisfyingly structured as its predecessor, spinning its sprawling story in clean lines and compelling character arcs. That’s no mean feat, since it takes us from Gwen’s universe, to Miles’, over to the India-inspired Mumbattan, into Miguel’s Nueva York, and beyond — while also introducing Issa Rae ’s heavily pregnant, motorbike-riding Jessica Drew; the charismatic Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni); the “oi-oi!”-ing Hobie Brown, aka Spider-Punk ( Daniel Kaluuya , who nearly steals the whole movie); and ever-wilder Spider-variants. That clarity can be attributed to writer-producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller — joined on script duties by Shang-Chi ’s Dave Callaham — whose ability to find emotional resonance and creative potential in unlikely places ( 21 Jump Street , LEGO bricks) remains miraculous.

The mechanisms under the surface are seamless, then — but the overwhelming power of Across The Spider-Verse remains the sheer eye-sizzling excellence of its animation, and the electrifying energy it creates. The spectacle here is unparalleled — delivering Gaspar Noé -style glitching credits, evocations of ’70s Indian comics, mixed-media scrapbook collages, and Stanley Donwood-esque monochromatic scrawls. It is endlessly inventive in its use of colour, composition and texture to convey mood and tone. Nowhere does that come through stronger than in Gwen’s Earth-65, all washed-out watercolours that shift seamlessly with the storytelling, her emotions blossoming into a symphony of swirling hues — pure cinematic synaesthesia. And as the film opens with an extended sequence in her world (this is Gwen’s film as much as it is Miles’), your mind will be blown ten times over before the opening credits even roll. It’s utterly breathtaking.

Amid all the chaos, Lord and Miller — and incoming directors Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson — deepen every relationship. Miles and Gwen’s will-they-won’t-they romance is one thing (there are, she points out, deadly consequences for Gwens who date Spider-Men), but it’s the parental push-pull that gets the biggest look-in: Gwen’s bond with her father reaching breaking point, and Miles’ loving parents terrified of a world that likely won’t treat him as kindly as they do. And it’s breathlessly funny too. A brawl between Miles and The Spot (desperate to be more than a “villain of the week”) is interrupted by an unruly goose; a da Vinci-styled Vulture comes face-to-face with Jeff Koons sculptures; The Wire ’s infamous F-bomb-laden crime-scene investigation gets a PG homage (“Shoot!”).

Make no mistake, Across The Spider-Verse is masterful. It’s pop art that doesn’t just pop — it hums, fizzes and bangs; art that doesn’t just exist for the sake of being regarded, but uses everything at its disposal to make you feel deeply. It’s a blockbuster drum solo — literally, at one point — dazzling on so many levels while never losing the beat; a paean to what’s possible when rewriting the rules. It’s as good as sequels get — challenging its own mythology, questioning the notion that “anyone can wear the mask”, and interrogating the tenets of what makes a Spider-Man. If Beyond The Spider-Verse sticks the landing, we could be in for a new all-time-great trilogy. What’s up, danger?

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Movies | “spider-man: across the spider-verse” triumphs in the rare, brilliant superhero sequel | review, superhero movies have a lot to live up to with the “spider-verse” series as the high bar.

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is as visually dazzling as it is thoughtful. (Sony Pictures)

In the grand scheme of superhero movies, 2018’s “Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse” swings the highest. It’s one of those flawless films whose casual brilliance belies dozens of open-hearted, risk-taking decisions we’ll never know about, but that translate fully to the screen.

In telling the jaw-droppingly animated story of Brooklyn teen Miles Morales and his self-realization as the alternate-universe Spider-Man (on what’s known in Marvel as Earth 1610), it also centered Black and brown lives in its narratives, music, and eclectic, hand-drawn art style. That’s something that’s still hardly ever seen in superhero movies, or action movies in general.

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) returns as an alternate-universe Spider-Man in the triumphant

The long-awaited sequel, “Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse,” leans even harder on the multiverse angle as a metaphor for identity crises and elusive self-knowledge. How should Miles (voiced by Shameik Moore) react when people tell him he doesn’t belong somewhere? As a biracial teenager that’s a near-constant in his life, despite the unflinching support of dad/police officer Jefferson Davis (Bryan Tyree Henry) and bilingual mom Rio Morales (Lauren Vélez).

Picking up a few years after “Into the Spider-Verse,” first-time feature directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson revive not only the first film’s gorgeous visuals, but also the aching family dynamics of its characters. As with the original, the clever, funny script and influence of executive producers Chris Lord and Phil Miller ( “The Lego Movie” ) are complemented by an thoroughly dazzling animation style that layers meanings and textures with halftone dots, splatters of color and comic-book-page framing.

Instead of picking up right where we left off, the story starts with a peek into the life of Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), a.k.a. Spider-Gwen, who befriended and guided Miles in the first film when she traded her own universe for his. She misses him and feels guilty for lying to her own police-officer dad (Shea Whigham) about her superhero identity. That parallels Miles’ messy reality, but also the canon that outlines most Spider-Man characters, who share tragic backstories and crime-fighting concerns in flashy urban milieus.

These Spideys have been adapted in real-life by international fabulists in their native languages. The rich world of possibilities opens up again thanks to these depictions, particularly the eye-candy metropolis of Mumbattan (Mubai + Manhattan) inhabited by Indian Spider-Man Pavitr Prabhakar, who’s as cheekily arrogant as he is withering in his quips and critiques.

Gwen and Miles must navigate a range of realities as they battle The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a scientist transformed by the first film’s particle-collider explosion who wants only to fill the world with holes (literally). A motley Spider-Society must decide how to defeat a villain who’s everywhere and nowhere. Never does the meta-commentary, including some art in-jokes and capitalist critiques, devalue the earnest designs.

Alternate-universe Spider-Man Miles Morales (left, voiced by Shameik Moore) returns along with Gwen Stacy a.k.a. Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) in

Nor is the movie ever shy about its comics roots, or the wild suspension of disbelief often required to understand the head-spinning plot. Literally hundreds of Spider-Man variations, led by the growling Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac as Spider-Man 2099), show up throughout, including a truly excellent Issa Rae as Jessica Drew, a Black, pregnant Spider-Woman who jumps motorcycles as well as she kicks butts.

The ensemble-driven movie is so natural in its representation of, say, people in wheelchairs playing basketball, or its diverse and bumping soundtrack of soon-to-be hits. Everything clicks, right up until and including the cliffhanger ending that reminds us that this is just part one of a two-film sequel.

It’s going to be a long wait for March 2024.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Rated: PG Run time: 140 minutes Where: in theaters Score: 4 stars (out of 4)

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Oscar Isaac, Andy Samberg, Jake Johnson, Daniel Kaluuya, Hailee Steinfeld, Karan Soni, Shameik Moore, and Issa Rae in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Miles Morales catapults across the multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Mi... Read all Miles Morales catapults across the multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero. Miles Morales catapults across the multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.

Joaquim Dos Santos
Kemp Powers
Justin K. Thompson
Christopher Miller
Dave Callaham
Shameik Moore
Hailee Steinfeld
Brian Tyree Henry
1.5K User reviews
326 Critic reviews
86 Metascore
99 wins & 158 nominations total

Miles Morales

Jeff Morales

Rio Morales

Peter B. Parker

Miguel O'Hara

Jessica Drew

Hobie Brown

Pavitr Prabhakar
See all cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Cast Get Vocal

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Trivia Phil Lord and Christopher Miller revealed that they told Sony the sequel would be the same size as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) , but it ended up having the largest crew of any animated movie ever with around 1,000 people working on it. They added that it has 240 characters and takes place in six universes.
Goofs After hastily concealing his Spider-Man suit beneath his regular clothes, Miles arrives (late) at his dad's promotion party. Initially, there is no sign of his Spider-Man outfit until a Spanish-speaking lady asks Miles if his "cool shirt" is a wet-suit; only then does the outfit magically appear beneath his clothes, even extending to cover his neck. A few scenes later, the Spider-Man suit disappears once again.

Miles Morales : I love chai tea.

Spider-Man India : What did you just say? Chai tea? Chai means "tea", bro! You are saying "tea tea"! Would I ask you for a "coffee coffee" with room for "cream cream"?

Crazy credits The opening Columbia Pictures, Marvel, Sony Pictures Animation, Pascal Pictures and Lord Miller Productions logos shift between various alternate versions.
Alternate versions There are at least three versions of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which contain changes such as altered dialogue, editing, scene, and pacing, as well as changes to the audio and sound mixing. The second version of the movie was released one week after the movie's original release after reports of audio issues in several locations. Another version of the movie, which is based on the second version of the movie, includes additional changes to the dialogue, scene, editing, and audio mixing, and was released digitally on August 8, 2023.
Connections Featured in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Remembering Stephen Hillenburg (2018)
Soundtracks Self Love Written by Metro Boomin (as Leland Tyler Wayne), Brittany Talia Hazzard (as Brittany Hazard), Dre Moon (as Andre Proctor), Mejdi Rhars and Johan Lenox Produced by Metro Boomin , Dre Moon and Prince 85 Performed by Metro Boomin and Coi Leray Metro Boomin appears courtesy of Republic Records Coi Leray appears courtesy of Uptown Records/Republic Records

User reviews 1.5K

May 31, 2023
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June 2, 2023 (United States)
United States
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Part One
Columbia Pictures
Marvel Entertainment
Avi Arad Productions
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$150,000,000 (estimated)
$381,593,754
$120,663,589
Jun 4, 2023
$690,897,910

Technical specs

Runtime 2 hours 20 minutes
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Surround 7.1
IMAX 6-Track
Dolby Digital

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Review #2: The Best Superhero Sequel Ever

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse delivers a sequel that lives up to its predecessor and sets a new gold standard for superhero movies.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is not only the best Spider-Man sequel ever (it is the fourth "second" Spider-Man film after 2004's Spider-Man 2 , 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 , and 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home ) but it also is the best superhero sequel ever. Structurally and thematically similar to The Empire Strikes Back , Toy Story 2 is also an apt comparison. This is a sequel to an animated classic that redefined a genre that was beloved by many that somehow managed to be better than its predecessor.

2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a pleasant surprise that many didn't see coming. It was a superhero movie that anyone could enjoy, be they a fan or someone who didn't like superheroes. It is the best superhero movie ever , so the sequel arrived with far greater expectations. It felt like there was no way to live up to the hype, but Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse somehow does the impossible and exceeds every expectation.

The movie picks up roughly a year after the events of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) enjoying his role as Spider-Man but struggling to balance his normal life and his duties as a superhero. When Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) returns to Miles's universe, he discovers that the multiverse has truly been blown wide open following his battle with the Kingpin, and now a new threat in the form of The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) threatens the entire multiverse.

Miles reunites with Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and meets a whole host of Spider-Man who have taken up the responsibility to guard the multiverse. A few prominent names include Spider-Punk (Daniel Kuluuya), Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), and Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), and they are led by Miguel O'Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac). The entire multiverse is at stake, and Miles must find his place in this wider universe.

Larger Spider-Man Story Unfolding

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse delivers everything audiences loved about the first movie but digs in deeper. The comparison to The Empire Strikes Back is less to do with the open-ended nature of a sequel (audiences already know Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is set in 2024) but with the fact that this is a more personal story. It does feature a wider scope than its predecessor, but in terms of a climax, it is a more emotional finale than the action-packed first film.

Miles is, of course, the star of the film, but Spider-Gwen is given a much larger role and even is the star of the film's prologue. While plenty of new characters get a great deal of attention, Miles and Gwen are the heart of this series, and the film takes the time to examine their wants and fears.

In an attempt to retroactively make Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse less of a standalone film and more the first chapter in a trilogy, the villainous Spot has been tied into the events of that film (in one of the funniest retcons ever) in addition to playing a part in Miles Morales' origin in more ways than one. This tendency for back-to-back sequels to expand upon a small detail from the first film can sometimes feel at odds with the original (a notable example is Jack Sparrow's compass going from a joke to an important piece of mythology in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ). However, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse threads the needle perfectly.

Related: Across the Spider-Verse: Who Is Spider-Man 2099?

While the Spot is the primary driving antagonist for the film and supposedly the larger villain for the franchise, the actual conflict at the heart of the movie comes between Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2099 . Spider-Man 2099 has adopted a mentality that they must work for the greater good, while Miles believes their job as Spider-Man is to try and save everyone. With great power comes great responsibility, but is it responsible to let one person die to save millions? Or is the responsible thing to take the risk and attempt to save everyone even if failure means losing everything?

None of these are easy questions, and it is the central conflict that separates Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2099. Similar to Captain America: Civil War , neither hero is 100% correct. It is just different forms of heroism coming into conflict, though the movie does ultimately side with Miles in that Spider-Man is a character who will never give up.

What Is the Cost of Being Spider-Man?

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 's theme was that "anyone can wear the mask." Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse decides to dig deep into that statement and challenge it, or at least challenge the idea of what the audience expects from a Spider-Man story. It is no secret that there have been multiple Spider-Man reboots, and audiences who have never read the comics know the familiar beats of his story. While anyone can wear the suit, what does it take to be Spider-Man?

Spider-Man is Marvel Comics' most popular hero, and even before Miles Morales was introduced in the comics, there had been multiple retellings of the origin of Spider-Man. They all tend to share similar hallmarks. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse alluded to this in the idea that the various Spider heroes had all lost important figures in their origin. Yet Spider-Man's origin is not the only major loss that defines the character: Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, Aunt May, Captain George Stacey, and many more.

Spider-Man is a character defined by loss as much as victory. He is a character who seems to be meant to suffer. This is why there is a section of the Spider-Man fandom that was disappointed with Tom Holland's MCU Spider-Man , as he was never the martyr that Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man was.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse decides to confront that idea head-on. It digs deep into why audiences want to see Spider-Man suffer and does it have to be this way. Yes, it is the established canon that many have followed, but does it always have to be this way? Can someone still be a Spider-Man or Spider-Woman without needing to suffer more loss?

Miles is different from all the other Spider-Man, and his willingness to break away from the establishment makes him a hero and an anomaly in both the literal sense of the film, but also the broader meta-narrative of the franchise. This version of Miles Morales is unique compared to his fellow heroes in the movie and to other Miles Morales in other Spider-Man media. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a movie that argues if they are to continue redoing and reimagining Spider-Man , creators need to not fear forging their own path and trying new things.

Comic Book Truly Come to Life

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was shot in the arm of the animation industry, breaking away from the standard realism and going for cartoonish hyper-stylized visual styles. Its influence has since been felt in films like The Bad Guys , Puss in Boots: The Last Wish , and even the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem . The filmmakers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse knew the expectations that audiences now had for the film, and they certainly lived up to the challenge.

Related: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Who Is The Spot?

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a gorgeously animated film, a visual spectacle with jaw-dropping animation that delights with every frame. The various heroes are given their own unique art design, and with Miles now exploring new dimensions, he is interacting with entirely fresh, innovative environments. This is more a multiverse of madness than the 2022 Doctor Strange sequel. From a version of Vulture modeled after Leonardo DaVinci's sketches to Spider-Punk being animated in a rock album collage style, this is a story that only can be told in the medium of animation, and it is all the better for it.

Much like the first film, the movie uses the visual language and direction of comic books and marries with film seamlessly. The backgrounds in dialogue scenes often change between shots to reflect the character's emotions. Even without sound, one could still easily interpret the story just by the images alone. This is a film that, on a technical level, is leaps ahead of what they pulled off on the first film.

Love Letter to Spider-Man

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse probably has more Easter eggs and references than any other superhero movie and probably any other movie. While certain audiences might roll their eyes at that and think the movie is just a series of that scene of Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood pointing at the screen, these references are fun but never the centerpiece. The movie is firmly focused on its core cast of characters, with the various references a nice treat for audiences but never the centerpiece.

Fans of various versions of Spider-Man from across his rich history in film, television, and video games certainly will not be disappointed. There are cameos plenty , some of which have been advertised but also many that are not what any audience could anticipate in the best way possible. It certainly will inspire plenty of conversation among friends about all the various cameos and connections to other shared universes both on the big and small screen.

This love letter to all things Spider-Man extends to the story itself, drawings elements and motifs from various Spider-Man stories. Like Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 , the movie digs into what is the cost of being Spider-Man, while the Spot has a lot in common with Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 . The Spot starts out as a small crook (one that Miles mocks as a villain of the week), which drives the villain mad and desires more power to show Spider-Man he is serious. Miles indirectly makes his own arch-enemy in the way many Spider-Man have been tied to their greatest villains' creations. This is a movie building off the rich history of Spider-Man stories to craft a unique one all its own.

Across the Spider-Verse Is an Amazing Sequel

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the rare sequel that not only lives up to the original, but it surpasses it. It might not be as iconic as the first film in terms of particular visual imagery (the "What's Up Danger" scene will be a high mark for the genre forever), but Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a more emotionally complex, visually innovative, and action-packed sequel that, similar to both The Empire Strikes Back or Avengers: Infinity War, has a cliffhanger which will leave audiences counting down the days until the epic conclusion.

The concept of the multiverse was a rather novel idea for general audiences at the time. Now, it is a concept audiences are more than familiar with. The MCU has explored it in Loki , Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , and Spider-Man: No Way Home . Two weeks after the release of Across the Spider-Verse , DC's The Flash will also be a multiverse superhero epic. The multiverse was even the subject of an Academy Award-winning film, Everything Everywhere All At Once .

In the five years since S pider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , one would think the multiverse would be played out , but Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse shows there is still plenty of excellent storytelling potential with the multiverse. It is still very early in the summer movie season, but it will be challenging for any movie to top Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse .

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a production by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Marvel Entertainment, Arad Productions, Lord and Miller Productions, and Pascal Pictures. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse opens in theaters on June 2nd, 2023.

Miles Morales Comes Face To Face With His Own Anxiety In New Short Film

In partnership with the Kevin Love Fund, ‘A Spider Within’ explores the pressure and anxiety Miles Morales faces as a teenager, friend, and Spider-man.

Shameik Moore as Miles Morales / Spider-Man in 'The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story.' Photo: Sony Pictures.

A Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story ’ originally premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival last June and was made widely available by Sony Animation Pictures on March 28th, 2024. The short film takes a closer look at the superhero Miles Morales ( Shameik Moore ) as he struggles to balance his life as a teenager, a friend, and the responsibilities of being Spider-man. As the pressure continues to build on Miles, he experiences a panic attack that forces him to face the manifestation of his anxiety in this thriller short film.

Initial Thoughts

Spider-Man/Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.'

Fans of the ‘ Into the Spider-Verse ’ animated franchise will be excited to see another chapter of the story, no matter how short it is. Especially when it carries an important message - that everyone, even superheroes, struggles with mental health.

While there are no explosive action scenes, this 7-minute and 14-second short still packs a punch. It’s eerie and unsettling, and as Miles’ anxiety kicks in, his world warp into chaotic visuals that represent how anxiety or a panic attack can feel like. Going the horror route definitely feels like the right choice for this story.

Aside from creepy optics, the short did a good job of communicating the feeling of being overwhelmed and when anxiety takes over your body. Small details like Miles’ heavy breathing as he tries to calm his nerves, the sleep paralysis, and his shaky hand on the doorknob made it feel even more real and relatable.

‘A Spider Within’: Story and Direction

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.'

‘A Spider Within’ is directed by Jarelle Dampier, who took a horror angle for this story. In an interview with The Wrap , Dampier says the inspiration came from his own experience with sleep paralysis. Aside from the performance from Shamiek Moore, what really sold the horror aspect was the sound effects and music. It wasn’t anything we heard in pervious films. For example, when Miles’ anxiety shifts from a large spider into millions of smaller spiders crawling all over his body is paired with the rapid plucking of strings, much like we often hear in horror films. The sound will have your hairs standing on ends and feel like there are spiders crawling all over you too.

As a juxtaposition to the jump scares and loud sounds are the quiet moments. This comes right after Miles’ mind is plagued with overlapping dialogue from the day - “These grades are unacceptable. You need to apply yourself. You always seem so distracted." These conversations grows so loud, which makes the following silent moment standout even more.

‘A Spider Within’: Performances

Shameik Moore as Miles Morales / Spider-Man in 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.' Photo: Sony Pictures.

Returning to the role of Miles Morales is Shameik Moore. Aside from a quick exchange with his father Jefferson ( Brian Tyree Henry ) before heading into his room, Miles is alone for most of the short. This means it was solely up to Moore to deliver all the emotion Miles was feeling. With two ‘ Spider-Verse ’ movies under his belt, Moore delivered on all fronts, perfectly portraying the panic in Miles’ voice, as well as the tone of frustration as he shoulders the pressure of living a double life.

‘A Spider Within’: Final Thoughts

Spider-man has always struggled with the pressure of living the double life, and the sense of doing too much and not enough is well conveyed in this short film. The moments of Miles feeling overwhelmed, and his struggle to open up about it is so relatable. By putting this story into the ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ world is great way to deliver the message of the importance of mental health and reaching out for help.

Horror and jump scares aside, the final moment when Miles opens up to his dad will surely drum up some emotions in the audience.

‘A Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story’ receives 8 out of 10 stars.

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story

After a particularly challenging day, Miles experiences a panic attack that forces him to confront the manifestations of his anxiety and learn that reaching out... Read the Plot

What’s the Plot of ‘A Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story’?

Miles Morales is feeling the pressure of being both Spider-man and a teenager. As he struggles to juggle everything in his life, anxiety and panic kicks in and inevitably manifests itself, forcing Miles to come face-to-face with it.

Sony Pictures Animation has teamed up with the Kevin Love Fund to digitally release the animated short film, 'The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story', that will be incorporated into the Kevin Love Fund’s new mental health focused lesson plan, “ The Hero Within ”. The lesson plan invites students to tell their own story through the lens of mental health awareness via an interactive curriculum including a creative storyboard activity. Visit kevinlovefund.org for additional information.

‘A Spider Within’ was developed and produced by Sony’s LENS (Leading and Empowering New Storytellers) program, a 9-month leadership training program that provide candidates from underrepresented groups with an opportunity to gain valuable leadership experience in animation.

Who is in the cast of ‘A Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story’?

Returning to reprise his roles as Miles Morales is Shameik Moore. Brian Tyree also returns as the voice of Jefferson Davis.

‘A Spider Within’ is written by Khailia Amazan and produced by LENS program creators Michelle Raimo-Kouyate and David Schulengurg. Clara Chan served as VFX supervisor ad Joe Darko served as animation supervisor.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse':

‘ Spider-Man ' (2002)
‘ Spider-Man 2 ' (2004)
' Spider-Man 3 ' (2007)
' The Amazing Spider-Man ' (2012)
‘ The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ' (2014)
' Captain America: Civil War ' (2016)
' Spider-Man: Homecoming ' (2017)
' Spider-Man: Far from Home ' (2019)
' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ' (2018)
' Avengers: Infinity War ' (2018)
' Venom ' (2018)
' Avengers: Endgame ' (2019)
' Venom: Let There Be Carnage ' (2021)
' Spider-Man: No Way Home ' (2021)
' Morbius ' (2022)
' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ' (2023)
' Madame Web ' (2024)

Buy 'Spider-Verse' Movies on Amazon

You can watch 'A Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story' by clicking on the video player below:

Wendy Lee was born and raised in Taiwan. She later moved to Florida for school and eventually made her way to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment. She's an actor, host, and content creator. She has appeared on Collider Movie News, Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrong Podcast, Focus Feature's You Know That Scene, Nerdist News Talks Back, and more. She runs the YouTube channel The Movie Couple covering movie and entertainment news, movie and tv show reviews, and more.

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'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Is The Hottest Movie of The Summer and Our Spidey Senses Are Tingling

‘spider-man: across the spider-verse’ is the hottest movie of the summer and our spidey senses are tingling.

Odds are, if you went to a movie this weekend, it was Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse .

Spidey hit theater screens in a big way, pulling in the 2nd highest opening of 2023, right behind Super Mario Bros .

That is awesome, considering, According to TMZ , it was only supposed to bring in $80M-$90M. You might think that’s a huge number, but it actually pulled in about $120.5 million!

Not too shabby for a little animated film based on a comic book, right?

The reviews have been super positive, too. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse gets a whopping 97% positive score on the Rotten Tomatoes “Tomatometer.”

According to The Ringer , “The sequel to ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ is even more ambitious, adventurous, and visually spellbinding than its predecessor—and just as filled with heart.”

Excuse me while I grab my keys. I’m on my way to the theater to see Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse .

If you are one of the MILLIONS who saw the movie this weekend, what did YOU think?

You can catch the trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse below.

Seriously. Read it: ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Is The Hottest Movie of The Summer and Our Spidey Senses Are Tingling

Odds are, if you went to a movie this weekend, it was Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Spidey hit theater screens in a big way, pulling in the 2nd highest opening of 2023, right behind Super Mario Bros. That is awesome, considering, According to TMZ, it was only supposed to bring in $80M-$90M. You might...

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story Is a Mini-Sequel That Shows Even Superheroes Struggle With Mental Health, Too

With great power comes great responsibility..

Fans of Spider-Man in some shape or form are likely familiar with the proverb, "With great power comes great responsibility." That quote continues to reign true in the latest short film starring the web-slinger. We see Spider-Verse protagonist Miles Morales struggle with mental health as he tries to balance being a superhero and a student.

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story serves as a mini-sequel set between the events of 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and 2023's Across the Spider-Verse . This roughly seven-minute film depicts Miles Morales struggling to balance protecting the city with succeeding in high school.

Throughout the film, we see Miles somber and overwhelmed. The stress eventually amalgamates into a panic attack that's artistically represented in the form of a shadowy doppelganger that terrifies Miles. The film shows the humanity of superheroes behind the mask; at the end of the day, they are people, too, and not immune from enduring mental health challenges.

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story Short Film Screenshots

This is the first time The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story has been made publicly available since its debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival last June . The short film was directed by Jarelle Dampier and written by Khaila Amazan.

Sony's Spider-Verse franchise has enjoyed much success, with the most recent release, the aforementioned Across the Spider-Verse, seeing critical and commercial acclaim to the tune of over $690 million at the global box office. In IGN's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse review, we wrote: "Surging with vibrant visuals and relentlessly chaotic action, Across the Spider-Verse is a worthy follow-up to an all-time classic."

A sequel, Beyond the Spider-Verse, has already been confirmed. It was supposed to come out this Friday, March 29. Unfortunately, Sony Pictures announced last July that it was delayed indefinitely due to the Hollywood strikes , with a new release date not being revealed as of March 2024.

While Sony has yet to share a release date for the follow-up to Across the Spider-Verse to hit theatres, this short film helps fill the void until then.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

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The Spider Within, a new Spider-verse short, finds Miles Morales struggling with great responsibilities

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There’s still no word as to when we can expect Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse , the indefinitely delayed follow-up to 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . There’s still good news for Spidey fans, though: A new short film set in the Spider-Verse starring Miles Morales hit the web on Wednesday.

Set between the events of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story sees Miles struggling with the combined expectations and responsibilities of being a high school student and an arachnid-themed superhero. Long story short: The pressure’s getting to him, so much so that he’s being haunted by a shadowy doppelganger of himself. Wracked with anxiety, Miles will have to find a way to overcome this new challenge.

Created through Sony’s LENS (Leading and Empowering New Storytellers) program, the short originally premiered at last year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Produced in partnership with the Kevin Love Fund, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story was directed by Jarelle Dampier ( Invincible ) and written by Khaila Amazan ( Curses! ).

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Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse Should Have Been Out This Weekend

Another universe is probably watching miles morales' third movie right now and being wowed by it. sadly, that ain't happening in ours..

Miles G. and Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Last year’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ended on a somewhat down note: Miles Morales was trapped on Earth-42, chained up by that universe’s version of himself, who’s operating as the new Prowler alongside his still-alive Uncle Aaron. Gwen Stacy, meanwhile, had rounded up her own team of Spider-heroes to go find him across the multiverse, just as an amped-up Spot had made his way back to Miles’ home dimension so he could consume it. That “To Be Continued...” card hit like a gut punch , but one alleviated by the fact that at the time, follow-up Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse was less than a year away.

In fact, Beyond the Spider-Verse was once slated to be released this weekend, on March 29, 2024. All the way back in late 2021 , co-writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller revealed Across was being split into two movies in order to bring things to a close as a trilogy. Across came out to a big box office haul and similarly glowing praise as its predecessor, 2018's Into the Spider-Verse , but things took a turn after a Vulture report revealed how the sequel was a time-crunch and mismanagement nightmare (much of it allegedly on Lord’s end). And as a two-part movie, the disarray of Across would naturally spread to Beyond, which some animators who worked on the sequel film said would be “impossible” to get out by late March.

Following the Vulture report, Lord and Miller vaguely stated Sony Animation would “take the time necessary” on Beyond, and had no intention of releasing it before it was ready. Come July, the threequel was removed from Sony’s 2024 release schedule entirely, with its March slot now filled by the just-released Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire . Even though the Hollywood strikes played a hand in that decision—for one thing, the voice cast couldn’t record their lines in time—its removal was a nonetheless quiet admission of the film’s production issues.

Miles G. Morales in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

The strikes were fully resolved in November, after which halted productions like Venom: The Last Dance started spinning up again. Where does this put Beyond the Spider-Verse ? Not a clue; Brian Tyree Henry vaguely said “it’s coming” when recently asked about it, and cryptically teased it would live up to the hype. Sony, Lord, and Miller haven’t offered any substantial insight onto the movie’s progress; in January, Lord said the trilogy would come to a “ very satisfying conclusion ” that hopefully won’t require the staff to make a whole new ending weeks before release. It’s anybody’s guess as to when it’ll actually swing into theaters, but spring or summer 2025 feels likely. (Sony’s Spider-solution for this summer is to put all its mainline Spider-Man movies back in theaters.)

Does it suck that we’re not watching Beyond the Spider-Verse right now? Without a doubt, but I’d rather have a film that takes its time getting made versus one crunched to hell and back. As much as I like Across, you can feel its production issues throughout that movie, whether it’s scenes having slightly different variations —or the fact that Miles G. is painted as a villain at the end, but in behind-the-scenes material he’s actually a vigilante. And it’s not like we’re hard up on Spidey material right now—along with Spider-Man 2 on PS5, Sony found time to put out a short film focused on Miles and his anxiety issues .

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

'The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story' Review: Miles Morales Takes Great Power Over His Great Responsibility

Miles Morales approaches his anxieties and pressure in this excellent short set in the Spider-Verse.

The Big Picture

Miles Morales confronts mental health struggles, learns to reach out for help, and shows bravery in The Spider Within .
Characters like Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man feel pressure and become overwhelmed by it, while Miles actively seeks support.
Director Jarelle Dampier effectively conveys Miles' overwhelming anxiety in a visually stunning short.

In last year’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , we learned that there are certain “canon events” that make a Spider-Man “Spider-Man.” These events happen to all Spider-Men/Women/Pigs/etc., like the death of parents and being taken care of by an aunt or uncle, being betrayed by a fatherly figure, and the death of a first love. But one of these canon events that we’ve seen time and time again in Spider-Man stories is learning that with great power comes great responsibility. We’ve seen this idea presented with each new iteration of Spider-Man, from Tobey Maguire ’s Spider-Man becoming so overwhelmed by stress that he loses his power, to Tom Holland ’s version having to say goodbye to everyone he knows to save the world. But rarely do we see how much the pressure this great responsibility causes on a Spider-Man like we do in the fantastic new short, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story .

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story

Miles Morales experiences a panic attack that forces him to confront the manifestations of his anxiety and learn that reaching out for help can be just as brave an act as protecting his city from evil.

What Is 'The Spider Within' About?

The Spider Within takes place outside the confines of the larger Spider-Verse and where we last left Miles Morales ( Shameik Moore ). As he comes home, we see what’s going on in his head, memories of fights he’s recently had as Spider-Man, but louder are the pressures he feels as Miles, as we hear his parents discussing him not reaching his potential and stating that he has “no sense of responsibility.” While his dad, Jeff Morales ( Brian Tyree Henry ) has prepared a scary movie night for him and his son, Miles just wants to go decompress in his room. However, once there, his fears and the engulfing sense of stress take over , with the pressure taking the form of a giant spider, and then hundreds of smaller spiders crawling over him, impossible to ignore. Yet Miles has never been one to adhere to the Spider-Verse rules, and instead of succumbing to the daunting fears in his mind, he decides to go take a walk with his father instead and discuss all the worries that he’s been feeling recently.

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story comes from a partnership with the Kevin Love Fund, which attempts to prioritize mental health wellness, and yet, this short does so without ever feeling like a PSA for mental health advocacy. Instead, The Spider Within works beautifully with the story of Miles as a character who is handling the mantle of Spider-Man on his own terms and by his own rules. Every other person to take on the Spider-Man mantle in the movies has let the great power take the reins until the character almost feels like they’re going to burst. They hide the truth about how they’re feeling from the ones they love—even the ones who know his secret—and there’s a lack of awareness as to how this type of attitude and closed-off nature affects not only Spider-Man, but those around him.

'The Spider Within' Shows Miles Improving on the Spider-Men That Came Before Him

Not so with Miles and The Spider Within . Ever since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , Miles has known the unbelievable stakes of what he’s being asked to take on, and yet, he’s always kept family central in his mind, regardless of what villains or Spider-Verses he’s had to encounter. He’s seen the impact of what keeping these feelings bottled inside can have on other Spider-Beings , and he actively avoids that by seeking help, even if he still can only tell his father part of the truth. Miles grew up in a world where Spider-Man existed, so he knows the weight that this icon has to take on, even before he met the man under the mask. But as the Spider-Verse movies have shown us, Miles has to do things his own way, and in some cases like this, do them better than those that came before him.

The Spider Within does an excellent job of presenting this in just barely five minutes. Director Jarelle Dampier (who has previously worked in the art department in 2019’s Spider-Man TV show and Young Justice ) conveys these ideas almost entirely without dialogue and utilizing the tremendous animation style of the Spider-Verse films. The short even dips into horror , as we watch the shadows coming for Miles, as he seems on the verge of a panic attack as his fears get the best of him. But despite Miles (understandably) getting attacked by a giant spider, and then hundreds of smaller spiders, Dampier captures that suffocating feeling of being overwhelmed in a relatable way. Stress and responsibility can often feel like you’re being hunted by a shadow version of yourself, or taken over by so many small things that you can’t shake them all off. It’s a great way to present these ideas simply through the visual language we’ve come to love from these movies.

‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Review: This May Be the Greatest Superhero Movie Series Yet

Also fantastic is the screenplay by Khaila Amazan , who centers these ideas on a story of father and son—a dynamic that the Spider-Verse has always tried to centralize in Miles’ narrative. Again, Miles says so little here, but even without seeing within his mind, where we hear the fears that are taking over, we can tell through his movements and physicality that it’s all becoming too much for him. So when Miles does open up to his father, as they go for a walk at the end of the short, it feels like a victory for Miles—and a victory in a mission we’ve seen many other Spider-Men fail before him. It’s easy to praise what these Spider-Verse films are doing visually, but Amazan’s short but economical screenplay shows just how powerful these stories are on the page as well.

As the Spider-Verse films have so far, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story takes our idea of what we have been shown Spider-Man to be and shifts it in smart ways by having Miles learn from the mistakes of the past. Instead of letting the responsibility break him, Miles allows those who can help him in. Yet this short does this without feeling preachy and in a way that fits perfectly within this incredible Spider-Verse . It conveys an important message, but doing so in a way that seems like a natural progression for Miles in his journey. The only problem is The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story only whets our appetite for the eventual Across the Spider-Verse sequel that can’t come soon enough.

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story is a strong update to Miles Morales' story, told effectively via a horror-laced short.

Miles approaches mental health in a way that is better than his predecessors.
Director Jarelle Dampier utilizes horror to invoke feelings of pressure and stress.
Through its stunning animation, The Spider Within says plenty with little dialogue.
This just makes the wait for the Across the Spider-Verse sequel even more unbearable.

The Spider-Within: A Spider-Verse Story is now available to watch on YouTube in the U.S.

We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse star offers update on delayed sequel

"It's coming".

preview for Across the Spider-Verse's Shameik Moore & Hailee Steinfeld respond to ending cliffhanger

The direct follow-up to Across the Spider-Verse was originally scheduled for release in March 2024. However, this date was delayed indefinitely last year due to the actors' strike in Hollywood, preventing the animated film's cast from completing the recording process.

The strike was eventually resolved in November after SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), and Henry has now confirmed that production on the third film is back "in the works".

Related: Spider-Man: No Way Home is being removed from Netflix soon

The actor, who voiced Jeff Morales in the first two Spider-Verse films and will reprise the role for the third, confirmed the news during a new interview with Deadline .

"It's in the works, it's coming," he shared after being asked if the cast had gotten back into the recording booth yet. "It's in the works, for sure, and that one is even more epic than the last".

Shameik Moore, who voices Miles Morales, also provided fans with an update last month by teasing a little bit about what we can expect.

miles morales, gwen stacy, rio, jeff, spiderman across the spiderverse

Related: First trailer for Walking Dead star's new Spider-Man horror movie

"You can expect Miles and Gwen. You can expect everything you're expecting [from] the continuation from the second one," he said.

"You can expect to see The Spot. You can expect some action-packed energy and some dilemmas and problems to solve."

While fans wait for the film to make it to the big screen, they can enjoy a new short Spider-Verse movie that's available to watch for free on YouTube right now.

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story follows Miles as he struggles to balance his responsibilities as Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse does not currently have a release date

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After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022. In this role, Iona writes across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. During her time at Digital Spy , she has interviewed multiple Love Island stars, reported from the Black Adam red carpet and, most recently, interviewed the cast of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid .

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