There has been an overabundance of multiversal stories in the years since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse from fellow arachnid film Spider-Man: No Way Home to Multiverse of Madness, Everything Everywhere All at Once and, more recently still, The Flash. But nothing has come near the seamless juggling act of Into the Spider-Verse. In fact, the only real rival in five years is its anticipated sequel: Across the Spider-Verse.
2018's Into the Spider-Verse completely recontextualised not only animation but superhero films too. Many rightfully hold it as one of the best comic-book movies to date, combining fresh and zippy visuals with a heartfelt and hilarious story of belonging to deliver the quintessential Spider-Man story. It's the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle game-changer that doesn't come around that often which makes it all the more impressive that Across the Spider-Verse is every bit as special as its predecessor. Against insurmountable odds, following one of the most revered contemporary films, it's still completely and wholly jaw-dropping at every turn.
Picking up a year after the events of Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) has found his groove as Spider-Man after saving the multiverse from collapsing in on itself. Except it's still quite broken and time-travelling vampire-bred Spidey Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac) has headed up a team of Spideys to protect it. When a new villain on the scene, Spot (Jason Schwartzman), threatens their entire operation, Miles has to join forces with Miguel, Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Peter (Jake Johnson) to defend the very fabric of their existence.
As Peter B. Parker surmised in Into the Spider-Verse, “This is pretty standard Spider-Man stakes. You get used to it.” With the number of multiversal stakes in cinema these days, it's certainly true. But much like its predecessor, Across the Spider-Verse goes deeper with its characters and its story. The gargantuan narrative spans several timelines with a plethora of characters and still runs impeccably tight and coherent in the 140-minute runtime. It's a testament to the incisive and deliberate writing, carving out so many well-defined arcs within such a sprawling, interwoven world and not getting lost in the process. Similarities have been made to Empire Strikes Back and it certainly echoes the same sentiments: bigger, bolder, darker. It even has an ending that will leave your mouth agape.
There are, of course, a myriad of exciting cameos and easter eggs plucked from every corner of the Spidey handbook but, unlike Multiverse of Madness or The Flash, it doesn't get bogged down in all of this. At the end of the day, this is a Spider-Man film. It's a Miles Morales film, yes, but Across is also a Gwen Stacy film and both characters go on beautiful, parallel journeys that really explore the more tactile, human parts of these superheroes: family and identity. Gwen struggles to reconcile with her dad after the loss of her best friend; Miles is navigating his own purpose within the multiverse and how his family fit into it all too. It's an emotionally propulsive story and it's refreshing to see a film like this really focus on those character moments. There's still side-splitting comedy and eye-watering action in abundance but the film thrives in those quieter pockets; the scenes where Miles or Gwen find respite in each other or confront the familial fears haunting them are amongst the best.
It's a film that continues to push boundaries, narratively and structurally. Of course, visually too. It feels redundant to keep re-iterating the influence of Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse only shatters expectations even further. It's an audiovisual masterclass, continually cultivating images that are genuinely jaw-dropping and mind-boggling to look at. As we jump dimensions, the film is always trying to outdo and reinvent itself. And succeeding! Whether it's the punk-rock aesthetic of Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya) or the 70s-esque Indian suburbia Mumbattan, Across the Spider-Verse uses colour and texture in new ways to create such inventive visual storytelling. Each style differs from the last and yet integrates seamlessly into this visually-evolving smorgasbord of ideas, aesthetics, and cultures. The craft is masterful and eye-sizzling and has raised the bar – again!
But that's Across the Spider-Verse in a nutshell: a hyperbolic, re-defining cinematic treasure. The action is astounding; the jokes are hilarious; the emotion is earned; the characters are so rich; the easter eggs are gleeful. It feels like a miracle that it even exists; it's inquisitive and thoughtful and incomprehensibly brilliant in every single frame, continuing to elevate its own game as it goes on. A deftly crafted masterwork, undoubtedly, but with the heart to boot. If anything lets it down, it's that it's part one of a two-part epic. But if next year's Beyond the Spider-Verse is half as good as this, this will be a trilogy for the ages.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is out in cinemas on June 2nd, 2023.
