On June 2, 2023, the heavily anticipated sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, was released in movie theaters across the U.S. after five long years of waiting. Like the first movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse followed the journey of the Marvel Comics character, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), the Spider-Man on Earth-1610. The movie also puts the spotlight on Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), also known as Spider-Woman in her universe, Earth-65. With the introduction of the Spider-Society, a gathering of Spider-Mans across multiple universes led by Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac) of Earth-2099, this movie quickly became a lore-packed action movie for many fans of Spider-Man and the Marvel franchise alike.
The movie’s high anticipation stems not only from the time it took for the movie’s production and release, but also its high animation quality. Animated by Sony Pictures Animation, the sequel utilized numerous animation styles, just as its predecessor did.
One subtle yet noticeable detail many viewers noticed was the style’s correlation to each of the universe’s Spider-Man or Spider-Woman. For instance, Miles and Earth-1610 heavily focused on the traditional comic book style, an homage to the comic book series he was based off of, while Gwen and Earth-65 geared more towards a watercolor style. Utilizing this style symbolized Gwen’s ever-changing emotions, stemming from trauma she internalized prior to the movie. At the end of the movie, Miles attempts to transport himself back to his universe; however, many sharp-eyed viewers quickly realized that Miles isn’t where he thought he was, with the animation style leaning darker than Miles’ vibrant world.
Not only did the animation sell the movie, the community’s collective excitement over the release of the film also solidified the movie’s spot in the Top 10 highest grossing movies of 2023, according to the Worldwide Box Office. The movie’s intricate yet grounded plot and its numerous references to other Spider-Man movies and TV series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe always offered something in the movie that any viewer can recognize. Furthermore, the use of social media spawned memes and analytical plot videos from the movie that hits every niche of the Spider-Man and Marvel community.
Although the movie left off on a massive cliffhanger, the anticipation stemming from what seems to be the final movie in the trilogy and the release of Spider-Man 2 on the Playstation 5 leaves many viewers waiting to see where the story of Miles and Gwen will go.
