REVIEW -- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
REVIEW -- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Embedded Files
This webpage is still currently a work in progress. Please be patient as not all content is available nor accessible at this time. Thank you!
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a 2023 American computer-animated superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel Entertainment, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and is set in a shared multiverse of alternate universes called the "Spider-Verse". The film is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson (in their feature directorial debuts), from a screenplay written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller (who both also co-produce), and David Callaham. Shameik Moore voices Miles, starring alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya and Oscar Isaac. In the film, Miles goes on an adventure with Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman across the multiverse where he meets a new team of Spider-People, known as the Spider-Society, led by Miguel O' Hara / Spider-Man 2099, but comes into conflict with them over handling a new threat.
Sony began developing a sequel to Into the Spider-Verse before that film's release in 2018, with the writing and directing team attached. It was set to focus on the relationship between Moore's Miles and Steinfeld's Gwen. The film was officially announced in November 2019 and animation work began in June 2020, with a different visual style for each of the six universes visited by the characters. With a runtime of 140 minutes, the film is the longest animated film produced in the United States.[3]
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had its world premiere at the Regency Village Theatre on May 30, 2023, and was released in the United States on June 2, having been delayed from an original October 2022 date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar to its predecessor, the film has garnered universal acclaim from critics. A third film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, is scheduled to be released on March 29, 2024, while a female-focused spin-off film is in development.
Plot
Plot
Sixteen months after the events of the Alchemax collider, on Earth-65 Gwen Stacy is struggling to live up to the expectations of her father, who does not know she is Spider-Woman and is hunting her in revenge because of his belief that she caused this universe's Peter Parker's death. One night, after hearing about a possible intruder in the Guggenheim Museum, she heads over to confront the threat, only to run into a Renaissance-themed Vulture that comes from an alternate universe.
Shortly afterward, Miguel O'Hara and Jessica Drew arrive through portals and subdue the Vulture. In the aftermath, Gwen reveals herself to her father, who is distraught and attempts to arrest her. Drew suggests to a reluctant O'Hara that Gwen join the "Spider-Society," to which he begrudgingly accepts. The three then leave Earth-65. Back on Earth-1610, in Brooklyn, Miles Morales is adapting to being Spider-Man as well as struggling to live up to his parents' expectations while mourning the departure of Gwen. On the day of his evaluation at school with his parents, he visits a convenience store where he encounters Spot, a scientist who got infused with portals on his body in the aftermath of the explosion of the collider at Alchemax.
After a brief fight, Miles subdues Spot, but he eventually breaks out and confronts him again and brings him to Alchemax, blaming him for his dilemma before accidentally transporting himself into a void where he begins using his portals to travel to other universes with the Alchemax collider. Later, Gwen travels to Miles while secretly watching Spot, who created his own collider and is becoming even more dangerous. Drew contacts Gwen and instructs her to leave Miles behind to confront Spot, but unbeknownst to them, Miles follows them into the portal. In Mumbattan on Earth-50101, they encounter Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India and Hobie Brown / Spider-Punk before confronting Spot in the Alchemax collider who successfully absorbs the device's power before escaping.
Mumbattan begins falling apart from the disruption of a "canon event," and members of the Spider-Society arrive to assess the damage, while Miles, Gwen, India, and Punk are sent to the headquarters on Earth-928, where hundreds of Spider-Man variants reside. They meet up with O'Hara, who tells Miles that he is risking the destruction of the multiverse, as Miles was not supposed to be in Mumbattan; though Peter B. Parker arrives to defend Miles with his daughter, Mayday, O'Hara explains how "canon" works in each Spider-Man's story and the fabric of the multiverse, and that all Spider-Men must suffer sacrifices to maintain a stable multiverse.
Miles realizes that his father's death at the hands of Spot is to be a canon event and flees to save him, causing O'Hara to order all the Spider-Men to apprehend Miles. After a long chase, O'Hara strikes down Miles, telling him that he never was supposed to become Spider-Man, with the spider that bit him actually being from an alternate universe. Miles breaks free, heading back to his home world to save his father. Seeing Gwen as a liability, O'Hara kicks her out and sends her back to her universe. When she realizes her father has resigned as police captain, Gwen realizes that canon events can be rewritten and uses a watch that Hobie stole to find Miles. Arriving back in his apartment, Miles reveals to his mother that he is Spider-Man, whom she appears not to recognize. He encounters his uncle, Aaron Davis, and Miles realizes that he is in Earth-42, the dimension home to the spider that originally bit him, where his father has already died, and that this world has no Spider-Man.
Aaron interrogates Miles as to who he is, and Miles realizes that Aaron is not the Prowler before he is encountered by the Miles of Earth-42, who has become the Prowler. O'Hara, Drew, and Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider arrive to find Miles on Earth-1610 just as the Spot arrives to kill Miles' father. Gwen, after speaking with Rio and Jefferson on Earth-1610, assembles a team with Peter B. and Mayday, Pavitr, Hobie, Spider-Byte, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham to find Miles.
Voice cast
Voice cast
Shameik Moore as Miles Morales / Spider-Man
Moore also voices an alternative version of Miles from Earth-42, who has become the Prowler in his universe.Luna Lauren Vélez as Rio Morales
Vélez also plays an alternate version of Morales from Earth-42.Greta Lee as Lyla
Mahershala Ali as Aaron Davis
Ali also plays an alternate version of Davis from Earth-42.Rachel Dratch as the counselor at Miles's school.
Jorma Taccone as the Vulture
Taccone previously voiced Norman Osborn / Green Goblin and Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the 1967 TV series in Into the Spider-Verse.
An early poster for the film displaying numerous Spider-People appearing in the film. In May 2023, co-director Justin K. Thompson confirmed that the film includes 280 variations of Spider-Man, 95 of them are unique and named characters.
Additional iterations of Spider-Man appear in the film as members of the Spider-Society. These include Cyborg Spider-Woman, Patrick O'Hara / Web-Slinger and his horse Widow (both voiced by Taran Killam), Max Borne / Spider-Man 2211, Ezekiel Sims / Spider-Therapist, Malala Windsor / Spider-UK, Takuya Yamashiro / Spider-Man from the 1978 Japanese television series, Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the Marvel's Spider-Man video game series by Insomniac Games (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal), Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the television series Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2001), Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the television series The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009, voiced by Josh Keaton), Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the Marvel Mangaverse, Otto Octavius / Superior Spider-Man, Doppelganger, Julia Carpenter / Spider-Woman, Kaine Parker / Scarlet Spider, Ashley Barton / Spider-Bitch, Flash Thompson / Captain Spider, Charlotte Webber / Sun-Spider (voiced by Danielle Perez), Maybelle Reilly / Lady-Spider, Spyder-Knight, Spidercide, Last Stand Peter Parker, Earth X Spider-Man, Spider-Cop, Spider-Mechanic, Ultimate Tarantula, Underoos, Dormammu-Verse Spider-Man, Prince of Arachne, Pter Ptarker / Spider-Rex, Spider-Cat, Spider-Monkey, Spider-Wolf, Peter Parkedcar / Spider-Mobile, Bombastic Bag-Man, Spider-Armour MK I, MK II and MK III, Lego Spider-Man, Chibi Spider-Man and Iron Spider.
Additionally, Peter Parker / Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker / SP//dr, and Peter Porker / Spider-Ham return in cameo appearances, with Kimiko Glenn briefly reprising her role as Peni, and archival audio of Nicolas Cage and John Mulaney being used for Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Ham, respectively. May "Mayday" Parker also appears as Peter B. Parker and Mary Jane's infant daughter, alongside an alternate adult version operating as Spider-Girl, in addition to the alternate Mary Jane Parker / Spinneret and her daughter Anna May-Parker / Spiderling from the 2015 limited series Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows. Metro Boomin has a cameo voice role as his unique version of Spider-Man. Mike Rianda, who previously directed and starred in the Lord & Miller-produced film The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), has a cameo voice role as a Spider-Man consoling Spider-Therapist. Zoë Kravitz voices Mary Jane "MJ" Parker, Peter B. Parker's wife, after voicing Miles' reality's younger MJ in the previous film, while Pixar animator and filmmaker Peter Sohn provides voice for Miles Morales's best friend and roommate Ganke Lee, after his dialogue was cut from Into the Spider-Verse. J. K. Simmons also reprises his role as J. Jonah Jameson, voicing various versions of the character.
Live-action roles are also featured in the film, with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield appearing in their respective roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in footage from from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films and Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films, respectively. Peggy Lu reprises her role as convenience store owner Mrs. Chen from the Sony's Spider-Man Universe Venom films. Donald Glover portrays an alternate version of Aaron Davis / Prowler, who previously appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). Denis Leary and Cliff Robertson appear as George Stacy and Ben Parker through archival footage from The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), and Spider-Man (2002), respectively.
The Verdict:
The Verdict:
To be fair, I have to comment on this film from two different angles - one as an artist and another as a comic book nerd/geek.
As simply an artist, this film has to be one of the most visually stunning animated films of all-time. The seamless blending of 2D and 3D animated styles is absolutely mind-blowing and amazing (no pun intended) to behold. I can't wait to see the "making of" artbook for this film in a few more months. Each one of the main characters has an artstyle that is unique to them and it makes them each all stand out. Even when they bombard viewers with the cameos of other Spider-Men from across the multiverse (comics, films, video games, and other animation venues), their own art styles are instantly recognizable and true to their source mediums. How Sony Pictures Animation pulled this off is a marvel onto itself.
In visuals alone, Sony Pictures Animation has easily outshined the original film.
As a comic book nerd, there's stuff I've adored about this film but as usual, I have a LOT of problems with this narratively. If you have seen Spider-Man: No Way Home, this film can be regarded as a byproduct or pseudo-sequel to that film as a result of the actions made in that film. Miguel O'Hara makes a direct reference to the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, citing that Doctor Strange and Peter Parker's actions in that film are the reason behind why numerous villains have been popping up in other universes across the Multiverse. The Spider-Society that he is currently in-charge of and leading has been capturing those escapees from their universes and sending them back where they belong.
The major part of my core issues with the main plot as the film wants to you believe that EVERY Spider-Man (or rather Spider-PERSON) has this set path that they all share that never has any diversions and we as viewers know that to be false right from the get-go from Peter Parker's actions in that film and on Earth-199999 (the Multiverse designation for the Marvel Cinematic Universe) as a whole. So this whole idea that Miles has to follow this path too comes off VERY dumb to me, especially when the creation of this character PERIOD in the Ultimate universe and Marvel Comics as a whole was to be different than Peter Parker's path from the start. In a bizarre twist of irony, that's the problem that a lot of readers have with Miles Morales now in the comics canon when Marvel is stuck trying to have his life mirror Peter Parker's when he should be his own character.
My biggest knock against this film is that when the ending comes, you're going to be pissed that this was merely a big tease for the next sequel in this trilogy. There was a point in the plot where I was looking at my phone and going, "There's absolutely NO way they are wrapping anything in this plot up in this film" and started waiting for the credits to roll.
All of that being said, I know this film is going to get another massive pass by the general public. There's so much nostalgia to enjoy here and if you loved Miles in the original, there's more to love about that character here since this film isn't bogged down with his origin story for majority of it's runtime. From start to finish, this film echoes the same things that people loved about Spider-Man: Far From Home, highlighting the character's rich history across mediums and pop culture while spotlighting the future in more ways than one. It's also a celebration of art in animation. If this film doesn't receive any awards, I'll be shocked.
Oh yeah, in a bizarre twist, there's NO mid-credits nor post-credits teasers. Sony really wants to keep viewers in suspense until whenever the finale drops early next year (March 2024).
Characters
Characters
Miles Morales / Spider-Man
(voiced by Shameik Moore)
Miles Morales / Spider-Man
(voiced by Shameik Moore)
The events of this film take place sixteen months after the events of the Alchemax collider in the first film. We see Miles Morales has fully grown into his heroic exploits as the new Spider-Man of his universe and has put away several villains in his universe in the time between films. He's developed a new power that seems to be unique to only him, an electrical type of stingers that no other Spider-Man (or person) is able to replicate.
Miles' increased activity into his heroic efforts has begun to affect both his school life and strain his relationship with his parents, especially when it comes to planning his future with college on the horizon. Miles expresses interest in studying physics and working to find the means to explore other dimensions/realities, something that his parents don't realize that would bring him one step closer to the one person that he has become smitten with - Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman.
The biggest reveal/development for Miles in this film is the fact that Miguel O'Hara reveals that the spider that bit Miles and gave him his powers didn't originate from his home universe at all. Instead, it came from an alternate universe. If it had bit someone from its own universe, that universe wouldn't have been consumed by crime/evil and the Spider-Man in Miles' universe didn't have to die trying to save Miles. I thought it was pretty fucked up in the manner where Miguel unloaded this information onto Miles, essentially calling him an "anomaly" when he as a man of color himself should know how painful that statement is to a young mixed race person to say. I'm sure that it couldn't have been easy for Miles growing up being both African-American and Hispanic, then you have this crazy ass dude unloading onto you like you're the spawn of Satan calling you an anomaly didn't really sit well to me. To Miles' credit, he took the news swimmingly and rose to the occasion to prove Miguel wrong and show that he was meant to have these powers all along.
Standing against Miguel shows that Miles is arguably the best Spider-Man of them all in that Spider-Society. Miles has grown so much as a character since we first met him in Into the Spider-Verse in comparison to the nervous, confused kid that was bumbling his way through this heroic thing. He stepped up to the challenge and made this version of Spider-Man his own - in his own way. It's great - no, amazing - to see him continue to pave his own distinct path unrecognizable from the wealth of his counterparts. That's a miraculous feat onto itself from a narrative sense when there are so many other Spider-People to compare him to in this film, ranging from the main characters to the cameos from across all media that are referenced in this film.
I think the most important thing that this film did was show that Miles isn't perfect either. His methods and intentions are all good and all but they aren't fine-tuned to the point where you are questioning whether or not he's a Mary Sue in the back of your minds while watching this. Case in point? Miles' plan to escape from Spider-HQ and return to his home universe had a major flaw. Miles' DNA was altered from the spider that bite him from Universe 42 and sent him there instead of his home universe. The film left Miles in a compromising position where he needs help from his friends to not just save his father and the rest of his universe from the looming threat of The Spot, but to escape Universe 42 from his multiverse counterpart in the form of that universe's Prowler.
Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman / Spider-Gwen
(voiced by Hailee Steinfeld)
Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman / Spider-Gwen
(voiced by Hailee Steinfeld)
I dare say that this sequel is just as much as Gwen's show as Miles' this time around. The film starts with a 15-20 minute prologue catching audiences up to what Gwen Stacy has been up to in her home universe before even the opening credits/title bars come on screen. It ends with Gwen being forced to expose/reveal her identity to Captain George Stacy who has sworn to bring in Spider-Woman for the murder of Peter Parker in her universe. She ends up being able to escape with Jessica Drew and Miguel O'Hara after they recruit her for their universe hopping mission to deal with the ongoing "anomalies" of various Spider-Man villains popping up across the Multiverse, thanks to a combination of the events of both Spider-Man: Far From Home and the events of the first Spider-Verse film.
Peter's death in her universe has made her afraid to open up and bond with others out of fear what harm could come to others who might get close to her. After discovering what "fate" Spider-Men are destined to, she grew afraid to even return home to her own home reality out of fear what would happen to her father if she would ever return. Much like Miles though, she can't get her feelings for him out of her mind and desperately sought out a way to reunite with him, despite Miguel's orders not to see him ever again.
Unfortunately for them both, the Spot's actions causes Gwen to return to Miles' universe to investigate and their extended time together causes them to allow the Spot to devise the means to expand his powers and escape into the Multiverse. Gwen finds herself in an uncomfortable position throughout this film in terms of being loyal to her friend/love interest, Miles, and doing the right thing to preserve the stability of the Multiverse by following Miguel's orders.
If Gwen's popularity isn't high enough from her inception into the comics continuity from the original Spider-Verse event and her first on-screen appearance in the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse film, I think it's going to soar to new heights from this film.
Jefferson Davis & Rio Morales
(voiced by Brian Tyree Henry & Luna Lauren Vélez)
Jefferson Davis & Rio Morales
(voiced by Brian Tyree Henry & Luna Lauren Vélez)
Jefferson Davis is Miles' African-American father and Rio Morales is Miles' Puerto-Rican mother who both work as a police officer and a nurse respectively.
I have absolutely no shame admitting that I cried at least three times during this film listening to Miles' mother's sage-like wisdom that sounded exactly like things my own mother would say throughout my own youth. Miles' parents want only the best for their son that they are both afraid is growing up too fast and slipping out of their fingers before they even realize it.
Jefferson Davis' promotion to becoming the police captain leads to the film's main conflict that brings Miles to blows with Miguel O'Hara's ideologies. It echoes back to Miles' inability to juggle both his heroic exploits along with his personal life, causing him to miss most of his father's celebration for his promotion before he got tied up into this universe hopping adventure to stop the Spot. You can't help but feel for Miles' plight as both of his parents are great, lovable characters and you don't want to see anything bad happen to them. Regardless, this film paints a morbid picture that every Spider-Man's "destiny/fate" echoes the same path where people in their lives are sacrificed to make them the people that they are. I have a LOT of issues with that mantra, but we'll talk about that more when we discuss Miguel O'Hara.
Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman
(voiced by Issa Rae)
Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman
(voiced by Issa Rae)
One of the most bizarre choices for this film was race-swapping Jessica Drew to be an African-American woman, who is still portraying that character's pregnancy storyline from the comics canon. I can't speak for everyone else, but I thought this was a rather uncomfortable choice to see a pregnant woman in the heat of all of this combat and action, regardless of race. I didn't care for the storyline when the comics did it either. To the film's credit, it went above and beyond to portray Jessica as a certified bad ass at every opportunity though. She becomes a role model of sorts to Gwen Stacy and serves as Miguel's de facto second-in-command of his universe-hopping army of Spider-People, the Spider-Forces.
By the end of the film, Jessica Drew seems to be in as an uncomfortable position as Gwen Stacy when it comes to having faith in Miguel's mission or not. I was disappointed that she wasn't one of the first characters to speak up against Miguel by the end of the film, but I guess that's going to be a point of contention in the sequel.
I'll go ahead and say it too that even though I'm an African-American myself, I thought the race-swapping of this character was in poor taste. I understand that this film wants to promote and portray more diversity in the superhero genre, but changing this character's race felt like Sony Pictures was merely checking off a box to please minorities. On the other hand though, if little black girls see this character and look up to her as someone to identify and idolize since she looks like them, that's perfectly okay too.
Hobart "Hobie" Brown / Spider-Punk
(voiced by Daniel Kaluuya)
Hobart "Hobie" Brown / Spider-Punk
(voiced by Daniel Kaluuya)
Throughout the film, it kept bothering me at the mention that I couldn't distinguish/remember who "Hobie Brown" was and I kept chiding myself as I should know who that is in the comics canon. Hobie Brown is the Prowler in the main comics canon, but here he's Spider-Punk, another Spider-Man variant that I admittedly tend to confuse with Spider-UK at times. I honestly didn't have any idea that this character was African-American until I saw him unmasked in this film.
In this film, he arrives to back-up Miles, Gwen, and Spider-Man: India against the Spot when he breaks into Alchemax to gain more power. Miles is afraid that he's Gwen's new love interest since she's been talking and raving about him so much and mentioning that she's been spending time in his universe. It wasn't hard to connect the dots that they bonded due to their similar tastes in music. Plus, we as an audience knew that Gwen wasn't itching to return to her home universe anytime soon.
When Miguel gave the order(s) to hunt down Miles Morales, Hobie was the first and only Spider-Man to outright refuse that order and return to his home universe. He would end up leaving one of the Spider-Forces' universe traveling devices with Captain George Stacy in Gwen Stacy's universe to allow her to track Miles down.
Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man: India
(voiced by Karan Soni)
Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man: India
(voiced by Karan Soni)
Spider-Man: India originated in a 2004 comic book series published by Gotham Entertainment Group in India created by Sharad Devarajan, Suresh Seetharaman, and Jeevan J. Kang with Marvel Comics but was later published in the United States in 2005 and collected into a trade paperback. The book would be a retelling of Marvel Comics' Spider-Man in an Indian setting.
Spider-Man India's role in this film would be as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Forces. More importantly though, his universe would be the setting of what would be known as an "canon event" that Miles Morales prevents from transpiring. These "canon events" are tragedies that every Spider-Man must endure to maintain balance to their realities. In this case, Miles prevents the death of the police captain father of Spider-Man India's love interest, Meera Jain, his reality's version of Mary Jane Watson. Miles' prevention of the canon event is what sets the events into motion in which that brings him to blows with Miguel O'Hara as the film's antagonist for its second half as Miles' refuses to allow the "canon event" to transpire that would take the life of his father.
Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider
(voiced by Andy Samberg)
Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider
(voiced by Andy Samberg)
Ben Reilly, a genetic clone of Peter Parker from an alternate universe from the infamous Clone Saga storyline from the '90s Marvel Comics, appears in this film as a member of Miguel's Spider-Society.
This version of Ben Reilly seems to be the butt of a lot of bad jokes at his expense as he depicted as moping around and being overly dramatic about his experiences. Anyone who has read throughout his comic book history or lived through that time period can easily tell you that his behavior is WELL justified, especially how currently he is in a state of constantly being killed off and resurrected with his memories being inserted into new clone bodies over and over again.
Due to his many resurrections in different clone bodies, the 2017–2018 comic series Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider states he has died and returned more than anyone else in the Marvel Universe, leading to him becoming favored by Lady Death - the Marvel Comics version that Thanos tends to be obsessed with in some of his depictions, not the one from Chaos Comics for those wondering.
Seeing Scarlet Spider pop up in this film brought a smile to my face as his design just screams '90s comics and really deserved to be spotlighted in this film that celebrates Spider-Man's history.
In all honesty, I think he will end up being one of the first remaining Spider-Men loyal to Miguel to switch sides in Beyond the Spider-Verse since he knows better than anyone how to exist as an anomaly to Spider-Man's world.
Margo Kess / Spider-Byte
(voiced by Amandla Stenberg)
Margo Kess / Spider-Byte
(voiced by Amandla Stenberg)
Spider-Byte first appeared in Vault of Spiders #1 (October 2018) and participated in the Spider-Geddon comics event. Margo Kess was living in a world where people spend the majority of their time as virtual avatars in the Cyberspace when she decided to act as a masked vigilante called Spider-Byte and help stop cybercrime as a form of community service. She was recruited into the Spider-Army by Ghost-Spider and participated in the final push against the Inheritors at Earth-616's Transamerica Pyramid while projecting her virtual reality avatar into the physical world.
In this film however, Margo later joined Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Society got to spend most of time as an avatar projection at its HQ on Earth-928, which she felt was better than her home world. She got to meet Miles Morales when he arrived at the HQ, forming a brief connection with him. When Miles went on the run from the entire Spider-Force, Spider-Byte was the only one who stayed behind and did not participate.
She was trying out her haircuts for her virtual avatar when the Go Home Machine activated seemingly on its own. She and LYLA tried to figure out what was wrong with it, until Margo realizing that Morales had snuck into the Machine while invisible. Miguel rushed in and was desperate to stop Miles from going back to his home universe and Spider-Byte had and opportunity to shut down the sequence, but a look from Miles convinced her not to.
Not long after, Spider-Byte joined the team assembled by Spider-Woman to find Miles after he never arrives to his home reality.
She doesn't do much in this film from her limited screen time but hopefully we will get to see more of her in action in Beyond The Spider-Verse next year.
Dr. Jonathan Ohnn / The Spot
(voiced by Jason Schwartzman)
Dr. Jonathan Ohnn / The Spot
(voiced by Jason Schwartzman)
The Spot is allegedly the main antagonist of this film, but this film has a massive problem in its second half where this film essentially completely forgets about its Spot problem and shifts everything onto Miles' shoulders as it's all ultimately Miles' fault and he must be stopped from returning to his home universe at all costs. Meanwhile, the Spot is allowed to amass more and more power offscreen from across the Multiverse to fulfill his goal of becoming Miles' ultimate enemy and destroying everything that he holds dear.
In a bit of deja vu to the origin of Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the Spot becomes enraged when Spider-Man (Miles) makes fun of him during their first encounter and opts to become a much more powerful/lethal foe for him. The Spot vows to take everything from him that Miles robbed from him once he destroyed the Alchemax collider that gave (or rather, cursed) him his powers to create these holes. As a result of his freakish appearance, Dr. Ohnn was fired from Alchemax and disowned from his family, leaving him on the street, both homeless and jobless. Dr. Ohnn reveals that he was the one who obtained the fateful spider that bit Miles and gave him his powers. It should be noted that he was shown to be a confidant of Octavia Otto as well. He is angry about Miles' insults since he sees them as a betrayal for "ruining" his life when he gave him the world by making him the new Spider-Man, hence why he is so adamant about becoming Miles' ultimate enemy instead of the joke that Miles' disregards him as in their first encounter.
The Spot as how he originally appeared in Marvel Comics.
I found it to be rather puzzling to say this is a film that is essentially acknowledging and referencing almost every piece of Spider-Man-related media across comics, films, cartoons/television shows, etc. that they don't reference the other Spot who was lost within the very holes that he created in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Once the Spot in this film gained access of being able to traverse the Multiverse, I thought that would be one of the first things he would stumble across would be a warning from one of his alternate selves. I could easily see this film's Spot wouldn't heed his advice and maintain his resolve to be a supervillain unlike the failure like counterpart was.
The Spot as he appears in the Spider-Man: The Animated Series season three episode titled, "Sins of the Fathers Chapter 12: The Spot".
Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099
(voiced by Oscar Isaac)
Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099
(voiced by Oscar Isaac)
Miguel O'Hara is essentially the major antagonist for Miles Morales in this film's second half. He is the leader of the army of Spider-People (Spider-Forces) who have been assembled and recruited by him to protect and maintain the stability of the Spider-Verse.
Miguel O'Hara first appeared in a post-credits teaser in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse voiced by Oscar Isaac and Isaac reprises the role for his proper debut in this film.
I found it ironic that Oscar Isaac's character in this film that he is providing the voice for is just as dark and serious as one of Moon Knight's multiple personalities in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that he portrayed onscreen while at the same time, this army of Spider-People that Miguel leads has a mission that is eerily similar to the Time Variance Authority in Loki. Y'know what I mean, it comparison to protecting the "sacred timeline" without any deviations from their predetermined paths. Or maybe it's closer to how the Citadel of Ricks operate in Rick & Morty... In either case, it's the same vibe.
I hate how this film nearly made me come to the verge of outright hating this character's portrayal in this film. It sucks too when I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Spider-Man 2099 comics in the '90's.
Spider-Man 2099 as how he originally appeared in Marvel Comics.
The irony of this character being in this film is massive given for the fact that Miguel O'Hara is the first "successor" to Peter Parker to have the Spider-Man mantle passed onto him, a VERY long time before Miles Morales was even created and introduced in the Marvel Ultimate comics line of books. He was among the first to show that anyone can don the mask and be Spider-Man, not just Peter Parker. That fact alone makes his whole argument that Miles Morales is an "anomaly" bizarre and outright stupid to me in this film. Why should it be such a big deal that Miles didn't become a Spider-Man by traditional means when Miguel's origin wasn't comparable to Peter Parker's own either. Not to mention, there were NUMEROUS Spider-People in the background in Neuva York (Miguel's HQ) who didn't have traditional/comparable origins similar to Parker's either.
My biggest issue with his argument with Miles about ALL Spider-Men have to follow this one preset path is that it comes off extremely stupid and uncharacteristic to every single Spider-Man, especially those from the cartoons, animated series, video games, and comics that they were showcasing prominently in the background throughout several scenes. Why didn't they speak up or stand with Miles right then and there really didn't sit well with me? Yes, Spider-Man always tends to lose those close to him, but he doesn't just stand there and let it happen either when he has the power to do something about it. That lack of action is a deviation from the essence of Spider-Man's character as a whole and makes Miguel absolutely wrong from the get-go.
Miguel replacing the Miguel in another universe just to be with the family he lost is comparable to what the Scarlet Witch wanted to do in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness to be with her "children" again that she conjured up in WandaVision. That alone made him a hypocrite in my eyes when he's going around leading this army of Spider-People acting all high and mighty/"holier than thou" to Miles. I swear, this film didn't paint Miguel O'Hara into a positive light at all. I understand that the writers probably did that intentionally to get the narrative here across, but it's going to be hard to redeem this guy later.
LYLA / LYrate Lifeform Approximation
(voiced by Greta Lee)
LYLA / LYrate Lifeform Approximation
(voiced by Greta Lee)
Simply put, Lyla is an acronym for LYrate Lifeform Approximation. She is an artifical intelligence who serves as the personal assistant of Miguel O'Hara. In the comics canon, Lyla is programmed by Miguel's friend, Xina Kwan, who was inspired by a Marilyn Monroe tattoo on her stomach - hence why Lyla has the appearance of the Hollywood Blonde Bombshell in that medium. In this film however, this is never specified how Lyla was created and she has more of an Asian appearance.
I have to wonder why she wasn't more tied into Miguel's operations when it came to overseeing the operations of Spider-HQ for the Spider-Society, especially when Miles was able to use that teleporter that Spider-Byte was supposed to be keeping an eye on without either of them intervening to prevent it from being operated without much resistance. That seems like a major oversight on their behalf in terms of security risks.
Peter B. Parker / Spider-Man & Mayday Parker
(voiced by Jake Johnson)
Peter B. Parker / Spider-Man & Mayday Parker
(voiced by Jake Johnson)
Peter B. Parker is still one of Miles' biggest supporters, who openly pleads his case to Miguel O'Hara once he's brought in to Spider-HQ. He has reconciled with Mary Jane Watson in his universe following the events of the first film and they've had a child together, Mayday Parker, who has displaying spider-powers as well.
Peter B. Parker reminds me a lot of Maes Hughs from Fullmetal Alchemist in this film from his constant sharing of his daughter's adorable antics and presence at any given chance, much to the chagrin of some of the other characters - namely Miguel O'Hara.
When all of the other members of the Spider-Society blindly followed Miguel's orders to bring Miles in for possibly preventing another "canon event", it should be noted and applauded that Peter was one of the only Spider-Men to have Miles' back. He expresses to Miles that this journey/adventure into fatherhood makes him excited that he's hopeful that he could raise his daughter to be even a fraction of amazing that Miles currently is. It's a moment that may be insignificant or quickly ignored shortly thereafter, but that's a big moment of praise that Miles deserves from one of his mentors that he looked up to in the first film. He's been modeling his heroics in a manner to make both Peter's proud and he definitely got Peter B. Parker's stamp of approval here.
For those who don't know, Mayday Parker, the daughter of Spider-Man/Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, ends up becoming Spider-Girl in the MC2 universe that is consisted of a ton of generational offsprings of established Marvel Comics heroes in an alternative future timeline. It was a branding that didn't last too long in the early 2000s following 2099 line of books went downhill. Mayday's own ongoing comic book, Spider-Girl, written by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Ron Frenz and Pat Olliffe, was the longest-running superhero book with a lead female character ever published by Marvel before being relaunched as The Amazing Spider-Girl, and later The Spectacular Spider-Girl.
I really hope Mayday's inclusion in this film means that we're going to see her in one of these planned sequels and/or spin-offs with a full blown story. Her creation and debut definitely predates Spider-Gwen and it saddens me to see this character doesn't get as much love as her either - at least by most modern fans. The adult Spider-Girl (from a different universe) can be spotted in the film as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Society.
Other Cameos and Appearances
Other Cameos and Appearances
I'm going to keep this brief. I would gladly rewatch this film multiple times, especially when it releases on home video and various streaming platforms, solely for the chance to rewind and freeze frame all of the assorted cameos throughout this film. There were so many during the scenes set at Spider-HQ that I honestly gave up trying to read all of the name/title cards/boxes since it was impossible to read and see them all during your first viewing. (Laughs) I'm not even going to attempt to cite all of them that appeared in this film when I don't even have a concrete idea for how to account for them or where to begin.
From the sight of the credits and notes from exactly how many Spider-People were featured in this film, that's a marvelous feat on its own merit to squeeze in that many characters from Spider-Man's rich history into this singular film. They even got some of the original voice actors to do lines as well, which is even crazier. I remember feeling the same way when I first played Activision's Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and was just blown away to hear all four beloved original Spider-Man voices - Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker/The Amazing Spider-Man (Spider-Man in 2003's short-lived Spider-Man: The New Animated Series for MTV), Christopher Daniel Barnes as Peter Parker/Spider-Man Noir (Spider-Man in 1994's animated Spider-Man TV series; He would later play Spider-Man 2099 in this game's sequel, Spider-Man: Edge of Time), Dan Gilvezan as Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Peter Parker in the 1981 animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends), and Josh Keaton as Peter Parker/Ultimate Spider-Man (Spider-Man in the 2008 animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man, as well as other video games like Marvel Super Hero Squad and Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds/Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 before playing the tradition version of Spidey in Edge of Time).
Donald Glover getting to portray an alternate version of Aaron Davis / Prowler in this film was pretty neat since we never got to see him in costume as that character in the MCU, especially when he first appeared in that continuity in Spider-Man: Homecoming as one of the Vulture's underlings. I have to wonder what strings did they have to pull to get that cameo approved, along with the usage of the other live-action Spider-Men being used in archive/cameo footage along with some of those films' supporting cast. Even Peggy Lu made a cameo reprising her role as Mrs. Chen from the Sony-made Venom films.
As for Glover, I wonder if they made that costume for him with the intentions of introducing the Prowler into the MCU at some date down the road or having him appear in a future Venom sequel. There's still that talk about the Sinister Six team-up film that they teased at the end of Morbius where he met up with the Vulture, who proposed a partnership. It wouldn't be a stretch to see Vulture join forces with one of his old cohorts, no matter what universe he hailed from. Sony clearly isn't giving up the ghost about that either since that Kraven the Hunter film is still set to release sometime either this year or the next.
As cool as all of these cameos are, it creates a little bit of a problem for sequels and/or spin-offs. With an army of Spider-People at your disposal from the Spider-Society, it shouldn't be that much of an issue to stop the threats of The Spot or some of the other villains still popping up in random universes as a result of Doctor Strange and Peter Parker's actions from Earth-199999 in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Hell, one call from Miguel and he should be able to call in some reinforcements to help him deal with Spider-Gwen's team of rebels that have sided with Miles Morales, not that Miles by himself didn't have much trouble dealing with Miguel O'Hara on his own if we're being perfectly honest here...
Closing Thoughts
Closing Thoughts
All of my issues with this film aside, it's going to be hard to dethrone this movie in the box office in terms of animated releases this year. We're already seeing the original film's impact on other animated releases in this year alone with the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem film sporting an edgy visual style similar to something that you would see in this film coming out later this summer. More animated studios are going to want to replicate this visual style to draw in more viewers while definitely continuing to beat the dead horse that is nostalgia to garner interest. This film has almost every Spider-Man and countless variations (old and new) displayed front and center in this film with cameos and references from comics, live-action films, cartoons/animation, and even television shows all featured in some capacity. This film gave people more of what they loved about the first Spider-Verse film and kicked it up to eleven.
Even with my issues with this film's plot at times, I can easily see why people are calling this a 10/10 film and one of the best animated films of all-time. Like I previously mentioned, visually, it's a celebration of art across all art forms, while narratively, you can tell that this story is a love letter to Spider-Man fans - old and new. For all of the missteps and mishandling of Spider-Man on the Sony Pictures front in terms of live-action properties (namely The Amazing Spider-Man films, the planned Sinister Six shared Spider-Man cinematic universe debacle, and that Morbius movie and other assorted projects still in the pipeline, including Venom 3, Kraven the Hunter, etc.), Sony Pictures Animation definitely have their shoes on the right foot and are firing off on all cylinders. This is something that is painfully comparable to Warner Brothers' own handling of DC Comics in comparison to the DC Animated Universe and the DC Extended Universe, whereas the animated end of the spectrum CLEARLY knew what they were doing while the live-action crew were tripping over their own feet left and right.
If Sony Pictures Animation keeps this up, then they are going to have people BEGGING them to continue cranking out these films for years to come. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm more than anxious to see how they are going to end this story.
If I had any major knock against this story or rather the Spider-Verse concept as a whole, it's more of my annoyance that the superhero genre as a whole is almost entirely reliant on these multiverse and/or time travel concepts and narratives to draw in audiences when time travel and multiverses as a whole are tired and redundant tropes to begin with. They have a pattern of mudding up the waters of great narratives or have become a joke among the nerd culture community as creators (namely big business/corporations) to explain the multiple interpretations of these characters to bank and profit off of our nostalgia with the promise of seeing those versions of these characters that we originally fell in love with again.
Star Trek did it with the J.J. Abrams trilogy. Power Rangers (specifically in the Shattered Grid comics and currently in the Hasbro-made live-action seasons, starting with Beast Morphers) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT Forever animated film and the 2012 series immediately come to mind) have done it across mediums in both comics, live-action, and animation. Transformers has done it with some of their animated efforts, namely with the War for Cybertron trilogy on Netflix. Final Fantasy VII Remake did so and will continue to do so with its upcoming sequel(s). In two weeks, Warner Bros. and DC Comics (or rather DC Studios) will release the highly anticipated The Flash on June 16 that will do the very same thing as well, so this concept isn't going anywhere as long this genre will continue to garner interest and profit highly from those who race out to see these films, buy the comics, and consume whatever other media that is a byproduct of these concepts.
Between Hollywood and other media outlets and mediums, there's no escaping these callbacks to manipulate our emotions as viewers to allow these companies to profit off of our nostalgia. It paints the picture and reinforces the notion/mindset that new, fresh ideas aren't given a chance to sink or swim at all. All of these big businesses and corporations are relying on these multiverse and time travel concepts as a "sure bet" and easy, "get rich, quick" scheme to continue bleeding fans dry by profiting off of our nostalgia. It's a trend that isn't going to stop anytime soon as long as we continue getting high quality films like this. It just makes me sad to see that we're going to have to continue putting up with these types of narratives when they are flawed from the get-go.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an easy no-brainer. You don't need me to tell you to check this out. This is one of the easiest decisions to make in terms of releases this year of the superhero genre variety, unless you just flat out completely hate spiders and/or everything about Spider-Man. To be honest, even if you do, there's still much to love about this film visually and artistically in its sense of style and unique flair and presentation.
While this film is essentially a setup for next year's finale, Beyond the Spider-Verse, there's so much to enjoy here - despite its previously mentioned narrative flaws that don't resonate very well - that will keep viewers engaged from start to finish. It's hard to believe that we haven't seen these characters in roughly five years, but once this film gets going, it feels like they have never left and that's a great thing, especially when the film starts adding new characters and challenges for our heroes along the way.
As much as I hate to admit it, but Marvel Studios could learn how to take some notes from the Spider-Verse in terms of making audiences care about your Multiverse concept and make it much more appealing to your fans - both casual and hardcore.
Truth be told, this is going to be the superhero film to beat for 2023. The bar has been raised exponentially for both animated and live-action superhero films in general with this release. From here on out, it's going to be tough task to surpass what this film has accomplished.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse