Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Beyond a Sequel
The sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) premiered yesterday, giving a class on how to make a second part, how to redouble an artistic bet that in itself had already kicked board of the animation in the cinema, and how, with little, establish a shared universe (which remains to be seen if it will be, in addition to shared, cohesive).
On the day after its release, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) holds a 9.1/10 on IMDb, surpassing its predecessor’s 8.4/10. Maybe, as ratings are added up, the score varies a bit, but I don’t think it will move too much from where it is. This new installment takes all the good of the first film and takes it further: the story is deeper, the characters show even more nuances, and the visual section and its impact on the narrative is sublime. If Into the Spider-Verse seemed like a moving comic, this is one: the divisions that appear on the screen simulating the separation of the bullets on the pages, the action divided into different frames, the onomatopoeias, the boxes with clarifications, the different artistic formats depending on what universe is shown to us, even the essence of them impregnated in each character. Across the Spider-verse is a visual delight all the time.
I was not aware of the length of this film before I entered the cinema. Therefore, at times I felt that I should be around for three hours, but not out of boredom, or because it has been long, but because of the number of things that happen and pass and the action goes on and on and never seems to end. The 2h 20min duration, after all, is perfect. The film develops everything that is proposed in its fair measure and leaves fabulous loose ends that will be resumed in its next part Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse to be released in 2024.
Changing Perspective
This time the story begins and the narrator’s voice corresponds to Gwen Stacy, the Spider-Woman of Earth-65 (played by Hailee Steinfeld), marking a clear parallel to Miles’ narration in the previous film. And while the Spider-Man of Earth-1610 remains the protagonist, Gwen ceases to be a secondary character and rises to the height of Miles, having an almost protagonist weight in the plot as well. The arcs of both characters are definitely the most relevant and it is about them that the plot develops.
The action does not lose sight of either, generating tensions and relief, and adding layers and layers of depth to its construction. These, of course, are nurtured through interaction with the other characters: Spider-Man 2099, Jessica Drew, Pavitr Prabhakar, Spider-Punk, Spider-Byte, Scarlet Spider, and the countless spider versions that appear with more and less prominence. Yes, there are literally hundreds of characters, and for the most part, they are only there for a brief cameo or scene. However, within the large cast of secondary, everyone has their story, and everyone has their incidence. And everyone, with more and less development, makes the film feel solid and accurate like clockwork.
A special mention deserves the villain, The Spot, whose origin story is told through masterful art and narrative, making constant references to the previous film. The character starts out being almost a comic relief and ends up becoming a threat of multiversal proportions, and definitely, the best of this character is yet to be seen.
Kick the Board (Again)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) was a breaking point for the world of animated films. Within a landscape mainly dominated by Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks, and with eventual gems, such as Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), that did not finish setting a precedent popular enough to be seen (with a massive scope) that there was another way to make animation, Into the Spider-Verse was that precedent, and now exponents begin to be seen moving away from that “standard” three-dimensional animation in search of their own styles, as has been seen in the trailers of the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023).
With all that said, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) doubles down and leaves its previous installment far behind. The aquarelle reality of Earth-65, which changes according to Gwen’s emotions; the depth and saturation of Mumbattan, the Indian Manhattan of Earth-50101; the brief glimpse of Earth-138 and the very existence of Spider-Punk, created by layers and layers of animation that compose it as if it were a set of newspaper or magazine clippings; the nightmare aspect of Earth-42… I can keep going, but the message is clear. The artists behind this film have surpassed themselves, they have resignified what I have often called the narrative of the visual in blog posts, they have raised the bar, and have made it clear that movies can get out of that stereotypical place for animation.
A Sight of Beyond
As already said, this film was the first part of an event divided into two, whose second chapter, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, will be released in 2024.
The film has no post-credits scenes. And it doesn’t need them either. There’s no need to adapt to the current mandates of superhero movies when everything it did, in its own way, has already done well. Leaves loose ends? Yes, but this doesn’t mean they’re holes in the script. Perhaps yes, the most unjustified thing is the absence of certain characters, but the end makes clear what will happen to them in the third part of this saga.
At the same time, and throughout the entire film, Sony has been in charge of leaving more and less obvious crumbs that build bridges towards its other arachnid properties, from the PS4 game (which will have its next year on PS5) to the previous Spider-Man movies, starring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, the Venom movies and even the UCM itself and what happened in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). References to all this, in a careful and above all logical way, indicate that Sony has in its hands the entire spider multiverse and is aware of it. Now, his live-action films, the two installments of Venom (2018 and 2021) and the infamous Morbius (2022), are products of very low quality. So, if the company really plans to build from these foundations, it should find people capable not only of taking charge of the multiverse itself but also of controlling the quality of the products before their release. In theory, this October we will have another film based on a Spider-Man villain, Kraven the Hunter. There remains to be seen what comes out of it, if it’s closer to what we’ve already seen, or if Sony finally starts doing things with a little more care.
As for the animated spider-verse, there’s still a lot to see, a lot of mysteries to solve, and a lot of universes to explore. Across the Spider-verse was full of surprises, whether cameos or revelations and surely the next installment will not be lacking either.
