Warning – Spoilers Ahead
A new, urban and animated Spider-Man movie was released way back in 2018 entitled “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” This new take on the Spider-Man origin story encapsulated the world, giving them a fresh perspective on their friendly neighborhood hero.
Finally, after much anticipation, Miles Morales returned in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” in June 2023, to much of the same delight that greeted the original installment five years earlier.
Starring Shameik Moore as Miles Morales and Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, the movie serves as a continuation of the original movie’s cliffhanger. Miles Morales, or Spider-Man, travels to a different dimension from his own, banding together with other Spider-Mans in different universes in order to help him stop his father’s death.
The new movie is essentially about Miles Morales returning to his normal life as Spider-Man and balancing his day to day life. But after being reunited with Gwen Stacy, Miles is forced to race across the multiverse to try and defeat a powerful foe known as the Spot. The movie ends with yet another cliffhanger, which will be answered in mid-2024 with the last installment in the trilogy, “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse”.
What sets this movie – and the entire Miles Morales universe – apart are the interesting choice of designs when it comes to the characters and some of their dimensions.
The most prominent example of this are the specific color choices made for each character, such as Gwen Stacy. Her dimension is intertwined with her emotions in some scenes in the movie. My favorite example of this is that, when her father is made the police captain in her dimension, he discovers she is Spider-Woman, and comes to believe that she killed the Peter Parker, a crucial figure to the plot, in her dimension.
This led to an argument between them, with her father wanting to arrest her. In this scene, you can see the maroon color of their surroundings bleed out like paint globs dipping towards each other. The background changes show her father’s shock and Gwen’s fear of losing her father, because to her, he is the only person she has to emotionally depend on.
The animators did a wonderful job portraying many of the characters’ dimensions, and really showed how events in their worlds affected them whether it be good or bad.
The movie is a great watch for people who enjoy Marvel and the Spider-Man universe. There are so many details that make the movie, and the universe it’s set in, fantastic and interesting. If you enjoy immersing yourself in all aspects of storytelling, or you’re just a big fan of Spider-Man in general, I’d recommend jumping wholeheartedly into the Spider-Verse.
