THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse brought the world together by becoming a surreal animated experience, earning the Best Animated Feature Oscar in the process. With the film being a critical and financial success, there was no way this superhero film would not be its own franchise. Thankfully, we got a sequel worth waiting for.
PLOT
Across the Spider Verse takes place 16 months after Miles Morales of Earth-1610 got bitten by a radioactive spider, became a new Spider-Man and uncovered the multiverse. Although he’s been proud of being a hero ever since he saved Brooklyn from being destroyed by Alchemax’s Collider, he still struggles to balance his private and personal life, refusing to tell his parents Jefferson and Rio of his secret. They do worry for him as he aspires to go to a college in New Jersey for dimensional study (hinting his desire to reunite with his multiversal friends). When Miles’ duty as a superhero causes him to be late for a party, it leads to his parents grounding him. His stress would be on hold when reuniting with Gwen Stacy of Earth-65, a Spider-Woman he had a crush on when first meeting her. Their reunion would however take a turn as her intentions to visit involve tracking down someone that has become a new threat to multiverse. Former Alchemax scientist Johnathan Ohnn has dawned the supervillain persona of ‘The Spot’ after his exposure to the Collider has now covered his body with inter dimensional portals. He now plans to become the most powerful being in the multiverse by exposing himself to more Colliders from other universes. Miles would follow Gwen to track him down where he last seen, Earth 50101, home of the Spider-Man Pavitr Prabhakar. Despite having the assist of Spider-Man Hobie Brown from Earth 138, the Spot is still able to absorb the power of 50101’s collider. As that happens, he and Miles would share a vision that involves Jefferson possibly dying. As the villain escapes, the destruction of the collider would collapse onto a nearby bridge. Miles would end up saving the father of Pavitr’s girlfriend from near death, but his actions as a hero would unknowingly cause Earth 50101 to fall apart, the consequences of disrupting a ‘canon event’. Luckily, members of the Spider Society, an elite organization of Spider people from other dimensions in which Gwen & Hobie are part of, would appear and try to repair the damage. With no choice, Gwen takes Miles to the Society’s headquarters, ‘The Web’, on Earth 928. It is there where he not only reunites with Peter B. Parker from Earth 616B who now has a daughter named Mayday (named after his late aunt), but also meets the Society’s leader Miguel O’Hara from E-928. O’Hara explains to him that canon events are important parts of each spider person’s story that must happen to define them. The common example of them includes losing loved ones like every other Peter Parker losing Uncle Ben. Gwen has been part of the Society ever since her father Captain George (Shea Wingham) has falsely accused her of the death of her best friend Peter Parker from E-65 (Jack Quaid). She also uses her membership as an excuse to avoid a canon event of her own in which George is supposed to die. O’Hara knows from personal experience how dangerous it can be to stray from them since he was unintentionally responsible for one universe collapsing, trying to replace a deceased version of himself in a failing process. Miles is stunned of this revelation because his vision implies that Jeff’s death is his canon event, and he doesn’t want it to happen. So, he quickly tries to leave the Web in hopes to save him before it’s too late. As he is chased by the entire Society, Miguel gets the chance to explain that he wasn’t supposed to become Spider-Man because the spider that bit him came from another universe and off of that, the other universe doesn’t have their own Spider-Man. Had he not gotten bit, the Peter Parker from E-1610 likely would’ve destroyed the collider before the Spot could ever be created. Despite the second revelation, Miles is able to overpower Miguel before he takes a portal assuming it would take him back to E-1610. Due to his escape, Miguel sees Gwen as a liability and sends her back to E-65. It is there where she makes amends with her dad and realizes canon events can be averted safely when he admits to quitting the police force after he found out of her secret. She would then take a portal watch made by Hobie to reunite with Miles. When she reaches E-1610, she realizes he got stuck in the wrong universe. Although she doesn’t tell the whole truth to his parents, she does warn them he’s in danger and promises to save him (with other Spider People that are willing to help her). As the Spot begins his multiversal attack, Miles would realize he’s not where he’s supposed to be when his mom doesn’t recognize who Spider-Man is, as he tries to reveal his secret. He would then start glitching and deduce he’s stuck on Earth 42, the universe where the spider that bit him came from. It would seem that he unknowingly went there because the portal only read the DNA of the said spider. As Miles looks around the whole other world, he would see that New York is surrounded by unchecked crime and not only is Jeff already dead, but his Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) is still alive. Aaron would quickly realize he’s not from his universe and would restrain him. The film would end in a cliffhanger with E-1610 Miles meeting his E-42 variant, who has instead become the Prowler due to the spider never biting him.
THOUGHTS
I actually respect Sony for making Spider-Man as relevant as possible with each adaptation they've produced. When they're not taking part of Disney's MCU per se, they go out of their way giving spotlights for Spider-Man's iconic villains, making them anti-heroes of their own stories. When they're not doing that, they're making a story grander than it should be. This second entry to this epic trilogy is proof of that. Into the Spider Verse definitely got the ground moving when getting a glimpse on how anything is possible in the multiverse. but it is here where both writing and directing teams (Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Dave Callaham, Kemp Powers, Justin K Thompson & Joaquin Dos Santos) come together to show the definition of infinite possibilities. They take advantage of this big time when showing off more than one animation style. Miles’ E-1610 is already impressive whenever they placed half tone with the 2D/3D animation. Gwen’s E-65 has a beautiful resemblance to a water color mark that changes like a mood ring. Miguel’s tech based E-928 was straight up homage to a Syd Mead page. Pavitr’s E-50101 reminds me of 70s comic panels which are done in incredible fashion, and Hobie’s E-138 accurately nails the hand cut/pasted punk rock vibe he’s all about. They even topped themselves in between with giving us a Lego universe done in stop motion by a 14 year old. That was more surprising than noticing Insomniac’s Spider-Man as well as the one from the series Spectacular Spider-Man. I was also cackling with Andy Samberg voicing Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider as an overly broody variant who isn’t as serious as he should be. The irony of that makes his presence all the more better. If that wasn’t good enough, they officially made the entirety of Sony’s Spider-Man film catalog canonically connected with the MCU with multiple references that will likely be important in the long run: Showing off the blue branch that is the Sacred Timeline which was first shown in Disney+’s Loki, Ms. Chen (Peggy Lu) from the Venom movies interacting with the Spot, showing archive footage of canon events from 2002’s Spider-Man & 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, and having Donald Glover’s MCU Prowler be present as a prisoner of the Web for whatever reason bound to be referenced in the future. I was already laughing when seeing a T-Rex and a cat variant of Spider-Man, but I was thrown off guard seeing record producer Metro Boomin play a variant of his own failing to stop Miles. Speaking of which, he provided an incredible soundtrack that told the story with songs performed by various artists. It even blended well with an incredible score created by returning composer Daniel Pemberton, who did a great job telling us when the mood’s setting is supposed to be exciting or intense. This film exceeds expectations because its boundaries are further pushed due to a stronger theme than before. Into the Spider Verse was about doing whatever you set your mind to. Here, it’s about being able to make your own decisions when others try to make it for you, while also noticing every bit of significant impact your decisions have, whether you originally see them as big or small as you do it. This theme was geniusly explored thanks to an incredible set of characters who may or may not be similar to one another. It’s pretty crazy how Miles of E-1610 was never supposed to be Spider-Man, yet Shameik Moore shows he deserves to be one anyway because he becomes the ideal version we expect of the hero. Every since he mastered his powers, his only concern has been protecting his others more than taking care of himself. It wears him out big time and he would still feel satisfied in getting the job done. He contemplates on telling his parents his secret because he doesn’t know how they’ll take it. Jeff & Rio do come Off overbearing since they don’t know what he’s doing, but Brian Tyree Henry & Luna Lauren Velez clarify they’re looking out for him the way he is to them. The passion is visibly passed on from them to him, which shows how determined the latter will be to protect those he cares about. I’m not sure how I would feel about my own canon events, but he his reaction is understandable. If you have the chance to save your loved ones from death, even if it could lead to worser things, there shouldn’t be shame in being that protective. To Miles, it’s not just about being selfless, but also setting his own path which is the core intention due to the revelation. Sadly for him, he discovers that even the simplest decisions can be harmful. That is what happens when unintentionally finding himself in E-42 and seeing his Prowler variant that should’ve been Spider-Man instead of him. With that counterpart being voiced by Jharrel Jerome, you already get the sense he has his own goals that won’t be satisfying to witness, which is why you’re only hoping for the hero to overcome high odds and fix the mess he didn’t intend to make. The song ‘Am I Dreaming’ is a perfect interpretation of telling the tale to never give up on the quest to success no matter how beaten down you may feel. From that song alone, you know Miles will carry on this mindset when we get to Beyond. What makes this journey so investing is how we get a balance on seeing those who are & aren’t on his side on what can & can’t be done to protect the multiverse and protect our loved ones from the canon. Of course the main one who is on Miles’ side is the one who cares about him more than she can imagined. Now I did enjoy Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop in Hawkeye, but it’s through this trilogy as Spider-Gwen where she has the most depth, especially at this point. Like Miles, she’s got her own dilemma that makes her emotional vulnerability very high. I don’t blame her for feeling that way since she never anticipated rivaling with her dad over something that wasn’t completely her fault. She and Miles have this intimate compassion for one another because they understand one another because they both relate to the feeling of isolation, having to protect people from their secret and fearing of it to backfire when it comes out. She’s hesitant to be more than friends with him because she doesn’t want to deal with coping another significant loss. The song ‘Self Love’ reflected how important it is to build a relationship while ‘Calling’ expresses how loved ones can bring the best out of you. Gwen avoided seeing Miles as long as she did after joining the Society because she had to respect the canon. Had there not been a factor, she would’ve been seen him sooner and would’ve not waited for the Spot to be her excuse. Once she saw Miguel was going too far with the greater good, she knew she had to do right and save him from the dangers of uncharted territory. I know I’m not the only one who knows it wouldn’t be a Spider-Man movie without the presence of the OG version himself that is Peter Parker, so it was logical to see Jake Johnson return as Peter B. Parker. He’s much happier than before due to Mayday giving him the rejuvenation he needed to continue fighting with a clear mindset. It crushed him to keep his distance from Miles when he found out he was an anomaly because like Gwen, he changed his life for the better. He knew he would’ve not been motivated for parenthood had he not met him, yet had to respect the canon to prevent further chaos. He knew he became a good mentor in the long run since Miles was able to temporarily overpower Miguel, but wasn’t a good friend for not telling him sooner why he had to keep a distance. He realized this regret when he got sent back. When Gwen recruited him for the ultimate rescue mission, he began his new path of redemption. Going into new characters, my favorite variant was Hobie who is famously known as Spider Punk. Daniel Kaluuya nailed it in expressing his vibrance, enjoying every bit of free will he has at his disposal. He ended up being a better friend to Miles than others because he always told things like it was and gave him the needed advice to be the hero he wanted to be. All of that defends why he helped him escape. He even went out of his way to make his own portal watch because he knew it would get worse before it could get better. He chose to join Gwen in the end because she needed all the help they can get to save everything and with his help, I’m sure they can. I also enjoyed Pavitr aka Spider-Man India because Karan Soni does a great job in being the most optimistic of variants who doesn’t overthink any of the scenarios that come his way no matter how dangerous it may seem. He got along with Hobie so well because they both acted in free spirited fashion. And he joins Gwen as well because even he knows Miles doesn’t deserve to be in such a predicament and doesn’t blame him for accidentally making his universe collapse. Off of that, he’ll be quite helpful too. When we saw Spider-Man 2099 in the previous film’s post credits scene, we knew we were ready for more of this arc, thus making the rest of the trilogy a reality. Oscar Isaac is straight up incredible in reflecting the nonstop aggression Miguel is all about, making him the most different from other variants. He acts this way because he hates himself for his own mistake and doesn’t want anyone to do the same. This only makes his determination terrifying because he doesn’t how far he has to go to do so. The aggression he has towards Miles makes you believe he is far from a hero because he ignores the fact it wasn’t his fault in comparison to him. He knows it was Kingpin’s collider that allowed Miles to become Spider-Man in the first place and doesn’t care because he’s so driven to set things right. With this mindset, we already see he’s making another mistake by focusing on someone who isn’t even the true threat to the multiverse. Of all the people we were surprised to see take his side for the majority of this story, it’s Jessica Drew. Issa Rae portrays her as a very capable figure since she is willing to kick so much ass while pregnant. Apart from that, she is pretty strict on herself and others when it comes to the greater good. She was against Gwen from visiting Miles because she knew it would blow up in her face. But she chose to let her pursue him in the end she has begun having second thoughts on Miguel’s methods. With that in mind, it could lead to another can of worms for O’Hara to worry about. With Miguel being such a menace towards Miles, you can easily make the mistake he is the true enemy of the story when that is far from true. Instead, it is a villain no one would’ve expected to be so dangerous. On paper, the Spot can be looked at as a joke but Jason Schwartzman gives this character a much needed 180 to prevent just that. Again we laugh on how ridiculous his powers appear until he is able to find the uniqueness. Spot’s goal was to be respected by the one who unknowingly wronged him and knew fear was his way to ensure it. Like Miguel, he doesn’t care how far he has to be to get what he wants. And by the time we reach Beyond, we’ll be more terrified of his power than we already are now. With this and Everything Everywhere All at Once, I’m just gonna stop eating bagels from now on. This film holds up very well, yet I can still admit there are a few things that confuse me story wise. Going from the top, why would Gwen leave her suit inside one of her drums? Her dad is a cop for Christ's sake and it's odder than the dispatch not reporting that the Vulture is origami based. The Spot was definitely onto something when trying to steal money from an ATM, but why doesn't he try stealing from a bank? I'm sure he doesn't want to make a scene, but the bigger the better is a case to take advantage of. Again, I don't want to root for villains but this guy missed a big opportunity. I already complained how no one saw Miles walking around a wall outside his dorm when he first got his powers on Into the Spider Verse, but then I lose my marbles over how no one saw him jog on a wall rushing himself to an interview. I ended up having the same thought when he uses his webs to get food at the party. They got to stop making bystanders this oblivious in movies because it's pointless by now. Also, if Gwen had a drone to track down the Spot, why did it take so long to alert her? That's a design flaw to whoever gave her that. I don't even blame Jess for letting Gwen to go to E-1610 to track down the Spot because she wants to trust her, but she should've known she was bound to see Miles again and it could've been avoided if she had just went there herself or send someone else. And I don't think she was right to call Peter B. a bad mentor when all Miles is doing is trying to save his dad. If you ask me, that makes him a great mentor. Also, why was she the only one watching over Jeff when he is the canon event Miles is trying to prevent? There should've been more than Jess no matter how capable she is. It was definitely a handful of funny gags when the Spider Society fail to stop Miles escaping, but they could've acted differently if they really wanted to stop him. They could've swung across the bridge instead of sprinting towards the web and could've surrounded the windows to prevent him leaving. That's more surprising than Miles choosing to go invisible only after jumping off the train when he could've done it to leave the building in easier fashion. And lastly, I don't blame Peter B. taking Mayday along with him to the Web because he most likely didn't anticipate chasing Miles, but it is a whole other thing to still take her with him to help Gwen save Miles. He is knowingly putting his baby in danger and even if the baby ends up being capable to defend herself, he is making another risk to have her see his possible demise which is not a good thing. If you ignore all said issues, you'll love this movie as much as I do. In conclusion, Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse is a great film period for raising the stakes and creating newfound interest with its inventive lore. However Beyond the Spider Verse plays out the conclusion of this trilogy, I am so not ready for. If you are a general fan of Marvel that had a blast with the predecessor, see this now.
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