Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Finally, a multiverse worth exploring.
Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld hang out in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is a grown man, in his thinking. He’s 15, and has been working as Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man for over a year. And while he believes he’s got life figured out…it’s a pretty lonely existence.
Miles misses his mentor Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) and his friend Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), who returned to their respective parallel universes. Without his fellow Spider-pals, Miles has no one who understands the things he goes through. There’s a lot of pressure to being a superhero that a 15-year-old kid isn’t equipped to process alone.
So when Gwen shows up talking about a Spider Society, Miles is psyched. He desperately wants to join the group of Spider-powered people from across the multiverse. The society is run by Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), who has dedicated his life to eliminating anomalies from all the universes and preserving the “canon”. Miguel blames Miles for the anomalies popping up through the spider-verse and disrupting the canon.
Do canon events need to happen in order to keep the multiverse stable? Or is there room for more than one storyline?
Marvel movies have been lumbering out the concept of the multiverse for years with varying success. Mostly it’s still a bit of a nebulous concept with diminishing narrative returns. But with Sony’s sequel to the equally excellent Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, moviegoers were introduced to a multiverse concept that is easy to follow, visually thrilling, and most important of all — fun.
Directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson used a “more is more” approach to their storytelling, bombarding the audience with a myriad of plots, Easter eggs, and stunning visuals. The result is a movie that washes over you, offering plenty of plot, but also a sensory understanding of the multiverse as a concept and how it applies to those in the film.
The movie is also an interesting look at fandom and fandom culture. The obsession with canon — both preserving it and the necessity of it — clearly nods to the fans of both comics and movies that can get locked into one way to tell a story. Miguel seems to be a cipher for the fans that revolt at the first sign of deviation.
Is Spider-Man still Spider-Man if Uncle Ben lives? What can you change about a story without ruining what makes that story speak to so many?
And while basing a movie around a Ship of Theseus paradox might seem…a little heavy for a cartoon, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is such a fun ride that it makes philosophical conundrums a blast to consider. The movie has plenty of laughs and keeps things light even as they lead you through the harder topics. The movie thrives in its excess, and there’s no way you can catch every reference in one or two viewings.
As impressive as the technical feats and storytelling are, the movie is at its best in its quiet, simple moments. Moore and Steinfeld shine brightest in the quiet moments of Miles and Gwen’s lives. Both of them want to find understanding with their loved ones, but they also know how unlikely it is that they’ll be accepted. It’s a painful knowledge, and one that drives them to find a spider community.
The idea of finding people who understand you and support you fully is intoxicating, and it’s easy to see why Miles would leap at the opportunity to meet others like him.
While Marvel is still trudging through Phase 5 with middling results, Across the Spider-Verse dives headlong into its expanded universe. The movie that results is a great example of multiverse storytelling and keeping your characters emotionally vital. Filmmakers prove that with the right touch, you can have your cake and eat it too (or in this case, have a Spider T-Rex and a speech about supporting your kid no matter what).
Verdict: Stuffed to the brim with references, visual delights, and heart, this is a movie that will thrive upon multiple viewings.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is rated PG and is available in theaters.
