There are great expectations for Miles Morales - from both the people he’s tasked with saving in his world and from us pure viewers to the thrills of that heroism - and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s boundless energy challenges them at every turn. After 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse - which many consider the best Spider-Man movie to date - the kid who had to learn that anyone could wear the mask has to reckon with what to do with it while the world is watching, and how to hold on to agency in his own story when the past, present, and future are all screaming at him to do things the way they’re supposed to be done. Across the Spider-Verse is as reverent an ode to webslinging - and to the storytelling possibilities of animation - as its forerunner. But, the substance doesn’t always overcome style here, and the specifics of Across the Spider-Verse’s story often get lost in the unstoppable pace of the action. The multiverse is a consistently exciting, yet perilous proving ground for Miles, and though it isn’t perfect, his next big leap as Spider-Man confirms his elevation to hero status was no fluke.
A year on from defeating Kingpin and the destruction of his multiverse-shaking supercollider, Miles (Shameik Moore) is proving himself a true Spidey by struggling to balance his personal and heroic obligations. He’s made significant strides in his day-to-day webslinging, even honing his unique invisibility and venom strike abilities without Peter B. Parker’s (Jake Johnson) mentorship. Where Miles struggles most, though, is seeing himself in a larger context, and continuing to come to terms with what his great power means for his growingly complicated future. That plays out in the expected strife going on between the teen Miles and his parents Rio (Luna Lauren Velez) and Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry) as they clash over his attitude and desire to take early college courses a whole one state over.
Miles’ early and dismissive encounters with The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) and his many holes have surprising consequences and provide the catalyst needed to put him back in the path of his more experienced extradimensional counterparts. Across the Spider-Verse extrapolates the self-doubt Miles feels in preparing for the next chapter in both of his lives into a full-blown multiversal action epic, with countless Spider-beings swinging by to needle his fragile sense of belonging. Shameik Moore’s performance channels the subtlety of what one year can do to a teen boy’s demeanor and strikes a good balance between Miles’ more pronounced angst - exacerbated by doubters on all sides - with the sensitive tender heart of the gifted and good guy we know him to be. Across the Spider-Verse impressively does so without ever pushing hard enough in one direction to make any of his choices feel outlandish or out of step with his character.
Even in a reality where one could throw a bagel and hit a Spider-person, Miles is still singled out for his role in upsetting the Spider-Verse by Spider-Man 2099, Miguel O’Hara, portrayed by a hard-nosed Oscar Isaac. Miguel leads the multiverse-defending Spider Society, and his dogmatic attention to the personal cost all Spider-people historically have to pay to wield their great power with the greatest possible sense of responsibility forces an ideological split between him and Miles. Miguel’s warlike “anything to protect the multiverse” stance doesn’t demonstrate much empathy, a baseline for most heroes, and Isaac keeps his seething performance in line with a leader who, as written, seems closed off to any tactical possibilities that don’t involve sacrificing a piece of oneself for the greater good.
The directors use Miles to double down on Into the Spider-Verse’s themes of accepting one’s own potential, which leaves the Gwen material feeling a little fresher.
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Caught in between these battling perspectives is Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), whose increased share of the narrative leaves her with as much (if not more) influence on the story’s direction as Miles. This investment in Gwen is clear from the jump: Across the Spider-Verse’s impactful opening sequence largely follows her struggle to find common ground with her dad, Captain Stacy, and sets her up with complicated and rich reasons for choosing when and how to help Miles on his own journey. Directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson use Miles to double down on Into the Spider-Verse’s themes of accepting one’s own potential, which leaves the Gwen material feeling a little fresher. It’s impressive that the sequel doesn’t just use the extended cast for pure novelty value, but takes care to flesh them out further. The character work’s especially important in the face of Across the Spider-Verse’s more complicated plot, which drops details and foreshadowing faster than Peter Parker could web them up and manfully scream as he tries to hold it all together.
After the universal acclaim rightly heaped on Into the Spider-Verse’s singular animation, there was never any doubt that Across the Spider-Verse would aim to up the ante. On a technical level, Across the Spider-Verse is a wonder. Just like it’s taken years to come to a more full appreciation of Into the Spider-Verse’s densely textured vision of all things Spider-Man, it’s going to take time to unpack every little embellishment, every framerate change that slyly points to characters having high or low status in comparison to each other, but the sum of those parts is instantly readable as a refinement of the techniques deployed or pioneered by Into the Spider-Verse and for anyone who just needed to hear “ it’s better looking than Into the Spider-Verse,” well, you’ve got what you came for.
The supporting voice cast rises to meet the standard-setting animation, with committed and engaged performances from both the new and returning cast. Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) returns to support Miles, and Across the Spider-Verse smartly ties that support to the parental tendencies Peter displayed towards his young protege last time. Of course, Miles is no longer Peter’s youngest protege, as Peter spends most of the movie “babysitting” his new infant Mayday, which really just translates to him actively training his daughter while on the job. Rampant multiversal tampering, death-defying clashes between realities, and Peter doesn’t even bother to web Mayday into her papoose. It’s totally in line with the aloof, schlubby Peter we fell in love with last time and a constant source of laughs.
Daniel Kaluuya stands out as the self-assured Spider-Punk, and the kickass anti-authoritarian who paradoxically finds himself serving a multiversal police force is such a cool wild card that I think I have to spell wyld with a “y.” And though the villain’s personal ties to Miles aren’t all that convincing, Jason Schwartzman’s Spot ends up coming out of Across the Spider-Verse having made a surprisingly strong impression. Much like Miles when he started his journey, The Spot struggles to harness his power in service of his goal, and Schwartzman expectedly bumbles his way through those early attempts at getting justice for himself. Once his anger focuses those abilities into something truly dangerous, Across the Spider-Verse strikingly animates the character’s malice in harsh, inky scrawlings that evoke angry threats scratched in the back of a notebook, and Schwartzman’s performance shifts from bumbling to disturbed to match that edgy, violent quality.
The frenetic pace at which Across the Spider-Verse pinballs from frame to frame is both dazzling and exhausting.
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Daniel Pemberton’s score, likewise, grows and shifts with the changes in style that pervade the film and further add to the vital pulse that keeps the movie moving. The frenetic pace at which Across the Spider-Verse pinballs from frame to frame is both dazzling and exhausting. For all the glorious tableaus of Spider action the movie treats us to, the comparatively simple and quiet moments can often pack as hard a punch. A rooftop catchup between Miles and Gwen, with each relaying the difficulties that have come with maintaining family relationships, is staged with the heroes hanging upside down and taking in a view of New York from a perspective only they can. It’s about as much space as the movie gives the two characters to explore their complicated feelings for superheroism, and for the solace they find in one another.
These pure character beats are rare for Across the Spider-Verse, but that they connect so effectively is a good indicator that the heart of the story beats strong, even when the logic-bending plot becomes difficult at times to parse. Across the Spider-Verse has no illusions about being the middle chapter in a trilogy, but the structural pitfalls that come with setting up an exciting finale do end up taking some of the air out of the climax of the film, especially with how abruptly things come to a close.
