Marvel and Sony’s critically-acclaimed animated 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is widely regarded as one of the best Spider-Man movies. Released in theaters on June 2, its sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, is becoming just as beloved — if not more. Given a fan-favorite relatable character like Spider-Man, it’s no surprise that this is the case. But what’s great about the Marvel superhero is the way they have evolved through the years.
Nowadays, Spider-Man is much more than just Peter Parker. There’s a whole multiverse of Spider-Heroes, and that’s (just part of) what has made and continues to make the Spider-Verse movies great.
There are a great number of reasons to love the Spider-Verse sequel, but here are five of the things we loved about the latest movie about Marvel’s resident web-slinger (spoilers below!):
Gwen Stacy’s Arc
There’s no doubt Across the Spider-Verse is a movie about Miles Morales (Shameik Moore). But don’t be fooled; Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) is much more than just a supporting character in this film. Her story opens and closes the movie. It’s what makes the film come full circle, and it was a pleasant surprise to see her narrative be the one that kick-started the movie.
The audience sees her challenges and experiences her hesitations with her throughout the movie. Her journey is woven through this overall narrative of Spider-Heroes and doesn’t get lost amidst the primary plot concerning Miles. Rather, Gwen’s is a driving force for the next part of Miles’s story.
It was also nice to see Gwen come to terms with the life she has and discover she has what she wants. By the end, she has a supportive dad who won’t hold her back and is in a “band” — her team of fellow Spider-Heroes.
The Relationship Between Miles and His Mom
From her scorning him for not acing Spanish in school to ungrounding him to supporting his crush on Gwen, Miles’s relationship with his mom, Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Vélez), was heartwarming and amusing all at the same time. Even in the alternate dimension, it’s clear that Miles’s mom is a great parent. She offers unconditional support to her son during what was clearly a stressful situation. Her character provides a great balance of motherly love and necessary guidance.
The Cameos
In a movie with “Spider-Verse” in the title, cameos were inevitable. Spider-Man: No Way Home proved how much Spidey fans all love and missed Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men. So to see snippets from their respective films — albeit sad moments — be used as cameos in Across the Spider-Verse was exciting. Even more thrilling, seeing Donald Glover reprise his role as the live-action Uncle Aaron/Prowler was great.
But an amazing and underappreciated cameo was Sun-Spider, commonly known as Charlotte Webber.
Sun-Spider is a wheelchair- and crutch-using Spider-Hero who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). The fan-created character’s first in-story comics appearance was in Spider-Verse (2019) #6 and had her own solo story in last year’s Edge of Spider-Verse #4. Now, the disabled web-slinger is an on-screen hero whose inclusion provides much-needed and well-deserved representation.
The Variety of Visuals
As a comic book reader, one of the best parts about Across the Spider-Verse was the artwork. The visuals were absolutely stunning, and it was awesome to see a multitude of styles featured throughout the film. Admittedly, the variety of art directions isn’t for everyone and can be overwhelming for some people. But it was more than just showing off various artworks for the sake of doing so.
For one, it’s a multiverse. Every style makes it easy to differentiate between the various universes. But the featured cast of Spider-Heroes each had a particular art style to help further make them their own. Because, while they all may be tied to one another through their heroic characterizations, it’s also important to recognize how each one is special.
All in all, watching the movie truly felt like watching a comic book — it was AMAZING. I may or may not have cried about how in awe I was of such a feat.
Spider-Punk
When Miles asks Spider-Punk/Hobie Brown (Daniel Kaluuya) “How are you even cooler under your mask?” we all felt that. It was one of those instances of the character representing the audience. Spider-Punk is much more than a cool character, though.
Despite Hobie being presented — from Miles’s perspective — as a romantic threat in regards to Gwen, he is a supportive ally and unapologetically himself. Hobie knows who he is and stays true to his beliefs. He doesn’t care about the “authority” Spider-Man 2099/Miguel O’Hara has, and he possesses a nonchalant confidence in himself that anyone would aspire to have.
Even if Hobie’s not one to be a part of a team, he’s not too cool to be a team player if the opportunity is right. His skills, knowledge and experience help Miles escape imprisonment in the Spider Society, and his way of living helps encourage Miles to “do his own thing” when it comes to his own story. Not to mention Hobie also stole various bits and pieces from throughout the Spider Society headquarters to create a handmade wristband for Gwen.
