Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Note: This review contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Of the more well-known superheroes from Marvel and DC, Marvel’s Spider-Man is one that’s no stranger to adaptations across TV and film. Some have had a lasting ripple effect, like Japanese Spider-Man inspiring the giant robots in Super Sentai (aka Power Rangers) or how the original Sam Raimi Spider-Man (2002) movie helped make superhero films more viable at the box office. Recently, 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse made a huge splash in the world of animation thanks to its well-written story and its unique art style that perfectly replicated a living comic book and demonstrated that a CG film with such an approach could succeed at the box office. Into the Spider-Verse’s success has inspired experimentation in other animated productions, as seen in Sony Animation’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines and DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, as well the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, to name a few.

While time will tell how well other films inspired by Into the Spider-Verse will age, the film itself has remained enjoyable every time we’ve seen it, thanks in part to the continued discovery of new details in both the animation and story. Naturally, we immediately had an interest in the sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, from the millisecond we saw the original trailer (the one that initially labeled it “Part One” before that style of release fell out of favor), leading us to do what we normally haven’t since COVID-19 and watch a film on its opening weekend. Fortunately, Across the Spider-Verse proved itself worthy of its pre-release hype, though its nature as half a full story does affect the experience.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Note: This review contains spoilers for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man duology, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.

After Thanos’ defeat, we had largely lost interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This wasn’t due to any sudden dislike of the brand, but rather that it had turned into more of a lifestyle and the time commitment to keeping up felt unwieldy. Still, there were some movies and shows we had some interest in watching and the multiversal Spider-Man: No Way Home was one of them. During its initial 2021 theatrical run, we still didn’t feel safe going back to a theater due to its high demand, so we patiently waited until a 2022 Blu-ray release, miraculously dodging all spoilers in the process. Fortunately, the wait was well worth it and even though we initially only had interest in the reappearance of the Sam Raimi cast, we ended up liking everything else the film had to offer.

Venom

Note: This review contains spoilers for Venom (2018).

Although I like to keep up with Superhero films, I haven’t necessarily had the desire to see all of them. Case in point, Venom (2018), released only last year by Sony. Simply put, the trailers didn’t appeal to me and I felt turned off by the inability to determine its actual place within Sony’s deal with Marvel Studios. It was only on a recent flight, however, that I decided to finally watch it to form my own opinion (and so I wouldn’t otherwise have to pay to see it). I realize now that I had initially made the right call to avoid it.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

When I first saw a trailer for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, in spite of several recent blunders from Sony’s live-action and animation departments (some of which I only know through negative word-of-mouth), I was a little surprised that I actually wanted to see it, as it looked like a genuinely fun Spider-Man movie with some interesting art direction. With the reveal that the film would also feature a crossover between no less than six versions of the Spider-Man character, I was curious how this would be balanced, though the trailers kept my hopes up. While I could not see this film opening weekend, my recent viewing of it did not disappoint in the least.

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) has been going through some issues, such as having trouble adjusting to a new school (to the point of trying to get expelled), and he silently rebels against his father (a police officer) by placing custom stickers around New York and spraying graffiti in secret locations. While placing one of his pieces up with his uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali), Miles gets bitten by a radioactive spider, soon having to deal with newfound abilities. Following a battle between Spider-Man and Kingpin, that he ends up getting involved in, Miles ends up running into Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), a Peter Parker from another universe, whose help he needs to control his powers and stop Kingpin’s device that creates wormholes to alternate dimensions. It isn’t long, however, before the two discover they aren’t the only Spider-Men running around.

In spite of the number of Spider-Men and the general amount of characters present, the movie is actually pretty easy to follow and balances its cast surprisingly well. When a new Spider-Man is introduced, it goes through a quick recap of their backstory such that it’s very casual and playfully assumes you already know, which allows the movie to more quickly get back into the action and inform you of the multiverse at the same time. The movie also features a sizeable number of villains from Spider-Man lore (most of which are spoilers), however, unlike films such as Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it somehow never feels like there’s too many; Kingpin, the most prominent villain, actually has an interesting backstory that gives a good motivation for wanting to risk tearing up the multiverse, while at the same time making it clear he needs to be stopped because of said risk.

The six Spider-Men trying (and failing) to avoid detection in Miles' dorm room.
From left: Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen (Hailee Syeinfeld), Peni Parker/SP//dr
(Kimiko Glenn), Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man
(Jake Johnson), Peter Parker/Spider-Man Noir (Nicholas Cage),
Peter Porker/Spider-Ham (John Mulaney)

The animation and art direction are both phenomenal. Similarly to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Into the Spider-Verse feels like a living comic book, while taking full adventage of the animation medium to explore this concept to its fullest potential. Three of the six Spider-Men, Peni Parker aka SP//dr (Kimiko Glenn), Peter Parker aka Spider-Man Noir (Nicholas Cage) and Peter Porker aka Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), each also feature their own animation styles, which the movie manages to blend really well with its own “comic book” style nature while taking opportunities to embellish the characters’ own styles when necessary. Spider-Ham in particular has a style more akin to a Looney Tunes cartoon, which is taken advantage of for very well-timed comedy.

Though brief, the late Stan Lee also makes an animated cameo in this film, as his lines were recorded sometime prior to his passing. Similarly to Once Upon a Deadpool, the movie also features a tribute to Stan Lee in a mid-credits scene, during which it properly credits him alongside the late Steve Ditko as co-creators of Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of the best cinematic interpretations of Spider-Man. The animation is amazing (pun intended) and takes full of advantage of the comic book aesthetic, backed by great writing and characterization. It’s clear a lot of passion was put into this film, as it’s essentially a love letter to the character that fans can appreciate while allowing itself to be more open for newer fans as well. It should be noted that some of the different Spider-Men (all of which aside from Peter B. Parker are pre-existing characters) are more obscure than others, so some research may be required for anyone that doesn’t know them. It is also worth staying after the credits for a very special scene.

For a list of links to additional Spider-Man reviews, visit our Spider-Man Review Hub.

Stubs - Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) Starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Tyne Daly, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr. Directed by Jon Watts. Screenplay by Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers. Based on Spider-Man by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Produced by Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal Runtime: 133 minutes. USA Color Superhero, Action

Sony has had an interesting history with the Spider-Man franchise. There were the three films directed by Sam Raimi, starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and James Franco. After breaking with Raimi over creative differences, the studio tried to relaunch the franchise as The Amazing Spider-Man directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. While successful at the box office, these efforts paled by comparison with the original series.

Following the North Korean hacking of SPE's emails and the executive reshuffle that followed, Sony allowed Spider-Man to appear in an Avengers' film, Captain America: Civil War (2016), with a new actor, Tom Holland, playing the web-slinger. Now, Holland gets to star in his own reboot, Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Tom Holland as Spider-Man.

As compared with The Amazing Spider-Man series, this new film is a success. Holland is at 21, a good choice to play the teenage Peter Parker, and runs rings around Garfield's depiction. However, this version seems less like a Spider-Man series and more like Iron-Man 3.5. Like his depiction in the Amazing Spider-Man films, Spider-Man is less organic than the first go around. The web not only doesn't come out of Parker, but originates from devices that were apparently designed by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Even the Spider-Man suit is an elastic version of Stark's Iron Man outfit. A reboot without an origin story, Homecoming does hint that Parker was bitten by a spider, but it seems that much of his powers originate from the suit and not from the spider bite.

Iron Man is never far away in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The connection to Iron Man is underlined by the nearly constant presence of "Happy" Hogan (Jon Favreau), Stark's bodyguard/chauffeur, as well as the repeated appearances of Stark/Iron Man. Part of the backstory involves the move of Avenger headquarters from New York to some location upstate and the cleanup in the aftermath of the epic battle at the end of Marvel's The Avengers (2012), placing this film well within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The villain, Adrian Toomes/Vulture (Michael Keaton) is taken from the pages of the long-running comic book series, but his origin story has been updated to fit into the MCU. Keaton, who started out as a comedian, has proven himself to be a very good dramatic actor. He came to fame playing the caped crusader in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) and has most recently been seen in such films as Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) and The Founder (2016). As good as he was a hero, he is equally good as a nemesis, which the film sets up for a possible return. While I have no idea what Sony/Marvel have in mind for the next Spider-Man film, we're told Spider-Man will return, they could do a lot worse than bringing Adrian Toomes back.

Michael Keaton plays Adrian Toomes/Vulture.

Now that we're up to three different versions of the story and three different actors, so far, playing the lead character, one starts to do a James Bond-like comparison. While Holland is good, Maguire gets the nod as the best so far to have worn the suit. Garfield, unfortunately, will end up with a comparison to George Lazenby, an actor who tops no one's list as the best 007.

This is definitely a different way to view Spider-Man. He is more Spider-Boy than Man, though he seems to be growing into the role. Homecoming is definitely aimed as much to a millennial audience as it is to the longtime fans of the comic book. This time around Parker's world is explicitly diverse. There is no Mary Jane or Harry in this version, rather there is a Michelle "MJ" Jones (Zendaya), a

non-love interest, and Ned (Jacob Batalon), who plays his best friend. These two will no doubt be back, as will his modernized Aunt May Parker (Marisa Tomei). His love interest, Liz (Laura Harrier), is a senior while he is a sophomore, but there never seems to be any real chemistry between them as Parker's secret life keeps trumping his love life.

Like any superhero film, there are the requisite big battles and action scenes and Homecoming has at least three that would qualify. The special effects are very good and the film looks very good in 3D/Imax if you're in the mood to pay more to see more.

One of the problems with the MCU is that you don't feel like you can miss any of the films without falling behind. I've used the analogy of school to describe how this makes me feel as a movie-goer. I feel like I'm required to see some of these films. However, Spider-Man: Homecoming was not that kind of film. I would have seen this one even if it wasn't so entrenched in the MCU.

That said, while I can definitely recommend this film, beware that it doesn't supplant Spider-Man 2 (2004) as the best in the series and I would go so far as to place it third behind Spider-Man (2002). Good, but not quite great, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a good summertime movie and should be seen if you want a good time at the theater.