Sony's back-to-back multiverse gems! Spider-Man: Across The Spider-verse Spoiler Review

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-verse was sure to be big considering the first part's Oscar win in 2019 followed by many people discovering the film on Netflix.

The sequel has me torn between feeling it's not a full story but unable to not appreciate the detailed animation and great moments including that amazing build up to the cliffhanger ending.

Spider-Gwen

Though Miles Morales is the lead, the movie is focused more on Gwen. It starts with her, explores her relationship with her dad and ends with her forming her own 'band' consisting of new and old favourites. That doesn't mean Miles doesn't have his moments but it doesn't feel resolved at least not yet. Gwen also served as the means through which Miles got to the Spider Society. It was hinted that Miles is not part of the Spider Society and we were led to believe that it's just because it's not his turn yet but when the truth was revealed it made me appreciate the writing. It was great to see the love interest who also happens to be superpowered have a good story while not totally stealing the main leads' spotlight.

"Who is the new guy?"

The moment Miles entered Mumbhattan and the music kicked in; I was excited. The scenes delivered, I laughed at the references and easter eggs. Pavitr is a well designed and likeable character.

'I have holes' - the better version

The trailers showed us how well spot could be used for comedy with a little hint to what he could actually do, but the movie beautifully builds this silly character into a terrifying villain who is ready to wreak havock in the threequel.

Spider Society

I loved the Spider Society bit, seeing all different kinds of Spider-men and the live action Easter eggs. This movie gave us so many likeable characters who I'd love to see more of - Spiderbyte, Mayday and Peter B. Parker, Miguel, Spider-Punk and Pavitr Prabhakar.

Spider-Man 2099 seems to be the villain of the movie, even making the Spider Society seem like an evil organisation but in retrospect it's more like a Civil War situation where both the sides are right from their perspective. It would be interesting to see how they resolve this in Beyond The Spider-verse.

"Who is Spider-man?"

Coming off of the intense scene where Miguel reveals to Miles that he is the 'original' anomaly and Miles escapes using the machine and tells his mother that he is Spider-Man only for her to have a not so Miles' mom we know reaction and ask 'Who is Spider-man?'. The dialogues and editing leading up to the reveal that Miles was actually sent to Earth 42 was just brilliant. The tension was palpable with stalking foes, the Prowler reveal, Spot arriving in Spider-Man Miles' universe and Gwen forming the band. It almost feels like the Infinity War of the Spider-Verse.

Beyond the Spider-Verse

I couldn't find meaning in the titles, while writing this it struck me - Into The Spider-verse - Miles is introduced to the spider-verse, Across The Spider-verse which I originally thought meant different types of Spider-men across universes but it could actually hint at Miles being transported 'Across The Spider-verse ' to the wrong dimension which I hope means that 'Beyond The Spider-verse' will be the ideal Spider-Man movie that shows us what Spider-Man actually stands for 'beyond ' the Spider-Verse. Anyways title breakdowns aside, the ending puts so many possibilities in motion for the threequel it's definitely going to surprise us. Do Gwen and Miguel know that Miles is in the wrong universe? Will Gwen and her 'band' be there to protect Jeff from Spot? Will the Prowler work with or against Miles at the end of the day? These all could play out in so many ways we don't know what could happen and that is exciting!

"Everyone keeps telling me how my story should go,...nah, I'm gonna do my own thing"

Miles Morales' journey was really relatable, he was longing to be with this found family of spider people who he thought understood him better than his parents because who knows how they would react when they get to know he is Spider-Man? It was great to see him make all those wrong decisions to be with and around these people and his journey is definitely not complete and I'm interested to see where this journey takes him.

Miles looked so good, his costume looked so great, that I'm longing to see him in live action. I know it's not a good idea, but who knows it could work out because the Spider-Verse has used the Multiverse the best with No Way Home, Into The Spider-Verse and Across The Spider-verse whereas Marvel with the MCU and DC aren't able to reach the same quality of storytelling with the multiverse.

'Not always'

I was never a big fan of Spider-Man, even though the Sam Riami trilogy was one of the first superhero and comic book movies I watched as a child. With No Way Home and Across The Spider-verse focusing so much on the sacrifice aspect of the character, I'm starting to fall in love with the concept of Spider-man. In conclusion, Across The Spider-verse especially in it's first half feels like part-one of a great story with great animation and a well executed cliff-hanger ending. I hope Beyond The Spider-verse is able to finish this well setup story with satisfaction.

Let me know your thoughts.