Spider-Man? Another one? How many Spider-People are there? “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” directed by Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, and Joaquin Dos Santos, was released on June 2, 2023 and is the second movie in an ambitious animated trilogy. It follows Miles Morales who is the Spider-Man of Earth-1610 in the infinite “spider-verse.” Miles, voice acted by Shameik Moore, is the leader of a group of various other Spider-People that are joined together to keep the spider-verse intact against the evil scientist, The Spot.

This movie follows what was widely regarded as one of the greatest animated films of all time, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (ITSV), and had very high expectations with promises of hundreds of Spider-People including some fan favorites from the comic books such as Spider-Man 2099, Jessica Drew, and also Ben Reilly’s Spider-Man. Not only was this movie highly anticipated because of cameos but also because of how innovative the first film was. The first film took a previously used animation technique and revamped it, having characters move at different frame rates and it was masterfully executed. The technique has characters like Miles Morales and Hobie Hogan (Spider-Punk) move at different speeds than every other Spider-Person to showcase their unique universe or experience. Hobie moves on threes which means that his character changes every three frames, and Miles moves on twos. ITSV started this with Miles and ATSV followed this and kept continuity within the universe. The film was very successful with viewers; many online reviewers say ATSV surpassed or was equal to ITSV. This is evident with ATSV being at a 96% and ITSV being at a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes (as of September 21, 2023) putting both films in the top 20 animated films of all time according to their website.

This movie might be a sequel but it does not fall into the stereotypes and rather surpasses the first film in its own ways.

There are various reasons for the love this movie is receiving ranging from the six different animation styles used, the virtually unlimited amount of Spider-People, the beautiful story with a cliffhanger that leave theaters speechless, to the soundtrack which hit the top five on the Billboard Charts. The dynamics of all of these combined made the film one-of-a-kind but was amplified by the emotion and range that all the voice actors were able to express. Actors like Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Oscar Issac as the incredible Spider-Man 2099, and also Hailee Steinfield who plays Spider-Gwen escalate the beauty and intensity of the film by having performances that immerses the viewers into the world. Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfield improve immensely from the first installment of the trilogy while Oscar Issac displays another great performance solidifying his extreme range.

This movie is revolutionary in many aspects, but the story is what drove so many people to fall in love with this world. As a whole, Spider-Man has always been a grounded character and that is why people love him. Spider-Man is relatable even in a universe where he fights many villains and swings around New York, but in a universe where so many versions of a loved character are represented, the story exemplifies the message of the character by saying anyone can be behind the mask. Many people are used to the CGI fest, team up films that would rather be an awesome spectacle than a beautiful story. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” does both. It isn’t afraid to try new things and shows many beautiful handmade creations that you can talk about and get lost in for hours. This movie might be a sequel but it does not fall into the stereotypes and rather surpasses the first film in its own ways.

For example, seeing the same film isn’t guaranteed with this movie because there is a possibility you are watching another version of the film. As previously mentioned, this film is extremely ambitious and was released with multiple versions of t

he film in theaters. Fans started to figure this out and went to social media where several animators confirmed that there were at least three different versions of the film released.

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” was expected to be a success at the box office although the first installment of the movie trilogy was not, having made the lowest out of any Spider-Man film — $375.5 million globally. Thankfully, ATSV made $1.21 billion globally which makes it one of the highest grossing animated films of all time and for good reason. ATSV helped save the cinema market in the revitalization that happened this summer along with “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” after the depletion of movie theaters due to COVID-19.
Finally, the animators were willing to push back the release date of the film multiple times showing that they cared more about the project than the profit. The movie was delayed a total of three times because they wanted a perfect film, but it was worth the wait. Viewers are sharing that they are willing to wait again for the final installment of this trilogy “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse” which has already been delayed once. This movie franchise continues to stay revolutionary for the animation industry and fans cannot wait for the last installment of the trilogy. All these reasons lead me to give “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” an official RHS rating of 4.75/5 stars.