Back in 2018 (over half a decade ago), Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse changed everything. It’s now widely regarded to be one of the best Spider-Man movie adaptations ever made and has even influenced the American animation industry to start adopting more stylized 2.5D animation (seen in recent movies like Puss In Boots The Last Wish and upcoming movies like Disney’s Wish). It also delved into the Multiverse before the MCU and properly introduced what was previously a niche concept to mass audiences. Now, its sequel, Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse is finally here; is it a worthy sequel?

Thwip, Thwip

The first movie had heavy lifting to do, being burdened with introducing Miles Morales’ origins and setting him up, as well as the concept of a Multiverse, to the public. Spider-Man Across The Spider-Man doesn’t have to do any of that, and as a result, it’s ultimately a much better movie that’s able to focus on more character development. Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse is as much a movie about Hailee Steinfeld’s Gwen Stacy AKA Spider-Woman as it is about Shameik Moore’s Miles Morales. It’s not just about Miles this time around; it’s about both of them almost equally, and that makes the movie much richer in emotional depth.

Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse finally gets into the nitty gritty of what makes Spider-Man stories so good; responsibility and sacrifice, do they go hand in hand? The best Spider-Man stories often feature Spidey struggling to balance his responsibilities; between his responsibility as a superhero as well as to his family and friends. The case is often that Spider-Man has to suffer or sacrifice something in the process. Into The Spider-Verse taught us that anybody can be Spider-Man, which is an uplifting and inspiring message, but Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse is a lot darker by asking the question; does every Spider-Man or Spider-Person have to suffer and make sacrifices?

Thematically, Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse is darker and more emotional (and that’s saying a lot considering the first movie featured multiple deaths), exploring more mature subject matter. It matches the growth of the characters, especially Miles, who is no longer the inexperienced school student he was in the first movie. This movie isn’t afraid to get dark and grim when it has to; some moments genuinely surprised me even as an adult, and it wouldn’t be surprising if this movie ends up winning another Best Animated Picture award at the next Oscars.

With a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes, most of that screen time is actually devoted to the family portions of Miles and Gwen. Their parents have extended and vital roles in this one compared to the last movie. Thankfully, they all deliver amazing performances, including Brian Tyree Henry’s Jefferson Davis (Miles’ father), Luna Lauren Vélez’s Rio Morales (Miles’ mother) and Shea Whigham’s George Stacy (Gwen’s father). The relationship between them and their offsprings provide the main emotional crux and heart of the movie, even with all the Spider-Verse shenanigans.

Kudos as well to Oscar Isaac’s Miguel O’Hara AKA Spider-Man 2099 and Jason Schwartzman’s Jonathan Ohnn AKA The Spot; it’s always great when actors give it their all in their voice performances. It’s impressive how the studio managed to turn The Spot, a C-list villain in the comics at best, into a worthy villain who could hold his own against multiple Spider-People. It’s also commendable how both of them aren’t just villains for the sake of simply being evil, but have relatable motivations and justifications for their actions (perhaps less so for the Spot but still somewhat true).

Like its predecessor, Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse fully embraces its comic book roots, including the stylistic and aesthetic choices. Once again, the movie looks and feels like a living comic book. There’s nothing much I can say about that without being too obvious, but the animators at Sony Pictures Animation have definitely outdone themselves. The visuals and graphics in this movie blows everything out of the water, even when compared to Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse. This certainly sets a new of spectacle standard for animated movies, just like its predecessor did five years ago. Most studios are still trying to beat Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse, let alone this one.

In addition, one of the best aspects of Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse was its ability to surprise even the biggest comic book fans, including yours truly. While comic book readers prior to watching the movie pretty much saw the Uncle Aaron being Prowler twist coming a mile away, there were still unexpected surprises such as the movie not being afraid to feature multiple deaths and the twist of Doctor Olivia being a Doctor Octopus variant. Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse has the benefit of not really following or adapting any set storylines from the comics, so I was on the edge of my seat for the entire movie. There are many moments here that even the most ardent Spider-Man fans won’t see coming, and that’s not even mentioning the cameos and easter eggs galore.

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-People

The only flaw of Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse is that despite being two hours and 20 minutes long, the movie’s story and narrative remain unfinished on its own by the time the credits roll. The movie ends on a cliffhanger that hits almost as hard as the one in Avengers Infinity War. The answer to this is easy; it’s because a third movie (Spider-Man Beyond The Spider-Verse) is already planned to be released in March 2024, which is less than a year from now. Still, it’s really not much of a flaw. Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse is more like Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and The Lord Of The Rings The Two Towers. Both of those movies were the second in a trilogy, but they’re still regarded as iconic. Trust me when I say that Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse has its own moments that can rival those movies. If everything we’ve seen so far is an indication of quality, we can probably rest assured that the payoff will be worth it.

Last but not least, as amazing as Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse is, perhaps it’s better to temper your expectations in some aspects. While the promotional material teases all sorts of Spider-People variants and Spider-Verse stuff, that’s not the majority of the movie’s runtime. As I previously mentioned above, most of the runtime is focused on Miles and Gwen’s family interactions, and fleshing those out. The Spider-Verse stuff you see in the trailers only really happens in the second half of the movie, and though there’s enough of it to satisfy Spider-Man fans (in my opinion), some viewers might still be disappointed if they go into cinemas and expect the whole movie to be like that.

With Great Power, There Must Also Come Great Responsibility

“With great power comes great responsibility” is only one of the many lessons Spider-Man teaches us, but responsibility often requires sacrifice. Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse has perhaps achieved the impossible, by topping Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse, a movie that many fans already consider to be the best Spider-Man movie and one of the best comic book movies. If so, what does that make Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse? A masterpiece. Next year, it has the potential to go even beyond.

FINAL SCORE: 90/100

We attended an early screener of Spider-Man Across The Spider-Man courtesy of Sony Pictures Malaysia. Spider-Man Across The Spider-Man is slated to premiere in Malaysian cinemas on 1 June 2023.