Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is a worthy sequel to the amazing Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Hello fellow web-heads and true believers! I’m sure you have already seen the newest installment of the animated Spider-Verse, but if not, here is a spoiler free review. 

We, and Miles Morales, are reunited with Spider-Gwen (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) through an amazingly elaborate voice-over introduction. Gwen is able to swing over and worlds literally collide once more as we meet what feels like every Spider-Version you could think of. It certainly is an intricate and fragile web that is woven in this movie that our hero Miles Morales needs to figure out. Miles is growing up, and his problems are growing up as well. He will, once again, take a leap of faith, but will it wash this spider out?

One of my favorites performances in this film, and there are many, is Hobie Brown aka Spider-Punk from Earth-138. Daniel Kaluuya voices Spider-Punk and nails it. He gives off the perfect 70s British Punk rocker persona who is dedicated to anti-establishment anarchy and his artwork reflects that. His animation style is changing constantly, like static never staying in one style for long. He keeps to his path and helps Miles stay focused on what truly matters moving forward, helping to shape Miles’ decision.

My second stand out of the new spider crew of Miguel O’Hara’s Spider Society, is Pavitr Prabhakar (voiced by Karan Soni) from-Earth 50101. This wholesome Spidey gets his powers from an ancient yogi, not a radioactive spider. Pavitr is my new favorite Spider-Man because he truly embodies what we love about the character: his ethics, easy-going personality, optimism and is just a lovable, self-sacrificing, and all-around friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Karan Soni truly brought this character’s personality and energy to life. His storyline mixed with Miles’s actions are what really sent this story into motion and escalates the canon breaking to come. 

The artwork in these films is such a stand-out and one of the main reasons they must be experienced in the cinema, for me. The mixed media and call backs to other Spider-Man films/comics used in this film alone makes it visually interesting. Then there’s the soundtrack. While we may not have Sunflowers, the music by Swae Lee, Lil Wayne, Metro Boomin, Nas, 2 Chainz and so many more will guarantee you’ll be nodding your head to the music. More importantly, just like webs, the music will interlink with rhythms throughout the movie, tying them together to send us to the cliffhanger we were all disappointed to have.

And about that cliffhanger… at my screening the amount of people saying, ‘Oh, hell no!’ just proved how much we’ve all anticipated this movie and how much we crave more. However, for now, we’ll just have to wait but I personally plan on seeing it at least one more time in theaters to pick out all the fun easter eggs and throwback artwork that was in this movie. There are no stingers at the end but the art and music is enough to stick around through the credits.

Overall, I think this is a strong sequel to the game-changing Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

4 out of 5 Thwips