Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

When I first watched Into the Spider-Verse, I was high a kite and absolutely dug every minute of it. A few months later, I watched it again and I don't know man… It was just one of those really exciting moments of serendipity where something you're starting to get into at the time gets totally propelled into an obsession because of an artistic experience.

It was the fall of 2020, and I was starting to take a 2D Graphics Computer Science class. Meaning I was learning a lot about graphics, I guess, whatever, but the point is that the animation in Into the Spider-Verse was just absolutely blowing me away on a technical and aesthetic level. It was like "wow, this is really cool they're trying so many new things".

Then, as these things often go, I went on to YouTube and started watching a ton of videos about all things Spider-Verse. In my journey down this particular YouTube rabbit hole, I discovered that the creators had spent a lot of time explaining their creative and technical processes. They were constantly experimenting and using animation/graphics as a storytelling tool in unique, creative ways. The film ignited my desire to learn more and more about the world of animation which, in turn, catalyzed my interest in computer graphics.

The role that Into the Spider-Verse played on my ongoing fascination with animation was so overwhelming that the movie just always kind of stuck with me as an canonical film experience. Obviously, that's not to mention the depth of the characters, the world building in Brooklyn, and just like the themes (family dynamics, obviously coming of age, race, generational divides, etc.) The theme that Across the Spider-Verse builds on the most, finding your people, stuck with me more than any other due to its nuances in both films: its not just trying to fit into a group because you're lonely or you're bored or there's peer pressure… it's about wanting to surround yourself with people you think are cool and inspiring… wanting to be accepted by people who are doing something that you want to be doing… I don't know, it's just cool, it's cool, healthy, and universal.

And so yeah, going into my first Across the Spider-Verse viewing, the hype around it was like so intense. The trailers were crazy, it was going to feature all different types of animation, and the reviews were comparing it to legendary animated/superhero films. All indications were that they really had gone to another level.

But to me, I held Into the Spider-Verse in such high esteem that it was going to take something monumental for Across to compare to its predocessor. So when I left my Across the Spider-Verse screening, I was like, damn, that was awesome but not quite as mind-blowing (i know i was being cynical and perhaps unfairly harsh).

I really liked what they were expanding upon in the sequel, like the themes of acceptance, the family aspect, and, again, finding your community… The desire to be amongst your peers, but not to go too far as to conform. Like, Miles Morales really, really wants to be part of this community, and, when he eventually gets there, he doesn't like what he sees. You need people, like Miles, to not only point out what needs to change, but to spur on the complicate, like-minded members to put change into action. It's never easy to be that individual, especially when you're new to a group, but it often takes fresh, unjaded perspectives to identify the core issues in any environment. Across the Spider-Verse not only challenges us to see past the idealized version of the community we want to join but to actively identify and solve the issues plaguing said group.

Also, I mean, I think it's a trans allegory, which is really cool. I mean it might not be, but I'm going to read it as such regardless (and its really easy to do so). Oh! also I love Spider-Punk.

It's been a journey of trying to like compare the two films. I love them both, but this time around Across the Spider-Verse, similarly to the second time I watched Into, kind of hit me on a different level. The animation is groundbreaking, the themes are as rich as the first, and the movie does belong amongst the canons of animated and superhero films.