Four years after the release of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” (SITSV) Sony released their newest animated sensation, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” (SATSV) June 1. With a 96 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes the film managed to bring in 120 million dollars on its opening weekend.  

Following the success of the first movie, SATSV picks up one year after the end of SITSV. The story centers around Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and how the results of his actions in the first film impact the whole of spider society.  

The plot of SATSV still involves key characters like Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), while introducing other integral spider people like Miguel O’ Hara (Oscar Isaac), Hobie Brown (Daniel Kaluuya) and Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni). 

The most notable thing about this film, outside of the cast and characters, is the amount of time and effort that went into making the entire thing possible. From its bright colors, seamless animation and creative character designs to the overall script and story, SATSV showcased why they needed the time between 2018 to 2023 to develop their masterpiece.  

Characters like Hobie Brown took three years to animate alone and the chase scene advertised in trailers took the entirety of the four years.  

This series also did a wonderful job at establishing plot connections between the first and second movie. There are parts from SITSV that foreshadow the events presented in SATSV in extremely subtle ways. These stylistic choices made for better writing as a whole in terms of continuation of the general plot. 

Audiences might find that the soundtrack for SATSV may not be memorable as SITSV, the score is far stronger and created an atmosphere to back scenes that held high tension. Each character’s introduction music also added a different layer of storytelling to the film. 

Some critics have discounted the series in the past as they do not view animation to be a serious or thoughtful form of filmmaking. However, animation as a medium of filmmaking makes for a more accessible and emotional experience for viewers because it is not limited by age or actors’ physical capabilities. 

SATSV and SITSV also inspired a whole generation of animators and artists as trends like “creating a spider-sona” came from the release of these movies. People were able to reimagine themselves as their beloved superhero and participate in something that expanded the globe.  

It is like Miles Morales said in SITSV, “Anyone can wear the mask. You could wear the mask. If you didn’t know that before, I hope you do now.” 

All in all, the movie gets a strong ten-out-of-ten. Whether it be in reference to the score, the voice acting, the characters or the animation, the movie was beautifully conducted on all fronts. Audiences can experience the magic of SATSV across theaters now. 

Meagan Garcia is the arts & culture editor and may be reached at [email protected].