SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE
SPIDER-VERSE
Spider-Man: Across the
Spider-Verse is a 2023 American computer-animated superhero film featuring the
Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia
Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel Entertainment, and
distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The sequel to Spider-Man: Into the
Spider-Verse (2018), it is set in a shared multiverse of alternate universes
called the Spider-Verse. The film is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp
Powers and Justin K. Thompson, from a screenplay written by Phil Lord,
Christopher Miller (who both also produce) and David Callaham. Shameik Moore
voices Miles, starring alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna
Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Daniel
Kaluuya, and Oscar Isaac. In the film, Miles goes on an adventure with Gwen
Stacy / Spider-Woman across the multiverse where he meets a new team of
Spider-People known as the Spider-Society, led by Miguel O' Hara / Spider-Man
2099, but comes into conflict with them over handling a new threat.
Sony began developing a
sequel to Into the Spider-Verse before its 2018 release, with the writing and
directing team attached. It was set to focus on the relationship between
Moore's Miles and Steinfeld's Gwen. The sequel was officially announced in
November 2019 and animation work began in June 2020, with a different visual
style for each of the six universes visited by the characters. With a runtime
of 140 minutes, it is the longest animated film ever produced by an American
studio.
Spider-Man: Across the
Spider-Verse premiered at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles,
California on May 30, 2023, and was released in the United States on June 2,
having been delayed from an original April 2022 date due to the COVID-19
pandemic. Like its predecessor, the film received acclaim from critics. It has
earned over $390 million against a production budget of $100 million at the
worldwide box office, surpassing its predecessor and becoming the ninth-highest-grossing
film of 2023. A third film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, is scheduled
to be released on March 29, 2024, while a female-focused spin-off film,
Spider-Woman, is in development.
PLOT
On Earth-65, Gwen Stacy is
struggling to live up to the expectations of her police captain father, who
does not know that she is Spider-Woman. Years prior, Gwen accidentally killed
her best friend Peter Parker while he was mindlessly rampaging as the Lizard,
and the police have been hunting Spider-Woman ever since, not knowing Gwen's
identity. One night in Manhattan, Gwen encounters a version of the Vulture from
an Italian Renaissance-themed alternate universe. Spider-People Miguel O'Hara
and Jess Drew arrive using portal-generating watches and help Gwen subdue the
Vulture. Gwen is confronted by her father and reveals her identity. Distraught,
he attempts to arrest her. She escapes through a dimensional portal with the
others after Miguel begrudgingly grants her membership in the Spider-Society.
In Brooklyn on Earth-1610,
sixteen months after the destruction of the Alchemax collider,[a] Miles Morales
is adapting to being Spider-Man while missing Gwen and struggling to live up to
his parents' expectations. He encounters the Spot, a scientist whose body was
infused with portals after the Alchemax collider explosion.[a] Blaming Miles
for his dilemma, the Spot brings Miles to Alchemax and reveals the spider that
bit Miles came from another universe—Earth-42—when the Spot was testing the
collider. He then accidentally transports himself into a void, where he learns
to travel to other universes containing the Alchemax collider to use them to
empower himself.
Gwen travels to Earth-1610
and reconnects with Miles, though she secretly tracks the Spot across
dimensions. Miles secretly watches Gwen trace the Spot to Earth-50101 as Jess
instructs Gwen to leave Miles behind. After Gwen opens a portal to Mumbattan,
India, Miles follows her, and they team up with Spider-Men Pavitr Prabhakar and
Hobie Brown against the Spot, who successfully absorbs the power of that
world's collider. Miles is struck with a vision of his father dying at the
hands of the Spot before the Spot escapes. In the ensuing destruction of the
collider, Miles saves Pavitr's girlfriend's father, a police captain, but
Mumbattan begins falling apart from the disruption of a "canon
event". Members of the Spider-Society arrive to assess the damage of the
dimensional anomaly, while Miles, Gwen, and Hobie are sent to their
headquarters on Earth-928, where hundreds of Spider-people variants reside in a
massive complex. They meet up with Miguel and are joined by Peter B. Parker and
his daughter Mayday, as Miguel explains how each Spider-Man's story contains
"canon events", such as the death of a police captain close to Spider-Man,
and that straying from those events threatens the fabric of the multiverse.
Miles realizes the death of
his father, who is set to be promoted to police captain in two days, is a canon
event. Miguel argues with Miles before imprisoning him, but Hobie helps Miles
break loose before using a portal to quit the Spider-Society. Miguel orders all
Spider-People to apprehend Miles, resulting in a frenzied chase through the
complex and city. Miguel pins Miles down and reveals Miles is the original
anomaly, as he was never supposed to become Spider-Man, and that Earth-42
consequently has no Spider-Man. Miles flees and, with the help of Margo Kess,
returns to what he believes is his home dimension. Miguel, seeing Gwen as a
liability, ejects her from the Spider-Society. Gwen reconciles with her father,
who decides to resign as police captain. Realizing his resignation is evidence
that canon can be safely averted, Gwen decides to aid Miles, leaving Earth-65
with a bootleg portal watch Hobie left her.
As Miles returns to his
apartment, he reveals to his mother that he is Spider-Man, whom she does not
recognize. After glitching, encountering his deceased uncle Aaron Davis, and
learning that his father has already died, Miles realizes that he is on
Earth-42. Aaron interrogates Miles and is joined by Earth-42's Miles, who has
become the Prowler. Miguel, Jess, and Ben Reilly travel to Earth-1610 in search
of Miles just as the Spot arrives and begins his attack. After sending Ben to
another dimension and speaking with Miles's parents on Earth-1610, Gwen
assembles a Spider-team to find Miles, consisting of Peter B., Mayday, Pavitr,
Hobie, Margo, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham.
VOICE CAST
FURTHER INFORMATION: LIST OF SPIDER-MAN FILMS
CAST MEMBERS
Shameik Moore as Miles
Morales / Spider-Man:
An intelligent and
rebellious teenage graffiti artist of African-American and Puerto-Rican descent
who took over as the Spider-Man of Earth-1610 after the death of his reality's
Peter Parker.
Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen
Stacy / Spider-Woman:
A version of Gwen Stacy who
is the drummer of a rock band and the Spider-Woman of Earth-65, where she is a
wanted fugitive since accidentally killing her reality's Peter Parker.
Brian Tyree Henry as
Jefferson "Jeff" Morales: Miles' African-American father and a police
officer who originally disapproved of Spider-Man's vigilante actions but now
sees Spider-Man as a hero.
Luna Lauren Vélez as Rio
Morales: Miles' Puerto-Rican mother, a nurse. Vélez also plays an alternate
version of Morales from Earth-42.
Jake Johnson as Peter B.
Parker / Spider-Man:
An older, disheveled, and
brunette Earth-616 counterpart to the blond-haired blue-eyed Peter Parker
native to Miles' dimension, who was a reluctant mentor to Miles. Parker now has
a daughter named Mayday with Mary Jane Watson, whom he reconnected with at the
end of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018).
Jason Schwartzman as Dr.
Jonathan Ohnn / The Spot:
A former scientist from
Alchemax-turned-supervillain after an accident, whose body is now covered by
interdimensional portals that allow him to travel through space and different
universes. In the film, Jonathan turned to a life of crime because he was ostracized
due to his appearance and has no idea how to use his powers and/or be a proper
villain. The Spot wasn't originally the film's main villain, but was suggested
by producer Avi Arad. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller at first dismissed the
idea, but after talking more about his powers, they made him the antagonist.
Issa Rae as Jess Drew /
Spider-Woman:
A pregnant African-American
Spider-Woman from an alternate universe who is a member of the Spider-Society
and rides a motorcycle. Unlike most Spider-People, Drew does not maintain a
secret identity.
Karan Soni as Pavitr
Prabhakar / Spider-Man India:
An Indian version of
Spider-Man from an alternate universe, inhabiting in Mumbattan (a portmanteau
of Mumbai and Manhattan) who obtained his powers through magic instead of a
spider bite.
Daniel Kaluuya as Hobie
Brown / Spider-Punk: A Black British, punk rock version of Spider-Man from an
alternate universe that is ruled by a totalitarian regime and who uses his
guitar as his main weapon.
Oscar Isaac as Miguel O'Hara
/ Spider-Man 2099:
A muscular "ninja
vampire" Spider-Man of Irish and Mexican descent from an alternate
universe set in the year 2099, who is the leader of the Spider-Society, a group
of Spider-People from alternate universes tasked with protecting the
Multiverse. Isaac described Miguel as "the one Spider-Man that doesn't
have a sense of humor", while the production team nicknamed him
"Property Damage Spider-Man" due to the amount of destruction that he
leaves in his wake.
Greta Lee reprises her role from
Into the Spider-Verse as Lyla, Miguel and the Spider Society's AI assistant.
Mahershala Ali voices the Earth-42 version of Aaron Davis, a variant of Miles'
deceased uncle who never became Prowler; Ali previously voiced the Earth-1610
version of Aaron in Into the Spider-Verse. Shea Whigham voices George Stacy,
Gwen's father and a police captain hunting Spider-Woman on Earth-65. Jorma
Taccone voices Adriano Tumino / Vulture, an Italian vulture-themed supervillain
from a Renaissance-inspired universe, as well as Peter Parker / Spider-Man from
the 1967 animated series, the latter of which he reprises from Into the
Spider-Verse. Jharrel Jerome voices Miles G. Morales / The Prowler, Miles'
Earth-42 variant who has turned to a life of crime with his uncle Aaron.
An early poster for the film
displaying numerous Spider-People appearing in the film. In May 2023,
co-director Justin K. Thompson confirmed that the film includes 280 variations
of Spider-Man, 95 of them are unique and named characters.
Additional iterations of
Spider-Man appearing in the film as members of the Spider-Society, with
speaking roles, include: Andy Samberg as Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider, a genetic
clone of Peter Parker from an alternate universe; Amandla Stenberg as Margo
Kess / Spider-Byte, a Spider-Woman from a virtual reality; Kimiko Glenn as Peni
Parker / SP//dr; Nicolas Cage as Peter Parker / Spider-Man Noir (through
archival audio recordings); John Mulaney as Peter Porker / Spider-Ham (through
archival audio recordings); Taran Killam as Patrick O'Hara / Web-Slinger and
his horse Widow; Nic Novicki as Lego Spider-Man, Josh Keaton as Peter Parker /
Spectacular Spider-Man from the television series The Spectacular Spider-Man
(2008–2009), also appearing through archival footage of the show's season one
episode, "Intervention";[citation needed] Yuri Lowenthal as Peter
Parker / Insomniac Spider-Man from the Marvel's Spider-Man video game series by
Insomniac Games, also appearing through footage of the game Marvel's Spider-Man
2 (2023); Mike Rianda as Ezekiel Sims / Spider-Therapist (though he was only
credited as "Additional voices"); Sofia Barclay as Malala Windsor /
Spider-UK, an original incarnation from the comic book versions; Danielle Perez
as Charlotte Webber / Sun-Spider; Metro Boomin as Metro Spider-Man, a
fictionalized "unique" version of himself as Spider-Man; and Max
Borne / Spider-Man 2211.
The film also includes
non-vocal appearances of Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the television series
Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2001), Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the Marvel
Mangaverse, Ultimate Spider-Woman, Cyborg Spider-Woman, Bombastic Bag-Man, Mary
Jane Parker / Spinneret and her daughter Anna May-Parker / Spiderling from the
2015 limited series Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Maybelle Reilly /
Lady-Spider, Spider-Cop, Pter Ptarker / Spider-Rex, Spider-Cat, Spider-Monkey,
Spider-Wolf, Peter Parkedcar / Spider-Mobile, Flash Thompson / Captain Spider,
Doppelganger, Spider-Armor MK I, MK II, and MK III, Superior Spider-Man, Iron
Spider, Stealth / Big Time Spider-Man, Velocity suit Spider-Man from the
Marvel's Spider-Man video game series, Electro Proof, Bruce Banner /
Spider-Man, Cyclops Spider-Man, Future Foundation Spider-Man, Spidercide,
Prince of Arachne, Last Stand Peter Parker, Jessica Drew (classic suit), Julia
Carpenter / Spider-Woman, Samurai Spider-Man, Spider-Canada, Anya Corazon /
Spider-Girl, Mattie Franklin / Spider-Woman, Ashley Barton / Spider-Kingpin,
Earth X Spider-Man, Chibi Spider-Man, and Tarantula of Earth-1610A. Green
Goblin from the Spider-Man (1982) video game and Video-Man from the television
series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–1983) also appear.
Additionally, May
"Mayday" Parker also appears as Peter B. Parker and Mary Jane's
infant daughter, alongside an alternate adult version operating as Spider-Girl.
Melissa Sturm voices Mary Jane "MJ" Parker, Peter B. Parker's wife
and Mayday's mother. Pixar animator and filmmaker Peter Sohn provides the voice
for Miles' best friend and roommate Ganke Lee, after his dialogue was cut from
Into the Spider-Verse. Rachel Dratch voices Ms. Weber, a counselor at Miles's
school. Ziggy Marley voices Lenny, a Jamaican shop owner. Atsuko Okatsuka
voices Yuri Watanabe, a police colleague of Captain Stacy of Earth-65 Ayo Edebiri,
Nicole Delaney, and Antonia Lentini voice Gwen's universe's versions of Glory,
MJ, and Betty Brant, who are Gwen's bandmates in The MaryJanes. J. K. Simmons
also reprises his role as J. Jonah Jameson, voicing various versions of the
character. Jack Quaid voices the Earth-65 Peter Parker who died after
transforming into the Lizard and Elizabeth Perkins voices Aunt May of this
universe, while Kathryn Hahn as Olivia "Liv" Octavius / Doctor
Octopus briefly appears in flashbacks (through archival audio recordings).[citation
needed]
Live-action roles are also
featured in the film, with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield appearing in their
respective roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films
and Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films through archival footage. Donald
Glover appears an alternate version of Aaron Davis / Prowler, reprising his
role from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: Homecoming
(2017). Peggy Lu reprises her role as convenience store owner Mrs. Chen from
the Sony's Spider-Man Universe Venom films, which is identified as Earth-688.
Cliff Robertson, Denis Leary and Emma Stone appear through archival footage as
Ben Parker, George Stacy and Gwen Stacy from Spider-Man (2002), The Amazing
Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), respectively, with
archival audio recordings of Alfred Molina's Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus
from Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) being used for an alternate version of his
character with a comic book-accurate design.
PRODUCTION
DEVELOPMENT
CO-WRITERS AND PRODUCERS PHIL LORD AND
CHRISTOPHER MILLER
By the end of November 2018,
ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) the following
month, Sony Pictures Animation had begun developing a sequel due to the
"incredible buzz" surrounding the project. The sequel was to continue
the story of Shameik Moore's Miles Morales / Spider-Man, working from
"seeds [that were] planted" throughout the first film. Joaquim Dos
Santos and David Callaham were set to direct and write, respectively, with Amy
Pascal returning from the first film as producer. The other producers of the
first film—Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Avi Arad, and Christina
Steinberg—were all also expected to return in some capacities. The next month,
Pascal revealed that the film would focus on Miles and Hailee Steinfeld's Gwen
Stacy / Spider-Woman, exploring a romance between the characters that was cut
from the first film, and that the sequel would be a "launching pad"
for a previously announced female-focused spin-off film starring Steinfeld.
Sony officially confirmed the sequel in November 2019, with a release date of
April 8, 2022, with Lord and Miller returning as producers. In April 2020, Sony
shifted the film's release to October 7, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In February 2021, Miller
said that he and Lord were working on the film's screenplay with Callaham, and
that Peter Ramsey would be an executive producer on the sequel after
co-directing the first film. That April, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson
were announced as co-directors alongside Dos Santos, and that all three had
worked on the project since it began. (Thompson was production designer on the
first film.) Arad and Steinberg were confirmed to return as producers with Lord,
Miller and Pascal, with Alonzo Ruvalcaba co-producing and Aditya Sood, Into the
Spider-Verse directors Bob Persichetti and Rodney Rothman, and Rebecca Karch
and Brian Michael Bendis joining Ramsey as executive producers.
In December, Lord and Miller
revealed that the film was being split into two parts: Spider-Man: Across the
Spider-Verse (Part One) and (Part Two), because they had written the story they
wanted to tell for the sequel and realized it was too much for one film. Work
on both parts was taking place simultaneously. The sequels were renamed in
April 2022, becoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Beyond
the Spider-Verse. Their release dates were shifted then, with Across the
Spider-Verse pushed back to June 2, 2023. Lord and Miller said that they had
told Sony the sequel would be the same size as Into the Spider-Verse, but it
ended up having the largest crew of any animated film ever, with around 1,000
people working on it. They added that the film had 240 characters and would
take place across six universes.
CASTING
The voice cast of Across the Spider-Verse (L-R): Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya, and Oscar Isaac
By December 2018, Shameik
Moore and Hailee Steinfeld were set to reprise their respective roles as Miles
Morales and Gwen Stacy from the first film. Lord and Miller also expressed
interest in including Spider-Punk, Takuya Yamashiro, the "Japanese
Spider-Man" from the 1978 Spider-Man series and Italian Spiderman in the
following movies. In November 2019 Lord indicated that the character Takuya
Yamashiro was designed, though he didn't make an appearance in the movie. In
August 2020, Jake Johnson expressed hope that he could reprise his role as
Peter B. Parker from the first film in the sequel. Issa Rae was cast as Jess
Drew / Spider-Woman in June 2021, Johnson confirmed that he would be returning
for the sequel a month later, and Oscar Isaac was confirmed in December to be
reprising his role of Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 from the post-credits
scene of Into the Spider-Verse. Also in December, Tom Holland—who plays Peter
Parker / Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—revealed that Pascal had
approached him about appearing in the Spider-Verse films during the filming of
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Holland and his co-stars Zendaya and Jacob
Batalon all expressed interest in appearing in the upcoming films. Jeff Sneider
of The Ankler claimed in February 2023 that Holland would appear in a
live-action sequence and that his appearance had been the reason the movie was
delayed from 2022 to 2023, though it turned out to be false. Christopher Daniel
Barnes, who voiced Spider-Man in Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994–1998),
also expressed interest in returning for the film.
In April 2022, Brian Tyree
Henry and Luna Lauren Vélez were confirmed to be reprising their roles as
Miles's parents from the first film while Rachel Dratch was revealed to be
voicing the counselor at Miles's school. Lord, Miller, and the directors
announced in June that Jonathan Ohnn / the Spot would be the film's main
antagonist, with Jason Schwartzman providing the Spot's voice. Powers noted
that the Spot was one of "the deepest cuts in Spider-Man's rogue
gallery" but the creative team was excited about his abilities, which
allow the character to travel between universes. Shea Whigham and Jorma Taccone
were also revealed to be voicing George Stacy and the Vulture, respectively.
Taccone previously voiced Norman Osborn / Green Goblin and Peter Parker /
Spider-Man from the 1967 TV series in Into the Spider-Verse. In November 2022,
Daniel Kaluuya was confirmed to be voicing Hobart "Hobie" Brown /
Spider-Punk in the film. In December 2022, with the reveal of the film's first
poster, it was confirmed that the Peter Parker / Spider-Man from The
Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009) would appear in the film. Spectacular
showrunner Greg Weisman was not informed about the inclusion of his show's
character and expressed doubts he would even be featured in the film itself. In
January 2023, Nicolas Cage confirmed he would not be reprising his role of
Spider-Man Noir for the film. In February 2023, it was revealed that Karan Soni
has been cast as Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India in the film. In April
2023, it was reported that Andy Samberg was playing Ben Reilly / Scarlet
Spider. a report confirmed in May 2023, when it was also confirmed that Amandla
Stenberg would play Margo Kess / Spider-Byte.
ANIMATION AND DESIGN
The main universes visited
during the film, designed to look like they were each drawn by a different
artist
Lord revealed that design
work for new characters in the film had begun by November 2019, with comic book
artist Kris Anka later revealing that he was serving as a character designer on
the film. On June 9, 2020, the film's lead animator Nick Kondo announced that
production had started. The different universes visited in the film were
designed to look like they were each drawn by a different artist. Having
learned new animation tools after working on The Mitchells vs. the Machines
(2021) following the first Spider-Verse film, Lord and Miller ambitiously
employed them to generate six different animation styles. The intent was to
amaze the audience whenever the characters cross into a new environment so the
film can accurately reflect its plot and the styles can generate various
emotional backdrops. Earth-65, the home of Gwen Stacy, was designed to look
like "impressionistic" watercolor paintings. The animation team
created a simulator to generate this style and used a visual palette that
reflects Gwen's emotions like a "three dimensional mood ring".
According to co-director Justin K. Thompson, the reflection of her emotions
through colors is inspired by a scene in 1950's Cinderella where her dress gets
torn, and the enviroment reacts to that trauma. This style was also intended by
Miller to remind the audience about the covers of the Spider-Gwen comic books.
One of the two alternate Earths seen in the trailer was Earth-50101, which the
crew nicknamed "Mumbattan" after Mumbai and Manhattan, due to that
world being based on the one from Gotham Entertainment Group's Spider-Man:
India comic book series. In order to give the character Pavitr Prabhakar unique
motion and fighting style, creative team reserched the 2000-year-old Indian
martial arts, Kalaripayattu, from the state of Kerala. The other universe was
Nueva York, the futuristic New York City from the Marvel 2099 world, based on
the neo-futurist illustrations by Syd Mead, which has an unfinished look.
While the cast and crew
being interviewed for Empire in March 2023, co-director Joaquim Dos Santos revealed
that another universe would be "the punky New London, inhabited by Daniel
Kaluuya's Spider-Punk", with a final dimension "being kept tightly
under wraps for now", later revealed to be Earth-42, the world the spider
that bit Miles came from and where he has become that world's version of the
Prowler. Spider-Punk's animation style alone took 2–3 years to finish and is
inspired by punk-rock album covers emulating the look of Xerox prints, colored
papers and imagery appropriated from magazines and has a general grayed-out
quality due to copy machines not having toner in them. In May 2023, Jake
Johnson revealed in an interview that a Lego universe will be featured in the
film. The Lego sequence was done by 14-year-old Canadian animator Preston
Mutanga and was added late in the movie, after the filmmakers were so impressed
by his fanmade Lego recreation of the film's first teaser that they tracked him
down and recruited him.
Miles's design was updated
for the sequel to show him having gone through a growth spurt, while Gwen was
given a new haircut and an updated costume. Rick Leonardi, the co-creator of
Spider-Man 2099, was brought on to adapt his own designs for the film, while
comic book artist Brian Stelfreeze was chosen to shape the visual development of
Jess Drew. The Spot's design evolves throughout the film as he gains more
control of his abilities, beginning with a style that looks like an
"unfinished sketch [with] blue construction lines that evoke a comic book
artist's rough drawing before the work goes to an inker". The Spot's
portals were intended to look like "living ink that had spilled or
splattered on the comic artist's drawing", which created new challenges
for the animation team. The Vulture was given a Renaissance-era design inspired
by the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci's workbooks.
POST-PRODUCTION
In May 2023, Powers revealed
that the film would end on a cliffhanger; fellow co-director Dos Santos
compared it to the Star Wars original trilogy film The Empire Strikes Back
(1980). Powers explained:
Across The Spider-Verse is a
movie on its own, but it definitely ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. I think
it's a good cliffhanger. We hope that it's a satisfying tee-up for what's
coming in the third film, because you want people to be excited about what's coming
next. And it helps that we knew going in that this was part two of a three-part
story. Since you already know that that third story is guaranteed, you can
tackle it a bit differently. That being said, there's a lot of key characters
in this film, and there's a story in this film that has an arc of its own that
we needed to complete.
In the same month, Powers
also stated that the film would not be "tied" to the Marvel Cinematic
Universe (MCU). In the film, Spider-Man 2099 makes a direct reference to the
events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, telling Gwen to not "get [him] started
on Doctor Strange and that little nerd back on Earth-199999" while
attributing the events of No Way Home to the collider explosion from Into the
Spider-Verse, the quote meant as a throwaway line that Lord and Miller came up
with. Additionally, Donald Glover reprises his role as an alternate version of
Aaron Davis / Prowler from the MCU film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) in a
live-action cameo, depicted as a prisoner of the Spider-Society displaced from
his home reality.
Production on the film was
completed on May 20, 2023, 13 days before the U.S. release date.
MUSIC
MAIN ARTICLE: SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
(SOUNDTRACK)
Daniel Pemberton confirmed
in December 2020 that he would return to compose the sequel's score. In
December 2022, Lord and Miller confirmed that Metro Boomin would create music
for it. Several other artists were confirmed for the soundtrack, including Coi
Leray, Swae Lee, Future, Don Toliver, James Blake, Offset, Wizkid, Lil Uzi
Vert, 21 Savage, Lil Wayne, Nas and A$AP Rocky. For the Japanese release, an
original song, "REALiZE", would be performed by LiSA. A new single
"Mona Lisa" by Dominic Fike was also released on June 2, 2023.
MARKETING
In May 2020, Sony entered
into a promotional partnership with Hyundai Motor Company to showcase their new
models and technologies in the film. A prologue for the film was released at
Comic Con Experience in December 2021, revealing the title and the fact that
the film is a two-part sequel. Following the announcement of the new title and
release date in April 2022, Lord and Miller showed 15 minutes of the film (with
unfinished animation) at Sony's CinemaCon panel. Lord, Miller, and the
directors showed the same footage at the Annecy International Animation Film
Festival in June, with updated animation and effects. In February 2023, Funko
Pops figures based on characters from the film were revealed. In April 2023,
another 14-minute footage was previewed at Sony's CinemaCon panel.
In April 2023 alongside the
release of the trailer, Sony shared a number that fans can text to join the
"Spider Society", providing them questions as missions and rewarding
them with exclusive images. Also In May, they created an AI-generated personality
quiz that fans could get their own Spidersonas by taking the quiz and uploading
selfie images of themselves.
On May 15, 2023; the movie
started the sale of different Spider-Verse themed food items for their
collaboration with Burger King. The items available during the promotion
included the Spider-Verse Whopper with a red bun and the Spider-Verse Sundae.
On May 20, 2023; Nike released a special iteration of the Air Jordan 1 High OG
inspired by the film. On May 23, 2023, Epic Games added skins of Miles Morales
and Spider-Man 2099 to Fortnite based on their designs in the film. The
electronics manufacturer ZOTAC also partnered with Sony Pictures to create
limited-edition Spider-Man-themed RTX 4070 graphics cards.
RELEASE
THEATRICAL
Spider-Man: Across the
Spider-Verse premiered on May 30, 2023, at the Grand Rex in Paris, France, and
at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles, and was theatrically released in
the United States on June 2, in premium large formats and IMAX. Unlike the
first film, this film was not released in 3D. It was originally set for release
on April 8, 2022, but was shifted to October 7 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It
was then moved to the June 2023 date.
Internationally, it is being
released on dates ranging from May 31, 2023, to June 22, 2023. In China, the
film had its premiere in Beijing on May 31, and was released on June 2. The
film's release was delayed until June 22, 2023, in the MENA[b] region.
HOME MEDIA
In April 2021, Sony signed
deals with Netflix and Disney for the rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate,
following the films' theatrical and home media windows. Netflix signed for
exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an
18-month window and included the sequels to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse;
this deal built on an existing output deal that Netflix had signed with Sony
Pictures Animation in 2014. Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights
for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast
on Disney's linear television networks. Christopher Miller confirms that it
"won't release digitally until August".
RECEPTION
BOX OFFICE
As of June 11, 2023,
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has grossed $225.5 million in the United
States and Canada, and $164.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide
gross of $390 million. The film notably outgrossed the total gross of Into the
Spider-Verse within the first 12 days of the former's release.
In the United States and
Canada, Across the Spider-Verse was released alongside The Boogeyman, and was
initially projected to gross around $80 million from 4,313 theaters in its
opening weekend, with rival studios predicting it could reach $90 million. It made
$17.35 million from Thursday night previews, the third-best total for an
animated film after The Lion King ($23 million in 2019) and Incredibles 2
($18.5 million in 2018). After making $51.7 million on Friday (including
previews, the best first-day of 2023 up to that point), weekend estimates were
increased to $113 million. It went on to debut to $120.7 million, the
second-highest opening weekend total of 2023 (behind The Super Mario Bros.
Movie's $146.4 million) and the eighth-best ever for an animated film. The film
made $55.5 million in its second weekend, finishing second behind newcomer
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
CRITICAL RESPONSE
On the review aggregator
website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 315 critics' reviews are positive, with an
average rating of 8.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Just as visually
dazzling and action-packed as its predecessor, Spider-Man: Across the
Spider-Verse thrills from start to cliffhanger conclusion." Metacritic,
which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100,
based on 59 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled
by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F
scale, while those polled at PostTrak gave it a 93% overall positive score,
with 82% saying they would "definitely recommend" it.
Brian Tallerico of
RogerEbert.com gave the film 4/4 stars, writing, "Like the work of a young
artist who refuses to be restrained by the borders of the frame, Across the
Spider-Verse is loaded with incredible imagery and fascinating ideas. It is a
smart, thrilling piece of work that reminded me of other great part twos like
The Dark Knight and The Empire Strikes Back." Ann Hornaday of The
Washington Post gave the film 3/4 stars, calling it "an extravagant, very
cool love letter to graphic design, executed with superb draftsmanship and
giddy, infectious joy." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times also gave
it 3/4 stars, writing, "It's a bit too much at times, but it's also pretty
great, and it'll be a huge surprise if the third chapter in the trilogy isn't
equally entertaining." Kevin Maher of The Times gave the film 4/5 stars,
writing, "It rarely draws breath between set pieces, and creates distinct
and spectacular environments for each separate spider-verse."
Rolling Stone's David Fear
said that the film "completely recaptures the panel-to-panel thrill of
discovering your respective era's teen-angsty Marvel icon. The thrill of the
multiversal new is gone. Everything else, however, is extra-webbed for your
pleasure." Alison Willmore of Vulture wrote, "Across the Spider-Verse
looks incredible, even better than the groundbreaking first installment, but
what's truly impressive about it is how willing it is to entrust its
storytelling to its animation." The Atlantic's David Sims wrote that the
film "avoids seeming like a physics lesson because its visuals are
consistently thrilling; the most static bits of dialogue still pop because of
how daring the animation is."
Kyle Smith of The Wall
Street Journal wrote, "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has much of the
whimsical energy of its predecessor, particularly in its wildly inventive
visuals. But it has a slightly different writing lineup, and even its best bits
feel like a rehash." Jake Wilson of The Age gave the film 3/5 stars,
writing, "Typically for Lord and Miller, the upshot is both adventurous
and conformist, an outwardly bold reimagining of the material that never stops
congratulating us for our brand loyalty, and which plays it safer in plot terms
than the early sequences might lead you to hope."
ACCOLADES
Spider-Man: Across the
Spider-Verse received a nomination for Best Animation/Family at the 2023 Golden
Trailer Awards.
FUTURE
SEQUEL
A third film was confirmed
when Lord and Miller revealed in December 2021 that the Into the Spider-Verse
sequel was being split into two films. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(Part Two) was expected at that point to be released in 2023. In April 2022, it
was retitled Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse and given a release date of March
29, 2024.
SPIN-OFF
Sony began developing a
Spider-Women film in November 2018 that would focus on three generations of
female, Spider-related characters. Bek Smith was writing the spin-off, and
Lauren Montgomery was in talks to direct. Pascal said the film would focus on
the characters Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen, Cindy Moon / Silk, and Jess Drew /
Spider-Woman, and said Across the Spider-Verse would serve as a "launching
pad" for it. In May 2023, producer Avi Arad stated that the film would be
titled Spider-Woman.
MANGA SPIN-OFF
On May 29, 2023, it was
announced that a manga spin-off titled Spider-Man: Octopus Girl written by
Hideyuki Furuhashi and illustrated by Betten Court will begin serialization on
June 20 on Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ website and app. The story revolves around
Doctor Octopus who falls into a coma and has been reawakened in the body of a
young Japanese middle schooler Otoha Okutamiya.
NOTES
AS DEPICTED IN SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
(2018)
This statement is referring to many cinemas/movie
theaters in the MENA region who have changed the release date on their official
websites, and stopped the sale of tickets. Some cinemas include: VOX Cinemas
(UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Kuwait, Egypt, Bahrain), ROXY Cinemas
(UAE), Grand Cinemas (Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia). All of
these theaters in the MENA region state June 22, 2023, as the release date of
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, in all countries where they operate.
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