With “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Sony introduced a whole new style of animation that took the world by storm. It won the Best Animated Feature Oscar of 2019 and earned $375.5 million globally. Naturally, when the sequel was announced, it upped the expectations of the fans big time, to the point where no one knew what to expect but remained just as excited, if not more. All we have till now are a bunch of snaps from the film. The trailer for “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” will come out on December 13, 2022. Until then, we have to make do with what we know about the film. Here’s more on it.
Until “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” production houses like Disney, Pixar, and Paramount wanted to explore how they could make animation look as photorealistic and as close to reality as possible while maintaining the cartoon nature. The effect was called “the Pixar look,” as Pixar was the first one to execute it to its intended effect in the first Toy Story movie. The companies weren’t willing to risk making a stylized animated feature film, that too in 3D. But when Sony dropped its “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” trailer in 2017, fans went bonkers. The Kirby Crackles, the graphic bursts, the split coloring to make it seem like poor printing, halftone dots on lights, and the absence of motion blur and depth; all these were characteristics of comic books. This was not just a revolutionary experience for the viewers but for the other production houses as well, as it gave them the courage to explore animation without trying to replicate reality. This would let them take advantage of the animation medium. However, there isn’t any other film even close to what “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” has been able to achieve until now.
According to various reports, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” will have more than 200 characters, most of them Spider-Mans. This means that we will have Spider-Mans from numerous Earths. We have already gotten a clear glimpse of Miguel O’Hara, a.k.a. Spider-Man 2099 (played by Oscar Isaac). Reports further suggest that Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire have also been roped in by Sony to play their Spider-Man versions. Daniel Kaluuya is also in the movie and will voice Spider-Punk, a.k.a. Hobart “Hobie” Brown. Issa Rae will be the voice of Spider-Woman aka Jessica Drew. Other characters include Scarlet Spider aka Ben Reily, Cyborg Spider-Woman, Japanese Spider-Man aka Takuya Yamashiro, and the Vulture (played by Jorma Taccone). Needless to say, with The Spot being the antagonist (played by Jason Schwartzman), one who has the power to travel across universes thanks to the interdimensional portals all over his body, the cast will be huge. The Spot in the comics is Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, a scientist at MIT working for Kingpin, the protagonist of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Frankly speaking, it seems to be a larger jump toward multiverse exploration than even MCU’s.
Joaquim Dos Santos, one of the director trio of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” the other two being Justin Thompson and Kemp Powers, told CartoonBrew.com that the Spot is “artistry come to life”; he is possible only in animation. It thus seems to be a strategic decision on the part of the creative team to choose the Spot as the villain, as it will give them more scope to explore interdimensional travel and, thereby, the animation style and stretch its boundaries further, much like what we saw in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” when Strange and America Chavez were traveling across universes. So, it will be colorful and visually appealing, to say the least. Expect an Aurora Borealis with webs.
Up until now, Sony has revealed only a teaser and some images from the film featuring Miles, Gwen, and Miguel O’Hara in their new suits. The trailer will probably show more of The Spot as well as other Spider-Mans. We will get a better understanding of the plot. Producers Chris Miller and Phil Lord have stated that the film will show more of Gwen’s world as well, Alongside Miles. A complicated relationship between the two will also be explored, as both will want to take the road to love but also not want to lose their friendship. Considering it’s a sequel, we will get to know how the Spot came to be so. The Spot’s ability to travel as well as send objects and people across dimensions will establish the film’s multiversal aspect and has the potential to lay the blueprint for future Spider-Verse plots as well. Sony has already announced the third installment of the Spider-Verse, which has been given a working title called “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.” The film is going to be released on March 29, 2024. So, there you go. It is like Buzz Lightyear said, “To infinity and beyond!”
The producer of the film, Christopher Miller had said in an interview that anything is possible in the multiverse and as per his statement, we can speculate that there might be a multiverse of Spider-Mans in the near future. Hope “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” that is coming exclusively in theaters on 2nd June 2023 will bring some really good news for the fans all around the world.
