Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a 2023 American 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 (in Dos Santos and Thompson's feature directorial debuts) from a screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller who both also produce, and David Callaham. Shameik Moore voices Miles, starring alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Shea Whigham, Greta Lee, Daniel Kaluuya, Mahershala Ali and Oscar Isaac. In the film, Miles goes on an adventure with Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman across the multiverse where he meets a 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 in the form of the Spot.
Sony began developing a sequel to Into the Spider-Verse prior to 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.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse premiered at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California on May 30, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 2, having been delayed from an original April 2022 date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first film from Sony Pictures Animation to be released in theaters worldwide since The Angry Birds Movie 2 in August 2019. Like its predecessor, the film received critical acclaim for its stylized animation, visual style, story, action sequences, voice acting, score, and writing. It set several box office records, and was also a box office success, grossing $690 million against a production budget of $100million at the worldwide box office, surpassing its predecessor and becoming the third-highest-grossing film of the year domestically in the United States, the highest-grossing film produced by Sony Pictures Animation, and the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2023. The third installment in the trilogy, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, and a female-focused spin-off film, Spider-Woman, are both in development.
Plot
On Earth-65, police captain George Stacy is unaware that his daughter Gwen Stacy is Spider-Woman. Years prior, Gwen accidentally caused the death of her best friend Peter Parker while he was rampaging as the Lizard, and police have been hunting her ever since. One night, Gwen encounters a version of the Vulture from an Italian Renaissance-themed alternate universe. Miguel O'Hara and Jess Drew arrive using portal-generating watches and help Gwen neutralize the Vulture. George corners Gwen, who then reveals her identity to him; distraught, he attempts to arrest her. Miguel reluctantly grants Gwen membership into the Spider-Society, allowing her to escape with him and Jess.
In Brooklyn on Earth-1610, sixteen months after the Alchemax collider's destruction, Miles Morales encounters the Spot, an Alchemax scientist whose body was infused with portals during the collider explosion. The Spot blames Miles for causing his condition and reveals that, while testing the collider, he had transported a spider from another dimension, Earth-42, which bit Miles and turned him into Spider-Man. The Spot then accidentally transports himself into a void, where he travels to other universes containing Alchemax colliders to empower himself further.
Gwen travels to Earth-1610 and reconnects with Miles while secretly tracking the Spot. Miles secretly follows her through a portal to Earth-50101, and they team up with local Spider-Man Pavitr Prabhakar, and later Hobie Brown, against the Spot, who absorbs the power of that world's collider. The Spot and Miles share a vision of the Spot's future attacks that include the deaths of Police Inspector Singh (the father of Pavitr's girlfriend) and Miles' father Jeff. As the collider collapses, Miles saves Singh, but Earth-50101 begins falling apart from its disrupted "canon event" before members of the Spider-Society arrive to contain the damage. Miles, Gwen, and Hobie are sent to the Society's headquarters on Earth-928, where hundreds of Spider-People reside in a massive complex.
Miles, Gwen, and Hobie meet with Miguel and reunite with Peter B. Parker and his infant daughter Mayday. Miguel explains to Miles that each of the Spider-People's stories throughout the multiverse entails "canon events", such as the deaths of a police captain close to Spider-Man and an uncle figure to Spider-Man, as well as other string of events that define a Spider-Man; and straying from these events threatens reality and may cause that universe to collapse, which in turn will collapse the entire multiverse as a consequence. Miguel reveals he witnessed the collapse of another universe firsthand when attempting to replace a deceased version of himself from that universe.
Miles realizes that the Spot murdering Jeff, who is set to be promoted to police captain in two days, is a canon event. Miguel imprisons Miles to prevent him from saving Jeff, but Hobie helps Miles break loose before quitting the Society. As Miles flees through the complex, Miguel orders the Society to capture him. Miguel corners Miles and tells him that he is the original anomaly; the spider that bit him came from Earth-42, resulting in Earth-42 having no Spider-Man, and that if the spider had not bitten Miles, Earth-1610's Peter Parker would have stopped the collider and survived, and the Spot would never have existed.
Miles overpowers Miguel and flees to what he believes to be his home dimension. Considering Gwen a liability, a furious Miguel ejects her from the Society and forcibly sends her back to Earth-65. Once there, Gwen learns that George has resigned from his job as police captain. The two reconcile, and George gives Gwen a portal watch left by Hobie.
To his shock, Miles realizes that he is on Earth-42, the home of the spider that bit him, rather than his own dimension. In this world, his uncle Aaron Davis is alive while his father Jeff is dead, and because Spider-Man does not exist, New York City is riddled with unchecked crime. As the Society searches for Miles, Gwen travels to Earth-1610 and speaks with Miles' parents, promising to find him and bring him home. Earth-42's Aaron restrains Miles, and it is revealed that Earth-42's Miles has become the Prowler.
As the Spot begins his multiversal attack, Gwen assembles a team to find Miles, consisting of Peter B., Mayday, Pavitr, Hobie, Margo Kess, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham, while Miles prepares to escape.
Voice cast
Shameik Moore as Miles Morales / Spider-Man: A teenager 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-Gwen: A version of Gwen Stacy who is the Spider-Woman of Earth-65, where she is a wanted fugitive since accidentally killing her reality's Peter Parker who had turned into the Lizard.
Brian Tyree Henry as Jeff Morales: Miles' African-American father and a police officer, who was recently promoted to captain. The character's last name was changed from Davis in the first film to Morales in this film.
Lauren Vélez as Rio Morales: Miles' Puerto Rican mother, a nurse. Vélez also plays an alternate version of Rio from Earth-42.
Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker / Spider-Man: An older Spider-Man from Earth-616B who was a mentor to Miles. He is now married to Mary Jane "MJ" Parker and has a daughter named Mayday.
Jason Schwartzman as Johnathon 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. The Spot was not 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 Earth-404 who is O'Hara's right-hand 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 Earth-50101 who uses a yo-yo as his main weapon and lives in Mumbattan (a portmanteau of Mumbai and Manhattan).
Shea Whigham as George Stacy: Gwen's father and a police captain.
Greta Lee as Lyla: Miguel and the Spider Society's AI assistant.
Daniel Kaluuya as Hobie Brown / Spider-Punk: A Black British, punk rock version of Spider-Man from Earth-138 who uses his guitar as his main weapon.
Mahershala Ali as Aaron Davis: The Earth-42 version of Miles' deceased African American uncle. Ali previously voiced the Earth-1610 version of Aaron in the first film.
Oscar Isaac as Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099:A "ninja-vampire" Spider-Man of Irish and Mexican descent from Earth-928 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".
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, which he reprises from the post-credits of Into the Spider-Verse. Jharrel Jerome voices Miles G. Morales / Prowler of Earth-42.
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; Amandla Stenberg as Margo Kess / Spider-Byte, a Spider-Woman from a virtual reality; Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker / SP//dr; Taran Killam as Patrick O'Hara / Web-Slinger; Nic Novicki as Peter Parker / Lego Spider-Man, Josh Keaton as Peter Parker / Spectacular Spider-Man from the television series The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009), Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker / Insomniac Spider-Man from the Marvel's Spider-Man video game series by Insomniac Games; Mike Rianda as Ezekiel Sims / Spider-Therapist; Sofia Barclay as Malala Windsor / Spider-UK, an original incarnation who wears a hijab; Danielle Perez as Charlotte Webber / Sun-Spider, who uses a wheelchair; and Metro Boomin, who composed music for the film, as Metro Spider-Man.
Melissa Sturm voices Mary Jane "MJ" Parker, Peter B. Parker's wife and Mayday's mother; Rachel Dratch voices C. Weber, a counselor at Miles' school; and Ziggy Marley voices Lenny, a Jamaican shop owner. 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. Elizabeth Perkins voices the Aunt May of Gwen's Earth-65; Atsuko Okatsuka voices Yuri Watanabe, a police colleague of Captain Stacy; Ayo Edebiri, Antonia Lentini, and Nicole Delaney voice Gwen's bandmates Glory, Betty and MJ; and Jack Quaid voices the Earth-65 Peter Parker who died after transforming into the Lizard. J. K. Simmons reprises his role as J. Jonah Jameson, voicing various versions of the character.
Live-action roles are also featured in the film, with Donald Glover appearing as 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 (SSU), identified as Earth-688. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield appear in their roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man from previous Spider-Man films through archival footage, as well as Cliff Robertson and Martin Sheen as their versions of Ben Parker, and Denis Leary as George Stacy. Archival audio of Alfred Molina's Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) is used for an alternate version of the character with a comic book-accurate design.
Production
Development
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 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 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 featuring Gwen. 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
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' parents from the first film while Rachel Dratch was revealed to be voicing the counselor at Miles' school. Lord, Miller, and the directors announced in June that Jason Schwartzman would provide the voice of the film's main antagonist Johnathan Ohnn / the Spot, which was added to the story after a suggestion from producer Avi Arad (a second antagonist was later written out of the movie). 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 was 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 his casting in May 2023, when it was also confirmed that Amandla Stenberg would play Margo Kess / Spider-Byte.
Delilah, a skilled assassin who serves as the bartender at the Bar with No Name in an alternate universe, was meant to make an appearance in the film, but her scene was cut. She would later be included in the Insomniac Games video game Spider-Man 2 (2023), whose Peter Parker / Spider-Man appears in the film.
Animation and design
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 develop 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 environment 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. To give the character Pavitr Prabhakar unique motion and fighting style, the creative team researched 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 were being interviewed for Empire in March 2023, codirector 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 took two to three years to develop and is inspired by collage imagery of 1970s punk-rock album covers, posters, and zines emulating the look of Xerox prints, colored papers and images appropriated from magazines and newsprints, and has a general grayed-out quality due to copy machines not having toner in them. Also the animators experimented with different frame rates in order to reflect DIY punk visuals and Spider-Punk's anarchic personality and tendency of inconsistency. His body is animated on 3s or 2s (8 or 12 images), his guitar on 4s (6 images), and his outline on 2s or 1s (12 or 24 images); unlike rest of the characters that are predominantly animated on 2s. In May 2023, Jake Johnson revealed in an interview that a Lego universe would 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' 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, which was influenced by Austrian artist Egon Schiele, evolves throughout the film as he gains more confidence and 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. Thompson also revealed that the design of the spider in the "Go Home Machine" is influnced by the spider in the movie Krull (1983), which is also named "Ynyr" after a character from the film.
Post-production
In May 2023, Powers revealed that the film would end on a cliffhanger and co-director Dos Santos compared it to the Star Wars original trilogy film The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Powers explained:
In the same month, Powers also stated that the film would not be "tied" to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). In the film, Miguel 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" — referring to the Doctor Strange and Spider-Man of the MCU — while attributing the events of No Way Home to the collider explosion from Into the Spider-Verse. The quote is 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. When asked in an interview with Lord and Miller at a press junket if it were the same Prowler from the MCU, Miller responded "That is for you to decide. You know, all things are possible in the multiverse." Lord also responded with "We were also trying to give nods to the people that have fallen in love with these characters in other mediums." Production on Across the Spider-Verse was completed on May 20, 2023, 13 days before the U.S. release date. With a runtime of 140 minutes, it is the longest animated film ever produced by an American studio, surpassing Consuming Spirits (2012).
Allegations of poor working conditions
On June 23, 2023, Vulture reported that four people who worked on the film alleged that production had faced difficulties due to numerous requests from Lord for changes to already finished animation, as well as the need for him to approve animation layouts early in production. Lord's directions were said to take precedent over the decisions of the film's directing team and led to numerous weeks of long overtime as the animators drastically revised portions of the film several times. They further stated that difficult working conditions caused by the constant revisions caused over 100 artists to leave the project before its completion. One artist said that production on Beyond the Spider-Verse, the film's sequel, had not progressed, and that there was "no way that" it would be completed in time for its scheduled March 2024 release window. Sony denied the allegations concerning Across the Spider-Verse's production troubles, while declining to comment on the possibility of the sequel being delayed, and producer Amy Pascal called the process of heavy revision normal.
Music
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 its soundtrack. Several artists were featured on it, including Coi Leray, Swae Lee, Future, Don Toliver, James Blake, Offset, Wizkid, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Lil Wayne, Nas, ASAP Rocky, Becky G, Shenseea, JID, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, and 2 Chainz. For the Japanese release, an original song, "Realize" performed by Lisa, was featured. The film was supported by another single, "Mona Lisa" by Dominic Fike, released on June 2, 2023—the day of the film's premiere. Although originally set to be released as a track on the deluxe edition of the soundtrack album, a few days after its release, the track was removed. On June 23, 2023, it was announced that the track was added into some versions of Fike's second studio album Sunburn, which was released on July 7, 2023.
Though external to the film's score and soundtrack, Daniel Kaluuya also incorporated musical elements into his vocal performance as Spider-Punk / Hobie Brown. Kaluuya elaborated that he searched for the word "Spider-Punk" on Spotify, hoping to find fan-made playlists. He stated that after finding some he "would just listen to them, be like vibing out," helping him with the process of gauging the character's energy. Kaluuya further noted that "he wanted the character's voice to feel like a song," and that a take in which he portrayed the character as "rapping, but in a punk style" would be the one used in the film.
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. A second trailer was released on April 4. It gained 148.6M views within 24 hours, becoming the most-viewed second trailer for a Marvel film within that timespan and also the most-viewed superhero film trailer of the summer. Rolling Stone Larisha Paul remarked that Miles wanted the other heroes to accept and validate him but also wanted to create his own story and not be controlled by them. Christian Holub of Entertainment Weekly felt the Spider-People were more antagonistic and that Miles' family was in more danger than in the first film. Meanwhile, Abid Rahman from The Hollywood Reporter compared Miles' introduction to the Spider-People in the trailer to the "vibe" of Citadel of Ricks and highlighted the reference to the Spider-Man pointing meme. Commentators also noted that the trailer posited that Miles could potentially have to choose between saving the multiverse or his family.
On May 15, 2023; the film 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. It was the first Sony Pictures Animation film since The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019) to receive a worldwide theatrical release after a number of the studio's animated films were assigned direct-to-streaming releases on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in response to the closure of cinema theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In China, the film premiered in Beijing on May 31, and was released on June 2. The film's release initially was delayed until June 22, 2023, in the MENA region, but later withdrawn from cinemas across the region due to the film's transgender iconography.
On June 9, 2023, in response to complaints of sound mixing issues from viewers in some theaters, Sony sent an updated version of the film with new audio mixing to theaters. An official source told Variety that, while the issues were only present at a "handful of theaters", all prints of the film had been updated and re-sent to cinemas. It was reported that at least two versions of the film—distinct in slight differences in dialogue and animations—exist in theaters. For example, in one version, a scene between Miguel and Lyla ends with Lyla giving a fist bump, while another ends in Lyla taking a selfie of them. The film's associate editor, Andy Leviton, confirmed the reports on Twitter.
Home media
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was released on digital download by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on August 8, 2023, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 5. The digital release of the film featured additional alterations from the initial theatrical cut, such as the removal of several lines of dialogue. This version, which was also available in some theaters, was described by Miller as "an international version" of the film created to help with the necessary translations needed and to be approved by the French censorship board. He added that the animators "cleaned up and tweaked" some of the shots that had already been submitted for the finished version, with other members of the team, such as in the sound department, also suggesting alternate ideas, stating, "Because it's a multiverse movie, it's like there's a multiverse of the movie – that was really the reasoning behind it. It was trying to make the best possible version that everyone was going to be the proudest of." Lord believed some of these changes created an improved film. Some of the alterations have been controversial with the film's fanbase.
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.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was made available on Netflix in the United States on October 31, 2023, becoming the first Sony Pictures Animation film to be available via Netflix since the expiry of an identical deal expired in May 2014.
Reception
Box office
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse grossed $381.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $308.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $690 million. The film surpassed Into the Spider-Verses total gross of $384.5million after 12 days of release, and overtook The Smurfs to become Sony Pictures Animation's highest-grossing film.
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. Movies $146.4 million) and the eighth-best ever for an animated film. It also surpassed Hotel Transylvania 2 ($48.4 million in 2015) to achieve the highest opening weekend for a Sony Pictures Animation film. The film made $55.5 million in its second weekend, finishing second behind newcomer Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. It then made $27.8 million in its third weekend, finishing third. The film would make $19.3 million on its fourth weekend, topping the box office once again amidst competition from No Hard Feelings, a new release, and The Flash and Elemental, both holdovers.
Outside of the US and Canada, the film grossed $88.1 million from 59 markets in its opening weekend. In its second weekend, Across the Spider-Verse grossed $47 million, for a drop of 44%, while in its third weekend, it grossed $27.6 million from 60 markets, including Japan where the film made $2.8 million. the highest grossing territories were China ($49.6million), UK ($35million), Mexico ($27.8million), Australia ($20.6million) and France ($13.4million).
Critical response
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 out of 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 out of 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 out of 5 stars, writing, "It rarely draws breath between set pieces, and creates distinct and spectacular environments for each separate spider-verse."
David Fear of Rolling Stone 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 described the film as being "visually hypercaffeinated", but with a slow plot in the first half of the film, plotlines being a "hectic series of clashes", action sequences that were "jumpy but not especially engaging", and "too many long monologues". Jake Wilson of The Age gave the film 3 out of 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."
Transgender iconography and censorship
The film briefly features a transgender flag in two scenes, including on a banner seen hanging in Gwen Stacy's bedroom with the words "Protect Trans Kids". The flag's appearance led to speculation that Gwen supports her universe's transgender rights movement or some to interpret Gwen as being transgender herself. Although she is not identified as transgender in the film, viewers and critics who supported this interpretation additionally pointed to the use of the flag's colors (light pink, light blue, and white) elsewhere in scenes involving Gwen and her universe, and the perceived parallels to coming out in her character arc within the film. However, others have noted that the blue and white colors were already used by the comics' version of Spider-Woman Gwen Stacy, and thus were not necessarily proof that the film version of the character is trans. The use of the transgender flag was reported to have led to the film being withdrawn from release in the United Arab Emirates and other MENA countries.
TikTok trend
An Internet meme involving the "canon event" began spreading on TikTok after the film's release, which later became a trend. According to TheBeauLife, it was inspired by the core memories meme in Inside Out (2015). The meme's word "canon" elaborated its special defintion as "ironic (if not actually painful)" experiences in real-life.
Accolades
Future
Sequel
A third film was confirmed when Lord and Miller revealed in December 2021 that Across the Spider-Verse 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. In response to a claim by an artist on Across, who spoke to Vulture on condition of anonymity, that it would not be possible to release Beyond as scheduled (which at that point had been on March 29, 2024) due to an alleged lack of production progress, Lord and Miller stated that the production would "take the time necessary" for the film to be completed to their standards. In July 2023, the film was removed from the release schedule, reportedly due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, as a source within Sony—a member of the AMPTP against whom SAG-AFTRA is negotiating—told Variety that the strike precluded the film's voice cast from recording their lines on schedule.
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 would 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 young Japanese middle schooler named Otoha Okutamiya.
Notes
References
External links
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