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. It is the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and the second film in the Spider-Verse franchise, which 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 and written 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 (Steinfeld) across the multiverse, where he meets a team of Spider-People led by Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 (Isaac) known as the Spider-Society, but comes into conflict with them over handling a new threat in the form of the Spot (Schwartzman).
"ATSV" redirects here. For the former German football club, see ATSV 1860 Bremen. For the Austrian football club, see ATSV Stadl-Paura.Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- Joaquim Dos Santos
- Kemp Powers
- Justin K. Thompson
- Phil Lord
- Christopher Miller
- Amy Pascal
- Avi Arad
- Christina Steinberg
Michael Andrews
- Columbia Pictures
- Marvel Entertainment
- Sony Pictures Animation
- Pascal Pictures
- Lord Miller Productions
- Arad Productions
- May 30, 2023 (Regency Village Theater)
- June 2, 2023 (United States)
140 minutes[1]
United States
English
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. It was the first film from Sony Pictures Animation to be released in theaters worldwide since The Angry Birds Movie 2 in August 2019.
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 its original April 2022 theatrical release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like its predecessor, the film was a critical and commercial success. It set several box office records, grossing over $690 million 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 American Film Institute named Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse one of the top-ten films of 2023. Among its numerous accolades, it won Best Animated Feature at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Annie Awards, and Producers Guild of America Awards, and received nominations for the same category at the Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards, and Academy Awards.
The third and final installment in the trilogy, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, and a spin-off film, Spider-Woman, are both in development.
Plot[edit]
On Earth-65, police captain George Stacy is unaware that his daughter Gwen Stacy is Spider-Woman, whom the police are hunting for killing Peter Parker, whom Gwen had accidentally killed after he turned into the Lizard. 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 Kingpin's defeat and the destruction of the Alchemax collider,[a] Miles Morales encounters the Spot, an Alchemax scientist-turned-criminal whose body was infused with portals during the explosion. The Spot blames Miles for causing his mutation and reveals that, while testing the collider, he had transported a spider from another dimension, Earth-42, which then bit Miles and turned him into Spider-Man. The Spot then accidentally transports himself into a void, where he learns to travel to other universes, find Alchemax colliders and empower himself further.
Gwen travels to Earth-1610 and reconnects with Miles while tracking the Spot, having traveled to Earth-50101, one of the universes with an active Alchemax collider. Miles secretly follows her through the portal to Mumbattan, and they team up with that world's 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, which include the deaths of Police Inspector Singh, the father of Pavitr's girlfriend Gayatri, and Miles' father Jeff. The Spot departs, and the collider collapses; Miles saves Singh from the ensuing destruction, but Earth-50101 begins to fall apart from its disrupted "canon event" before members of the Society arrive to contain the damage. Miles, Gwen, and Hobie are sent to the Society's headquarters on Nueva York in Earth-928, where hundreds of Spider-People gather and reside in a massive complex.
Miles, along with Gwen and Hobie, meets with Miguel and reunites with Peter B. Parker, who is accompanied by his infant daughter Mayday. Miguel explains to Miles that each of the Spider-People's stories throughout the multiverse contains "canon events", such as the deaths of a police captain close to Spider-Man, and that straying from these events threatens reality and may cause that universe to collapse, which in turn could collapse the entire multiverse as a consequence. Miguel reveals that 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 he was never supposed to be Spider-Man; Earth-42's spider traveling dimensions inadvertently caused the death of Earth-1610's Peter Parker, the Spot's creation, and the absence of Spider-Man on Earth-42. Miles overpowers Miguel and with the help of Margo Kess, flees to what he believes is 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 reunites with George, who has resigned from his job as police captain. The two reconcile, and George gives Gwen a portal watch left behind by Hobie.
As the Society begins their search for Miles in Earth-1610, Gwen and Miles realizes that Miles has arrived on Earth-42 rather than his own dimension. In this world, his uncle Aaron Davis is alive while his father is dead, and New York City is riddled with unchecked crime. Miles is knocked unconscious and finds himself restrained by Aaron and Earth-42's version of the Prowler, who is revealed to be Miles. Meanwhile, Gwen speaks with Miles' parents, promising to find him and bring him home. As the Spot begins his multiversal attack on Earth-1610's New York, Miles prepares to escape his restraints, and Gwen assembles a team to find Miles, consisting of Peter B., Mayday, Pavitr, Hobie, Margo, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham.
Additional voice cast includes: Shea Whigham as George Stacy, Gwen's father and a police captain;[26] Jorma Taccone as Adriano Tumino / Vulture, a supervillain from an Italian Renaissance-inspired universe,[17][26] as well as Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the 1967 animated series, which he reprises from the post-credits of Into the Spider-Verse;[27][28] Greta Lee as Lyla, Miguel and the Spider Society's AI assistant;[29] Mahershala Ali as Aaron Davis, the Earth-42 version of Miles' deceased uncle (Ali previously voiced the Earth-1610 version of Aaron in the first film);[30] and Jharrel Jerome as Miles G. Morales / Prowler of Earth-42.[31]
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;[32] Amandla Stenberg as Margo Kess / Spider-Byte, a Spider-Woman from a virtual reality;[30] Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker / SP//dr, reprising her role from the first film;[33] Taran Killam as Patrick O'Hara / Web-Slinger;[30][34] Nic Novicki as Peter Parker / Lego Spider-Man,[35] Josh Keaton as Peter Parker / Spectacular Spider-Man from the television series The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009),[36] Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker / Insomniac Spider-Man from the Marvel's Spider-Man video game series by Insomniac Games;[36] Mike Rianda as Ezekiel Sims / Spider-Therapist;[34][37] Sofia Barclay as Malala Windsor / Spider-UK, an original incarnation who wears a hijab;[38] Danielle Perez as Charlotte Webber / Sun-Spider, who uses a wheelchair;[39] and Metro Boomin, who composed music for the film, as Metro Spider-Man.[40] Archival audio of John Mulaney as Peter Porker / Spider-Ham from the previous film is also featured; Spider-Ham later makes a non-speaking cameo, alongside Spider-Man Noir, at the end of the film. Humberto Ramos, a Spider-Man comic artist, voices Max Borne / Spider-Man 2211, whose back tentacle base Miles briefly hides behind.
Melissa Sturm voices Mary Jane "MJ" Parker, Peter B. Parker's wife and Mayday's mother;[41] Lorraine Vélez voices Maria Morales, Rio Morales's sister. Rachel Dratch voices C. Weber, a counselor at Miles' school;[42] and Ziggy Marley voices Lenny, a Jamaican shop owner.[33][43] 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.[44][45] Elizabeth Perkins voices the Aunt May of Gwen's Earth-65;[46] Atsuko Okatsuka voices Yuri Watanabe, a police colleague of Captain Stacy;[36] Ayo Edebiri, Antonia Lentini, and Nicole Delaney voice Gwen's bandmates Glory, Betty and MJ;[43][47][48] and Jack Quaid voices the Earth-65 Peter Parker who died after transforming into the Lizard.[49] J. K. Simmons reprises his role as J. Jonah Jameson, voicing various versions of the character on AU Earth-1610, Earth-42, and Earth-65 with archive audio from other Spider-Man media being used for the Lego version on Earth-13122.[36] Andy Leviton voices Armadillo from Earth-1610, Typeface, and Grizzly, all Spider-Society captives from unknown realities, and two background characters in Earth-65.
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).[36] Peggy Lu reprises her role as convenience store owner Mrs. Chen from the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), identified as Earth-688.[50] Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Kirsten Dunst, and Bryce Dallas Howard appear in their respective roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, and Gwen Stacy from previous Spider-Man films through archival footage,[36] as well as Cliff Robertson as his version of Ben Parker, and Denis Leary as George Stacy.[36] Archival audio of Alfred Molina's Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) is used for a hologram version of the character with a comic book-accurate design.[51]
Marketing[edit]
In May 2020, Sony entered into a promotional partnership with Hyundai Motor Company to showcase their new models and technologies in the film.[101] 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.[102] 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.[61] Lord, Miller, and the directors showed the same footage at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June, with updated animation and effects.[17] In February 2023, Funko Pops figures based on characters from the film were revealed.[103] In April 2023, another 14-minute footage was previewed at Sony's CinemaCon panel.[104] 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.[105] Rolling Stone's 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.[106] 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.[107] 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.[108] Commentators also noted that the trailer posited that Miles could potentially have to choose between saving the multiverse or his family.[106][107][108]
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.[109] On May 20, 2023, Nike released a special iteration of the Air Jordan 1 High OG inspired by the film.[110] On May 23, 2023, Epic Games added skins of Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2099 to Fortnite based on their designs in the film.[111] The electronics manufacturer ZOTAC also partnered with Sony Pictures to create limited-edition Spider-Man-themed RTX 4070 graphics cards.[112]
Release[edit]
Theatrical[edit]
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse premiered on May 30, 2023, at the Grand Rex in Paris, France,[113] and at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles,[114] 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.[62] It was originally set for release on April 8, 2022,[56] but was shifted to October 7 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[57] It was then moved to the June 2023 date.[62] 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. The film was re-released in IMAX in limited theaters on January 19, 2024,[115] which marked the debut of a new Columbia Pictures logo that commemorates the studio's 100th anniversary.[116] In China, the film premiered in Beijing on May 31, and was released on June 2.[117]
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.[118][119] 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.[118] 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.[120]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse grossed $381.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $309.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $690.9 million.[4][5] The film surpassed Into the Spider-Verse's total gross of $384.5 million after 12 days of release,[135] and overtook The Smurfs to become Sony Pictures Animation's highest-grossing film.[136] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $328 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues placed it third on their list of 2023's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".[137]
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.[138] 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).[139] 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.[140] It went on to debut to $120.7 million,[141] 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.[142] It also surpassed Hotel Transylvania 2 ($48.4 million in 2015) to achieve the highest opening weekend for a Sony Pictures Animation film.[143] The film made $55.5 million in its second weekend, finishing second behind newcomer Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.[144] It then made $27.8 million in its third weekend, finishing third.[145] 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.[146]
Outside of the US and Canada, the film grossed $88.1 million from 59 markets in its opening weekend.[147] In its second weekend, Across the Spider-Verse grossed $47 million, for a drop of 44%,[148] while in its third weekend, it grossed $27.6 million from 60 markets, including Japan where the film made $2.8 million.[149] As of July 9, 2023, the highest grossing territories were China ($49.6 million), UK ($35 million), Mexico ($27.8 million), Australia ($20.6 million) and France ($13.4 million).[150]
Critical response[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 386 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.6/10. 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."[151] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 60 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[152] Audiences surveyed 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.[142]
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."[153] 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."[154] 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."[155] 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."[156]
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."[157] 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."[158] 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."[159] 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".[160] 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."[161]
Future[edit]
Sequel[edit]
A third Spider-Verse film was confirmed in December 2021 when Lord and Miller revealed that Across the Spider-Verse was being split into two films, with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part Two) expected to be released in 2023.[60] Lord and Miller returned to produce and worked on both parts with Dos Santos, Powers, and Thompson returning as directors.[179] In April 2022, the film was retitled Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse and it was given a release date of March 29, 2024,[61][62] with Schwartzman confirmed to return as the voice of the Spot in Beyond the Spider-Verse.[180] Vulture reported in June 2023 that the film was not expected to meet its March 2024 release date as previously scheduled because work had only taken place on concept tests or explorations from when it was originally being developed as two parts, after which the creative team shifted their focus to completing Across the Spider-Verse first.[3] Lord and Miller responded, saying the production would take a necessary amount of time to complete Beyond the Spider-Verse and explained that they would not reserve a release date if it did not fit within their schedule.[181] They also said the sequel would conclude their trilogy of Spider-Verse films.[182] In July, Sony removed Beyond the Spider-Verse from its release schedule due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which prevented the voice cast from recording dialogue. The March 2024 date was given to Sony's Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.[183] After the strike ended in November, voice recording for Beyond the Spider-Verse was set to resume imminently,[184] and production had resumed by December 2023.[185]
After Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra said in May 2024 that the studio was exploring different opportunities to make their films less expensive and more efficiently by primarily using artificial intelligence (AI), which was a central issue in the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes,[186] Miller responded to concerns regarding the use of AI in Beyond the Spider-Verse, stating that generative artificial intelligence would not be used in the film. He explained that one of their goals for the Spider-Verse films was to create visual styles that had not been used in a major studio computer-generated film, and to not repurpose other artists' work plagiarized by AI. Some machine learning technology, which is distinct from generative AI as it is based on work already done on the project, had been used by Sony Pictures Imageworks to assist animators during the production of the franchise's preceding films.[187]
Spin-off[edit]
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,[54] and Lauren Montgomery was in talks to direct.[52] 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.[55] Lord and Miller were confirmed to be producing the film in April 2021, when the project was undergoing rewrites.[188] Pascal and Arad reaffirmed that the film was in development in May 2023, when Arad said it would be made sooner than expected, while Steinfeld expressed interest in the film.[189]
Manga spin-off[edit]
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.[190][191] In February 2024, Viz Media announced that they licensed the series for English publication in the fourth quarter of 2024.[192]