Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a 2023 American animated superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Miles Morales / Spider-Man. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, it continues the story from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and is the second film in the Spider-Verse franchise. The film stars Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, along with Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, and many other talented actors.

In the movie, Miles teams up with Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen and travels across different universes to meet other Spider-People. They face a new danger called the Spot, and Miles must decide how to handle this threat with the help of his new friends, including Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 played by Oscar Isaac.

The film was released in June 2023 after being delayed from its original April 2022 date. It was very popular and received many awards, including Best Animated Feature at several important award ceremonies. The next film in the series, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, is set to come out on June 18, 2027, with two spin-off films also in the works.

Plot

In a world called Earth-65, Spider-Woman, Gwen Stacy, feels alone. Her father George thinks she hurt Peter Parker by accident and is trying to arrest her. Gwen meets new friends who help her.

In another world, Miles Morales is trying to balance being Spider-Man with his normal life. He meets a bad guy called the Spot, who can move through portals.

Gwen and Miles team up with other Spider-People from different worlds to stop the Spot. They learn that some events, like the death of a police captain, must happen to keep all the worlds safe. Miles tries to save his father, Jeff, but faces many challenges. With help from his friends, Miles works to protect his world and keep the multiverse safe.

Voice cast

The film has many voice actors who play different versions of Spider-Man and their friends. Shameik Moore voices Miles Morales, a young man who becomes Spider-Man. Hailee Steinfeld plays Gwen Stacy, who is Spider-Woman from another world. Brian Tyree Henry and Lauren Vélez voice Miles' parents, Jefferson and Rio Morales.

Other Spider-People include Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, an older Spider-Man who helps Miles, and Oscar Isaac as Miguel O'Hara, a Spider-Man from the future who leads a team of Spider-People from different worlds. The film shows many other Spider-People from different universes, each with their own unique styles and powers.

Production

Development

By the end of November 2018, ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 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 Dave 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 Lord and Miller returning as producers and a release date of April 8, 2022, announced. In April 2020, Sony shifted the film's release to October 7, 2022.

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. Before even finalizing a script or choosing a villain and alternate universes to visit, though, the production team decided the film had to be a story about family, focused on the struggle of being both "a son and a Spider-Man". 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. Characters that were considered to appear in Across the Spider-Verse but were ultimately rejected include versions of Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Electro, Shocker, Rhino, Hobgoblin, Chameleon, Puma, Leap-Frog, Alistair Smythe, Grizzly, Boomerang, Screwball, Big Wheel, Beetle, and Diamondhead.

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](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Across_the_Spider-Verse_cast.jpg/640px-Across_the_Spider-Verse_cast.jpg)

Lord and Miller 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 reported in February 2023 that Holland was set to appear in a live-action sequence and that this had caused the film's delay from 2022 to 2023; Holland ultimately did not appear. 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 Johnathon 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 Adriano Tumino / 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. The film's first trailer also confirmed that the Peter Parker / Spider-Man from Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2001) would be appearing in the film. 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's Marvel's Spider-Man video game series entry Spider-Man 2 (2023), whose version of Peter Parker / Spider-Man also appears in Across the Spider-Verse, with Yuri Lowenthal reprising his role from that series.

Animation and design

The film was animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks in Vancouver, with Michael Lasker serving as visual effects supervisor. 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. The other universe was Nueva York, the futuristic New York City from the Marvel 2099 world, was heavily influenced by Syd Mead's neo-futurist illustrations, which has an unfinished look. Also the works of artists Ron Cobb, John Bell, John Berkey, John Harris and Ralph McQuarrie were inspirations for the city's design, in addition to the architecture of Oscar Niemeyer. The city was created as a highly controlled environment reflecting Miguel's personality, and has an authoritarian, brutalist and minimalist style of design meant to represent a "clean, strong, unified, front-facing ideology". But when going underground one realizes that it's a world that can't really be controlled.

While the cast and crew were being interviewed for Empire in March 2023, codirector Joaquim Dos Santos revealed that another alternate 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 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 fan-made 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, inspired both by the white comic-book Earth-616 Spider-Woman Jessica Drew, the Earth-1610 Ultimate Spider-Woman, and the black live-action television Spider-Woman Valerie the Librarian (portrayed by Hattie Winston in Spidey Super Stories). 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 influenced by the spider in the movie Krull (1983), which is also named "Ynyr" after a character from the film. Gwen Stacy's hair received a redesign in the film, incorporating Gwen Poole's pink hair highlights due to a reference mix-up (as previously independently happened in the development of Marvel Rising). This was credited by Across the Spider-Verse production designer Patrick O'Keefe to artist Peter Chan in January 2024 as having been based on Gurihiru's work on The Unbelievable Gwenpool: Beyond the Fourth Wall, with the design of Gwen Stacy's bedroom also taking influence from the color palette of Gwenpool's hospital gown.

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:

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, Miguel makes a direct reference to the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), 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. Production on Across the Spider-Verse was completed on May 20, 2023, 13 days before the US 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 precedence 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, and that both Into the Spider-Verse and The Mitchells vs. the Machines (two earlier films that Lord and Miller co-produced for Sony) suffered from similar production issues. 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. Following the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, Beyond the Spider-Verse was ultimately delayed to June 25, 2027.

Music

Daniel Pemberton returned to create the music for the movie. Later, Metro Boomin joined to help make songs for the film. Many famous singers and rappers were part of the music, like 21 Savage, Swae Lee, Lil Wayne, and others. For the Japanese version of the movie, there was a special song called "Realize" sung by Lisa. Another song, "Mona Lisa" by Dominic Fike, was released on the day the movie first showed in theaters.

Actor Daniel Kaluuya, who plays Spider-Punk / Hobie Brown, also added music to his acting. He looked up fan-made music playlists on Spotify to help him feel the right energy for his character. He wanted Hobie Brown’s voice to sound like a song and tried rapping in a punk style for the movie.

Marketing

In May 2020, Sony worked with the Hyundai Motor Company to show new cars in the film. A prologue was shown at the Comic Con Experience in December 2021. In April 2022, writers Lord and Miller showed part of the film at Sony's CinemaCon panel. They showed the same footage at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June.

In February 2023, Funko Pops figures of characters from the film were shown. In April 2023, more footage was shown at Sony's CinemaCon panel. A second trailer was released on April 4.

On May 15, 2023, the film began selling Spider-Verse themed food with Burger King. This included a Spider-Verse Whopper and a Spider-Verse Sundae. On May 20, 2023, Nike released a special version 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. The company ZOTAC also made special Spider-Man-themed RTX 4070 graphics cards.

Themes

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse talks about big ideas like dealing with hard times and making choices that matter. The story shows how heroes sometimes have to face tough situations for the good of everyone. Miles Morales believes people should make their own choices, even if others disagree. This leads to a clash between him and other heroes who think everything must follow certain rules.

The movie also shows how important friends and family are. Miles wants to stay close to his loved ones while also trying to do what’s right. Gwen, another hero, faces her own challenges as she tries to balance her duties with her friendship with Miles. Through all these challenges, the story reminds us that support and connection help us grow, and anyone can be a hero.

Release

Theatrical

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse first showed on May 30, 2023, at the Grand Rex in Paris, France, and at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles. It came out in movie theaters in the United States on June 2, in special big-screen formats and IMAX. This movie did not come out in 3D like the first one. It was supposed to be released earlier, but it was moved a few times because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Later, it was shown again in some IMAX theaters on January 19, 2024, with a special logo to celebrate Columbia Pictures' 100th year. In China, the movie started on May 31 and was released on June 2.

After some people said there were problems with the sound in a few theaters, Sony sent a new version of the movie with better audio to all theaters on June 9, 2023.

Home media

The movie became available for digital download on August 8, 2023, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 5. The digital version had some changes from the version shown in theaters. The movie came to Netflix in the United States on October 31, 2023, and will be on Disney+ and Hulu starting May 1, 2025.

Reception

Box office

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse made $690.8 million worldwide. It became Sony Pictures Animation's highest-grossing film. The film was very successful and made a lot of money.

In the United States and Canada, the film opened with $120.7 million. It did well in other countries too, earning $88.1 million in its opening weekend across 59 countries. By July 2023, its top markets included China, the UK, Mexico, Australia, and France.

Critical response

The film received excellent reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of critics gave it positive reviews. Metacritic gave it a score of 86 out of 100. Audiences loved it and said they would recommend it.

Critics praised the film's amazing visuals and exciting action. Some said the animation made the film enjoyable, even when the story moved slowly.

Accolades

The film received many awards and nominations. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards and won several Annie Awards. The American Film Institute named it one of the best films of 2023, and it won the National Board of Review Award for Best Animated Film. It was also listed as one of the greatest animated films of the 21st century by IndieWire.

Other responses

Famous filmmaker Guillermo del Toro praised the film. Andrew Garfield, who played Peter Parker in earlier films, called it great. The filmmakers of Kung Fu Panda 4 used the Spider-Verse films as inspiration.

After the film's release, an Internet meme about "canon events" became popular on TikTok. Collins Dictionary considered "canon event" for its Word of the Year in 2023.

Future

Sequel

Main article: Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse

A third film in the Spider-Verse trilogy, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, will be released on June 18, 2027. Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson will direct it again, and many of the same actors will return.

Spin-offs

Sony began working on a film called Spider-Women in November 2018. This film will focus on three generations of female characters connected to Spider-Man: Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen, Cindy Moon / Silk, and Jess Drew / Spider-Woman. Lord and Miller are producing the film.

In August 2025, a spin-off film about Spider-Punk was announced. Kaluuya is helping to write the script and will act in it. By December 2025, Kaluuya said the film was almost finished writing.

In February 2026, it was confirmed that work on both the Spider-Woman and Spider-Punk films was still happening, and they are expected to be released after Beyond the Spider-Verse.

Manga spin-off

Main article: Spider-Man: Octo-Girl

On May 29, 2023, it was announced that a manga spin-off called Spider-Man: Octopus Girl would start on June 20 on Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ website and app. The story is about Doctor Octopus, who wakes up in the body of a young Japanese middle schooler. In February 2024, Viz Media said they would publish the series in English later that year. The series stopped for a while but started again on December 4, 2025.