Maintaining Traditional Telling Conventions
In the sequel to Into the Spider-Verse, the character we know better as Gwen Stacy, played by Hailee Steinfield, stated that everything was about to turn around. The 2018 version makes similar claims. Despite its great animation advancements, it follows the formula for superhero origin stories. It is about a young monomythic hero discovering his world, developing his abilities, and using them to defeat climactic villains to achieve true self-discovery.
On-screen, the multiverse of Spider-Man’s many variations exacerbates the situation. However, the overall plot keeps all significant telling conventions intact. The sequels continue the pattern, featuring even more stunning formal innovations. The more we consider the general structure of the film, the more we realize how much the story imitates typical Hollywood tropes for the second part of the entire detailed trilogy.
The character identities, the many animation techniques, and the overarching aesthetic scheme are what stand out. Therefore, Gwen’s statement may not fully apply to all aspects of Across the Spider-Verse. Unsurprisingly, the production was a team effort among Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, David Callaham, and directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson.
The hundreds of animators working on Across the Spider-Verse are the show’s real stars.
Spanning Multiple Styles
The sequel is classic mid-trilogy fare if we remove the staggering variety of visual styles and energy from the show. It changes according to the needs of situational moods and expressions. Darker, more complicated stories with bigger stakes and deeper emotions end in a somber cliffhanger. Fortunately, Across the Spider-Verse is a visually stimulating film. Every scene has many nuances, from hilarious visual gags to popping exposition boxes.
Character and setting design spans many aesthetics, including impressionistic watercolor, comic book-like dots, animator hand-drawn figures resembling sketches, haphazard collages, expressionist monochrome ink, stop-motion Legos, and even live-action. Even though the storyline is predictable, the animation vividly depicts every character and circumstance. In a touching undercurrent, the film follows Gwen and Miles Morales, struggling with their parents while overcoming big challenges in the Spider-Verse.
As it turns out, Miles accidentally produced the Spot, a new antagonist that can open extradimensional portals. In his quest for revenge, the Spot targets Miles and expresses an unconvincing desire to transcend antagonist status. In the film’s first half, the stakes hinge more on interpersonal issues, as no one, including the audience, takes an initially goofy foe seriously.
The Abundance of References
Following a horrific reaction when Gwen told her father, Captain George Stacy, she was a Ghost-Spider. She advises Miles not to tell his kind parents about his heroic personality. However, they grew increasingly worried about their son, who recently seemed distracted and hiding things. It makes sense, given Miles’ discovery that a group of Spider-People from multiple universes are watching the Spider-Verse.
Naturally, Across the Spider-Verse may have as many references as Hollywood has ever put together in one film. The directors took advantage of the opportunity to have nearly every version of the web-slinger appear in comic books, movies, and animated shows due to the multiverse setting of the story. Most of the film encourages the audience to experience a rush of endorphins upon encountering it.
So, audiences get the fanservice of Miles’ roommate independently playing the fantastic Spider-Man (2018) game, with the live-action actor appearing as the Prowler. It is a simple trick that works well. Plus, it gives the impression that the filmmakers are as knowledgeable about intellectual property as the most ardent fans. It makes the audience feel grateful that fans carefully crafted and selected the products and every background element.
However, paying attention to the quality in favor of yielding to fan expectations would be too simple.
Spider-Man’s Long-standing Presence in Popular Culture
Multiverse stories need variants, which shows that we also need the statement. Still, it is hard not to feel that Sony has succeeded in blending the various eras of the Spider-Man fandom into one unit. Since the 1960s, Spider-Man has been a part of popular culture. Through many iterations, the character has evolved and is connected by generations. Some of us still prefer one of the many comic book spin-offs, while others will always imagine Tobey Maguire behind his mask.
With its cinematic universe, Sony has recently become increasingly divisive and amplified the Spider-Man brand. With more to come, they have spawned anti-hero spin-offs like Venom and Morbius. To ensure that every viewer sees their favorite Spider-Man on screen, Across the Spider-Verse gives most of them the unique brand of their rights. If only for nanoseconds in certain cases, it is very easy to write off the decision as financial. However, they show ingenuity and consistently include Across the Spider-Verse, which holds that anyone can become Spider-Man in the multiverse.
Apart from Miles and Gwen, the film also features an Indian hero from the distant future where Manhattan and Mumbai have merged, a pregnant Black Spider-Woman, and a British punk Spider-Man who embraces anarchism.
Conveying the Message of Inclusion
Like in the first film, the protagonists in the sequel do not trust the audience to understand their inclusive message. So, they blatantly sent him through their conversations. In its bookend narration, Gwen greets the audience and finally invites everyone to join her Spider-Man rebel group. No matter how clumsily we convey the message of inclusion, we cannot mistake the effect for an appeal to a group of people who might feel we understand.
The directors pushed the idea even further by challenging conventional diegetic story structures. Through their shared experiences, they created the canonical thread that connects all of the Spider-People. All Spider-People must obey the rules to experience certain canonical events, such as Captain Morales’s death, Uncle Ben’s disappearance, or the fateful relationship between Miles and Gwen.
Spider-Society administrator Miguel O’Hara, also known to us as Spider-Man 2099, at least thinks so. He is a high-tech vampire hero who serves as a partner overseeing Spider-Verse. Using the multiverse, those who break the rules start feeling all too familiar. The novelties of the multiverse, variant heroes, and multiverse cops are starting to feel like they’re being overplayed, thanks to the same ideas that guide the MCU and Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Shared Canonical Rogues
From the start of Across the Spider-Verse, Miles is late for appointments with his parents and guidance counselor. It sparked discussion about Miles’ ascent to adulthood and his career aspirations. He was a young man about to graduate and enter the wider world. At the same time, there are expectations from society as a whole. Realistically, that includes going to college, finding a job, and trying to have a family.
Through canon events, Across the Spider-Verse defamiliarizes the adult experience and how we must deal with societal expectations. Every Spider-People shares a canon rogue, no matter where they are in the cosmos. It was a canonical incident when Uncle Aaron died for Miles. Uncle Ben and Uncle Aaron have lost their versions of themselves in every Spider-People. Likewise, each had to lose a police commander close to them.
However, Miles steps in to save his girlfriend’s father, Pavitr Prabhakar. In other words, he changed the canon. It did not do well, as the dimensional rift opened and engulfed Earth-50101. Finally, the film instructs Miles to accept the events as canon. Even if he knew that the people he loved would not survive, he could not take any measures to prevent that.
The Concept of Canon
O’Hara’s Spider-Man team is in charge of ensuring canon events take place. Therefore, Miles begins to question the canon and looks for ways to have his cake and eat it too. In a sense, Miles hears something troubling from Miguel. The definition of a canon breaker is Miles, but Spider-Man was never meant to be him. Earth-42’s spider bit him, but Miles would not have found the spider, developed his powers, or witnessed the deaths of Earth-1610’s Kingpin and Peter Parker if he had not been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Miles did not just “cause” the tragedy. However, he also eliminated the Spider-People from Earth-42. There are no heroes present, but there are many things he has to unpack. The crucial element is that Miles supports outsiders’ ideas of going against fate beyond everyone’s expectations. When he finds out about canon, he rejects it in contrast to Gwen, Peter B. Parker, and the other characters.
Miles is committed to overcoming destiny, having to build his path instead of following what others tell him to do. Everyone faces comparable turning points in their lives. Not every “canon event” is unprofitable, and not all risks are brave, wise, or good.
Anticipating the Full Impact
Miles and Miles from Earth-42 both symbolize individual dualism from a thematic perspective. The decisions we make, the uncontrollable events that occur, and the people in our immediate environment all shape who we are. Miles must still figure out his identity and purpose in Across the Spider-Verse. Without a better expression, his world has led him astray. He was obviously in a much worse situation than Miles, but that did not mean he did not have to die.
It is predicted that Miles will face some challenging situations in Beyond the Spider-Verse and emerge stronger and braver than ever. While defying fate and canon, he will demand his right to creativity, opportunity, and choice. The canonical events are not that different from what happened. Across the Spider-Verse explores the idea through the framework of a much more detailed “canon event” and its connection to Spider-Man.
When the film’s complicated web of conflicts began to drag on, the directors slowed things down for touching scenes between Miles and Gwen or Miles and his parents. It serves as a reminder of why we are so immersed in the action. We will know the entire impact of Across the Spider-Verse once the trilogy is over.
Bibliography
- Das, S. (2023). How ‘Across The Spider-Verse’ Resonates The Theme Of Family Through Gwen, Miles, And Others?. Film Fugitives.
- McKenzie, C. (2023). Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Kneel Before Blog.
- Tallerico, B. (2023). Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Roger Ebert.
- Watercutter, A. (2023). Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Is Everything the MCU Is Missing. WIRED.
