Despite the fact that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of iterations of Spider-Man’s story, there is nothing quite like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. It’s the answer to the superhero-weary world we live in. Across the Spider-Verse breathes life into the genre and demonstrates the truly limitless world that exists within the multi-dimensional storytelling at play. Where the Marvel Cinematic Universe has recently felt like its filmmakers are playing in a sandbox with reckless abandon, the creative team behind Across the Spider-Verse is building sandcastles the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

Across the Spider-Verse picks up a year and a half from the events of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is balancing his life as Brooklyn’s One and Only Spider-Man with his sophomore year of high school. His parents (Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Vélez) want him to focus on college, but the thought of Miles going as far away as Princeton is overwhelming. He’s growing up and feeling lost. His closest friend, Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), is in another dimension with troubles of her own, and they have no means of communicating with each other.

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Of course that all changes with the emergence of Spot (Jason Schwartzman). He used to be a regular scientist at Alchemax, but the collider explosion from Into the Spider-Verse turned him into a being with no face and no distinct body. Instead, he’s a plain white being whose only distinguishing features are interdimensional portals. He claims to be Miles’ arch nemesis because it is entirely his actions that ruined Spot’s life. Once again, Miles finds himself hurtling through interdimensional portals and meeting other Spider-Folk to bring down a villain.

Since 2002, there have been three different live-action iterations of Spider-Man. Even those who haven’t watched all those movies know the general plot points of Peter Parker’s transformation into Spider-Man. There’s always a radioactive spider, Uncle Ben never makes it, Gwen Stacy has a rough go of it, and with great power comes great responsibility. There are truths that we accept when we see a Spider-Man movie. It’s something that Into the Spider-Verse cleverly played with every time they introduced a new Spider-Person. Now, Across the Spider-Verse wants to examine those truths we’ve held onto since Spider-Man’s introduction in 1962.

Across the Spider-Verse focuses on these so-called absolutes. Does a Spider-Person have to experience immense loss in order to become an official Spider-Person? Can they save everyone? Do we have control over our futures? Does a Spider-Person have to experience isolating loneliness in order to protect their city? When it comes to storytelling, how important is canon? What do we learn when we deviate from canon? Since Across the Spider-Verse is only part one, audiences won’t get answers to these questions until the next installment. The good news is that none of them feel unanswerable in the world of Miles Morales.

Visually, there’s nothing like Across the Spider-Verse. It’s textured to resemble a comic book, with Ben-Day dots, bold colors, footnotes, and onomatopoeia words blasting across the frame. Each and every Spider-Person, as well as their villains, has its own distinct style. Miles’ world is a masterful blend of classic comic book and modern, sleek animation, but it’s invaded by a version of Vulture (Jorma Taccone) from a Renaissance world. Vulture is scraps of paper ripped from da Vinci’s notebook, completely at odds with the contemporary Guggenheim museum he’s destroying. Words will not do the work of the animation team justice. Film, at the end of the day, is a visual medium. It’s the blend of so many mediums, but often what remains with the audience after it ends is the visual impact it leaves behind. Every single frame of Across the Spider-Verse is a work of art. Entire essays will be written about how this film will single-handedly reinvigorate the importance of color theory in filmmaking. A cosmic shift happened in 2018 when Into the Spider-Verse premiered in terms of its animation style and colors. Across the Spider-Verse proves that it was not a one-hit wonder.

There’s palpable excitement as Across the Spider-Verse ends on a cliffhanger of sorts. It feels like the same type of thrill that used to exist in the theatre after the premiere of a Marvel movie. Across the Spider-Verse kicks off the summer blockbuster season with electricity and purpose. All films that follow this year, and for years to come, will have large shoes to fill.

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