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By: Jampier Acosta G.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse has finally been released after years of the first film being released back in 2018. Since its initial release, the Spider-Verse movies have had a huge influence on the animation industry, creating a new artstyle for animated movies. There are many popular films influenced by the Spider-Verse movie, with the most recent example being the critically acclaimed Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, and more upcoming films such as the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie that is adopting this same artstyle. 

What made the first Spider-Verse such a good movie was its huge cast of characters. In the film, our main protagonist Miles Morales is accompanied by 5 different other Spider-Men, and they all share a unique bond. These characters include Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker, Peter Porker, Penny Parker, and Spider Noir. If that wasn’t enough, the new film has blown that out of proportion. It includes not just old characters, but new characters with unique backgrounds and personalities, as well as thousands of other different Spider-Men. We are introduced to these different Spider-Men through Miguel O’Hara, a.k.a Spider-Man 2099, who created a Spider society devoted to protecting all the Spider-Universes, all intertwined like a web. 

The film gives time to flesh out the main Spider-Men important to the story, but it mainly focuses on Miles and his struggle to break from his fate. Making his own story puts all the other universes at risk since one small change can destroy the web that holds up all the different universes together. Miles is forced by Miguel O’Hara to let his story be written for him and have his fate sealed. Miles can’t accept it, so he escapes back to his Universe to save his father from a canon event that kills him. Miguel gets all the other Spider-Men to chase after Miles, and the chase begins. Not only that, but Miles must prevent a villain by the name of the Spot from destroying everything he knows and loves. The Spot is the most dangerous villain in the movies yet, as he has the power to destroy the very multiverse. We come to find out that the reason behind all these phenomena is because of the Spot and Miles. Miguel blames Miles for creating the Spot because Miles threw a bagel at the spot when he was human, and it ended up turning him into the monster he is now. Not only that, but the spider that gave Miles his powers wasn’t from his dimension, but an alternate dimension, one where Miles wasn’t the one who was supposed to be bit. This is the reason why Miguel sees both Miles and the Spot as equal threats as they’re the cause of all their problems. In the end, Miles must choose to save one person or save everyone, and he vows that he can save everyone. The movie ends on a cliffhanger, so we’ll have to wait until next year to find out how this story ends. Nonetheless, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is one of the best films that came out this summer, and its popularity will most likely continue influencing other films.