Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Really Does Look Like It's Taking Animation To The Next Level
Everything changed when that first teaser trailer for "Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse" hit the web (heh). We had become accustomed to seeing the beloved titular Marvel Comics character brought to the big screen in the form of three live-action adaptations, but this felt like an exciting new venture into the beyond. It's rather fitting that our first impression of this groundbreaking animation was that moment of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) leaping from the skyscraper, as it would become the face of the film. We were going someplace new, and the Academy Award-winning 2018 film spoke for itself.
The synopsis for the sequel, "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," indicates that the multiverse, which was initially opened by the villainous Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), is somehow going to play an even more significant role this time around:
"After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most."
Even with everything that came before, this new trailer for "Across the Spider-Verse" opens up the world of animation to a whole bunch of eye-popping opportunities.
Unleash the interdimensional animation
Judging by the latest look at the highly-anticipated sequel, "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is not only returning to the highly-stylistic animation of its predecessor but expanding upon it. While the multiverse has created the opportunity for Miles to meet other arachnid variants like Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), it's also given animators a bountiful sandbox to blend, highlight, and transform the artistry of a comic book into something unique.
The first half of the new trailer reminds us of the emotional crux of Miles' story before hurling us into a multiverse loaded with Spider-Man variants across all of space and time. Where "Into the Spider-Verse" featured a few of them on-screen together at the same time, this trailer makes it clear that the oncoming superhero rumble is going to entail thousands of them, including Oscar Isaac as Spider-Man 2099. The footage is extremely busy with all of them swinging around, yet their individual designs help them stand out from one another. A string of multiverses collapsing in on themselves has never looked more beautiful.
"Into the Spider-Verse" was such a dazzling experience because it made you feel like you were transported into a living, breathing comic book with backgrounds illuminated in halftone dots and colors expanding outside the lines. The freneticism of the action, in rhythm with its imaginative art direction, made for an unforgettable experience, and "Across the Spider-Verse" looks like it's only going to further blow our minds by melding six different art styles.
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is set to hit theaters on June 2, 2023.