Everything You Need To Remember To Watch Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
How far will a leap of faith take you? Well, after the release of the smash-hit movie "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" back in 2018, animation as a medium (say it with me, folks: animation is not a genre!) received a much-needed and long-overdue boost in respect and credibility, "What's Up Danger" became the anthem of that summer, and general audiences have now been able to join comic nerds in knowing exactly who Miles Morales is and what he's about. In short, the blockbuster changed the game forever and helped set the bar astronomically high for any sequels that would follow in its wake.
Well, fast forward to five years later and we're finally about to see whether "Across the Spider-Verse" can make lightning strike twice. The follow-up is currently enjoying some pretty widespread acclaim (click through to read /Film's review by Chris Evangelista), partly thanks to taking what worked the first time around and diving even deeper into the characters, relationships, and concepts that moviegoers simply couldn't get enough of from its predecessor.
But as with any sequel, that also means the filmmakers approached this with the expectation that Miles, his supporting cast, and his entire multiversal world would now be known quantities, as opposed to the series of pleasant surprises that many of us had to learn about before. The amount of information in play isn't quite as overwhelming as an established franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe or even the "Fast & Furious" movies, but there are quite a few details that fans will want to have fresh in their mind before checking out the sequel. Consider this your helpful cheat sheet to prepare you for opening weekend. Without further ado, here's everything you need to remember to watch "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse."
With great power...
The first "Spider-Verse" movie memorably begins with a montage of Chris Pine's Peter Parker walking viewers, young and old, through the classic origins of the traditional Spider-Man ... before cutting right to newcomer Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) at home in his family's Brooklyn apartment. The movie quickly covers his origin story, showing how his (secretly villainous) uncle Aaron Davis (Mahershala Ali) takes him to an abandoned subway station to encourage his graffiti artistry before he is unwittingly bitten by a distinctive, radioactive spider. By the time he realizes that something is off, we've seen his powers develop into a set similar to Spider-Man, though with a few key differences that include invisibility and electrical "venom blasts."
In any event, it's important to remember that Miles' origins — much like his entire backstory, upbringing, and perspective on the world — remain separate and distinct from that of Peter Parker's. Yes, there's that pesky, radioactive arachnid with a penchant for biting people. And there's also an uncle who acts as a father figure and ends up dying a tragic death, leaving behind a huge influence on our hero. But with Miles, his powers are tied directly to his passions as an artist, his culture, and his (still-living) family. The death of his uncle Aaron becomes a significant turning point, but that comes with the added wrinkle of his secret identity as the Prowler — which explains his tenuous relationship with his brother (and Miles' father) Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry). When he's killed by the Kingpin and his henchmen for refusing to fight his own nephew, Aaron's death provides the catalyst for Miles to reconcile such disparate halves of his family and become who he was meant to be.
Worlds collide
Ah yes, remember the good ol' days of 2018 when every superhero movie studio hadn't yet realized that the multiverse concept would become a proven cash cow? "Into the Spider-Verse" was one of the earliest and (arguably) one of the best examples of this comic book trope done right, introducing us to Miles Morales before plunging headfirst into a rapidly fracturing universe thanks to the interference of the villainous Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) and his super collider. You'll recall that the arrival of the various, scene-stealing Spider-people — the struggling Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), Gwen Stacy as Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), and Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage) — all came about because of Fisk's desperate attempts to recreate his lost family, regardless if that meant destroying the multiverse in the process.
As is usually the case in these stories, Fisk's actions unleash chaos upon Miles' world and that of all his newfound friends, spread out across the vast multiverse. That plot point also had the convenient side effect of allowing the plot to continue on in future sequels, opening up the story to appearances by all sorts of Spider-people from worlds outside of Miles' own. For anyone who's been paying attention to the marketing for "Across the Spider-Verse," well, it's pretty easy to figure out the broad strokes of how that pesky super collider incident from the first movie continues to have ramifications on the sequel.
Miles and the multiverse
One of the most potent themes of "Into the Spider-Verse" is that nobody can do it alone. The film begins with Chris Pine's Spidey delivering a rapid-fire monologue about how he's the one and only Spider-Man around. By the end, Miles is the one swinging around the city and specifically thinking about the friends he made along the way. "Anyone can wear the mask," as the film perfectly puts it. And that ideal is embodied by Gwen and Peter B., both of whom are returning for the sequel.
Although it seems every version of Spidey is marked by tragedy, each and every one of their backgrounds are unique. At one point in "Into the Spider-Verse," Gwen sadly alludes to losing her version of Peter in her universe, in a stark reversal of her typically being the one who ends up dead at the hands of the Green Goblin while Peter must live with the loneliness. As for Peter B., he's an older and much more worn-down iteration of the hero. He's exhausted by the Spider-Man burden at this point in his life after 20+ years on the job, suffering from the most extreme version of burnout possible. He and his beloved Mary Jane (Zoë Kravitz) were once the biggest superhero power couple, but life tore them apart and ultimately led to their divorce. As Miles soon finds out, life as Spidey isn't all it's cracked up to be.
But Miles isn't the only one to go through a progression, of sorts. Gwen and Miles' friendship (and, at times, flirtation) becomes a boon for both of them. Peter B. rediscovers his spark through Miles, learns to take his own leap of faith, and gets back together with MJ. Expect the sequel to pick up on all of this.
Odds and ends
"Into the Spider-Verse" may have raised the bar for all superhero movies to come afterwards, but that's not to say it didn't have plenty of fun playing in the same sandbox that countless others have done. Case in point: the post-credits scene. After a title card alerts us to "Meanwhile in Nueva York...," we check in with Miguel O'Hara, the mysterious Spider-Man figure voiced by Oscar Isaac who is given a watch-like prototype "goober" (or "gizmo") for making "autonomous multiverse jumps." The punchline to this scene is a recreation of the infamous '67 "Spider-Man" cartoon that ends with the well-known pointing meme, but having an actor as major as Isaac voice the character hinted at his larger role to come in "Across the Spider-Verse."
But that wasn't the only sequel tease. The main storyline ends with that aforementioned montage of Miles recounting his adventure and celebrating his newfound Spidey-ness. But just as he settles down in bed, another multiversal rift occurs in the ceiling of his room and he hears a very familiar voice calling back to him: Gwen. That's significant because, after shutting down Fisk's misguided scheme and sending all his friends back to their respective universes, it seemed the film would end on the bittersweet note of being separated forever. But that one last glimpse helped end things on a high note, teasing her reappearance for the sequel.
Bagel!
We couldn't end this helpful guide without shining a well-deserved spotlight once more on possibly the most brilliantly crafted setup and payoff in the entire film. We're obviously talking about the bagel gag, of course. After narrowly surviving their first encounter with Olivia Octavius (Kathryn Hahn), the Doc Ock of Miles' unvierse, both Miles and his accomplice Peter B. must escape a scientific facility in one piece. Upon running afoul of a lunchroom full of innocuous-looking scientists, the pair blow their cover and alert the entire laboratory to their escape attempt. Suddenly and hilarious brandishing oversized weapons, the scientists give chase to our heroes — who are armed with nothing but their makeshift costumes, a computer drive, and the bagel that Peter B. casually picks up to stay incognito.
When that obviously backfires, the next part of this multi-tier joke arrives: after quickly switching the items in their hands, the Spider-Mans make a run for it as one weapon-wielding scientist angrily screams, "He stole a bagel!" Chased outside and into the surrounding forest for the excellent set piece that will soon unfold, featuring Liv's terrifying pursuit and the scene-stealing arrival of Gwen in her full Spider-suit, the final act of this incredible gag finally arrives. Miles desperately flings the bagel back at their attackers and when it hits its target, the creative team clearly had fun animating a little "Bagel!" action effect as the button on this three-part masterpiece of a joke. It tore the roof down at the theater on opening weekend and it still kills to this day.
So there you have it! Hopefully, you'll never be more prepared for "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" than you are right now, as it comes to theaters on June 2, 2023.