Spider-Man-based superheroes Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy and Peter B. Parker return in an even bigger multiversal adventure with hundreds of more alternate versions of Marvel’s famous web-slinger.
Writers Phi Lord and Christopher Miller introduce us to a multiversal organization headed by Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099. Its goal is to preserve all the timelines and there are thousands, possibly millions. Somehow each universe has a Spider-Man-like character as its nexus. Besides their presence, every Spider-Person’s background is similar, namely in how they’ve all experienced personal tragedies and the loss of important people in their lives. This is what Miguel calls canon (derived from us nerds!).
What does Miles Morales have to do with this? It would be a spoiler to write much more and Across is completely worth the suspense along with its long run time.
If you loved Into the Spider-Verse, Across cranks up all those elements. Different styles of animation and numerous surprises on what constitutes a reality. Lord and Miller’s ability to create humor in such serious material lightens the mood frequently so children won’t be terrified and adults won’t roll their eyes. When I was a little kid, I was a huge fan thanks to the Ralph Bakshi-produced cartoon being televised every weekday afternoon on Channel 44 (Chicago). Seeing nods to some of the most obscure material was awesome too. I loved the time given to Marvel Comics’ incarnation they made some years ago for India.
The dialog is great, not corny. The pacing is steady, never dull. The Disney-run MCU needs to take some pointers from Lord and Miller to rejuvenate their movies. I’m immune to the so-called Marvel Fatigue but not the masses.
Alamo Extras (Much was a repeat):
- Scenes from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon from the Eighties on NBC’s Saturday Morning lineup.
- How Spider-Man was retooled in Japan and Turkey.
- A really bad amateur movie with a Destro-like villain.
- Commercials for a Spider-Man Hot Wheels track, Mego knock-off of Stretch Armstrong.
- Alamo tutorials on other incarnations of Spider-Man: The Future Foundation, Iron Spider, Spider-Woman and Scarlet Spider.
- The awful Post Malone song from Into.
- Short movie of Shameik Moore (Miles) dancing. He must be a liquid being since his moves are uncannily fluid. I hope he adds choreography to his resume!