In 2023, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, and Marvel Entertainment released Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to the Oscar-winning film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The movie follows the protagonist, Miles Morales, as he travels across different dimensions and finds other Spider-People to try and stop the antagonist called The Spot. It was a huge success and attracted a variety of audiences. As The Carbon Freeze states, “This is the most beautifully shot animated movie in ages, perhaps the best ever.” The film extended the limits of modern animation and proved to the world that taking risks can pay off both artistically and commercially.

Before Into the Spider-Verse was released, most animated films in Hollywood used a “house style”: a style with realistic textures and cartoonish characters, which was the standard at Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks. Animation was also expensive and usually took a lot of time, so studios did not take the risk with it, causing 2D animation to be abandoned after the early 2000s. However, when Into the Spider-Verse came out, it completely changed the game. It used a combination of 2D comical styles along with 3D animations and made it look like a moving comic book. The film later won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and became a worldwide inspiration. As Layered Butter states, “Into the Spider-Verse vastly separated itself from its contemporaries - from its absolute originality in narrative, superb and crisp art direction and stunning production design; it solidified itself as a new creative foundation for animation and comic book film.” Spider-Man first came to popularity as a comic book, and by using animation techniques that make the film look like a comic book, the film, while being progressive, is also returning in look to the character’s original format.

There were many directors for the new Spider-Man: Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson, and Kemp Powers. Justin K. Thompson was the production designer on the first film, and he is a huge comic fan. Joaquim Dos Santos came from the TV animation The Legend of Korra. Kemp Powers co-directed in Pixar’s Soul and won an Oscar for it. From this list of directors, one sees that they have varied backgrounds in animation, and thereby they brought their different skills and influences to the new Spider-Man animated franchise. The producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, known for The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, brought their comedic sensibilities to the Spider-Man animated movie. Their track record of making successful comedy movies helped the animated Spider-Man movies to have more than striking animation; the dialogue and humor in the film matched the high-level of animation. Therefore, humor and animation melded together to create an entertaining experience. The studios in charge were Sony Pictures Imageworks and Sony Works Animation. Imageworks had over 1,000 artists working on the film. The studio developed over 100 new Nuke tools and nodes to create the unique visual style. One sees how Sony invested the labor and technology needed to make the film the best it could be, and their investment paid off by creating a one-of-a-kind animated movie that dazzled audiences visually.

The production process was extremely difficult. Producer Phil Lord kept on making changes to finished animations, and it meant that those animations had to be redone five times or more. Animators worked more than 11 hours a day, 7 days a week, for over a year. These long hours and grueling demands led to about 100 artists leaving the project before it was finished. Lord prefers to edit finished works rather than making changes when storyboarding. The film was originally supposed to come out during April 2022, then it was pushed to October 2022, and then June 2023. Producer Amy Pascal said, “If the story isn’t right, you have to keep going until it is.” Delaying a release can cost a studio money, but one sees from Pascal’s quote that Sony’s focus was on making the best film possible. By taking their time and making an unmatched animated film, Sony earned a profit for their work, proving that creativity and perfectionism can benefit a company’s bottom line.

Across the Spider-Verse features six different animation styles, all combined to create diverse characters and locations. According to Screen Rant, “Across the Spider-Verse pushed the limits of animation, just like the first film.”  Miles’ universe looks and feels like it did in Into the Spider-Verse. The combination of 3D and 2D animation work well together, and this style is often referred to as the “Spider-Verse style.” Garnering a nickname for the animation style proves just how innovative the animation style and how much the style may influence forthcoming animated films.

Gwen’s universe changes colors to reflect her emotions. Overall, her scenes have a water-colored feeling, making every frame look like a water painting. As The Carbon Freeze says, “It’s rare to see such stylized, impressionistic animation in an American feature.” Impressionism is an artistic style from the 19th century that emphasizes color and light. While an older painting style may not seem compatible with modern animation, the focus on color and light plays well in the Spider-Man films. Light, color, and mimicking water colors work to create a visually striking film on the screen, and this highlights the innovations made by the team behind Spider-Man.

Although people might believe that Miles Morales is the only main character in the movies, Gwen Stacy also plays a big part in them. As The Carbon Freeze says, “Across is really Gwen’s movie more than Miles’. Not only does she bookend the film with her monologue - framing the narrative as her confession and plans for redemption - but she’s the one who goes through the more dramatic arc.” The movie focuses on her struggles with her family and friends and how she slowly adapted to accept her role as a superhero. Meanwhile, Miles is a “likable, charismatic take on Spider-Man. He blows every other cinematic portrayal of the character out of the water.” His character arc focuses on his relationship with his parents and trying to fit in with the other Spider-People. When he meets Miguel, the leader of all the Spider-People, he learns that he is an “anomaly” and was never supposed to be one of them. Instead of accepting his fate, Miles fights back and refuses to let others decide how he should live his life. Both Gwen and Miles  struggle to balance their love for their families with their Spider-Man identities. Gwen learns that she should stop running from her problems and starts facing them, and Miles learns that being different is not a bad thing. The similarities between the two main characters allow the audience to realize that this is not only a superhero movie, but rather a story about the struggles with identities and courage.

Across the Spider-Verse’s impact on the world is twofold. First, the influence on animation is undeniable. Across the Spider-Verse used 2D and 3D animation as well as incorporating elements of watercolor painting. These different animation and artistic techniques showed the film industry what could be done when animators think outside the box. Secondly, Across the Spider-Verse broadened the definition of who a superhero can be. No longer are superheroes limited to adult Caucasian males; Miles is an Afro-Latino teenager, and Gwen is a female Caucasian teenager. In both characters, audiences see diversity on the screen, and more importantly, audience members from the aforementioned ethnic, age, and gender groups see themselves represented in these movies. The representation is important for domestic audiences as well as international audiences, and thereby many of the world’s people see themselves or someone resembling them in the role of web slinging superhero. Gwen and Miles, therefore, move the idea of superhero from the white male dominated purview of the past.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse makes many contributions to the growth of animated films. The animation style moves beyond the cartoonish “house style,” using 2D and 3D to set a new standard for animated films, with the style receiving its own nickname: the “Spider-Verse style.” Pushing the boundaries of animation is impressive, but Across the Spider-Verse also pushes the boundaries of who can be a superhero. Miles is a person of color, and Gwen is a young woman; in these two characters the old trope of the white male superhero is reimagined, and more audience members see themselves on the screen as a superhero. Taking the animation breakthroughs along with the increased representation, it is easy to see why and how Across the Spider-Verse has had such a worldwide impact on the film industry and on audiences.

Works Cited

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Cordero, Rafael. “Review - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Layered Butter, 3 June 2023, layeredbutter.com/editorial/review-spiderman-across-the-spiderverse.

Leite, Marcelo. “6 Different Animation Styles in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Explained.” ScreenRant, 25 Jan. 2024, screenrant.com/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse-animation-styles/.

McClellon, S. “A Thorough Analysis of ‘across the Spider-Verse’: The Best Film of 2023 | by S.A. McClellon | Medium.” Medium, 14 June 2023, medium.com/@sydneymcclellon21/a-thorough-analysis-of-across-the-spider-verse-the-best-film-of-2023-5f4ffe3b13d5.

Outlaw, Kofi. “Sony and Amy Pascal Comment on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Production Controversy.” ComicBook, 23 June 2023, comicbook.com/movies/news/spider-man-across-verse-2-controversy-artists-amy-pascal-sony-response/.

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) - Plot - Imdb.” IMDB, www.imdb.com/title/tt9362722/plotsummary/.

Suriya. “Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse — a Balance between Art and Technology | by Suriya | EVERYTHINGCG | Medium.” Medium, 21 June 2023, medium.com/everythingcg/spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-a-balance-between-art-and-technology-e7b88aab2a56.