Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, a film made by Sony Animation and Marvel, released this summer on June 2nd. In my opinion, the movie was incredible, as it included relatable messages and even answered Marvel fan’s arguments.

The overall message of the movie is built on family. In the beginning of the movie, Gwen Stacy’s relationship with her father is strained because of her role as Spider-Woman, as he believed that Spider-Woman killed Peter Parker, though that is not true. Even as the two fight, they are still deeply connected. The situation Gwen goes through contrasts with Miles’ story as well, but in his story, it shows a better outcome.

For Miles, his parents are hard to talk to because they can’t handle the fact that their son is changing, so they overprotect him. The message given through the scenes of the movie, like where Rio Morales explains to Miles how she feels about everything, makes this more than just a kids movie. The dynamics between Miles and his parents can be taught to kids and their parents. Parents can learn to let their child “spread their wings” as Miles says, where he is talking to his dad in costume and gives him advice about his kid, and kids could learn their parents’ perspective. This could bring kids and parents together during their teenage years, building a stronger bond.

The dialogue used and the animation was amazing, conveying how much Spider-Man means to people and using it to teach parents and kids an amazing message, and that’s just the first act of the movie. The dialogue was presented incredibly with voice acting. For example, Gwen is talking to her father after being kicked out of the Spider-Society, and when she has a heartfelt conversation with her father about their ideals, the pain in her voice was there. You could feel the pain and emotions through the voice acting. Another good example of the dialogue is in the script; the way Miles talks to his mom feels similar to how I talk to my mom. Whenever she gets mad, I get lectured in Spanish. The tone of voice was the exact same, which made it very relatable.

The animation, art styles, and subtle detail throughout the movie were incredible. Using words like “Pow!” “Boom!” and when Miles is swinging, he screams “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” to convey the comic book feel. They also show it by using cross hatching and screen dots to convey shading and light. The way characters move was incredible, like the obvious choice Spider-Punk. He was animated in three frames, so he made a pose every three frames making it snappy, and it worked well with the Punk aesthetic. The art styles and direction of each world, like Gwen’s watercolor world, which would drip and change whenever characters were feeling sadness and turn blue. In Spider-Man India, Pavitir, the animation in his world is very unique. Whenever the comic book feel is used, they say the onomatopoeias in his language. The suit he used uses tons of different aspects of his culture, making it visually vibrant.

The movie was said to be written around the question, “Is Miles Morales Spider-Man?” The first act of the movie covers the relationships with Gwen and Miles’ parents and prepares Miles for going across the Spider-Verse where in the second half of the movie it talks about the canon. The canon events, which are key points in every Spider-Person’s life. This plot device is used to answer the question if Miles Morales is Spider-Man, the simple answer is yes. Miguel makes it out to seem as though Miles isn’t meant to be Spider-Man, representing the community who believe Miles isn’t Spider-Man, by saying he is an anomaly. Even though he is an anomaly, his world hasn’t been destroyed and went to canon events. He learns what it means to be Spider-Man, showing he is Spider-Man.

The movie’s story and pacing were extremely good and made me invest in the ending. At the end of the movie, Miles and Gwen were going to tackle all the loose ends, where it leaves us with a cliffhanger to the next movie in the franchise, Beyond the Spider-Verse. The movie has proven to be so great, people were mad when the movie ended because they wanted it to continue. The viewer’s response to the ending just shows that this movie is a 10/10.

The second half, Beyond the Spider-Verse, was set to release in March of 2024 but is now indefinitely delayed. According to rumors, Beyond the Spider-Verse might be releasing 2025-2026. The story is not over, so be ready to get right back into the adventure that is Spider-Man!