Following the release of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” in late 2018, Sony Pictures has returned with its sequel to the film this past June in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”
This franchise installment continues the story of Shameik Moore’s Miles Morales from the first movie, well-established as the new Spider-Man of his universe following the events of the film’s prequel. Introduced in the first film was the establishment of a shared multiverse that consists of alternate universes called the Spider-Verse, which both the films’ events and titles are based on.
The first movie’s ending saw Hailee Steinfeld’s, Gwen Stacy, her universe’s Spider-Woman, calling out for Morales and the sequel continues from there 16 months later. Morales first encounters the antagonist of the film, the Spot, a scientist from Alchemax, who blames him for his body’s infusion of portals during the explosion of the multiversal collider in the first film. We also learn that the Spot is why Morales has his powers, as he transported the spider to the universe that turned him into Spider-Man.
The Spot disappears after this revelation in a ploy to gain more power, which sees a returning Stacy reconnect with Morales on a journey through alternate universes to stop the Spot. Along the way, Morales is introduced to fellow “Spider-People” in the form of the Spider-Society. The Spider-Society is an integral part of the film as we meet new characters such as Daniel Kaluuya’s Spider-Punk, alternatively known as Hobert Brown, and Issa Rae’s Spider-Woman, also known as Jessica Drew. The sequel also sees the return of beloved characters such as Jake Johnson’s Peter B. Parker.
However, through the introduction of the Spider-Society, Morales meets the society leader, Miguel O’Hara, also known as Spider-Man 2099, returning from his appearance in the post-credit scene of the first film portrayed by Oscar Isaac. When discussing his plan to neutralize the Spot, O’Hara explains to Morales that the multiverse consists of “canon events,” which are supposed to happen, and he needs to allow it to happen to someone close to him in his universe. After this, Morales and O’Hara disagree on handling this new threat, resulting in anarchy and dissent amongst the Spider-Society.
O’Hara preaches the importance of saving millions of lives by sacrificing one. At the same time, Morales attempts to choose the few over the many due to how close he is to the situation.
As a result of this all-out war amongst themselves, the Spot begins his attack across the multiverse as the Spider-Society is fractured and spread across different universes, and the fate of every alternate reality is on the line to end the film.
The sequel to this movie, “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” was initially slated to be released on March 29, 2024. However, due to delays, it looks like the next time that fans of the Spider-Verse films will see the resolution to these conflicts play out is late 2024 or early 2025.
