ACROSS THE
SPIDER-VERSE
IMDb Rating
500K+
IMDb Votes
95%
Rotten Tomatoes
$690M
Box Office
Synopsis & Review
A year after the events of Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is more confident in his role as Brooklyn's Spider-Man but increasingly isolated by the secret he's keeping from his parents. When Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) reappears to recruit him into a multiversal task force of Spider-People led by Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), Miles discovers a society of thousands of Spider-heroes dedicated to protecting the "canon" — the tragic, recurring events that define every Spider-Man's story. When Miles realizes the canon requires a devastating personal loss, and that the multiverse-hopping villain the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) may be the key to changing it, he finds himself hunted by the very heroes he idolizes.
If Into the Spider-Verse reinvented what animated superhero cinema could look like, Across the Spider-Verse pushes that reinvention further in nearly every direction — different animation styles for different universes, hand-painted watercolor textures for Gwen's world, jagged punk-collage aesthetics for Hobie Brown's — while somehow keeping its enormous cast of Spider-People legible and its emotional core intact. Miles and Gwen's parallel stories about family, grief, and self-determination give the film real stakes underneath the visual spectacle, and Daniel Kaluuya's scene-stealing turn as Spider-Punk injects the anarchic energy the movie's thesis about "canon" needs. The film's decision to end on an unresolved cliffhanger — deliberately, as the middle chapter of a trilogy — frustrated some viewers expecting a complete arc, but as a piece of pure craft, Across the Spider-Verse is one of the most inventive and densely layered animated films ever released by a major studio.
Why Watch This Movie?
A Different Animation Style for Every Universe
Each Spider-Person's home dimension gets its own distinct visual language — watercolor for Gwen's world, punk zine-collage for Hobie's, hand-drawn sketch lines for Miguel's — pushing what a single animated film can look like further than almost anything before it.
Daniel Kaluuya's Spider-Punk
Hobie Brown, voiced by Daniel Kaluuya, arrives as a scene-stealing anarchist Spider-Man whose animation deliberately breaks frame rate and continuity rules to match his anti-establishment energy — one of the year's most memorable new animated characters.
A Genuine Sequel to a Modern Classic
Into the Spider-Verse won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and reset expectations for the genre. Across the Spider-Verse doesn't play it safe as a follow-up — it expands the mythology, deepens Miles and Gwen's stories, and sets up a bigger conclusion in Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Cast & Crew
Directors
Dos Santos, Powers, Thompson
Studio
Sony Pictures Animation
Producers
Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Miles Morales
Shameik Moore
Gwen Stacy
Hailee Steinfeld
Miguel O'Hara
Oscar Isaac
Hobie Brown
Daniel Kaluuya
Jessica Drew
Issa Rae
The Spot
Jason Schwartzman
Official Trailer
© Sony Pictures Animation / Marvel. Trailer embedded via YouTube.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to watch Into the Spider-Verse first?
Yes — Across the Spider-Verse is a direct continuation of the 2018 film's story, characters, and relationships, and assumes familiarity with Miles's origin, his bond with Gwen, and the multiverse mechanics established there. Watching Into the Spider-Verse first isn't strictly required to follow the plot, but it significantly deepens the emotional payoff.
Why does the movie end on a cliffhanger?
Filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller structured the story as a two-part sequel from the start, filming Across the Spider-Verse and its follow-up, Beyond the Spider-Verse, as one large narrative split across two films — similar to The Empire Strikes Back. The cliffhanger was intentional, designed to set up the trilogy's conclusion rather than function as a standalone ending.
When is Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse coming out?
The concluding chapter, originally targeted for March 2024, was delayed indefinitely following production challenges at Sony Pictures Animation. As of this writing no confirmed release date has been announced — check CineVault's listings or Sony's official channels for the latest updates.
Is this movie connected to the MCU or the live-action Spider-Man films?
No. The Spider-Verse animated films exist in their own continuity, separate from Tom Holland's MCU Spider-Man and the Sam Raimi and Andrew Garfield film series — though the multiverse premise means characters and visual nods to those other Spider-Man versions do appear across the films as easter eggs.
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