It was at the far end of the year 2018 that Miles Morales became part of our lives with Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse. The ‘new Spider-Man’ was soon joined in by friends Peter B Parker and Gwen Stacy and we had become part of the Spider-Verse before we knew it. The action animated movie not only introduced concepts like ‘dimensions, quantum leaps, and realities’, but also brought the ‘cinematic multiverse’ to the big screen.

The sequel, Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse, started where the original film left off. Recently released in cinemas, the 140-minute movie is set a couple of months after the events of the first instalment. The action and animation are full of energy scenes, there is an abundance of Spider-men and a crazy multi-verse is there to expand our vision. The film focuses more on other ‘Spider-guys’ than the teen superhero, Miles Morales, who is addressing his ‘growing up’ issues in Brooklyn. He finds it difficult to balance his heroic abilities and his duties as a son.

We get to see an Indian version of Peter Parker, a certain Pavitr Prabhakar, who has accustomed himself to the traffic of Mumbattan (a cross between Mumbai and Manhattan), in some other dimension.

Like its predecessor, we get to know about a lot of exciting stuff. We are informed about what ‘canon events’ are and what they can do, we see ‘portal watches’ to add to our home-based Spider attire and we have new characters to turn into.

Miguel O Hara, who appears at the end of the first film, happens to control all Spider-people.

As a muscular ‘Ninja Vampire’ Spider-Man, he heads the Spider-Society and is there to protect the multiverse from collapsing. There is Spot, a scientist, whose body is now covered by interdimensional portals that allow him to travel to different universes and who blames his transformation on Miles Morales, wanting to avenge it.

Across the Spider-Verse takes us directly into the world of Spider-Man, its mythology, and the parallel universe. The possibilities in the multiverse enhance the imagination of the viewer, who is forced to think of many worlds than the one they are living in.

It would be better to watch Into the Spider-Verse before watching the film, as lots of connections are there with the film that came four and a half years ago. Remember, you might have to watch the newer film a couple of times, as it ends in a ‘To be continued’ frame.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 17th, 2023