Credit: Sony Pictures AnimationSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) is shaking things up!
Writers, producers, directors, and more have all teased many exciting things to come for the sequel to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2018). Some have compared it favorably to Avengers: Endgame (2019) in scope, others have teased appearances from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Tom Holland, while still others have talked about the immense amount of Spider-Folk, and said that the sequel “made some people nervous.” This latest update just throws fuel on that fire!
Related: ‘Spider-Man’ Producer Teases Tom Holland Cameo In ‘Across The Spider-Verse’
With Sony still owning much of the rights to the character Spider-Man, there were only so many times they could really reboot the franchise. How often could they tell the same origin story of Uncle Ben dying and Peter Parker learning about great power and great responsibility without it getting a little dry? Enter: Miles Morales (Shameik Moore).
Though his origin story closely mirrors the classic Spider-Man story, Miles (Moore) in Into the Spider-Verse was a completely different take, with some extremely imaginative animation that broke from the now-traditional form of CGI. That first film broke new ground, bringing together Spider-People from across the Spider-Verse, and now the sequel seems to be looking to break even more ground and shift the tone from the first film.
Into the Spider-Verse, like the Spider-Man films that came before, was an origin story, but it also was coming-of-age and stepping into that power just like his predecessors, but still a definite action/adventure/drama. Now, fans have a bit of an insight into just what kind of movie they’re in for with Acoss the Spider-Verse thanks to these new comments from producer Amy Pascal.
In a recent interview covered by The Direct, Pascal addressed a big question that has been on the minds of Spider-Verse fans since 2018: Miles (Moore) and Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld)…will they become a couple? Pascal removed a lot of doubt about the two in her comments about the sequel:
“The danger with a sequel is to go bigger just for bigger’s sake. But all the bells and whistles are no good unless you care. This movie is a love story between Miles and Gwen.”
This comes as a bit of a surprise to fans who may have been expecting a sequel akin to the first film. Instead of another action/adventure/drama, Pascal says that fans should expect an all-out love story between Miles (Moore) and Gwen (Steinfeld). Of course, there are bound to be elements of adventure and drama as well, as is the nature of the genre, but it is a bold and interesting direction to take. Will the sparks from the first film be fanned into a flame in the second?
Related: ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Expands Its Own Multiverse
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hits theaters June 2, 2023, and stars Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen, Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara / Spider-Man 2099, Issa Rae as Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman, and Jason Schwartzman as Jonathan Ohnn / The Spot. The sequel finds Miles (Moore) joining forces with old allies fighting against a new threat, and finding himself facing down legions of Spider-Folk in order to save the Multiverse.
What do you think about this new direction for the film? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!