Topping the original film with Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse was a lot of pressure, say creators
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Shameik Moore voices protagonist Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.
PHOTO: SONY PICTURES
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LOS ANGELES – The wildly inventive Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018) was the first animated feature in the Spider-Man franchise.
The coming-of-age tale saw Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) being bitten by a radioactive spider, taking over the mantle of Spider-Man and discovering a web of parallel universes, each with its own hero.
The film grossed more than US$384 million (S$519 million), won the Best Animated Feature Oscar and near-universal praise for its daring blend of hand-drawn and computer animation.
Which makes it a tough act to follow for Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the 47-year-old American writers behind the much-anticipated sequel Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, which opens in Singapore cinemas on Thursday. It features the voices of Moore along with Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Issa Rae, Jake Johnson and Daniel Kaluuya.
Lord and Miller – who wrote and directed the animated hit The Lego Movie (2014) and comedy film 21 Jump Street (2012) – spoke to The Straits Times and other media at a press day for the follow-up.
Miller says: “Part of the joy of the first movie is it looks and feels like nothing you’ve ever seen, so the sequel can’t just be the same thing again because then it isn’t something you’ve never seen.
“So, that challenge was a lot of pressure. How do we do something that feels as surprising as the first one was and pushes us into new places?”
This instalment – the prelude to a third film, Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse, out in 2024 – has Miles discovering a society of Spider-People in charge of protecting the integrity of the “multiverse” of parallel dimensions.
Although it reunites him with his crush Gwen Stacy (Steinfeld) – who in her universe is Spider-Woman – it leads to a disagreement over how to defeat an emerging threat.
All the universes and spider-heroes mean a smorgasbord of new characters, cultures and animation styles, but the story remains emotionally grounded throughout, says Lord, who also wrote the first film.
“No matter how wild the movie gets or how crazy it looks, because it’s rooted in character and relationships, the audience goes there,” he adds.
Shameik Moore voices protagonist Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.
PHOTO: SONY PICTURES
And it stays true to the reason fans are drawn to this franchise in the first place, says Moore, who reprises his role as Miles.
What has always made Spider-Man unique is that he is “like a regular guy, and when he put on a mask and was saving people, he became the ultimate version of himself”, adds the 28-year-old American actor.
“That story felt different from, ‘Oh, he was just born a god and can lift a building and throw it at you.’ That’s cool too, but we’re humans, so naturally, we’ll relate to humans.”
Across The Spider-Verse also gently critiques the idea that the Spider-Man comics are canon, or sacred texts, and that any departure from them is heresy, as some die-hard fans believe.
Lord says: “We think that nostalgia is dangerous, and we are interested in what’s next and trying to create things that are new.”
Miller adds: “The film itself is trying to say we shouldn’t be beholden to canon. We should be beholden to truth and what’s emotionally real.
“There’s a lot of trust put in us to treat the characters right, but if you treat them with kid gloves and are afraid to do anything because you can do only what’s already been done, then it’s not worth doing.”
(From left) Cast members Brian Tyree Henry, Hailee Steinfeld, Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson and Luna Lauren Velez at a photo call for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse in Beverly Hills, California, on May 22, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Lord points out that the Spider-Man comics exist only because the late American writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko broke with convention.
“They said, ‘Well, what if a superhero was a kid? And we wrote about how scared and clumsy and unprepared he was to do these things?’ That’s what has made Spider-Man famous.”
And breaking with the past is what allows Gwen – who in most of the comics and films was just a love interest – to be a hero in this movie.
Steinfeld, the 26-year-old American actress who voices her and was an Oscar nominee for the western film True Grit (2010), says: “I feel honoured to be playing a character that is as bold, daring and ambitious as Gwen. And because of those qualities, she’s bound to have her voice heard.
“All the film-makers involved understand that about Gwen and gave her the opportunity to shine in this.”
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse opens in Singapore cinemas on Thursday.
