When Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse made it to theaters earlier this year, we could not help but rave about it. It was energetic and inventive. While telling a story to broad audiences about family and growing up, it also had an incredibly geeky plot involving comic book canon. And while it did have a flaw we could not completely square away in its final 20 minutes, the results were one of the strongest — if not the strongest — comic book film of 2023. But does it hold up on its 4K UHD home video release? Sony Pictures Home Video was kind enough to send us a review copy, so we’re diving once again into the Spider-Verse for a second look. Some spoilers, naturally, follow.
Even with the commentary track on, Across the Spider-Verse maintains its energy, humor, and heart. A product of a colossal team of artists — something that commentary from directors Justin K. Thompson, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Kemp Powers, along with writers/executive producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (and the other bonus features) goes to pains to point — the film never fails to impress or delight. The filmmaking is bold, the references deep, and the determination to give each of the major Spider characters their own visual language and animation styles means its Multiversal story never gets bogged down in the minutae of its variant Spider-Men. Instead, characters like Miles (Shameik Moore), Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Miguel (Oscar Issac), Jessica (Issa Rae), and Hobie (Daniel Kaluuya) are all vibrant and easily identifiable with Hobie and Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), the Spider-Man of Mumbattan, the greatest visual standouts.
The inventiveness and self-assured moviemaking remains on display in its 4K UHD presentation, colors are vibrant and the various framerates and styles of movement retain their charm from the theater. Of course, as tweaks were made after the film was released, we can’t say if the version presented on home video is substantially different from the one we saw in the theater, but it seems this is the definitive version.
Our issue with the last 20-or-so minutes remains. But on a second viewing, it’s clear the sense of multiple endings occurs because Miles visually externalizes his problems on his way home — a bit of visual grammar that telegraphs an ending still a good chuck of time away. It is a relatively minor misstep when compared to the bold animation throughout the film and withing the last 20 minutes itself. The subtle way the film guides you into realizing Miles did not make it home is a beautiful thing. See also: the style of Earth-42, the visualization of Gwen’s reconciliation with her father, and Hobie’s counterfeit transversal device.
Beauty seems to be a key theme among the directors and the writers/producers on the commentary track, which is the highlight of the bonus features. All five participants have a good time, talking about alternate versions of scenes, and hint at the iterative process in making the film. They also celebrate the army of artists dedicated to making the picture as amazing as it is. That celebration of the team effort continues into the featurettes. The strongest of the batch is “Creating The Ultimate Spider-Man Movie,” a 15-or-so minute look at the production of the film. It features a lot of people you normally wouldn’t see in a behind-the-scenes vignette talking about their contributions. It also has added charm thanks to video of animators filming themselves as various characters for motion reference. Married with either early or completed background sets, the results are both charming and a great illustration of the way animators bring their characters to life.
Other featurettes focus on the cast, Miles’s escape from Nueva York, some of the myriad Easter eggs packed into nearly every frame, the musical soundscape (complete with two great lyric videos), and the underlying themes of the film. Another standout is “Across the Comics-Verse,” a look at the production’s unique collaboration with comic book creators. Dan Slott reveals his key plot contribution to the story while artist Brian Stelfreeze discusses his design for Jessica Drew and the interest the production team took in his unique marker-on-paper technique. Additionally, Spider-Man 2099 artist Rick Leonardi chats about returning to the character and the pains the filmmakers took to retain as much of his style in their presentation of Miguel.
Does Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hold up? Of course it does. The passion for the process on display is as unique as the techniques employed to make the movie a visual marvel. And the extra feature underscore the intense labor involved in bringing one of the best superhero movies to the screen.
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