2018’s Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse was a game-changer on every level. The story introduced the idea of a multiverse to the masses in a feature film. The mix of animation styles was revolutionary. It was a great movie and its Oscar win was well-deserved.

The 2023 sequel Across The Spider-Verse is more of the same, which is a mixed blessing. The animation is still fantastic, employing a mix of art styles and making them all work. But the idea that made the original movie unique seems somewhat played out now that the MCU and DC Studios have put their own spins on the multiverse.

The opening scenes catch us up on what Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) has been up to and just how she found a way to safely breech dimensions in the final scene of the last movie. It seems that there is an elite team of dimension-hopping Spider heroes, who have taken it upon themselves to police the multiverse and keep anomalies from running amok. Gwen is recruited into the team, despite the reluctance of their leader, Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), after she helps him and Jessica Drew (Issa Rae) to subdue the Vulture of another universe.

This brings Gwen back into contact with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) who has his own problems with a new villain determined to be his arch-nemesis. The self-dubbed Spot (Jason Schwartzman) starts out as an annoyance, but his efforts to be taken seriously push him to seek out more power. This endangers the multiverse and brings Miles into contact with Gwen and her team, but Miles soon finds himself fighting against the other Spiders when he discovers they are less concerned with saving lives than enforcing their idea of order on reality.

There is a certain dark humor that canon itself is the true enemy of Across The Spider-Verse, given the outcry of certain vocal elements regarding the first film and the idea that “anyone can wear the mask.” While the Spiders present a diverse collective of heroes, they do believe that every hero’s life must follow certain beats. Gwen muses upon this with Miles, noting that in most realities it is Gwen Stacy’s fate to fall in love with Spider-Man and die – never to be the hero herself. The fact that this orthodoxy is enforced by Spider-Man 2099, the first major non-Peter Parker Spider hero, only adds to the irony.

Despite this new angle, the story of Across The Spiderverse is broadly the same as the first movie, with Miles as the rookie in way over his head. There’s plenty of Easter eggs and comedic cameos, and an important lesson about Power and Responsibility. It’s everything we expect in a Spider-Man movie…. and that’s the problem. There’s very little about this movie that shocks you quite like the first one did.

Despite this, Across the Spiderverse is still a good movie. It may not be everything the first one was, but it is satisfying on its own terms. Highly recommended to all Spider-Fans.