Phil Lord and Chris Miller discuss the challenges of bringing so many new universes to life in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. The movie follows Miles Morales on a new multiverse adventure, but this time he’s traversing numerous universes where he will meet a group of Spider-heroes who have taken it upon themselves to protect the multiverse. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse has one of the biggest crews of any animation movie ever, with 240 characters.
Screen Rant spoke with Lord and Miller at the world premiere of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. Miller explained their goal of bringing the other universes to life in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and the challenges that came with it. Lord revealed that the key to making it work for the story is to focus on the characters first and foremost. Check out their full quote below:
Chris Miller: Each world that we visited, we wanted it to feel like a completely different art style and a completely different animation style. Like you were walking into a different painting by a different artist, and were surrounded by it. That was really hard from an R&D standpoint, and from an artistic standpoint, but it was a really exciting challenge for everybody. It allowed you to visit worlds in a way, cinematically, that you’ve never seen before.
Phil Lord: The other big challenge is just to remember keep the focus on the characters. Keep it on Miles. Keep it on his family. Keep it on Gwen, what she’s going through, and how that relates to when he’s going through. That’s the big trick.
Focusing On Miles & Gwen In Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
When expanding the story to span multiple universes with hundreds of characters, it can be easy to lose the plot. It seems Lord and Miller have discovered the secret to success with both Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and now Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. While the stunning animation is an integral part of the movie, the heart is the characters. In Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Miles struggles with the new responsibility that has been thrust upon him when he gains spidey senses. He eventually steps into his power and becomes the new Spider-Man for his Earth under the mentorship of Peter B. Parker and Gwen Stacy.
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In Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, Miles will face a new challenge as he travels across different universes and meets even more heroes. Miles must figure out his path as a hero and what he stands for. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse will also shed new light on Gwen’s story and her struggles as a hero.
The new heroes and universes are integral because of the impact they have on Miles and Gwen’s stories. This is how Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse keeps the heart of Spider-Man while bringing bombastic worlds and concepts to life. How they stand out from the other heroes needs to be the movie’s driving force, as opposed to jumping between universes and making endless cameos. While those elements are fun and the animation is game-changing, Miles and Gwen’s arcs are the true connective tissue of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.
Key Release Date
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Release Date:2023-06-02
