How Across the Spiderverse changed animation and film.

 

Photo by Nothing Ahead: https://www.pexels.com/photo/unrecognizable-person-with-remote-controller-watching-tv-7400906/

"Across The Spiderverse" was made by Sony Animation and released in cinemas this year. This film has only recently been released on rental through Amazon; however, even with the time it was within the cinema, it had gained a large following. According to Box Office Mojo, "Across the Spiderverse" made $380,718,189 domestically. The film was released in December of 2018, with most countries, such as the United Kingdom, having the film released on the 12th of December, as stated by IMDB. When the first film was released, it set a standard for the industry in how 3D animation can be pushed to create a stylized look that had not been done before.

This shows how much audiences are looking for films similar to Spiderverse, and it shows that even with superhero fatigue setting in, it still shows that with the right stories and intriguing characters, there is no place where the superhero genre can’t survive under these conditions. People are no longer blown away by the spectacle that the Avengers once brought and are now expecting more from the genre. With DC creating its own cinematic universe, it will soon bring more competition and expectations for Marvel to do better within the genre.

Even before Across the Spider-Verse, its predecessor had already set its imprint within animation as seen with Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, which had also been incredibly popular within the animation and broader film community. The film has made $482,129,780 worldwide after its release, according to IMDb. This was also seen in the original trendsetters within animation, Disney, and Pixar, who, even though they stuck to their styles, were known for Encanto. They had shown a flair in their styling, not only in ways to represent Latino culture but also in the different personalities and flair shown in the character design.

The IP of Spider-Man has always been a battle between Marvel and Sony, with them both having co-ownership over the IP of the character. Sony, when having full use of the character, had created not only the original and iconic Tobey Maguire films but also later on created The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2, which had lesser success than its predecessor. Marvel was later bought out by Disney, who took on a larger stake within the IP and soon created Tom Holland's version of Spider-Man within the MCU. They later used both Tobey and Andrew's versions in No Way Home. Soon after the start of the Tom Holland trilogy, problems struck again in 2019 when Sony wanted to take full ownership of the IP once again. However, this was soon resolved in 2020 with Sony and Marvel negotiating a new deal.

With live-action, there is a different standard compared to animation, with animation having a more easy time taking liberties with styling and story even within the 3D format. Animation can, however, take longer and sometimes more time to create than live action. This is what makes the feats of Across the Spiderverse even more special in the sense that it is breaking boundaries within an IP that has not only had plotlines reused but also had many audience expectations playing against it, so it was an amazing success when most audiences welcomed Miles as the newer Spiderman.

Across the Spiderverse is currently rated 96% on Rotten Tomatoes along with 50,000 user reviews. One thing that has made the Spiderverse films unique is that the films replicate the comic book style within the art style, and this pays homage to not only the original films but it also is a fresh take compared to other superhero projects at the time. The representation is a bigger part of what makes the film appealing, especially for people from those represented communities who can relate to the struggles of different characters. For example, Miles demonstrates what it's like to be a black child in New York. A lot of people from the trans community have also connected with Gwen's struggle of being ostracized by her father.

It’s important that going into the future, along with supporting films from big studios and franchises within Marvel and Star Wars, audiences also support films such as Across the Spiderverse that break the norms set within the industry. These films don’t always have to be from the bigger studios since a lot of indie films tend to break the norms set but are nevertheless missed by common audiences. Supporting films and TV shows like these can pressure the studios to create content that pushes the boundaries of the industry.

While I am writing this, the strikes with WGA and SAG are still ongoing. With this, it’s important that I discuss that these feats and challenges to meet the deadline came at the risk of crunching the animators within Sony. This had been something many audiences had heard about within the gaming industry; however, this has been less known to happen within the film and TV industries. Screenrant notes that “a report from Vulture reveals 100 artists quit working on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse due to negative working conditions.”

There are many films and TV shows coming forward that are inspired by the Spiderverse films, and it will be no surprise if Beyond the Spiderverse does the same for the industry as its predecessors did. With the strikes currently happening, this can hopefully bring along an environment where art can be created in a healthy and well-compensated environment where this type of creativity can be encouraged and not in a stressful and rushed manner.