Here’s the twist: Miles is not the only Spider-Man. As the film story is deeply rooted in the multiverse concept, Miles soon teams up with a diverse group of ‘Spider-people’, including, amongst others Spider-Ham, a looney-tunes-inspired pig version, and a Noir detective Spider-Man from a monochromatic universe.

The film’s ground-breaking animation style and compelling story instantly won the acclaim of critics and the audience’s love. The only question was whether the sequel would live up to the hype of the original.

It took five years for the long-awaited sequel to be released. Recently released, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse follows Miles Morales roughly a year after the first film’s events.

This time, Spider-Man has to face the Spot, an evil scientist-turned-supervillain. To defeat the foe, Morales reunites with friends across the multiverse – not only the characters from the first film but also some new faces, including the Indian Spider-Man and Spider-Punk.

The premise of multiverse travel results in a colourful eye delight in which every new world the protagonists visit has a unique and distinct art style. The plot keeps one webbed to the seat as it evolves from the prologue’s dynamic mini-tragedy into a tense drama about purpose, limitations and consequences – yet the film’s comedic and dramatic moments all hit the right spots.

It is worth noting how Daniel Pemberton’s score is the heart of all the action sequences, making every single one worthy of a final-act battle.

Even though it launched from a difficult spot – it is the second part of a planned trilogy – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse kept the animation’s soul, humour, and visual brilliance very much alive.