Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.Like its predecessor, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has quickly become famous for the variety and quality of its animated visuals. Both films simultaneously employ different art and animation styles to visually emphasize elements of theme and character. But the new film takes this a step further. Across the Spider-Verse also makes noticeable use of other cinematic elements like sound and editing to appeal to viewers’ other senses aside from just sight, creating a comprehensive experience that makes full use of the medium’s capabilities. This practice is most clearly displayed in scenes revolving around the character of Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman/Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), whose story becomes a highlight of the film as a result.
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A supporting character in the first film, Gwen is elevated to a co-lead role in Across the Spider-Verse alongside the first film’s protagonist, Miles Morales/Spider-Man (Shameik Moore). The beginning of the film is narrated by Gwen and depicts her backstory in more detail than Into the Spider-Verse did. After Gwen became Spider-Woman, her best friend Peter Parker (Jack Quaid) performed scientific experiments on himself, turning himself into the supervillain known as the Lizard. When he attacked a school dance in order to get revenge on the bullies that tormented him Gwen battled Peter as Spider-Woman, unaware that she was fighting her friend. During the fight Peter sustained lethal injuries and before his death transformed back into his human self, with Gwen devastated to learn what had happened. Gwen’s father, Police Captain George Stacy (Shea Whigham), arrived on the scene, leading him to believe that Spider-Woman murdered Peter, after which he devoted himself to her arrest.

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The Colors of Gwen Stacy’s World

Image by Annamaria Ward

Some time later Gwen was involved in a battle against a version of the Vulture (Jorma Taccone) from an alternate universe, fighting alongside alternate universe heroes Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae). After the battle, Gwen was again confronted by George, at which point she revealed her identity to him. However, George remained adamantly set on arresting Gwen, deeply hurting her and leading her to leave her universe to join Miguel’s multiverse-traveling Spider-Society.

Scenes set in Gwen’s world are depicted with an art style that resembles watercolors and the colors of the background frequently change in accordance with the characters’ emotions. Scenes highlighting the rift between Gwen and George, for example, usually feature a deep blue background, with a darker blue sometimes obscuring parts of George’s face. These cool colors visually emphasize how cold the relationship between the father and daughter is becoming.

Image via Sony

This effect is reversed at the end of the film when Gwen and George’s relationship begins to mend. Miles refuses to accept Miguel’s belief that all spider-heroes must experience the death of a police captain, which he calls a “canon event”, which means that Miles’ father Jeff (Brian Tyree Henry) must die. After Miles escapes the Spider-Society’s headquarters to attempt to save his father, Miguel turns on Gwen, angry at her for getting Miles involved with the team. Miguel kicks Gwen out of the Spider-Society, and she returns to her home universe, where she again encounters her father. Gwen expects another upsetting confrontation but George surprises her by saying that he is resigning from the police force so that he does not have to hunt her anymore.

This begins to heal their relationship and makes Gwen realize that canon points can in fact be changed, as she will presumably not lose her father in the way she was supposedly going to now that he is no longer a captain. She embraces George, with the background color changing to a bright white tinged with pink. This is similar to the color scheme of Gwen’s Spider-Woman costume but more importantly the bright white also radiates warmth, visually signifying how the connection between the Stacys is being repaired.

Sound, Editing, and Direction

Image by Annamaria Ward

Across the Spider-Verse uses more than just color to make these kinds of statements. Its sound, editing, and camera work also work in conjunction with one another to appeal to viewers’ hearing and even sense of touch to make them experience the characters’ feelings. This is perhaps most overtly demonstrated by the opening and closing scenes and the differences between them. The film’s opening narration about Gwen’s history is crosscut with a scene of her angrily playing the drums at a rehearsal for her band, The Mary Janes. The unrelenting and loud music plays over all the disparate images, uniting them through the painful emotions they provoke in Gwen, and, consequently, the viewer. The editing of this sequence is rapid, in time with the increasingly fast drumbeats, with many shots only lasting fractions of a second before the film cuts to the next, which are often at very different locations and/or angles. This has a disorienting effect which is compounded by vibrating camera motions that create an almost tactile jolting for the viewer, immersing them in Gwen’s feelings of frustration, anxiety, and heartbreak, making them feel as if they are the one pounding on the drums.

This contrasts sharply with the tone and design of the final scenes. At the end of the film, encouraged by her reconciliation with her father, Gwen resolves to stand against Miguel, Jessica, and company. She assembles a team of Spider-People and the final shots of her character show her preparing to lead them to help Miles. These shots are accompanied by a classically heroic score, which, while enthusiastic, is nowhere near as loud or aggressive as the opening drum playing. The editing and direction of the scene are also much calmer than the opening, with many shots lingering for relatively long times. This reassures and encourages the viewer, conveying that Gwen has conquered at least some of her emotional challenges and has a clear, positive path forward.

The filmmaking of Across the Spider-Verse expands on what made the first film so impressive. While both films feature stunning animation the second increased the variety of its visual and auditory storytelling as well as its use of editing and camera movement to create an almost unbelievably immersive experience. These qualities are on full display in the sections of the film revolving around Gwen and her world.

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