The long awaited Spider-Man: “Across the Spider-Verse” came out on June 2nd. As a sequel to the hit animation film, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, the series is known for its comic book-like style; a visually compelling and unique art form that captured the eyes of its audience. The style is nostalgic, comforting, and recognizable for viewers, as many classic Marvel Superheroes originate from comics. 

Techniques such as half-toning which uses dots to create gradients and colors, were used to emulate the comic book style. The usage of thought bubbles, printed words, and wiggly lines are shown to illustrate the “spidey sense” which directly borrowed artistic devices from vintage comic books. 

While other animated movies were falling into the norm of the “Pixar” animated style: extremely detailed, almost photorealistic, 3D computer rendered designs, “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse” was a breath of fresh air from the homogeneity of 25 years of the Disney brand animation style. 

The art style was the work of over 170 animators combining traditional hand-drawn art with computer animation. Such a large capacity of animators working on a single project was unheard of, for reference the original “Toy Story” had only 27 animators. While other animated films take about a week to produce four seconds of footage, “Into the Spider-Verse” took one week to produce only a second. Spider-Man has two to three times the amount of frames than typical 3D animated films, creating even longer work periods.

The film is unique in one regard because it does not use motion blur; a CGI trick which most new animated films use to soften movement making it seem more realistic. Instead they use a technique known as motion smearing where artists draw the movement in a blurred fashion, entertaining viewers with its choppy look. In many cases, if you pause the movie you can see multiple arms or legs to create the illusion of movement. 

“Into the Spider-Verse” also relied on an older animation technique known as drawing in “two’s”, meaning one new image in every two frames. This allowed animators to have the freedom to vary character’s movement and stress dynamic poses since each pose lasts longer. 

With “Into the Spider-Verse”, a new standard of animation emerged. New TV shows like Netflix’s “Arcane”, and movies like “Puss and Boots: The Last Wish”, “The Bad Guys”, and “Mitchell and the Machines” are experimenting with their shading style and a hand-drawn look. Audiences adore the unconventional flair, colors, and rhythm of these new productions. 

“Across the Spider-Verse” pushes the boundaries of animation once more as Miles Morales, the Spider-Man protagonist, desperately tries to save alternate dimensions. Producer Chris Miller says that the sequel is “very ambitious” since they “didn’t want to…do the same thing again.” In fact, “Across the Spider-Verse” will feature “different dimensions” each with “its own art style.” The long awaited movie is currently the highest scoring Letterboxd movie of all time, beating “Parasite and the Godfather”. “Across the Spider-Verse” is an absolute must see, it is definitely one of the best movies of the year.