Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a JH Williams III comic

 I had the good fortune of going to the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse premiere yesterday, thanks to Columbia Pictures Philippines.

I had high expectations, even as great as the first movie was. I didn't think it would be as innovative as the first one, since the first one is already showing its influence across animated movies being developed today, but I had high expectations for the narrative.

All my expectations were blown away just five minutes in, when Spider-Gwen's origin was told in a style that was reminiscent of her original comics. It had a different tone from the original movie, and was, quite frankly, the Spider-Gwen story I'd been waiting to see in any medium since she debuted in 2015. It's almost like her movie was completely different from Miles' movie.

Later on in the movie, we meet other Spider-Men from across the Spider-Verse (see what I did there?), each drawn as if they had each come from their own movies, each one with their own style, all grounded and centered, of course, by the style established by Miles Morales, the Spider-Man of the 21st century.

It hit me that I was essentially watching a JH Williams III comic. JH has never worked on Spider-Man (and now I want him to), but the concept of mixing multiple styles in one comic was, while not invented by him, perfected by JH Williams III in comics such as Promethea, Batman: The Black Glove, and most recently, his creator-owned Echolands (please click through to see my series of interviews with him about it).

This really works for me because it really does give the feeling of a wider Spider-Verse. There were moments watching this movie that I wish we could've just focused on Gwen and the world she lived in - itself so captivating and worthy of being told. But honestly the same is true of virtually every Spidersona we see in the movie. Each one looks like they could have been the star of their own film. Each one felt, for one brief shining moment, like a possible main character.

The main character of course in this one is Miles Morales, a truly great character who as I've mentioned is the Spider-Man of the 21st century. In service to the story, there are certain elements that I think were sacrificed to make Miles look better (elements which could easily be explained away, but still elements that made me raise an eyebrow), but it's all so minor, as the multiple threads and subplots in the story kept me intrigued and at the edge of my seat throughout. When the movie was over, I clapped. I didn't notice more than two hours had passed, and I, like everyone else in the small theater I was in, clearly wanted more.

TL;DR: Go see it immediately! And also, my fingers still work!