Of the many highlights of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, its art styles were the among them. While Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) were in traditional 3D, the other Spiders had their own distinct visual styles. Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) was done in an anime-like art style, Spider-Man Noir (Nicholas Cage) was in black-and-white, you get the idea. With Miles and Gwen now travelling through the multiverse for the incoming Across the Spider-Verse, it’s no surprise to hear that the sequel will broaden its visual horizons.
Speaking with Collider, producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller discussed how each universe visited in the film will be an artistic treat in their own rights. “The idea that we’d be going to different dimensions really opened up an opportunity artistically to have each world have its own art style,” Miller said. “and to have each dimension feel like it was drawn by a different artist’s hand.” You can see a little of this in the trailer itself as Miles and Miguel O’Hara’s (Oscar Isaac) visual looks change when they’re flung from a colourful 2D world to a vibrant 3D sci-fi setting.
The first Spider-Verse film was incredibly ambitious just by having six Spiders of differing art styles, and the sequel attempting to go bigger than that is what excites Lord and Miller about the industry. Citing both Across and the recent The Mitchells vs. the Machines as examples, Lord talked about how they want to “push animation in directions it hasn’t gone yet,” echoing the duo’s previous statements that they wouldn’t just rest on their laurels. Back in November, the pair teased that each universe would feel “radically different” from all the others, and that it would “make the first movie look quaint.”
Outside of O’Hara, the Spider-Man of 2099, the other Spider to be confirmed is Issa Rae’s Spider-Woman. It’ll be interesting to see what other Spiders show up for the sequel, and what art styles they bring along with them. Hopefully the Japanese Spider-Man gets to make an appearance at some point.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — Part One will release on October 7.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.