I’m a hopeless romantic. My colleagues at TheGamer will make fun of my cheesy ass for tearing up when two characters I like finally hold hands. So when it evolves to smooches, heartfelt confessions, and doing anything for one another I am here for it. But I’m also a girl who knows when a ro🍌mance isn’t necessary, or comes across as forced merely to serve a generic demographic or ensure the kind-hearted hero always gets the girl. You have to earn my saccharine admiration, otherwise it falls flat and drags everything else down with it.
Speakin🐷g with , producer Amy Pascal confirmed that Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is primarily a love story between Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy. Fans definitely noted some chemistry between ♊the pair throughout the first film, but it never progressed beyond a bond of friendship and admiration for their respective superpowers.
Their goal was to make it home and save all the worlds Kingpin had put in danger, knowing that eventually there would come a time to say their goodbyes and move on. Yet as the film draws to a close, Gwen appears within Miles’ bedroom and appears to have found a way to once again hop across different universes. Turns out it r🥂eally is that easy. Screw science!
Our focused on a conversation between the two, with Miles noting Gwen’s sick new shoes that🧸 were apparently a gift from Spider-Punk. He’s curious to know how close the two are, and could they even be more than friends? Miles is a jealous teenage boy with a big ol’ crush on the beautiful girl next door (read: universe) and a colourful animated film that isn’t afraid to explore that dynamic in an honest way has so much potential. Yes it’s been done a bunch before, but Sony Animation has already showcased its talent for breathing new life into old ideas and making them shine all over again. This budding romance plays a big role in the comics, with a specific arc exploring how in every concꦡeivable universe the duo fall in love, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Across The Spider-Verse explores that very concept.
Miles could stumble across himself and Gwen in another universe smooching atop a rooftop, and it forces him to make mistakes that put the entire multiverse in jeopardy. It’d sure explain why every single Spider-Man in existence wants to tear him to pieces in the trailer. Our boy screwed up, and will need everyone’s help to put things rig♚ht. Except Nicolas Cage, who it seems wasn’t asked to reprise his role as Spider-Noir in the sequel. Miles and Gwen having to confront feelings they’ve hidden away, or perhaps not even discovered yet, because their acknowledgment proves essential to saving 𝔉the universe would be such a beautiful yarn to unfold. Doubly so if enough intimacy and time is afforded to what is a relatively small part of the overall dilemma.
Explosive action and gorgeous art styles only really matter when the narrative c𓆉ontext that underpins them earns our emotional investment. Into The Spider-Verse established a new benchmark for animation, yet it also made us fall in love with its characters th🌊anks to stellar writing and a central message of accepting love from those around you and learning that powers must always be wielded with the utmost responsibility. To know that future films will not only have Miles save the world and connect with his family, but find love in the company of Gwen Stacy, is so wonderful.
The latest trailer is deliberately minimal in its execution. A few new scenes are interspersed with older mo꧑ments as Miles’ mother had a sombre conversation with her son. It concerns the unfair weight of expectations and how one day going out into the real world and leaving your support system behind is a terrifying prospect, yet necessary for all those who want to reach their full potential. Her🐻 only hope is that, as Miles walks away from his family, he can find people who love him for who he is, and hold close the same values that made him into the brave man he’s become.
Mentions of love are juxtaposed with fleeting frames of Miles and Gwen, whether it involves fighting battles or leaning against one another on an otherworldly rooftop. This overarching theme, and their cutesy romantic bond, is already being reinforced as a core narrative focus, and it deserves to go all the way. Some are sceptical, fearing that a central romance will take away from the action and narrative in ways that don’t fit the superhero mould. Spider-Verse has proven that those tenets needn’t be so binary, and heroism can be spawned by fighting for your life, being there for those who matter, 🍬and allowing yourself to be vulnerable.
Miles and G✤wen getting together is more heroic than we might think.
