NOTHING’S GONNA CHANGE MY WORLD’

Between canon and choice in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

Peter Parker was just another kid in New York City when he was bitten by a radioactive spider, bringing physical gifts (and a simultaneous curse) beyond his wildest dreams. He may have a heightened sixth sense and strength hundreds of times that of a normal man, but at the end of the day, he is just that: a man. And a man cannot save everyone, try as he might. That’s what led to poor old Uncle Ben’s demise, a canonical event in the Spider-Man story, teaching Peter that with great power comes great responsibility.

But what if Uncle Ben didn’t have to die? What if Spider-Man could save a busload of children and Mary Jane at the same time? There’s a saying that if not for the darkness, we would never appreciate the light. But do we really need the darkness to see the light?

That’s one of many questions swirling around the dizzying and delightful Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Stuffed to the gills with philosophical quandaries, plot and more Spider men, women and children than you can count, Across the Spider-Verse is a blockbuster with a lot on its mind, both about pop culture and loftier things.

Picking up a few years after 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse, the new animated feature takes Brooklyn’s one and only Spider-Man, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), and isolates him from the Spideys on other Earths, specifically Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), who is missing Miles as much as he is missing her.

But Gwen isn’t on her own the way Miles is: She’s part of an elite SpiderTeam tasked by Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac) to travel across dimensions to right a wrong that threatens to snap the connecting threads of the SpiderVerse. The connections binding these universes together are the shared moments that forage Spider-Man out of the loss of Uncle Ben, or Captain Stacy, or you name it. Disrupt the origin, and you disrupt the outcome.

ent franchise: You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. It’s a flip of Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces summation, “Where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves.”

Written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Dave Callaham and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, Across the Spider-Verse is a winning combination of heart and humor backed by some of the most engrossing and hypnotic artwork you’re likely to see in theaters. Continuing the theme established in Into the SpiderVerse, the new film changes animation styles with giddy aplomb and emotional expression. One scene involving a heart-to-heart between Gwen and her father (Shea Whigham) washes out the setting of their New York apartment in favor of popping abstract colors worthy of Stan Brakhage.

What are they talking about? Loneliness. What she has to do conflicts with what he has to do, and their actions isolate them from each other. So it goes in the Spider-Verse — with great power comes insurmountable loss. These are the Old Testament rules that rest in Miguel’s icy claws. Even the movie’s now-yousee-him-now-you-don’t villain, Spot (Jason Schwartzman), who can create portals in space and across dimensions, is just looking for recognition and validation.

Hollywood has had a field day with these kinds of hopscotching multiverse stories thanks to a bottomless offering of franchises that reboot, rebrand and remake. Storylines get tangled, fans draw allegiances to certain incarnations, and the IP machine starts collapsing everything into one supergroup where anyone who’s donned the mask shows up for a whiz-bang spectacular.

Across the Spider-Verse plays in that sandbox but digs a little deeper. As Miles tries to defy his fate, he learns the same lesson another masked superhero learned in a differ-

And then there’s Miles, missing his uncle and hiding his true identity from his loving father (Brian Tyree Henry) and mother (Luna Lauren Velez). He’s hoping that one day the whole Spider-Verse will show up and help him not feel so alone. That day will come because, as Campbell concludes, “where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world.”

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves,” said psychologist Carl Jung. What was he implying? That we may sometimes engage in the same behavior that bothers us about others? And we should examine whether we are similarly annoying? That’s one possible explanation, and I encourage you to meditate on it. Here’s a second theory: When people irritate us, it may signify that we are at risk of being hurt or violated by them — and we should take measures to protect ourselves. Maybe there are other theories you could come up with, as well, Aries. Here’s your assignment: Identify two people who irritate you. What lessons or blessings could you garner from your relationships with them?

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): In 1886, a wealthy woman named Sarah Winchester moved into a two-story, eight-room farmhouse in San Jose, California. She was an amateur architect. During the next 20 years, she oversaw continuous reconstruction of her property, adding new elements and revising existing structures. At one point, the house had 500 rooms. Her workers built and then tore down a seven-story tower on 16 occasions. When she died at age 83, her beloved domicile had 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, and six kitchens. While Sarah Winchester was extreme in her devotion to endless transformation, I do recommend a more measured version of her strategy for you — especially in the coming months. Continual creative growth and rearrangement will be healthy and fun!

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): “All the things I wanted to do and didn’t do took so long. It was years of not doing.” So writes Gemini poet Lee Upton in her book Undid in the Land of Undone. Most of us could make a similar statement. But I have good news for you, Gemini. I suspect that during the rest of 2023, you will find the willpower and the means to finally accomplish intentions that have been long postponed or unfeasible. I’m excited for you! To prepare the way, decide which two undone things you would most love to dive into and complete.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): Cancerian author Denis Johnson had a rough life in his 20s. He was addicted to drugs and alcohol. Years later, he wrote a poem expressing gratitude to the people who didn’t abandon him. “You saw me when I was invisible,” he wrote, “you spoke to me when I was deaf, you thanked me when I was a secret.” Now would be an excellent time for you to deliver similar appreciation to those who have steadfastly beheld and supported your beauty when you were going through hard times.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): Don’t make a wish upon a star. Instead, make a wish upon a scar. By that I mean, visualize in vivid detail how you might summon dormant reserves of ingenuity to heal one of your wounds. Come up with a brilliant plan to at least partially heal the wound. And then use that same creative energy to launch a new dream or relaunch a stalled old dream. In other words, Leo, figure out how to turn a liability into an asset. Capitalize on a loss to engender a gain. Convert sadness into power and disappointment into joy.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): At age nine, I was distraught when my parents told me we were moving away from the small town in Michigan where I had grown up. I felt devastated to lose the wonderful friends I had made and leave the land I loved. But in retrospect, I am glad I got uprooted. It was the beginning of a new destiny that taught me how to thrive on change. It was my introduction to the pleasures of knowing a wide variety of people from many different backgrounds. I bring this to your attention, Virgo, because I think the next 12 months will be full of comparable opportunities