Spider-Verse in the “Art of New York”

In this video essay, I go over the two Spider-Verse movies, Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse released by Sony Pictures in 2018 and 2023. I chose to focus on these two movies because I wanted to analyze how the location, New York, plays a special role in the story of the movie. I also wanted to analyze how the movie was able to accurately represent what it is like to be a teenager that lives in New York. The Spider-Man universe has always been set in New York, but the animated Spider-Verse movies take New York to be a part of its story to another level. By displaying how parts of New York culture are a part of everyday life, such as doing graffiti, going to school, and so forth.

Another part I also wanted to focus on is the animation of the movie. The animation style of the Spider-Verse movies is something that is unique and I wanted to put focus on how much work and creativity went into creating the scenes and visuals provided. Despite animation being seen as a medium mainly for children, the Spider-Verse movies proves that animation can be impactful to anyone from any age group, because it is art! With a combination of how New York plays its own role in the movie, and how animation can be displayed in new and exciting ways, the Spider-Verse movies broke a wall for comic book superhero movies in Hollywood. Beginning a new era for cartoon artists, these movies have shown that using creativity and passion will pay off and result in great work for everyone to enjoy.

I chose this topic because I really enjoyed watching the first movie, “Into the Spider-Verse” in 2018 at the movie theater. With the release of the new movie, “Across the Spider-Verse”, it further solidified my stance on these movies and why I think they’re a love letter to animators, Spider-Man fans, and New Yorkers! I hope for the audience to engage with the analysis and recognize the homage that Spider-Verse pays to all the sources it’s inspired by. And if not done before, maybe give the full movies a watch as well.

Link to YouTube Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=fYAZsRW8S7g