Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Will Feature Six Distinct Art Styles

There is much to look forward to in 2023 when it comes to blockbuster movies, but one of the most anticipated of them all is undoubtedly "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." The sequel to 2018's "Into the Spider-Verse" will once again center on Miles Morales, but this time, it's the first of an epic two-parter that will open up Spidey's multiverse even further. To that end, producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller have revealed that the sequel will feature six (count 'em, six!) different animation styles to help capture those various universes.

Lord and Miller recently spoke with Empire about the film for the magazine's upcoming 2023 preview issue. During the conversation, the filmmakers touched on the fact that there was one very dominant art style in the original movie, which went on to win Best Animated Feature at the Oscars that year. This time? They're going to be a bit more ambitious. Lord had this to say about it:

"The first film had one animation style that dominates the movie. This movie has six. So we're taking those tools, adding all the things we learned on The Mitchells Vs The Machines, and then growing them further to accommodate the ambition of this movie. Which is to wow you every time you enter a new environment, and also to make sure that the style of the movie reflect the story, and that the images are driven by feelings, as opposed to some egg-headed art project. Which it also is, by the way!"

Much like the first film, the producing duo of Lord and Miller are working with several directors to get the job done. This time around, it's Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson. They will have more Spideys to work with as well, with Oscar Isaac's Spider-Man 2099, aka Miguel O'Hara, perhaps the most notable of all, though we've also got Daniel Kaluuya as Spider-Punk in the mix. As for those various universes we're going to traverse? Miller had this to say regarding the art styles of the ones we've seen.

"The two that you saw in the teaser trailer were what's called Earth-50101, which we're calling 'Mumbattan' – that's based on an Indian comic-book look – and Nueva York from Spider-Man 2099's world. That's based on Syd Mead-style illustrations of what the future might look like. There's also Gwen's world, which is Earth-65. And that was a watercolour-wash style that's reminiscent of the covers of her comic books."

What's perhaps most amazing is all of this is what they're willing to talk about now. Imagine what surprises we have in store. Not to mention that this is just the first of two sequels we have on the way in the coming years. Much more Spider-Verse goodness to come, to be certain. In the meantime, Empire also released a new image from the film, which you can check out below. 

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)" is currently set to hit theaters on June 2, 2023.