Why ‘Spider-Verse’ Might Become One of Our Greatest Trilogies

 

I have a confession to make: I wasn’t all that excited about 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in the lead-up to its release. At the time, Marvel fans were still reeling from Avengers: Infinity War, and with Tom Holland’s Spidey claiming his rightful place as one of the central figures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, an animated multiverse movie about Miles Morales felt like a side dish. Ancillary. Unimportant. Kids’ stuff.

Then, of course, I saw the movie, which not only changed what I thought a Spider-Man film could be, but what animated films were capable of in general. Much like Spider-Ham eating a hot dog, I was wrong. Way wrong.

Meanwhile, the MCU’s Spidey story would continue beyond Endgame with Far from Home and No Way Home, the latter of which brought classic Peter Parkers Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield back into the tights – alongside some familiar villains – in what became the most crowd-pleasing Spider-Man story ever brought to film … until this past Friday when Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse premiered.

I’m clearly not alone in loving the film, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson. In fact, in what is a statistical near-impossibility, social media seems united in their praise for the sequel, which somehow distills a multiverse-spanning narrative into a rich character study for main characters Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac). Marrying swaggering bombast with careful craftsmanship, this film honors 80 years of Spider-Man canon across media while telling an all-new story about heroism, found family, identity and – since this is a Spidey flick after all – great power and the responsibility that comes with it.

But of course, that story is far from over. In a move that knocked us all back from the edge of our seats, Across the Spider-Verse ends with a big ol’ “To Be Continued,” forcing us to wait until the next issue sequel arrives next March in the form of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. And without getting into spoiler territory (because even a few days after release, that would be criminal), Miles and friends find themselves in a precarious spot (ha!) before the credits roll, so the next few months are going to be excruciating as we wait to see what happens next. But until that point, I plan on watching Across the Spider-Verse many, many more times. From the wide variety of animation styles on display to the sheer volume of activity and characters filling the frame at times, this film demands repeat viewing.

It's admittedly rare these days to find myself truly compelled to watch a Marvel film more than once. The aforementioned No Way Home aside, the post-Endgame MCU stories have felt more like DLC than bonafide superhero epics – secondary to the already-completed main quest that reached its logical conclusion four years ago. Fortunately, the outstanding Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 changed all that by bringing us one of the best MCU films ever last month (thank you, James Gunn!) and the non-MCU-but-very-much-still-connected-to-the-MCU Across the Spider-Verse kept that momentum going in a major way. And if Miles sticks the landing next March, we might be considering the Spider-Verse trilogy not only one of the best superhero trilogies of all time, but one of the greatest movie trilogies PERIOD.

So yeah, about Spider-Verse being a side dish? There’s been a change to the menu. Now, True Believers, we feast.

‘Mandalorian’ Musings: Was the Season 3 Finale Underwhelming?

 

Remember how I said that Gorian Shard was “The New Gigachad of the Star Wars Universe”? Well, seeing as how he suffered a terrible case of getting blown the f*** up in his second appearance, I might have overestimated his relevance and longevity in that galaxy far, far away.

But my new favorite space-faring swamp monster was just one of many surprises in The Mandalorian Season 3. Jack Black! Lizzo! Christopher Lloyd! Zeb! Glowing popsicles! Oh, and the gigantic Mythosaur, Grogu driving IG-11 1G-12 like a mech suit, Moff Gideon’s cloning plot and Bo-Katan’s ascent to the throne of Mandalore. I suppose those were big deals too.

The season culminated in a grand finale that dropped April 19, a crowd-pleaser of a climax that saw the Mandalorians defeat Gideon’s and reclaim their home planet as Din Djarin finally adopted (Din) Grogu as his son. With a home on Navarro and the promise of new adventures ahead – helping the New Republic wipe out the Imperial Remnant – the season acts not only as a conclusion to the current season, but the end of an era for these characters.

Pretty satisfying, right? Well, hold on a minute.

When it comes to nerd properties these days, we’ve been conditioned to expect a lot of our season finales. Hell, the last episode of The Mandalorian Season 2 gave us Luke Skywalker in his PRIME with the aid of some cutting-edge tech. Given the barrage of surprises and cameos, including celebrity guest spots and Rebels’ Zeb, mentioned earlier, this season – for better and for worse – leaned heavy on the unexpected. So when the story wrapped up in a fairly conventional way, I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed. And I’m honestly not sure what I expected. Grand Admiral Thrawn appearing in live action for the first time? A Mythosaur rampage? Taylor Swift as a Porg breeder? In any event, a well-made finale left me feeling hollow for some reason. But it’s not you, Star Wars, it’s me. Hi. I’m the problem, it’s me.

 But seeing as how Star Wars Jedi: Survivor drops this Friday – the same day Return of the Jedi comes back to theaters for its 40th anniversary – I’m sure I’ll get over it. 

‘Mandalorian’ Musings: I’m Obsessed with Gorian Shard, and I Don’t Care Who Knows It

This might surprise none of you, but I love a good Star Wars alien. As a kid I would spend way too much time rewatching Return of the Jedi’s Jabba’s Palace scenes to gaze upon the slimy, rubbery, and occasionally puppety denizens of the corpulent crime boss’ court. The action figures I would always gravitate toward first were the weird guys with names like Momaw Nadon and Amanaman. I yearned to know how Max Rebo, Droopy McCool and Sy Snootles linked up to become the hottest musical act on the Outer Rim. So yeah, I like my Star Wars when it’s weird.

However, since we’re getting new Star Wars media on a fairly regular basis these days – including Disney+ shows, video games and more books and comics than I reasonably have time to read – it’s rare to be outright shocked and delighted by a singular, brand-new alien design. But that all changed this past Wednesday.

The fantastic Season 3 premiere of The Mandalorian brought us many things to enjoy this past week: Greef Karga’s cape droids, Grogu interacting and almost squeezing the life out of tiny droidsmiths, a massive crocodile monster and a fairly intense space battle pitting Mando against pirates. But it was the leader of those pirates that stopped me in my tracks and made me shout “WHAT?!” at an all-too-inappropriate volume for 7 a.m. 

Enter Pirate King Gorian Shard: The New Gigachad of the Star Wars Universe.

I mean … look at him. A bizarre cross between Swamp Thing and Davy Jones from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise with just a dash of Sigmund the Sea Monster, this is a character that deserves a Hasbro Star Wars Black Series figure, multiple Funko POP! bobbleheads and a trilogy of novels detailing his meteoric rise through the pirate ranks. He should be a photo op at Galaxy’s Edge. He should be my new best friend. 

But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s just hope he shows up again on this season of The Mandalorian or, at the very least, one of the upcoming live-action shows. The Shard Squad demands it.