It is not remotely an exaggeration to suggest that "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" may well be the most anticipated superhero movie of 2023. When "Into the Spider-Verse" came our way in 2018, nobody really knew what to expect. Now? Miles Morales is known and beloved by the masses, thanks to that Oscar-winning, groundbreaking animated feature. The movie's reputation has only grown in the years since its release, and that means even more people will be flooding theaters to see this hero's journey continue. That being the case, it's very much worth emphasizing that this is more akin to "Avengers: Infinity War" as far as sequels go, because it is just part one of a two-parter.

We're not going to get into any spoilers here, don't worry. What we are going to do, however, is set some expectations. It's worth remembering that, when the first trailer for "Across the Spider-Verse" was announced, it was actually billed as "part one," before the title was amended slightly. From the very beginning, Sony, as well as the filmmakers, have been crystal clear that this film is not unto itself a complete story. The first film absolutely contained a distinct beginning, middle, and end. That is not going to be the case this time around, but that's also something the directors and producers have been saying out loud.

In short, expect to leave the theater wanting more. That's by design. The good news is, "Beyond the Spider-Verse" is already set to hit theaters in 2024, which is part of why it took so long to get the sequel made in the first place. Granted, the pandemic didn't help matters either. The main thing is, the team cooked up a big story and they're going to try and make the wait worth it with not one but two movies.

The Middle Chapter In A Larger Story

The truth of the matter is that it's not at all uncommon for the success of one film to spawn a two-part sequel. "Back to the Future" paved the way for two sequels that very much left audiences with a cliffhanger in the middle chapter. The classic example of this is the original "Star Wars" trilogy, with "The Empire Strikes Back" leaving the door wide open for a grand finale that would come in the form of "Return of the Jedi." There's also "The Matrix," which gave way to "The Matrix Reloaded," with "The Matrix Revolutions" wrapping things up.

In short, this is par for the course when it comes to franchise filmmaking a lot of the time. Co-directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson certainly had their work cut out for them in crafting the follow-ups. Producer Chris Miller recently spoke about splitting the sequel in two, and it sounds like the decision was made for creative reasons as opposed to purely commercial ones:

"For a long time, we were trying to jam two movies into one, and then we realized the movie was telling us this was a whole complete arc of a story and this really was the second part of the trilogy, and so it just made a lot more sense then. […] Because it has a beginning and middle and end for all the characters, they all grow and they all have an arc. It felt like this is where the movie was telling us this is its own thing."

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" hits theaters on June 2, 2023.

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