One of the allures of Spider-Man’s modern outings is how many of them there are across shared but dissociated continuities. This is partly what makes Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse exceptional, and seems to be a huge selling point of its sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. In the animated movie’s newest trailer, fans get a glimpse at its myriad Spider-Men and some fun references to source material throughout the character’s history. However, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse highlights one Spider-Man in particular: Insomniac’s iteration from Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Insomniac’s Spider-Man is seen twice in the trailer if fans take care to look closely, but this emphasis seems to make sense when it is remembered that Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales had also collaborated with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for cosmetic suit skins. It is almost guaranteed at this point that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will include skins inspired by Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, but there are other Spider-Men from games that the movie could potentially feature as well, with one popular iteration possibly being shown in the trailer itself.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s New Trailer Shows a Love for Spider-Man Games
The new Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer seems to feature a low-poly Spider-Man from Neversoft and Activision’s titular PS1 game. This iteration has a particular running animation cycle that is portrayed in the trailer, lending credence to the belief that it is in fact that iteration of the character.
If true, this would ensure that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has looked into popular Spider-Man games for designs that will be referenced and cameo in the animated movie. The PS1 Spider-Man is influential for many fans of the character and there is a lot of nostalgia packaged with the character’s polygonal design. Therefore, while he may only appear for that brief moment or be a recurring Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it is still fun to see him included. This way, the movie will be a fun assessment of how many unique Spider-Men can point out, and how many of them will register with fans as iterations they adore.
Spider-Man Games That Could Be Referenced in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Ultimate Spider-Man is probably one of the most recognizable Spider-Man games due to its cel-shaded art style, which was emblematic of its comic book source material of the same name. Like Spider-Man Unlimited’s Spider-Man, who already does appear in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Ultimate Spider-Man would stand out incredibly well with another striking art style.
It would be fantastic for fans to see iterations of Spider-Man’s designs from Spider-Man: Edge of Time, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, or even the Atari 2600 Spider-Man game, but some of these designs may be too similar to one another to be identifiable on their own. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions would be a little more difficult to pull off with a reference specific to the game, for example, because the different Spider-Men who appear are lifted from comics themselves.
These characters are stylized in a particular way, but not to the extent that Ultimate Spider-Man is, and would therefore come across as the comic book iterations instead of those from Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse already featured Spider-Man Noir, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will feature Spider-Man 2099, leaving meaning iterations of these characters are already spoken for, possibly shutting out video game versions.
These games give the upcoming movie a plethora of design options to consider if they need another Spider-Man to appear on-screen for a fraction of a second. Moreover, it will be exciting to see which iterations make the cut this summer when Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse releases.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is scheduled for release on June 2, 2023.