Kevin Smith Reviews Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: “We Are All Nerds Now”

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is Kevin Smith’s favorite movie of the year. On Fatman Beyond with Marc Bernardin, the director lauded praise on everyone’s current obsession. He argued that “we are all nerds now” after the success of this film. In essence, Smith argues that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse being such a phenomenon is proof of how much “nerd” culture has just become regular culture in 2023. Over the last few years, we’ve had countless movies and TV shows take on the concept of the multiverse and the truly exemplary ones have no trouble communicating their themes and story to majority audiences. This would not be the case just a few short years ago.

“I saw this movie one and a half times, I loved it so much,” Smith began. “You know, this was the thought that I had, ‘We are all nerds now.’ Like this is something that only you and I, 15 years ago, maybe even 10 years ago, would have been able to completely parse and understand. But, this movie is so well made. They’ve had all these storytellers that have been pillaging comic book material now for a decade or more. That have trained the average moviegoer in the language, a secret language, that people like us only used to speak amongst our nerdy selves.”

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Shows How Far Superhero Stories Have Come

In Smith’s discussion of the film, he points out how absolutely wild the idea of a multiverse Spidey movie would have been back in the 90s or even early 2000s. Audiences had not been exposed to the concept that often in popular media and that might have scared some studios off. But, Sony Pictures Animation not only jumped in the deep end with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, they signed up for seconds after the tremendous success. The sequel turns the concept up to 11 and never misses a beat.

“You can make a movie that deals with the Multiverse and has a zillion different Spider-Man in it and everybody gets the concept,” Smith explained. “Nobody bumps into it at all. It’s commonplace for them. This played like a graphic novel come to life. All I could think about was that quote from The Incredibles when Syndrome is like, You know, when everyone’s super then no one will be.’ When all of us are nerds then no one will be. That’s where we are right now because anyone can understand these concepts.” 

The filmmaker continued, “That, heretofore, a decade back, would have be rarified breathing for people that grew up reading this and cataloging these stories and characters in their minds. What used to be the edge, used to be for the few, is now for the many. I’m here for it.”

What’s the Central Key To Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

In multiple interviews about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller argue that Miles Morales’ family is the true key to this franchise. Those bonds are what make things like the multiverse and variant heroes actually matter because of how they relate to our protagonist. Funnily enough, they were saying the same thing about the first movie too.

“Well, to me, it sort of all circles around to his family. He has a very different family than Peter Parker did,” Lord revealed back in 2018. “First of all, both of his parents are alive, so that’s a huge difference right there. And being able to portray a very grounded family with a mother and father who both want the best for their son, but go about it in different ways.”

“Also an uncle that loves him, but is encouraging him to go down a different path,” the producer expanded. “That whole dynamic is really the center of what the whole movie’s about, and it was really important to us to get right. And it really speaks to Miles trying to figure out who he is and who he’s gonna be, what kind of a person he’s going to become.”

What Is Miles Morales Facing in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

Miles Morales returns to the big screen with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse now playing in theaters after premiering on June 2nd. Miles (Shamiek Moore ) reunites with fellow heroes Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld ) and Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) for another web-swinging adventure through the multiverse, finding himself at odds with the Spider-Society led by Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac ). Other new heroes include Spider-Woman Jessica Drew (Issa Rae), Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), and Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), while new villain the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) also enters the fray. The sequel to Sony Pictures’ hit 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, and written by the team of Chris Miller, Phil Lord, and Dave Callaham.

Where does this Spider-Man movie rank for you? Let us know down in the comments!