Universes are set to collide in the sequel to one of the best animated superhero movies out there,
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”. With all these different spider-men, spider-women
and even a few civilians and villains here and there, let’s see who shines as a true hero.
I’m Kyle with WickedBinge, and this is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Good to Evil.
MAJOR spoilers ahead for both Spider-Verse movies! With that being said, let’s start
with our most noble characters before working our way down. These characters are the Good.
For our Gold Medal of Good, we’re giving it to Pavitr Prabhakar AKA Spider-Man India. He’s an
Indian version of Spider-Man from an alternate universe-fusion of Mumbai and Manhattan. Although
Pavitr is only in the movie for a short amount of time, being the most inexperienced Spider-Man
at only six months, he’s already proven himself to be a good hero. He works together very well
with the other Spider-men that have visited his universe, and just comes off as very friendly
and positive in general due to the fact that he hasn’t had many tragic moments in his life as
Spider-Man yet. We also see how well he works on his own, successfully saving an entire bus
from falling off a bridge. Though he may not be the Spider-Man we spend the most time with,
his lack of any lapses in morality or questionable decisions allow him to stand at the very top.
Easily getting our Silver Medal of Good, however, is the film’s main focus,
Miles Morales. While he’s gotten a bit more mature and has gotten plenty of experience as Spider-Man
since the first film, Miles is still very much a teenager and as such can be very rebellious.
This usually involves sneaking around and lying, though the latter is primarily due to his secret
identity. We should also point out that while we can understand why he fights back against them,
Miles is still willing to potentially put the entire Spider-Verse at risk to save his
father. It’s up to the audience whether he’s being a true hero who’s unwilling to sacrifice
anyone for the sake of satisfying some higher power, or if he’s simply taking a careless and
selfish risk. But if you ask us, Miles’ more heroic moments easily overshadow any moments
where he leans into his more rebellious side. Even when he makes mistakes, you know that he
wants to do the right thing and that he’s always going to fight for the people he cares about.
Moving onto our Bronze Medal of Good, we’re giving it to Miles’ parents, Jefferson and
Rio Morales. They may not be perfect parents, but they’re pretty great ones. The movie does,
admittedly, have quite a bit of drama within the Morales family, but while you may sympathize with
the characters, the bickering never gets to the point of being concerning. Jefferson and Rio,
while stern at times, care deeply about their son and only want to see him thrive. Though she is a
bit clingy at first when they start talking about college, Rio still encourages Miles to
follow Gwen, all while telling him to take care of himself and reminding him how much she loves
her. Jefferson, meanwhile, while still trying to be a good father, is also shown trying to actually
work with Spider-Man instead of against him, which is incredibly refreshing for a superhero story.
But let’s step away from figures of authority and take a look at someone
who’s all about anti-authority - next is Hobart "Hobie" Brown AKA Spider-Punk.
Being a punk rock hero from an alternate universe that is ruled by a totalitarian regime, Hobie is
all about going against the flow and fighting back against the establishment. He’ll even rebel in
small ways almost constantly, like stealing small things in the Spider-Society’s lab or
verbally contradicting people whenever possible. In some ways, this can make him come off as a bit
hostile and anti-social, but he actually turns out to be a great ally. In addition to warning Miles
about the Spider-Society, we also see him help Miles escape from his imprisonment. As for Gwen,
not only does he let her crash in his dimension when she needs a break, but Hobie also makes a
homemade dimension-hopping watch for her, allowing her the means to gather her team and rescue Miles.
All in all, in addition to being a talented hero in his own right, Hobie just encompasses the most
admirable parts of being punk, even if in exchange he doesn’t always come off as a typical hero.
Moving on, let’s briefly mention the Spider-Society’s main tech support,
that being Margo Kess AKA Spider-Byte. Margo is yet another Spider-Woman who is able to be a
superhero through a virtual reality avatar that she uses to help her escape from her family’s
arguing. Although we don’t ever see her fighting off any baddies, it’s Margo’s tech that allows the
Spider-Society to send villains and anomalies back home to their original dimensions. Furthermore,
when she sees just how far O’Hara is willing to go for his mission, Margo decides to let Miles go
home and later joins Gwen’s team to help rescue him. Like Pavitr, Margo is simply a good person,
and it’s only her lack of screen time that causes her to fall on the lower end of the Good Tier.
Now, someone who is perhaps a bit more complicated but is still good at heart is the film’s secondary
protagonist, Gwen Stacy. Despite all the drama in her life, Gwen is just a girl trying to do
her best in her duties as Spider-Woman, even when it causes her to feel frustrated and alone. She’s
still a great hero, as we see when she fights the Vulture in the art museum. When things go wrong
with her father, however, Gwen chooses to run away and join the Spider-Society fixing anomalies.
This, unfortunately, causes her morals to slip a bit, as we see her lie to Miles about the
Society and its mission, not quite knowing how to tell him the truth about it or his origins. But,
while it may take her a bit of extra time, Gwen does eventually realize her mistakes
and start to fight back against O’Hara for Miles’ sake. This turns into her gathering
her own ‘band’ to rescue him from Universe 42, and while we’ll have to wait until the next film
to see how this mission goes, with Gwen leading the way, we’re sure it’ll be pretty successful.
Joining the rescue squad is our final member of the Good Tier, Peter B. Parker. He may have been
a reluctant mentor before, but while he still may not always have all the answers or the most tact,
Peter B. does still care a ton about Miles. Like Gwen, he doesn’t fully reveal the truth at first,
originally siding with O’Hara after believing it’s how it has to be, but even as Peter B. is chasing
Miles down, he’s still trying to talk with him and find a way to stop Miles without hurting him. He
also defends Miles against O’Hara, and doesn’t hesitate to join Gwen’s team. The only thing
we’d knock against him is his choice to take his daughter, May Day, with him during his missions.
That just seems incredibly dangerous and irresponsible, even for a baby with spider powers.
Before getting to the film’s antagonists, let’s quickly go over the characters
who land somewhere in the Grey Area, not quite being a hero or a villain.
First up, we have Jessica Drew AKA Spider-Woman. Within the Spider-Society, we see her act as
a sort of Second-in-Command to O’Hara. Being awesome and incredibly skilled in her own right,
Jessica tends to be a bit more optimistic than O’Hara, as well as a bit more willing to let
certain spider-people - namely Gwen - into their team. But while she’ll give others a chance to
do great things, Jessica is no pushover. She has her own moments of being stern,
and she understands the importance of preserving the Spider-Verse. This results in her being on
O’Hara’s side for pretty much all of the film, joining him on his mission to preserve the canon.
…That is,save for ONE scene, where she ultimately decides to let Gwen go on her rescue mission
instead of capturing her. This shows that even she understands that O’Hara may be in the wrong,
and we could easily see her fully making a turn-around within the third film.
From Second-in-Commands to Police Captains, let’s take some time to discuss Captain George Stacy,
Gwen’s father. Needless to say, this guy doesn’t have the best first impression… He’s introduced
as the guy trying to hunt down and arrest Spider-Woman, and even when she reveals her
identity, George is still unsure about Gwen’s innocence and continues trying to arrest her.
Thankfully, this seems to be a bit of a wake-up call for him, as when they meet up again,
George is a bit more willing to hear his daughter out and support her role as Spider-Woman,
even to the point of quitting the police force for her sake. Seeing him finally support Gwen and
allow her to be a hero is just a great moment in the film, and while it can be a bit hard to forget
him firing a warning shot at his own daughter, we’re glad that he was able to turn things around.
But you can’t have a hero without villains for them to fight,
so let’s finally go over this movie’s Bad to Evil characters.
Just outside of the film’s Bottom Three, we have the Prowlers AKA Universe 42’s Aaron and Miles.
We only see these two briefly at the end of the film when Miles is accidentally sent to
their universe. But while they only have a couple brief scenes, those scenes still
manage to say a LOT. We already know quite a bit about Aaron’s methods as the Prowler,
being willing to take out his targets by any means necessary, and given that Universe
42’s universe doesn’t have a Spider-Man and is seen as a much more dire and dangerous place,
even if the Prowler ends up being more of a vigilante than a villain we just can’t
see him being any less harsh in his methods. As for the other Miles, he immediately comes
off as cold - especially when our Miles begs him for his help, seemingly not caring at all
about the safety of his alternate universe dad. We won’t know much more about these two
until the third film, but given what we already know of them, they certainly seem like bad news…
But while he may be a bit more old-school than the Prowler’s gadgets,
the Vulture - who is getting our Bronze Medal of Evil - still manages to be just
as bombastic AND dangerous. Hailing from a Renaissance-inspired universe,
the first thing that this Vulture does when arriving in Gwen’s dimension is attack an art
museum. He doesn’t seem to care much about putting civilians in danger or causing property damage,
seemingly reveling in the latter and even casually tossing insults at the art itself. He’s not a big
character in the film, but he serves as a great mini boss with an absolutely killer design.
Our Silver Medal of Evil is going to who is easily going to be the most divisive character
in the movie, that being Miguel O’Hara AKA Spider-Man 2099. Described as a ‘ninja vampire’,
O’Hara is the leader of the Spider-Society whose main goal is to protect the overall Spider-Verse,
not wanting to see any more universes be destroyed under his watch. Unfortunately,
this is a very heavy and very stressful goal, leading to O’Hara having quite a few anger
issues - especially towards Miles. When Miles starts arguing about finding another way and
rebelling against the canon, O’Hara goes all out trying to take him down, becoming enraged as well
as incredibly violent and cruel at some points. While we may sympathize with his tragic backstory,
the way he talks to Miles and calls him a mistake just goes waaaay over the line. It’s obvious that
he’s taking out his own self-hatred on Miles, but that’s certainly no excuse.
The same could be said about our Gold Medal of Evil recipient, Dr. Jonathan Ohnn / The Spot. Once
an ordinary scientist from Alchemax, the Spot not only turns to a life of crime after being given
his superpowers, but he also decides to take his frustrations and trauma out on Miles. Once
he discovers his true powers, Spot makes it his mission to not only become more powerful by any
means necessary but to also take away everything that Miles loves - starting with Miles’ father,
who Spot plans to kill. Whether he’ll succeed or manage to turn over a new leaf,
we’ll just have to wait and see. But for right now, Spot remains as a selfish,
vengeful, totally insane and totally evil villain who needs to be stopped.