‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Co-Director Kemp Powers on the Impact of Representation

Sony Animation Pictures’ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a massive sequel to say the least. As the follow-up to one of the most visually dazzling comic book movies, co-director Kemp Powers had his work cut out for him trying to make the next chapter bigger than its predecessor in story and in animation.

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Hard NOC Life 315: Across the Spoiler-Verse

On this Hard NOC Life, Britney brings special guest host Liam King, lead singer of the bands STMNTS and Again in May for a spoiler-filled review of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

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‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Swings Further and Higher to Be a Masterful Sequel

The best thing about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is that it’s an irreverent love letter that dares to challenge and satirize the Webslinger’s mythology. By introducing Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) into the cinematic universe, not only did we see the Spidey persona in a whole new way, but we also got to see the social impact of representation. Now Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse puts a twist on the themes explored in the first while diving into the complex themes of individuality. 

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‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Stars Brian Tyree Henry & Luna Lauren Velez on Super Parenting

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was unlike any other Spider-Man film we’ve seen before. It was a highly dynamic cinematic experience that used a variety of animation styles and techniques to deliver something wildly psychedelic and separated itself from the rest of its animation studio rivals.

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Miles Morales Returns in the ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Trailer

As if Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse didn’t already show us how expansive the multiverse is by introducing not one, but five other Spider-Man heroes helping Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) save his universe from certain doom. But now, its sequel proves that the predecessor was only the tip of the iceberg. And the latest trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse takes expanding the Spider-Verse to a whole new level.

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‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)’ Clip Sends Twitter Into a Frenzy

“PART ONE?!” is essentially what social media exclaimed into the ether when the official Twitter page for Into the Spider-Verse (which has since changed its username and banner) dropped a surprise clip for the upcoming sequel film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The animation opens with the same ending sequence from the 2018 Oscar-winning masterpiece, with an older looking Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) catching up after some time apart.

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The VO Actors of Global Majority You Need to Know: Krizia Bajos

Over the past three years, I’ve encountered some truly remarkable voiceover actors from the PGM (People Of Global Majority) community, so remarkable that I thought it would be a worthwhile endeavor to dedicate an article about themselves, their accomplishments, and where you can find them and do so every week. When will this end? Most likely never so as I cackle at the infinite posts this may generate, I am so very happy to tell you all that my spotlight for this week is on Krizia Bajos!

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‘Superhero Diaries’ Cast and Creator Talk New YouTube Series

Superhero Diaries had its soft launch in early 2021, with advance episodes produced during the height of the pandemic. It quickly became clear that talent would need to record alone and only work together via green screen and editing and yet they were still able to put together webseries gold. With its official debut, the fantastic satire series is now able to bring actors together on-set, to parody the multiverse galaxies, in ways that could never actually happen but do.

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Marvel Celebrates Miles Morales’ 10th Anniversary with Variant Covers

Like most folk, I’m not too keen on reminders of my ever-increasing age. But this one, well, it’s not too bad of a milestone reminder.

Miles Morales, Marvel’s best Spider-Man, debuted nearly 10 years ago! You read that right, it’s been almost a decade since Miles inherited the Spidey title from Peter Parker and immediately one upped the kid from Queens.

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Scholastic’s ‘Miles Morales: Shock Waves’ is Exactly What My Inner Teen Needed

*SPOILERS AHEAD!*

My earliest memories of my elementary and middle school Scholastic Book Fairs saw massive collections of R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps, loads of nonsensical ’90s tech, and the burgeoning mystery genre before it really took off in young adult literature. Super hero graphic novels were almost nonexistent for kids and teenagers in school spaces in the late ’90s and early 2000s, so it goes without saying that best-selling author Justin A. Reynolds (Opposite of Always) and Eisner-nominated artist Pablo Leon’s Miles Morales: Shock Waves is a gift to the teen in me.

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Brittney Morris’ ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Wings of Fury’ Delivers

There could not be a better time to grab the companion novel to Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales than now. The game dropped on PS4 and PS5 November 12 to rave reviews, as the pop cultural significance of Miles Morales seems to be losing zero steam, and rightly so.

Author Brittney Morris (Slay, The Cost of Knowing and Together, Apart) packs a ton into the prequel novel — from Miles’ dealings with police outside of his uniform, to Peter having to grapple with being a mentor to a Spider-Man whose reality greatly differs from his own. Wings of Fury delivers a story both heartfelt and absolutely action-packed that leads directly into the start of the game on consoles.

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Bonus Hard NOC Life | Drawing Marvel: Representation in Pop Culture, Presented by Scholastic

Hard NOC Life is still on hiatus; however, we have an exciting bonus episode to bring you!

Last week, Keith was asked to moderate a panel as part of Scholastic’s “Power of Story” speaker series. Two artists, Eric Wilkerson and Pablo Leon, speak about the important of representation in comics and children’s lit. You can also watch the original panel on Scholastic’s YouTube channel and Facebook.

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Why ‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ for PS5 Brings Me So Much Black Boy Joy

My first real experience as the famous web-slinger, in a purely polygonal sense, came in the year 2000, when my dad surprised me with a copy of Spider-Man for the original PlayStation. I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing, and the elation that came from donning original and secret costumes as our one and only friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man was something my little heart could hardly contain at the time.

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Spider-Man, Pokémon, and Star-Crossed Lovers: Mixed Race Characters Take the Lead

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the films, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Detective Pikachu, and The Sun Is Also a Star.

Although Loving v. Virginia officially abolished all remaining anti-miscegenation laws in the United States in 1967, it really hasn’t been until recently where the portrayals of mixed race characters and interracial couples on the big screen have improved significantly. Within the last six months alone, several films have had either mixed race characters as the leads or interracial relationships as the central focus. An added dimension to some of them is that apart from some of the characters being of the younger generation, the focus wasn’t on their race(s). That didn’t, however, stop these films from acknowledging their backgrounds. While it’s good that films like Aquaman are out there that get really real about being mixed, not all mixed race protagonists need to go on a journey of self discovery to that extent.

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Spider-Man Enters the ‘Spider-Verse’

I can’t believe I live in a world where I was able to see both Black Panther and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in the same year. Just as the warmth of the Wakandan sun was beginning to fade, I’m swinging through Brooklyn (my birthplace) with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore is Miles; an amazing performance) the Spider-Man of Earth-1610. And I couldn’t be more elated.

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The Year of Spider-Mania

Superhero media is everywhere.

Four of the Top Five movies of 2018 are superhero films, with Black Panther, Infinity War, and The Incredibles 2 taking the top three slots. There are literally dozens of live action superhero shows on TV, cable, and streaming. The number goes up exponentially when you factor in animation. Despite this moment of superhero saturation, there is only one character who can claim the title for Most Ubiquitous of 2018. That would be Spider-Man!

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Miles Morales Finally Hits the Big-Screen in ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’

This weekend has been all about trailers! After years of anticipation, Sony Pictures is finally giving us a Miles Morales Spider-Man on the big screen! After the jump, check out the just released trailer for the animated film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse!

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Being Latinx in Comics: Ignorance, Erasure, Whitewashing, Oh My!

What does it mean to be Latinx in comics?

It’s a question I’ve been asking myself for a while now. Growing up snatching up whatever scraps of Latinx representation I could even if it meant settling for stereotypes, whitewashing, secondary character status (if lucky), and their stories ending in death. This is a plight many fans of color and other marginalized peoples can relate to. In comics, Latinx characters are often Latinx in name only, Spanish characters being positioned or promoted as Latinx characters, whitewashed, or having their Latinx identities erased.

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