The Best Superhero Movie Of 2023: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Hobie Brown Spider-Punk Across the Spider-Verse

It might not have seemed like it, but there was actually a surprising amount of superhero films released in 2023. DC launched four feature films this year – most of which, well, flopped hard – and Marvel showed up with just three, although it supplemented its offerings with three TV series, with mixed results.

On the animated side of things, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, while not exactly a traditional superhero film, certainly hit a lot of the same beats, and was utterly fantastic at telling a story without the Turtles’ biggest villain. But one animated superhero film took the world by storm, with its top-notch animation, incredible storytelling, and wonderful, if understated soundtrack. That film is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and it’s the best superhero movie of 2023.

Into the Spider-Verse set the animation world on fire when it was first released in 2018. It offered fresh, new animation and art direction, something that hadn’t been seen in major film animation before. It was a breath of fresh air, and something that would be almost impossible to follow up.

And yet.

Across the Spider-Verse took everything the first film excelled at, dialed it up, and did everything it possibly could to prove that Sony Pictures Animation really is the best in the business. Not content with the merging of the half-dozen art styles on display in the first film, Across the Spider-Verse introduced hundreds of Spider-people, most of whom hailed from different universes with different art styles and animation quirks.

But no character more perfectly emphasizes this phenomenal growth in animation prowess than Hobie Brown, the Spider-Punk. Hobie hails from a classic comic book/newspaper-like universe, and throughout the entire film, every frame of his animation looks like a newspaper cutout. And Hobie’s introduction is phenomenal, with color and style bursting into the scene and onto the screen in the most incredible way. It’s one of the most striking things ever committed to film, and I saw the film a second time at the cinema solely to experience this scene one more time.

Watch for yourself.

Miles’ journey throughout the film is fascinating, and his relationship with Gwen and the Spider Society at large is incredibly compelling. And that’s before you even get to Gwen’s story with her dad, Miguel’s desperate attempt at making things work, Pavitr’s cocky confidence contrasted against his need to make sure the people of his Earth are safe — it’s all intricately crafted in a way that’s perhaps not quite as tight and focused as the first film, but is infinitely more heart-filled.

And that’s to say nothing of the shock cliffhanger ending. So few movies have the confidence to pull a “To be continued” right at the emotional climax, and fewer still could actually pull it off. Across the Spider-Verse earned it, and while we may be waiting quite some time to see the conclusion, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’ll be worth it.

In a year of middling superhero films, in a decade that’s likely to see the decline of Big Cinematic Moments for films based on comics, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse proved that there’s still good stories to tell, and new ways to tell those stories. It’s the best superhero film of 2023, the best animated film of 2023, and maybe, just maybe, the best film of 2023 as a whole.

Related: I Wish I Could Justify The Amazing Spider-Verse Collector’s Edition