Currently available to watch on HBO Max and a serious contender in this upcoming awards season is the box office smash hit ‘Sinners’ which was written and directed by Ryan Coogler (‘Black Panther’) and stars Michael B. Jordan (‘Creed’) playing the dual roles of twin brothers Smoke and Stack.
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Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in-person with director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan to talk about their work on ‘Sinners’, why Coogler was passionate about making this movie and the themes he wanted to explore, while Jordan discussed his approach to playing the Moore brothers and how he made the two roles distinctively different.
(L to R) Director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan talk ‘Sinners’.
You can watch the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews.
Moviefone: To begin with, Ryan, can you talk about why you were so passionate about making this movie and the themes you wanted to explore as a filmmaker?
Ryan Coogler: It started with my relationship with my uncle James, who was born in Mississippi, lived there until he was 20, and then moved to Oakland and married my great-aunt, Sammy Lee, who the character Sammy is named after. It was important for me to explore blues music, Mississippi, the Delta Blues and juke joint culture because it was so important to my uncle. It’s kind of passed down to me, and I wanted to do a deep dive on why that music was so important really to a global popular culture. But I also wanted to infuse it with everything in cinema that I loved that I hadn’t had a chance to do yet in my previous films. That’s where the supernatural and the genre elements come to play. As far as the themes, the biggest theme was freedom. You know what I mean? This idea of it, how elusive it can be, how sometimes it can’t be bought. That was the central concept of freedom in these people that are under such great oppression and having to be able to affirm that humanity in a place and a time when it was very difficult.
MF: Finally, Michael, can you talk about the challenges of playing twin brothers and how you were able to make those two characters so distinctively different?
Michael B. Jordan: There were so many challenges. There’s been versions of twins that have been done, and some better than others, and trying to figure out how to make this one a memorable one or just make it work and feel honest. I remember as a kid watching movies like ‘The Parent Trap’, you know what I’m saying? Just as a kid, your imagination, whether you’re pretending you got superpowers or pretending this or whatever, the idea of like, man, if I had a twin, what would I do? Or how would that be? I think being able to imagine that because Smoke and Stack are the same, but they’re completely different. They make up one person. Having Smoke and how he handles his childhood trauma was important and Stack and how he handles his childhood trauma. They had the same experiences, but they have two different perspectives on it. For Smoke, he internalizes a lot of his. He doesn’t talk a lot. He doesn’t want to talk about his pain. He wants to bury it deep and kind of hold onto to that. I know people like that. So, to be able to tap into that in a real way. But Stack is different. He smiles and uses his charm, and he talks his way through his pain because he can’t dwell on it for too long. So, to tap into your childhood trauma and building those characters from the ground up was crucial to build that foundation for me to do the rest of the work and the other things, the layers on top of that like wearing a shoe that is too small for Stack because he’s always moving around. He just never really standing still. As a performer, as an actor, it’s something that I didn’t have to think about, but it helped me be agitated in times and physically be not still. But also, I wore a size too big when it came to Smoke because I wanted him to feel like he couldn’t move a lot and he wanted to be rooted and implanted into the ground. So those were layers to it. The different grill caps that I wore, when I had a certain gold front in, it changed the way I would hold my mouth and speak and my cadence. Smoke spoke few words and slow. Stack was a fast talker, so he was always smiling, always wheeling and always dealing. He’s always selling something. Those are some of the things that I tapped into to kind of help make them a bit different. Just the storytelling, the other characters around Smoke and Stack that allowed me to play off of with Annie and Mary and those dynamics and just a rich world that was created for these characters to blend into.
Two brothers (Michael B. Jordan) return to Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1932, now wealthy and intent on opening a juke joint in their hometown. But as they open the doors of their new establishment, sinister forces begin to converge upon them and their community.
Director Ryan Coogler and his muse/partner Michael B. Jordan are now five for five. Following ‘Fruitvale Station,’ ‘Creed,’ and the two ‘Black Panther’ entries (yes, we’ll stand up for ‘Wakanda Forever’ despite anti-MCU sentiment in the critical community), ‘Sinners’ is another outright winner for the filmmaker and star, and even better, it’s a wholly original piece of material that’s also ambitious, audacious, and at times even transcendent – not to mention a wildly smart genre hybrid.
Once again, Coogler and company have taken populist entertainment – this time mixing the horror genre with the historical drama – and infused it with social commentary, spiritual themes, action beats, and an almost poetic tribute to the time-bending power of music. The film has its flaws, but so much of it works so well, from the cast to the music to the incredible production design to the overall atmosphere – that you’ll walk out of ‘Sinners’ feeling like you’ve seen one of the most unique movies of the year.
As ‘Sinners’ begins, an opening narration tells us that some people have such a powerful gift of making music that it can “pierce the veil” between the worlds of the living and the dead. With that, we see a bloodied and beaten young man, who we will come to know as Preacher Boy Sam (Miles Caton), appear at the door of the church where his father is pastor. He’s carrying the broken neck of a guitar, and his father admonishes him to “leave those sinning ways.”
The movie then flashes back to “one day earlier” in the town of Clarksdale, Mississippi. The year is 1932. Returning on this day to the area’s Black community are brothers “Smoke” and “Stack” Moore – the “SmokeStack Twins” – both played by Michael B. Jordan. With their expensive suits and car, as well as the wads of cash in their pockets, they immediately stand out from the impoverished community of laborers and sharecroppers around them. Smoke, who’s tougher and more business-minded, and Stack, who is more jovial and reckless, are back in town after spending years away, first fighting in World War I and then finding their way to Chicago, where they allegedly made their fortune working for Al Capone.
Their first action upon returning to Clarksdale is to purchase an abandoned mill outside town from a man who may or may not be a KKK leader (“The Klan doesn’t exist anymore,” he unconvincingly tells them). They aim to turn the mill into a juke joint and open it that night, with entertainment to be provided by old blues musician Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) and the twins’ cousin, Preacher Boy Sam, for whom the word “soulful” doesn’t begin to describe his ability to sing and play the blues.
‘Sinners’ unpacks its story and characters – which include Smoke’s former flame, Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), who knows magic and who shares a tragic past with Smoke, as well as Stack’s old girlfriend, Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), who is part Black but looks white enough that their relationship might well have caused a scandal – in leisurely, novelistic fashion. But it’s never anything but fascinating to watch, thanks to the sharply drawn characters and pungent dialogue in Coogler’s screenplay, his fluid direction, Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s stunning cinematography, and the textured, incredibly detailed production design by Hannah Beachler. Then there’s the music – a combination of Ludwig Göransson’s original score and old blues standards that is as haunting as it is evocative.
It’s that music – particularly the music performed by Preacher Boy Sam – that attracts not just a boisterous crowd to Smoke and Stack’s juke joint that night but fuels one of the most incredible sequences you’ll see in a movie this or any other year. Music, we’re told, will bring together the spirits of both the past and the future – which it does in a breathtaking sequence that ricochets through both the history of music and the Black experience in one gloriously kaleidoscopic dance of images that is almost transcendent in its power.
But the music attracts other forces from the realm of the dead as well…and since the trailers already give it away, it’s okay to say here that the juke joint soon finds itself under siege by a trio of vampires, led by Remmick (Jack O’Connell), who quickly go about turning the customers and the Moores’ dwindling band of friends and family into creatures of the night. “It’s better this way,” says one character who has been transformed late in the film, suggesting that Remmick is creating a new species for which boundaries of race, color, and gender have no meaning.
That’s just one of the intriguing ideas that Coogler springs on us during the course of ‘Sinners,’ and if anything this densely packed film has almost too many of them. Questions of race, identity, history, violence against Black bodies, and the power of art flow liberally through the film, which is by turns exhilarating, frightening, erotic, distressing, and poignant. The introduction of a supernatural terror halfway through a historical drama is a bit abrupt, and the third act feels both rushed and drawn out as the climactic confrontation with the vampires leads to a fistful of additional endings and mid-credits sequences (a bit of an MCU hangover for Coogler, perhaps). But even when it wobbles slightly down the stretch, ‘Sinners’ doesn’t feel like any other movie you’re likely to see anytime soon.
In a career already full of sparking performances, ‘Sinners’ may contain Michael B. Jordan’s best work yet. Assisted by seamless visual effects, he delivers two fully-rounded performances as Smoke and Stack, differentiating the two brothers with subtle changes in tone, speech, and body language, while firmly delineating the deep bond between the two.
Smoke has been hardened by the world, doesn’t believe much in magic or the spiritual, and has no time for fun; he thinks that accumulating power (mostly in the form of cash) will give him freedom. Stack is much more hedonistic, given to flamboyance in his clothing, spending, and behavior, and much more in tune with earthly pleasures. Both men’s beliefs are tested and both are deeply changed by the end of the film, and it’s a tribute to Jordan’s incredible skills that you always feel you are watching two separate personalities on their own journeys.
While ‘Sinners’ showcases Jordan’s accomplishment, the rest of the cast is just as powerful. 19-year-old Miles Caton is a real find, providing not just a complex performance as Sam but a singing voice that is nothing short of awesome, providing a credible basis for the film’s mystical view of music. Delroy Lindo is nothing short of great (as usual) as Delta Slim, the blues player at the other end of his career who has seen it all. And while the vampires are not given as much ground to develop as characters, Jack O’Connell’s Remmick is a deft combination of malice, charisma, and temptation, with the story showing how these monsters can still be stirred by music as well (especially in one eerie sequence involving an Irish folk song).
Importantly, every woman in ‘Sinners’ also gets her due, from Wunmi Mosaku’s no-nonsense Annie to Hailee Steinfeld’s Mary, both of whom are courageous, confident, sexually liberated, and capable of moving on from deep tragedies in their lives. Mosaku’s performance is full of texture, compassion, and depth, while Steinfeld succeeds in nailing the role of a woman who is trapped between two worlds but knows which one she feels more at home with. Also notable is Li Jun Li (‘Babylon’) as Grace Chow, who runs grocery stores in town with her husband Bo (Yao) and is as deft in handling her business with both Blacks and whites as she is in fighting vampires.
‘Sinners’ is a luscious, genuinely cinematic experience that deserves every inch of the IMAX screen you should see it on. Even if we wish the horror elements were introduced a little more organically, and even if the film’s closing sequences don’t work as effectively as they could, one can still feel Coogler’s earnest, heartfelt search for truth throughout: What makes anyone truly free? Love? Power? Money? Talent? What does it mean to be free if you know that freedom is merely a façade?
These are the questions ‘Sinners’ raises and leaves one pondering as the credits roll. This thoughtfully conceived, masterfully executed epic doesn’t provide all the answers, but instead brings the viewer on a journey that is haunting, terrifying, emotionally resonant, and powerful in its exploration of community, shared experience, and how the incursion of evil can threaten to rip those apart.
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What is the plot of ‘Sinners’?
Two brothers (Michael B. Jordan) return to Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1932, now wealthy and intent on opening a juke joint in their hometown. But as they open the doors of their new establishment, sinister forces begin to converge upon them and their community.
Landing on Disney+ daily across eight days from December 22nd, the second season of Marvel’s Disney+ animated series ‘What If…?’ wraps up the show’s run –– at least for now –– with another set of episodes where several build to a grand, multiverse-hopping finale.
Disney’s Marvel arm has seen something of a renewal this year, between the success of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (even if that film poked plenty of fun at how tired the idea of the multiverse seems these days) and ‘Agatha All Along.’ And now here comes the welcome return of ‘What If…?’ which again blends more stand-alone stories with some clever easter eggs (and in one case, an actual egg) that knit together to spin a bigger tale around Jeffrey Wright’s powerful The Watcher. Who, it turns out, will have to answer for meddling in the affairs of different universes.
Does ‘What If…?’ Season 3 still provide multiversal fun?
In keeping with the previous two seasons, the new run of ‘What If…?’ offers a blend of intriguing possibilities and an overarching spine that only starts to reveal itself towards the end of this final eight episodes. Those who have seen the previous seasons won’t be surprised at what it is building to, though it’s mostly satisfying.
But the pleasure in this show is usually more in the individual episodes, which here run the gamut between the hilarious (one focused on Howard the Duck and his unlikely, but somehow perfect relationship) and the heartbreaking (an epic, dystopian story of what happens with a ‘Black Panther’-associated character following the near destruction of Earth by Tiamut the celestial). Indeed, there is better use of several elements of the ‘Eternals’ than in the movie itself.
Another welcome element, near prescient, given the runaway success of her solo show, is the presence of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness.
And that’s probably about all we can say on that front, given the extensive embargoes in place on this!
The regular writing team of Matthew Chauncey, Ryan Little and A.C. Bradley are back for the season, and the scripts run the usual gamut of superb to solid. While there isn’t perhaps the knockout winner of, say, last year’s festive episode, there remains a good balance of character interaction and fascinating peeks into unusual corners of the MCU while also blending in some more comics-faithful moments for fans of the printed pages.
Bryan Andrews and Stephan Franck return to direct the episodes and the look of the show continues to evolve in subtle ways. Most of the characters will be instantly recognizable, while others, such as Obadiah Stane (voiced here by Kiff VandenHeuvel rather than Jeff Bridges) might take a moment.
There are the occasionally jarring replacements, but on the whole, it’s a satisfying set of voices. Seth Green is great as usual as Howard the Duck, playing perfectly off the energy of Kat Dennings as Darcy. And kudos to Wright who, when given more to do as the Watcher than simply observe and narrate.
Oh, and you won’t tire of hearing Jackson emote the phrase “Mr. and Mrs.… The Duck.”
It’s also fun to hear the likes of Jason Isaacs –– something of a genre titan thanks to ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Wars’ and the DC animated appearances he’s put in –– as a powerful cosmic entity whose voice fairly drips with withering sarcasm.
Though it may not quite hit the highs of last year’s festive season run, Season 3 of ‘What If…?’ certainly has enough pleasures to keep fans happy. And though the big finale feels a little predictable at times, it is definitely enough to leave you wishing the company would commission future seasons, especially given how effective the creative team has been in making compelling narratives fit in sub-30-minute episodes.
‘What If…?’ Season 3 receives 8 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the plot of ‘What If…?’ Season 3?
“What If…?” returns in Season 3 for its culminating adventure through the multiverse.
Watch as classic characters make unexpected choices that will mutate their worlds into spectacular alternate versions of the MCU. The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) will guide viewers as the series traverses new genres, bigger spectacles, and incredible new characters.
2024 was supposed to be the year that the Golden Globes moved on. Detached from the old Hollywood Foreign Press Association (yet now run by possibly an even shadier for-profit corporation), it was designed to make up for a tarnished history that saw the awards get dumped by previous network NBC and chart a bright new future.
Yet on the evidence of the ceremony itself, it couldn’t recover past glories (even if those were mostly the results of the previous organization’s star-happy focus). There was the requisite assortment of big names (your Leonardo DiCaprio, your Martin Scorsese, your Christopher Nolan) but the whole thing came across as less Golden than bronze.
Comedian Jo Koy (who film fans might know outside of his stand-up career for last year’s ‘Easter Sunday’) stumbled out of the gate by quipping that he only got the gig a few days ago (it’s true that a number of more recognizable names passed) and blaming his writers for any unfunny jokes. Not a good look.
A dig at Taylor Swift’s new NFL relationship didn’t go over well either –– with the singing superstar visibly unimpressed when the camera cut to her.
He went on to offer some more visibly uninspired cracks at Barry Keoghan’s genitals in ‘Saltburn’ and Barbie’s breasts, which mostly had the audience cringing. We don’t expect him to be invited back.
“I had fun. It was a moment that I’ll always remember. It’s a tough room. It was a hard job, I’m not going to lie…I’d be lying if [I said] it doesn’t hurt. I hit a moment there where I was like, ‘Ah.’ Hosting is just a tough gig. Yes, I’m a stand-up comic but that hosting position it’s a different style. I kind of went in and did the writer’s thing. We had 10 days to write this monologue. It was a crash course. I feel bad, but I got to still say I loved what I did. The Taylor [Swift] one was just a little flat…It was a weird joke, I guess. But it was more on the NFL, I was trying to make fun of the NFL using cutaways and how the Globes didn’t have to do that. So it was more of a jab toward the NFL. But it just didn’t come out that way.”
One of the more viral –– and genuinely funny –– moments came as ‘Succession’ began to win the majority of the TV awards (that series and ‘The Bear’s near-dominance one of the entirely un-shocking elements of the ceremony). Kieran Culkin, who took the stage after winning Male Actor in a Drama Series, also took the occasion to throw a good-hearted jab the way of Pedro Pascal, who was nominated in the same category.
After a heartfelt celebration of finally nabbing the award, Culkin went full Roman Roy for a moment: “Suck it, Pedro…”
Pascal’s reaction –– a comedic combo that went from laughing to fake tears, is already a meme.
Pedro Pascal reacts perfectly to Kieran Culkin's Golden Globes speech burn https://t.co/DFP2zIXm1g
Award shows are rarely known for sparkling words when it comes to presenters. Celebrities show up on the stage, read some boring copy celebrating the creativity of whoever and then throw it to a clip package of nominees.
This year’s Globes were no exception, with largely perfunctory pre-announcement banter that barely rose to the level of competence.
Jennifer Lawrence, who has been a reliably funny awards presence in the past, offered another this time. When she was shown during the nominees section for Best Actress, Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, she mouthed, “if I don’t win, I’m leaving!”
Possibly the biggest mistake even before the show was the blatant attempt to have Taylor Swift attend by nominating her ‘Eras Tour’ concert film in the new Cinematic and Box Office Achievement category.
It worked in that she showed (only to seem insulted, see above) and then box office behemoth ‘Barbie’ scored the award anyway, one of only a couple it took home on the night.
If there were true highlights, it was in terms of representation –– Lily Gladstone won for her role in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and celebrated the victory for Native Americans while also offering a sweet shout-out to her mother, who had accompanied her to the event.
Likewise, Ali Wong became the first Asian woman to win Best Actress In A Limited Series or TV Movie (which feels a little bit forced, but is progress nonetheless) for ‘Beef’, which also saw her co-star Steven Yeun win alongside the show.
And Christopher Nolan appeared genuinely touched to have won his first directing Globe for ‘Oppenheimer’ (one of a parade the movie scored in an unsurprising run).
The ceremony itself at least scored on the ratings front –– its airing on CBS and Paramount+ saw the numbers jump from last year’s NBC/Peacock appearance –– and it counts as the most-watched Globes since 2020. But even that seems a useless metric, since the 2021 event was banished to YouTube and doesn’t even really count for ratings.
Can the Globes become relevant again? That’s the big question for now. On the evidence of last night, the answer is a big old “maybe”.
Spider-Man/Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Following the events of ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,’ Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy reunite as the Spider-man universe expands further than either of them has ever anticipated.
“Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, an epic adventure that will transport Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.”
‘Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse’ opened in theaters domestically on June 2, 2023. Initially, the movie was slated to release in April 2022 but shifted to a later release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ opened to $120.6 million domestically and so far has grossed $371.8 million since its release. Worldwide, the movie has earned $666.5 million. This film serves as part one, with part two slated for a 2024 release.
The first film not only received positive reviews from critics and fans alike, but it also won the Academy Award for “Best Animated Feature” in 2019. The highly anticipated sequel once again dazzled the audience and is certified Fresh on the Tomatometer.
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Who’s in the cast of ‘Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse’?
This movie further expands what we already know of the Spider-Verse through the lens of Miles Morales. The film’s protagonist, The Spot, figured out that his spots can be used as portals for dimension jumping, but also the reason why Miles Morales became Spider-Man in the first place. The Spot uses his portals to travel to universes with colliders by absorbing its power to further increase his power, making him quite formidable for the team of Spider-man and Spider-woman.
Gwen Stacy also gets some much needed attention in this movie as we dive into her past on how she became Spider-Woman, her struggle to keep her identity a secret from her father, and how losing her best friend catapulted her into the frenzied world the “Spider Society.”
For the first time on the big screen, we’re introduced to Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Punk, Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman, and Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-man India – all of them working together under the direction of Spider-Man 2099 to prevent catastrophic canon events.
Ben Reilly in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
We’ve already seen in the first film how many variants of Spider-people exist. We’ve met Spider-Ham, Spider-Noir, and Peni Parker in ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’, and the amount of cameo and easter eggs is dialed up in ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’ Here are some of the easter eggs you can find in the movie:
Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider
Mayday “May” Parker/Spider-Girl
Spider-Byte
Spider-Rex
Peter Parkedcar
Web-Slinger
Bombastic Bag-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man
It’s not easy to catch all the easter eggs and cameo while watching in the theaters, but once the movie arrives on digital or a streaming platform, the audience will have the ability to pause and rewind to spot all the references and appearances.
Are There Two Version Of The Film Floating Around?
Sharp-eyed audience members begin to wonder if there were two versions of the film being shown in theaters The differences are subtle and do not affect the overall story. An example is when Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 speaks with Lyla – In one version, Lyla takes a selfie with a bunny ear filter that shows up on Miguel’s face, and one version shows Lyla giving a fist bump. The films’ associate editor Andy Leviton has confirmed this on Twitter. Which version did you see?
Where Can I Watch ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’?
(L to R) Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and his daughter Mayday in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
The movie premiered on May 20, 2023, at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles and was released domestically on June 2, 2023. It is still playing in theaters, so be sure to check Moviefone below for showtimes in your area. ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’’ has a total runtime of 2 hours and 14 minutes.
Watch the official trailers for ‘Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse’ below:
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Can’t make it out to the theater? The multi-Spider-Verse jumping movie will soon be available digitally on Prime Video. Currently, it is listed as available for pre-order for $19.99. As far as streaming goes, since Sony does not have its own streaming platform and currently has a deal with Netflix, it is likely to end up on the major streamer in the fall.
Among them? A live-action film focused on the Miles Morales character (the focus of the ‘Spider-Verse’ movies, there voiced by Shameik Moore), a ‘Spider-Woman’ animated spin-off and a fourth film (more directly in collaboration with the Marvel team) starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man to follow 2021’s wildly successful ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’.
What did the Spider-team say about a Miles Morales movie?
Spider-Man/Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Morales, who first appeared in the pages of Marvel Comics in ‘Ultimate Fallout #4’ in 2011, has become a popular figure for fans who enjoy the more diverse characterization.
As the emotional core of the ‘Spider-Verse’ movies, he’s also crossed over into a more mainstream movie audience, and the first entry won an Oscar for Best Animated Film.
“You’ll see all of it. It’s all happening,” Pascal said at the ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ premiere.
Nothing has been officially announced about any potential Miles Morales movie, but if the latest ‘Spider-Verse’ movie is as successful as the first, expect that to kick into high gear in terms of development.
Is a Spider-Woman movie likely?
(L to R) Jessica Drew (Issa Rae), and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Much as with the Morales movie, there’s nothing official about a Spider-Woman film. The title could refer to Gwen Stacey (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), but the Jessica Drew character, who has also gone by the title, is introduced in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’.
According to Arad, a ‘Spider-Woman’ movie is coming sooner than you think.
“I cannot tell you yet, but it’s coming,” he said at the premiere.
Still, Steinfeld has told Variety that she’s up for much more Gwen time.
Here’s what she had to say,
“This is like my dream job, sign me up over and over again. I got to be comfortable! And it’s a dream to be in a space that feels so comfortable but also creative and free and just exciting to be a part of.”
What about the future of movies starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker?
Tom Holland as Spider-Man in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’
Sony is naturally looking to keep the Peter Parker Spidey train rolling, especially after the success of ‘No Way Home’. And according to Pascal, the studio is in the process of developing the fourth film, which would likely reunite Holland with co-stars Zendaya and Jacob Batalon and once more see contributions from Kevin Feige’s Marvel team.
“Are we going to make another movie? Of course, we are. We’re in the process, but the writers’ strike, nobody is working during the strike. We’re all being supporters and whenever they get themselves together, we’ll get started.”
Spider-Man/Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Other Movies Similar to ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’:
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ is produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Marvel Entertainment, Lord Miller Productions, Pascal Pictures, and Avi Arad Productions. It is set to release in theaters on June 2nd, 2023.
What is the plot of ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’?
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ takes place one year after the events of ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,’ as Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is unexpectedly approached by his love interest Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) to complete a mission to save every universe of Spider-People from the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), who could cause a catastrophic disaster. Miles is up for the challenge, where he and Gwen journey through the Multiverse together and meet its protectors, a group of Spider-People known as the Spider-Society, led by Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac). However, Miles finds himself at odds with Miguel and the Spider-Society on how to handle the threat.
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Who is in the voice cast of ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’?
While more mature and character-driven than the original, ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ builds off of the first film exceedingly well and dives deeper into Miles’ struggles with being Spider-Man, as well as Gwen Stacy’s origin story. The movie is also larger in scope than the previous film, with even more breathtakingly beautiful animation, and explores the Spider-Verse further by adding some excellent new characters and setting up an exciting conclusion in ‘Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,’ which is scheduled to be released next year.
Spider-Man/Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Story and Animation
The sequel starts off with a bang featuring Gwen Stacey’s heartbreaking origin story, which also introduces Jessica Drew, Miguel O’Hara, and the Spider-Society. We then return to Miles Morales and his struggles with school, his parents, and being Spider-Man. Miles soon encounters The Spot, a new super-villain who’s own origin story is tied to Miles’. Miles doesn’t take his new “archenemy” seriously and The Spot vows his revenge
against Spider-Man by amassing as much power as possible.
Meanwhile, Miles is visited by his old friend Gwen and soon learns of the Spider-Society and wants to join. He eventually follows Gwen to their headquarters, reunites with Peter B. Parker, who now has a baby daughter, and meets O’Hara and learns that they have all been keeping a terrible secret from him. Now knowing the truth, Miles must decide what path he wants to take with his future.
(L to R) Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and his daughter Mayday in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Ordinarily, I do not like sequels that just set up other sequels and don’t have a satisfying conclusion of their own (I’m looking at you ‘Fast X’). But ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ is different and has an extremely satisfying conclusion, even if it is a cliffhanger. The story overall is more mature, a bit darker, and even larger in scope than the original, but never loses focus of Miles, his family, his friends, and his point of view. The movie is long at almost two and a half hours, but never feels too long and the quitter, character-driven moments, for example between Miles and his parents, raise the stakes of the overarching story. The movie also takes more time to examine Gwen Stacy and her backstory, which is one of the highlights of the film.
Not unlike the original, Oscar-winning movie, the animation is absolutely gorgeous and some of the most impressive I’ve ever seen. The movie itself has a specific style and tone, which gives it a certain comic book quality. But at the same time, each character has his or her own specific style which is very unique. Because of the multiverse aspect to the story, the filmmakers can have some fun with the animation styles, and they do, mixing and matching what style works best for which character. Some are a representation of the medium or time the character was first created, but the movie also mixes different types of animation as well as even Legos (a nod to Lord and Miller’s ‘The Lego Movie’) and live-action. It’s also worth noting how the animators successfully make Miles and Gwen look older than they did in the first movie.
(L to R) Jessica Drew (Issa Rae), and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy
The movie wisely begins a year after the original, giving Miles some time to grow and mature, but at fifteen, he’s still just a kid. The sequel really takes its time to set up Miles now, how he’s changed, how he’s not, and what his personal problems are before his new journey truly begins. These are some of the most touching moments of the movie, especially Miles scenes with his parents, where he desperately wants to tell them the truth but can’t. Shameik Moore is even better, if that is possible, as the voice of Miles this time around, and seems to have even made his voice more mature to age appropriately with Miles.
The first 20 minutes or so of the movie is Gwen Stacy’s origin story, and it could really be a short film of its own. It’s a heartbreaking beginning, but fitting for the character who has always been a bit more emotionally broken than Miles, and now we know why. Gwen’s relationship with Miles also grows in this movie and is completely believable, while there is a fun rivalry between Miles and Spider-Punk for her affections. Hailee Steinfeld gives a great voice performance and adds a lot of emotion and vulnerability to the character.
Issa Rae as Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman in ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,’ which opens in theaters on June 2nd, 2023.
There are too many new Spider-People introduced to mention them all, and some are just fun cameos that I won’t spoil. But Jessica Drew definitely stands out. If you are old enough, you will remember a Saturday Morning cartoon in the early 1980s called ‘Spider-Woman,’ which featured Jessica Drew. Well, this interpretation is completely different and extremely refreshing. Issa Rae plays the character like a complete boss, and the addition of a Spidy-Cycle was a nice touch.
Also a standout, Oscar-winner Daniel Kaluuya as Hobert “Hobie” Brown/Spider-Punk. Certainly a lesser known Spider-Man, Kaluuya makes the character come alive with an authentic attitude, Johnny Rotten accent, and punk animation style. Another new Spider-Person worth mentioning is Spider-Man India, hilariously voiced by ‘Deadpool’s Karan Soni, who is a nice addition to the Spider-Team.
Miguel O’Hara as Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
The Villains
While not a villain per se, Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 is definitely an antagonist in the film and very tough on Miles. The character was first introduced in the end-credit sequence in ‘Into the Spider-Verse,’ and I have to say, I was slightly disappointed. The character was very one-dimensional for me, and I hope he will be explored further and perhaps redeemed in the next movie. Oscar Isaac is fine in the role, but not given enough time to really explore the character. He’s angry through most of the movie, and with the exception of a few funny lines, his emotions never really change. While his true motivations are revealed before the movie’s end, we’re never really given enough time to truly understand how he feels about what he’s doing.
But the main villain in this movie, and it would seem the following film, is The Spot, wonderfully voiced by Jason Schwartzman. The actor is goofy, bumbling, funny, scary, menacing, brilliant, and a bit dumb, all at the same time. While the character does not seem much of a threat for Miles at first, he certainly is by the film’s end and his transformation is completely logical. It was also a nice touch retconning Miles origin so it would be tied to The Spot’s.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) takes on The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Is ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ set in the MCU?
No, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ is not set in the MCU. However, this is a multiverse story, and there are definitely references, Easter eggs, and other surprises linked to the MCU and other Spider-Man film and television projects from the past.
Are there any End-Credit scenes in ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?’
No, at least there was not at the press screening. There is a mid-credit bumper that says, “Miles Morales will return in ‘Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,’” which of course we already knew. But that doesn’t mean that an end-credit scene wasn’t kept from the press as not to spoil, so if you don’t have anywhere urgent to be, you should probably stay in your seats after the movie just in case.
Final Thoughts
In the end, it’s hard to believe that ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ is just as good if not better than the Oscar winning ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,’ but it is! The sequel recaptures the magic of the original, while broadening the scope, raising the stakes, and delivering a more mature movie with a satisfying ending, even if it is “to be continued.” The movie takes a deeper look at fan-favorites like Miles and Gwen, but also introduces great new characters like Spider-Punk, Jessica Drew, and The Spot, while featuring eye-popping, beautiful, fresh, and groundbreaking stylistic animation.
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ received 9.5 out of 10 stars
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ lands in theaters on June 2nd, 2023.
Other Movies Similar to ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’:
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ is produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Marvel Entertainment, Lord Miller Productions, Pascal Pictures, and Avi Arad Productions. It is set to release in theaters on June 2nd, 2023.
Sony’s 2023 CinemaCon Presentation. Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures.
With audiences returning to theaters properly and box office returns climbing out of the trough of COVID, it was only natural that studio bosses were going to be bullish at this year’s CinemaCon event in Las Vegas.
First out of the gate this time was Sony, whose chairman Tom Rothman was in an upbeat, triumphant mood. “For the past three years, as the punditocracy pissed on your business, we at Sony held fast,” Rothman boasted. “We are the only studio that held entirely to theatrical. We were sure that movies in theaters would not only survive but triumph. Well, whaddaya know?”
Sony remains on the theatrical train, with several big releases planned.
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‘The Equalizer 3’
Among the biggest is ‘The Equalizer 3’, which represents that unusual franchise where the star –– in this case, Denzel Washington –– is actually bigger than the property. In an age of superheroes and ‘Star Wars’ selling seats, he’s an outlier.
The studio had Washington and co-star Dakota Fanning on stage to thank cinema executives for their support and, perhaps more crucially, to highlight the fact that it represents a reunion for the ‘Man on Fire’ stars. And a trailer played, which went online today…
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‘The Equalizer 3’ catches up with Washington’s government assassin-turned-kick-ass-do-gooder Robert McCall in Italy, where he’s trying to enjoy some downtime on the picturesque Amalfi coast and not be asked to take on villains.
Sadly, for McCall, that’s not the way his life goes, and he’s soon caught up helping some locals with Mafia goons and violence. Which means McCall has to break out his particular set of skills and lay the smack down on members of the criminal clan known as the Camorra (think an even more dangerous offshoot of the Mafia).
And while there are some very wild, violent thugs looking to tackle McCall, none of them are quite ready for what he brings to the table. Literally in one case, as we witness him applying nerve pressure to one of the enforcers. “That’s level three”, he tells the anguished henchman. “If “If it goes to level four, you will shit on yourself.” Thanks Denz!
But the highlight, as mentioned above, is in the reunion between Washington and Fanning. The latter was just 10 when she shared the screen with Washington ‘Man on Fire’ in 2004. Now, for ‘The Equalizer 3’, she’s playing a young CIA agent drawn to the village because of all the reports of violence.
And the two actors’ connection was clear, since they have stayed friends all these years. “She’s like a daughter to him, he loves her,” Antoine Fuquatold Empire of the off-screen dynamic between Washington and Fanning. “It was so beautiful to watch them together on the set, just talking, laughing. And they’re both so talented, they just get into it, they didn’t skip a beat. What was weird for me looking through the lens and seeing Dakota as a grown-up! She’s fantastic and watching them together was a joy because she’s a samurai. She knows it, she’s there, she’s pleasant, she does her thing. And it was a bonus her relationship with Denzel. She’s friends with his kids. It was very easy with those two.”
‘The Equalizer 3’ will be in theaters on September 1st.
Denzel Washington in ‘The Equalizer 3.’ Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures.
‘Bad Boys 4’
While ‘Bad Boys for Life’ represented one of the few hits as the pandemic began to bite, Sony was naturally excited to roll out word of the next movie. The movie is now filming (with ‘For Life’ directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah returning) but isn’t yet at a stage where the studio can show a trailer. Still, it had stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence ebullient in a video introduction.
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‘Gran Turismo’
Sony’s 2023 CinemaCon Presentation. Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures.
‘Gran Turismo’, adapted from the Sony racing game is much further along, though while the trailer played to the presentation audience, it has yet to head online.
The film will tell the story of Jann Mardenborough ( ‘Midsommar’s Archie Madekwe), a British teenager who in 2011 entered GT Academy, an esports tournament created to find ‘Gran Turismo’ players who were good enough at the game to be able to competitively drive real-life race cars. Mardenborough was victorious in the GT Academy competition and became a race car driver for Nissan, competing in the Dubai 24 Hour endurance race.
In the trailer, we see Jann arriving with other GT Academy contestants and being put through the wringer by racing trainer Jack Salter (David Harbour) who puts them through a rigorous boot camp to get them in shape. It’s one thing to know how to hit every corner on a world-class racetrack and to overtake in a simulation of a Nissan GT-R LM, but as Jann finds out, it’s hard to do it when the g-forces and hot temperatures of an actual race car are bearing down on you.
“If you miss a racing line in a game you can reset,” warns Jack. “If you miss it in a real race, you could die.”
‘Gran Turismo’ drives into theaters on August 11th.
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‘No Hard Feelings’
Sony’s 2023 CinemaCon Presentation. Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures.
Jennifer Lawrence and ‘No Hard Feelings’ director Gene Stupnitsky swapped onstage banter before introducing a new clip from the raunchy comedy about two helicopter parents who hire a woman to “date” their introverted 19-year-old son, so he doesn’t leave for college as a virgin. The comedy hits theaters on June 23.
Sony’s 2023 CinemaCon Presentation. Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures.
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‘Kraven The Hunter’
Also on display, Sony/Marvel Spider-adjacent superhero pic ‘Kraven The Hunter’, with star Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing the title character. He introduced the first look at the movie, enthusing that it’s Rated R.
In the footage, Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven is a tactical stalker with a penchant for cropped leather vests and five-star hair. He shreds his victims viscerally, often with primitive claw-shaped weapons. Blood pours freely over the screen and, at one intense moment, Taylor-Johnson rips the flesh off a target’s neck with his teeth and spits it out. Definitely an R-rating, then.
‘Kraven the Hunter’ will be in theaters on October 26.
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‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’
Sony’s 2023 CinemaCon Presentation. Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures.
Co-director Kemp Powers was joined by voice stars Shameik Moore (who plays Miles Morales), and Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen Stacey), and new recruit Issa Rae (Jessica Drew) to show off 14 impressive minutes of footage from the sequel, which be followed by another movie in 2024.
“It’s been over a year since the events of first movie and he’s still trying to learn to be a superhero,” Moore added, saying that this movie shows that “how you wear the mask is what makes you a hero.”
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ will swing into theaters on June 2nd this year, with ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’ due next year.
Sony’s 2023 CinemaCon Presentation. Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures.
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‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ Sequel
There was also a video from Jason Reitman and the team making the sequel to ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ (on which Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan have swapped jobs this time, Kenan directing while Reitman produces) confirming the story’s return to the New York haunts of the original 1984 ‘Ghostbusters’. The new film –– whatever its title –– hits theaters on December 20th.
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‘Napoleon’
While ‘The Equalizer 3’ wrapped things up, there was also room for a big get by the Sony executives, who had scored the chance to release Ridley Scott’s Joaquin Phoenix-starring ‘Napoleon’ in partnership with Apple.
“I know that he can do things cinematically that filmmakers half his age, can’t do,” Rothman said of the 85-year-old director.
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The clip shown had Joaquin Phoenix’s title character commanding the French army in a foggy, blurry wintery epic battle with the Russian and Austrian forces. Napoleon knows it’s coming; he has invited the attack. Lots of bayonets slicing and soldiers falling in the icy water.
‘Napoleon’ should be in theaters this Thanksgiving, followed by its arrival on Apple TV+ after that.
All in all, some big moves, and big movies from Sony.
Sony’s 2023 CinemaCon Presentation. Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures.
Movies Presented at Sony Pictures 2023 CinemaCon Presentation:
