Let’s face it; if you make a movie with the chief intention of eclipsing a competitor, things probably aren’t going to go very smoothly. After all, the best part of the creative process is the birthing of something intrinsically beautiful with respect to one’s definition of beauty, regardless of who or what it’s stacking up against.
Even if trying to one-up something was the optimal creative route, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse happens to be a movie that exists now, and anyone who’s been lucky enough to plunge into the sophomore Spider-Verse adventure can confirm that no one’s going to clear that particular bar any time soon.
Nevertheless, it looks like Shawn Levy couldn’t be happier that this is the way things are.
Like clockwork, Levy took to Twitter shortly after catching what was presumably his first screening of the animated juggernaut, and his praise was positively unmappable; indeed, when you’re armed with the number of unchained creative spirits that Across the Spider-Verse was, the heights you can reach are effectively limitless.
Levy, of course, is helming a superhero film in his own right in Deadpool 3, which will feature one small step for the Merc with the Mouth, and one giant leap for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s multiverse shenanigans, which, funnily enough, Across the Spider-Verse is cheekily familiar with.
A win for Across the Spider-Verse is a win for all comic book movie fans and creatives, and to see it be publicly backed by the director of an important upcoming MCU film is a surefire way to warm one’s heart.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters, while Deadpool 3 is due on Nov. 8, 2024.