‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’: Multiverse, boon or gimmick for superhero movies?

What if, in an infinity of parallel realities, on an infinity of other planets, one day multiple alternate versions of yourself made a decision or had an encounter that would lead them to lives completely different from yours? This is the principle of the multiverse, which is especially used in recent years in blockbuster movies. Releases in theaters on Wednesday, May 31stSpider-Man: Along the Spider-VerseDirected by Joaquim dos Santos, Camp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, based his story on the collision of different realities that co-exist, which led to multiple versions of Spider-Man being shared for the poster.

This is not the first time that Miles Morales, Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy and others have mixed their adventures on the big screen. The animated feature is a sequel Spider-Man: The Next Generation Released in 2018. The latter was praised not only for its dynamic staging and original graphics, but also for its use of the multiverse concept. and allowed him to break out of the boxes, sometimes with humor, sometimes with tenderness, with more or less insane variations of character.

The project also inspired a live-action film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which brought together Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland, three actors who have worn the suit since the 2000s, creating a cinematic continuum. which had the fortune to appeal to fans, nostalgics and the general public. The film exceeded 1.5 billion dollars at the worldwide box office.

In turn, his rival DC, with films produced by Warner, is bringing back Michael Keaton as Batman, more than thirty years after Tim Burton’s adaptations. in the movie Excitement, which is slated for release on June 14, will see him play Bruce Wayne… alongside another Bruce Wayne, played by Ben Affleck. And it’s not just superheroes: everything everywhere at once The 2023 Oscar for Best Picture, held by the acting duo Michelle Yeoh and Ke Hui Kwan, also tells the stories of the multiverse.

A concept that has been used for decades in comics

Perhaps because it’s too complicated to understand on the big screen or too specific for comic book codes, superhero cinema has long shied away from this narrative source. Marvel only started there in 2016 with the second character in their catalog, Doctor Strange, then the series. Loki (2021), in which Thor’s brother is resurrected. Faced with critical and commercial success, Marvel Studio ended up subtitling a second film a few years later. Doctor Strange (2022) “Many Sides of Madness”We offer a miniseries What if..I? (” And if… ? “). All Marvel movies and series scheduled for 2021-2026 are still officially referred to as The multiverse saga.

But cinema didn’t invent everything: the multiverse has ruled superhero cosmology in comics for decades. “This is DC [maison d’édition de Batman et Superman] who addresses the multiverse for the first time”Posted by Liz Benkemun, Deputy Editor-in-Chief comic book box, A French magazine of comic culture that devoted an entire issue to this topic. Thus, in 1953, Wonder Woman meets her alter ego from a parallel universe, but “It was first of all in 1961 Flash No^Oh 123, which refers to spirits,’ explains the journalist. After that, the multiverse allows to justify the existence of two Flashes in its rays: the original one, embodied by the character of Jay Garrick, and the one created in 1956 by Barry Allen. First limited to the principle of two earths, it will expand to an infinity of planets. Marvel will follow suit and devote itself to the principle of different lands, which offer multiple scenarios. The fiction here echoes the scientific debates of its time; American physicist Hugh Everett’s interpretation of many worlds dates back to the late 1950s.

Combats viewer fatigue

This central concept is in any case very practical to allow old fictional characters to maintain their legitimacy and universality in the face of new script experiments. And in doing so, satisfy the most conservative readers and attract new audiences with stories relevant to the times. In the cinema, he can also fight the effect of fatigue that the audience feels after two decades of blockbusters of heroes in pantyhose. It also has the advantage of being able, according to Liz Benkemun, to Carrying out Marvel and DC’s overarching vision to develop their characters 360 degrees across film, television and video games.

Others are far less enthusiastic, such as YouTuber Le Tropeur, a pop culture specialist. In a video dedicated to this topic in 2022, he laments that the multiverse “Finish Results” in the chain of action and decision-making of the characters and takes away from their adventures about their meaning. “If death is not permanent, it is useless”, he believes. before adding this “If fiction is going to say anything about the real world, it can’t if the choices of characters don’t matter”.

However, it is not an easy solution, nor a joker for screenwriters, defends Liz Benkemun. “I understand that people say that it allows you to do anything and everything, but publishers are very focused on the unity of the world. They are careful that the authors insert themselves correctly and respect the Bible. There is a lot of preparation. And I think it gives them a lot of migraines! »