Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Oscar Snub Causes Uproar
The animated web-slinger does whatever a spider can – however, his heroic charms are lost on the Academy, much to fans’ chagrin.
Summary:
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the 2023 sequel to Sony’s 2018 animated feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, based on the long-running Marvel comics franchise.
- Both animated films are set in a multiverse where various incarnations of the titular hero from different timelines interact and fight against organized crime in a fictional version of New York City.
- Across The Spider-Verse’s critical acclaim and popularity led it to receive several nods at the 2024 Oscars, including the one for best animated film, but the sequel ended up losing the award to Hayao Miyazaki ’s The Boy and the Heron.
- Fans and lead voice actor Shameik Moore are upset by the loss, with Moore expressing mixed feelings towards the situation.
Let’s face it – this was always going to be a close struggle. The second animated adventure of everyone’s favorite friendly neighbor(s) went head-to-head against Studio Ghibli’s return-to-form artistic sensation at the 2024 Oscars. In the end, it was The Boy and the Heron that took home the Best Animated Feature award, but the fans’ jury is still out on whether it was a more deserving winner than Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The audiences were quick to offer their perspectives on Across the Spider-Verse losing the award and shared their opinions via social media platforms and other online community outlets.
One particular segment of the fandom that was actively rooting for the sequel to win was bitter about the loss and displayed sore sentiments.
Other voices were more considerate, conceding that Across the Spider-Verse was a high-quality film but that Studio Ghibli’s animated offering was more mature and accomplished as a creative effort, coming from the legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki.
Across the Spider-Verse star Shameik Moore, who voiced Miles Morales, has also weighed in on the matter.
Immediately after the Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature was announced, Moore claimed that the Spider Man animated film sequel was unjustly snubbed.
However, he followed up this remark with further clarifying statements, explaining that he had overreacted but, at the same time, indicating that he was still conflicted about The Boy and the Heron’s win.
For what it’s worth, Moore did acknowledge his respect for Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s labor of love while not going back on his original words on the subject.
For his part, Across the Spider-Verse writer and producer Christopher Miller took the Oscar results in good stride and stated his praise for the Japanese production team behind The Boy and the Heron.
Still, we can’t help but feel that the web of controversy surrounding the sequel’s Oscar loss is not going to be untangled any time soon.
Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse are going to be followed by a third animated feature film, titled Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which is due for release later this year.