Film

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The middle chapter of the Spider-Verse trilogy is bigger, stranger and sadder than the first: a dazzling collision of animation styles across dozens of universes, following Miles Morales as he's told his origin was a mistake he must undo. It's a coming-of-age story disguised as a multiverse epic, gorgeous frame by frame, and it ends on a cliffhanger — go in knowing that.

TMDb rating8.3

If you liked this

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse2018

The film that started it all, and genuinely essential if you haven't seen it — it invented the animation language and the emotional throughline this sequel builds on.

But If you've already seen it, there's nothing new here — this is purely for the uninitiated.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse poster

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem2023

Same Sony animation studio pushing the same scrappy, sketchbook-textured visual style into a different franchise, with a similarly loose, funny teenage energy.

But Lower stakes and less ambition — it's a fun hangout movie, not the emotional gut-punch Across the Spider-Verse aims for.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem poster

The Mitchells vs. the Machines2021

Another Sony-adjacent animated film that treats every frame as a canvas, mixing styles freely, with real heart underneath the visual chaos and jokes.

But Family road-trip comedy rather than superhero spectacle — the tone is much gentler and more domestic.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Akira1988

The Spider-Verse films' animators have cited Akira as a touchstone for pushing animation past its usual limits — same lineage of a teen protagonist wrestling with power he can't fully control, told through genuinely radical visual technique.

A landmark hand-drawn anime about a teenager whose emerging power threatens to destroy the world around him, animated with a density and ambition that changed what animation could do.

But Dense, dark, occasionally confusing plotting, and a much colder emotional temperature than a Marvel film.

Akira poster
More like this (7)

Big Hero 62014

A warm, grief-tinged superhero-origin story with real technical polish, if you want the Disney version of a teenager processing loss while discovering powers.

But Considerably more conventional and safer — this won't scratch the multiverse or stylistic-experimentation itch.

Big Hero 6 poster

The Incredibles2004

The gold standard for superhero family drama done through animation, with the same interest in legacy, expectation, and what powers cost the people who have them.

But Two decades old and stylistically conventional — none of the visual invention that defines the Spider-Verse films.

The Incredibles poster

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish2022

Unexpectedly gorgeous, existentially heavier than its premise suggests, with fight scenes that borrow the same painterly, frame-skipping animation tricks.

But It's a fairy-tale adventure at heart, not a superhero story, and the emotional register is lighter overall.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish poster

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness2022

If it's the multiverse mechanics and the 'variant selves' idea you loved, this live-action MCU entry chases the same concept with horror-tinged visuals.

But Requires MCU homework to land fully, and the multiverse is used more as spectacle than as metaphor.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness poster

Spider-Man: Homecoming2017

For the live-action version of a teenager buckling under the weight of being Spider-Man, with the same mix of comedy and genuine adolescent anxiety.

But A completely different Peter Parker, different universe, different tone — no Miles, no multiverse, no animation.

Spider-Man: Homecoming poster

X-Men: Days of Future Past2014

A superhero team splintered by disagreement over how to prevent a catastrophic future, wrestling with fate versus choice much like the Spider Society does.

But Older effects, a sprawling ensemble that assumes X-Men familiarity, and none of the visual daring.

X-Men: Days of Future Past poster

Donnie Darko2001

Miles is told his survival is 'wrong' and the multiverse demands correction; Donnie is told the same thing about himself, minus the costume and the CGI — same question about fate versus rebellion, played dead serious instead of thrilling.

A moody, cult indie film about a teenager who learns he's living inside a timeline that's supposed to end in tragedy, and has to decide whether to accept or fight it.

But Slow, melancholic, ambiguous, and deliberately unresolved — the opposite of a big-budget spectacle.

Donnie Darko poster

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