Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

This analysis of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is through a queer lens that informs this particular reading of the film. I neither claim these are intentional inclusions on part of the creators nor believe that such intentions are necessary for an interpretation to be meaningful. This interpretation has some previous context as the Spider-Man franchise is often read as a story about identity through development. With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s see why the masks Spider-people wear are allegorical to both a safe space and the closet. But in true Spider-verse narrative style, we should recap the events that are going to be referenced later in this essay. Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), the son of Lieutenant Davis (Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio Morales (Lauren Vélez), was bitten by a radioactive spider and has been the Spider-Man of Earth-1610. His Spider-manly activities make his parents suspicious of him. Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) was similarly bitten by a spider and turned into Spider-Woman on Earth-65, where she lives with her father, Captain Stacy (Shea Whigham). Captain Stacy does not approve of Spider-Woman and in fact suspects her for the murder of Gwen’s best friend, Peter Parker.

Once Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, and all the other spider people across the spider-verse are bitten by radioactive spiders, they are unable to go back to their previous lives. This is their shared inciting incident; things will never be the same. They realize and accept that this is a part of who they are and they’ll always be spider-people. It is a bittersweet experience though. While it comes with the freedom of webslinging through the city as superheroes, feeling the rush of the wind as they swing between skyscrapers, it also brought a new aspect to their identity that they are not immediately able to share with people. This parallels a common experience of many queer people who grow up in the cisheteronormative society. This can be read as a queer awakening.

These awakenings are real life inciting incidents for most queer people. It becomes a budding understanding of their identity outside of the cisheteronormative lens. This discovery of a new aspect of themselves can bring a sense of freedom. But it can also come with the added weight of having a hidden identity. The lack of acceptance for queerness often discourages people from living their truth and the awakening is only a moment of self-realization which then becomes a truth they have to hide from everyone else. This overlaps well with having a secret identity as a superhero. Especially as we think about having to hide your superpowers from everyone around you.