Director Compares Spider-Verse Sequel To Best Star Wars Film

The Empire Strikes Back is widely regarded as the best Star Wars film. Darker and more serious than its predecessor, Episode V concluded with one of cinema’s biggest twists. And it also ended with our heroes’ final “all is lost” moment.

Such is the popularity and influence of TESB, that countless filmmakers since have called franchise entries “their Empire,” to try and capture some of that magic, and the forthcoming Spider-Verse sequel is no different.

So here’s what directors Kemp Powers and Joaquim Dos Santos have to say about the Spidey sequel, which is the second instalment in a confirmed trilogy.

Across the Spider-Verse director compares sequel to best Star Wars movie

“Across The Spider-Verse is a movie on its own, but it definitely ends on a bit of a cliffhanger,” co-director Kemp Powers tells the new issue of SFX magazine. “I think it’s a good cliffhanger. We hope that it’s a satisfying tee-up for what’s coming in the third film, because you want people to be excited about what’s coming next.

“And it helps that we knew going in that this was part two of a three-part story. Since you already know that that third story is guaranteed, you can tackle it a bit differently. That being said, there’s a lot of key characters in this film, and there’s a story in this film that has an arc of its own that we needed to complete.”

Then making that Star Wars comparison, co-director Joaquim Dos Santos states: “I was very satisfied after The Empire Strikes Back, and hopefully, this is our Empire.”

What happens in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

Here’s the official synopsis for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: “Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse saga, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence.

“But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.”

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse crawls into cinemas on June 2, 2023.