We're in something of a Spider-Man renaissance. There's always been a friendly neighborhood superhero on the screens every few years — be it Tobey Maguire's depiction from 2002-2007, Andrew Garfield's depiction from 2012-2014 or Tom Holland's depiction from 2016 onward — but never have we been so overrun with Spider-Men, -women, -cartoons, -cats and other species as there now that we've entered the Spider-Verse series. Its new sequel "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'' has predictably garnered as much acclaim as it does multiple universes. It was applauded for its range of vibrant animation, became the second highest box office opening of the year at $120.5 million and touted as a "masterpiece" by many reviewers. The true success of the sequel, however, lies not only with its visuals (though they are superb), but with the movie's decision to not translate the Spanish dialogue in the film.
Phil Lord, who produced and co-wrote both the first and second movies in the franchise, told Remezcla during the premiere for "Into the Spider-Verse" that this choice helped keep the film authentic to his own experience growing up in a Cuban American family. "I grew up in a bilingual household in the bilingual city of Miami where you hear Spanish all over the place, and it's not particularly remarkable," he said. "It was important for us to hear Spanish and not necessarily have it subtitled. It's just part of the fabric of Miles' community and family life."
