Shameik Moore

Miles Morales is lying to his parents and missing Gwen Stacy when we meet him again in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). Shameik Moore gives those concerns enough weight that the superhero business can wait. His voice keeps Miles young without making his worries seem slight, even as the character grows more confident. We were moved by his longing for Gwen because Moore makes the distance between them feel like a teenager's immediate problem, rather than a complicated rule about parallel worlds.

That ability to make a young character's worries matter was there in his breakthrough lead as Malcolm in Dope (2015). His naturalism gave the coming-of-age comedy a firm centre, with little sense of an actor pressing to be noticed. The Get Down (2016–2017) and his work as Raekwon in Wu-Tang: An American Saga (2019–2023) continued his association with music-led ensembles. Taking on Miles's voice in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) shifted the emphasis: animation made his youthful energy and emotional directness the essential tools. The sequel gives us the clearest reason to rate him.

In Across the Spider-Verse, directors Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson and Joaquim Dos Santos surround Miles with worlds that each have their own painting style. Moore supplies a recognisable person to follow through all that visual change. With Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen and Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Vélez as Miles's parents, he has the company to make those smaller worries count. The script by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and David Callaham gives those relationships room, though it also spends too long explaining how everything works.

At 140 minutes, Across the Spider-Verse asks for patience while it explains its rules, then offers only half a story. We recommend it with that reservation. Moore keeps us interested in Miles, but he cannot make the film feel complete.