Let's be real for a second. Animation is usually judged by the "look." People obsess over the frame rates, the watercolor textures of Gwen’s world, or that frantic pencil-sketch energy of Spider-Punk. But if you strip away the visuals, you’re left with the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse cast, and honestly? That is where the soul of this movie actually lives. It isn’t just a bunch of celebrities phoning it in from a booth in Burbank. It’s a masterclass in voice acting that makes a multiversal collapse feel like a messy, grounded family drama.
You’ve got Shameik Moore returning as Miles Morales. He’s older now. His voice has dropped, sure, but he carries this new weight—a mix of teenage bravado and the crushing loneliness of being the "only" Spider-Man in Brooklyn. Moore doesn’t play Miles as a superhero; he plays him as a kid who is desperately trying to lie to his parents while simultaneously trying to save the fabric of reality. It’s that duality that keeps the movie from drifting off into pure comic book nonsense.
The returning champions and the new heavy hitters
Hailee Steinfeld’s Gwen Stacy basically steals the first twenty minutes of the film. Most sequels forget to give the supporting lead a real arc, but Steinfeld treats Gwen like the protagonist of her own indie tragedy. Her chemistry with Moore—even though they likely recorded their lines months apart in different cities—is the emotional anchor. Then you have Brian Tyree Henry as Jefferson Davis and Luna Lauren Vélez as Rio Morales. They provide the heartbeat. When Rio gives that speech to Miles on the rooftop about making sure he belongs in every room he enters, it’s not just "superhero movie" dialogue. It’s a cultural touchstone.
But okay, let's talk about the new additions to the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse cast because that’s where things get wild. Oscar Isaac as Miguel O'Hara (Spider-Man 2099) is terrifying. He isn't a villain in the traditional sense. He’s a guy who has seen too much. Isaac plays him with this vibrating, low-register intensity. You can almost hear the neck muscles straining in his voice. He’s the foil Miles didn’t know he needed—a Spider-Man who has forgotten how to be funny.
The chaotic energy of Spider-Punk and Pavitr Prabhakar
And then there is Hobart "Hobie" Brown. Karan Soni is great as Pavitr, bringing this bright, optimistic energy to Mumbattan, but Daniel Kaluuya as Spider-Punk is a revelation. I remember reading that the animators actually changed how Hobie moved based on Kaluuya’s voice takes. He’s effortless. He’s cool. He’s the guy who tells you to "not help the police" while he’s helping you save the world. Kaluuya uses his natural accent, leaning into a Cockney swagger that makes Hobie feel like a genuine anarchist rather than a caricature.
💡 You might also like: Why This Is How We Roll FGL Is Still The Song That Defines Modern Country
- Jason Schwartzman plays The Spot, and his evolution from a "villain of the week" joke to a multiversal threat is handled mostly through vocal shifts. He starts shaky and high-pitched. By the end, he’s a hollowed-out echo.
- Issa Rae as Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman) brings a much-needed "cool aunt" vibe to the Spider-Society, even if her character makes some morally questionable choices.
- You also have the brief, hilarious return of Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, now a "dad-lete" carrying around a baby in a web-sling. Johnson’s delivery remains the gold standard for "exhausted Spider-Man."
Why the casting choices actually matter for the story
It’s easy to dismiss voice casting as just "finding a famous person." But director Joaquim Dos Santos and producers Lord and Miller clearly went for texture over name recognition. Take Andy Samberg’s cameo as Scarlet Spider. It’s a tiny role, but Samberg leans into the 90s angst of the character so perfectly that it becomes a meta-commentary on the era of comics Miguel O'Hara was born from.
The Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse cast had the impossible task of making us care about a story that involves literally hundreds of characters. If the main voices didn't feel "heavy," the movie would just be a series of Easter eggs. Instead, when Miles screams "Everyone keeps telling me how my story is supposed to go," you feel it in your chest because Moore sells the desperation.
The complexity of the "Canon Event" theory—the idea that certain tragedies must happen to every Spider-Man—only works if the person explaining it sounds like they believe it. Oscar Isaac makes you believe it. He makes the logic sound airtight, which is why the conflict with Miles is so gut-wrenching. You have two people who are both "right" from their own perspectives, and the voice acting conveys that nuance better than any CGI fight scene ever could.
The unsung heroes of the Spider-Society
Beyond the big names, the sheer volume of cameos in the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse cast is staggering. You have Amandla Stenberg as Margo Kess (Spider-Byte), who manages to make a digital avatar feel like a real person with just a few lines of dialogue. There’s also the inclusion of archive audio—paying homage to the history of the character. It’s a layer of "meta" that actually serves the narrative rather than just being a wink at the audience.
📖 Related: The Real Story Behind I Can Do Bad All by Myself: From Stage to Screen
- Watch the film again, but focus specifically on the background chatter in the Spider-Society hub. The effort put into the "minor" Spider-people is insane.
- Notice the way the sound mixing prioritizes the breathing and sighs of the actors. It’s a very "close" mic style that makes it feel intimate.
Mahershala Ali returns briefly as Aaron Davis, and even though his screen time is limited, his presence looms large. It’s a reminder of the first film’s stakes. The cast doesn't just look forward to the next sequel; they carry the baggage of the original.
Actionable insights for your next rewatch
If you want to truly appreciate what this cast did, you have to look past the screen. Voice acting is a physical discipline. To get the "huffing and puffing" sounds of a chase scene, actors are often running in place or shadow-boxing in the booth.
Pay attention to the silence.
In the scenes between Miles and his mother, Rio, listen to the pauses. The "um" and "uh" sounds that are often edited out of movies are left in here. This is a deliberate choice by the directors and the actors to mimic natural human speech patterns. It’s why the movie feels "human-quality" despite being about a kid who can turn invisible and climb walls.
Track the emotional arc through tone.
The Spot’s voice is the most interesting to track. Jason Schwartzman starts the movie sounding like a clumsy waiter. By the final act, his voice is layered with digital distortion and a lower, more resonant frequency. It’s a subtle way the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse cast uses audio to signal character growth—or in this case, a descent into madness.
👉 See also: Love Island UK Who Is Still Together: The Reality of Romance After the Villa
Look for the crossover talent.
Many of these actors have backgrounds in improvisational comedy (Schwartzman, Samberg, Soni). This allowed the directors to let them riff. A lot of the funniest lines in the Mumbattan sequence weren't strictly on the page; they were the result of the actors finding the "funny" in the moment.
The brilliance of this ensemble is that they never forget they are playing people first, and icons second. Miles isn't just a "Spider-Man." He's a kid from Brooklyn who is scared of disappointing his mom. Gwen isn't just a "multiversal traveler." She's a drummer who lost her best friend. When you have a cast this talented, the "super" part of superhero becomes the least interesting thing about them.
To get the most out of the experience, try watching the "Behind the Scenes" footage of the recording sessions. Seeing Daniel Kaluuya bring Hobie to life without the animation really highlights the raw charisma he brought to the role. It changes the way you see the character on screen. You start to realize that the animation isn't leading the actor—the actor is leading the animation. That is the secret sauce of the Spider-Verse.