Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is astounding. Delivering a multiverse story in service of its characters rather than the other way around, directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson elevate this Spider-sequel with jaw-dropping craft and a keen deconstruction of the wall crawler’s metafiction. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the closest a movie has ever come to the joy of reading a great comic book, splash pages and all.

The eagerly-anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland’s third solo outing as the web-slinging superhero, is the shaggiest and certainly the most stylistically inert of the MCU Spideys. Overstuffed and frenetic, the film cracks open the Marvel Multiverse with sledgehammer pandering. It’s anything but artful, but there’s no denying the power of its crossover charms; even more impressively, No Way Home tackles heroic compassion in a way that finally strikes true to the heart of Spider-Man. Minor spoilers ahead…

Spider-Man: Far From Home, Tom Holland’s second standalone appearance as the friendly neighborhood web-head, is a worthy followup to 2017’s Homecoming and a strangely fitting end for Marvel’s Phase Three. A confident mix of humor, action, and comic book zaniness, Far From Home’s sleight-of-hand pulls off effective and high-impact twists and turns, even when you see them coming. With an assist from Jake Gyllenhaal’s captivating performance as Quentin Beck, the film is one of Marvel’s best in recent memory. Mild spoilers ahead…

Sony Animation Studios and directors Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, and Bob Persichetti go buck wild with the fantastic Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Ditching continuity altogether while still keeping things layman-friendly, Into the Spider-Verse is a rollicking adventure that is equal parts thrilling, funny, and moving. Fast-paced with a lot of heart, the film is refreshingly quirky with a bombastic aesthetic and a charming sense of humor. In addition, the introduction of the Afro-Latino Miles Morales onto the big screen scores another home run for diversity this year. Minor spoilers ahead...

The home stretch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase Three is finally here, and the Russo brothers deliver an epic, brutal, and oftentimes scattered showdown with the Mad Titan Thanos. Buckling, even if never caving, under the weight of the preceding 18(!) films, Avengers: Infinity War can't quite live up to the high-water mark year the MCU has had, but it damn well tries and it's a minor miracle that the film works as well as it does. Mild spoilers ahead...