In 1977, Star Wars came out and changed so much about the way that we not only watched, but thought of movies. We were thrilled by a great story (even if it was borrowed from an old Kurosawa movie) and by immediately intriguing characters. But the thing that truly dazzled us were the special effects. We saw things on screen that we never dreamed we would see in such a believable way. And, of course, it became the biggest movie of all time. Then, in 1980, The Empire Strikes Back came out. While the technical achievements were still breathtaking, what made Empire at least the equal of Star Wars, if not superior, was the emotional depth of the story. The deepening of Han and Luke’s friendship, the burgeoning relationship with Han and Leia, the show-stopping reveal of the relationship between Luke and Darth Vader–all of this gave us the same things we loved about the first movie, but raised emotional stakes that not only thrilled us, but touched us. And that’s what truly great second chapters in cinema stories do: they build on an incredible first act and take us deeper into that universe’s heart through the heart of its characters.

By this standard, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a truly great second chapter of a cinema story. Like Star Wars, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse thrilled us on a previously unimagined technical level. While comic-book stories coming to life has been the lifeblood of the movie business for over a decade now, the feeling of actual comic books coming to life was just out of reach until Into the Spider-Verse re-established what animation could look like and feel like…at least on the visceral level. The Miles Morales as Spider-Man origin story–with numerous other Spideys along for the fight–instantaneously became one of the greatest animated films of all time. And then, by keeping the same creative flair but injecting a lot more emotional stakes, Across the Spider-Verse did what Empire did for Star Wars decades ago (or what The Godfather, Part II did a little earlier or what Terminator 2: Judgment Day did a little later): it made it even better.

(Fair warning: mild spoilers will follow).

In this second chapter, Miles (Shameik Moore) is having the experience that all of the other movie Spider-Men have gone through; he is so caught up in the joy of being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man that he’s losing track of the other things in his life, such as school and his relationship with his parents. The first act focuses pretty tightly on the parents/son relationship, setting up the stakes for the rest of the movie. The multiverse comes back into play when Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), who lives on Earth-65 (as opposed to Miles’s Earth-1610) shows up. Old feelings reemerge, but what Miles doesn’t know is that Gwen is really there on the hunt for the Spot, a seemingly dim-witted bad guy who is slowly unlocking a path to other universes. She has become a part of the Spider Society, a collection of Spider-Folk whose job it is to keep the multiverses contained and keep reality, well, real. Miles winds up tagging along to the next battleground–an Indian-inspired Manhattan-type city where Miles unwittingly interferes with a “canon event”–the tragic event in the life of ever Spider-Man/-Woman/-Animal that is a part of defining the life of each of them. Miles learns about canon events from Spider Society leader Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), including that his canon event–the loss of someone close to him–will happen in days. Instead of making the choice every other Spider-Man deems inevitable, Miles decides to take action to stop it, sending him on the run from the Spider Society (in a fantastically frenetic sequence). Miles escape leads to a series of discovery that places him in danger and leads to Gwen and friends old (including Jake Johnson’s Peter Parker from Into the Spider-Verse) and new (Daniel Kaluuya’s cool rocker Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk being a standout) rallying together to prepare to help him…in next year’s Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

Creatively, Across the Spider-Verse does not miss a beat from the first movie. The art and action are both top notch. But, emotionally, Across the Spider-Verse bests it predecessor. Miles’s maturing, taking responsibility for his actions, and subsequent fight against the system allows us to see Miles’s Spider-Man take on a weight beyond his years. Even more compellingly, the movie actually starts with a focus on Spider-Gwen’s background. We see her canon event (involving her father and a much different take on Peter Parker in her universe), her subsequent grief, and the start of her efforts at redemption in hunting the multiverse to dangers against it. Much of the movie’s heart comes from Spider-Gwen’s scenes with her father, all of which are just wonderful. Oscar Issac’s Miguel adds a lot of emotion heft, with his own back story evoking enough emotion to sympathize with him even as he is put at odds with Miles. Johnson’s Spider-Man is now a Spider-Dad, which adds some sweetness to the proceedings. And Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Velez are perfect returning as Miles’s parents, each getting beefed-up roles as part of the movie’s deepening emotional tone.

But, never fear, it’s not all emotion and heart. Across the Spider-Verse also at least as funny as the first movie. The filmmakers went out of their way to have more fun with the multiverse conceit, leading to lots of laughs. The dropping of countless Easter eggs helps with the humor. We get references to everything from Ned’s role as the “Man in the Chair” from the MCU Spider-Man movies to actual scenes from Tobey Maguire’s and Andrew Garfield’s movies to the most epic use of the Spider-Men-pointing-at-each-other meme ever. Top notch humor, emotion, action, and storytelling equals a top notch movie.

Into the Spider-Verse was indeed a great film and a great achievement in animation. That Across the Spider-Verse is even better is quite a feat. But it is. And it is, without question, one of the best films of the year so far and a second chapter worthy of comparison with the best second chapters of all time. If you haven’t seen it yet, swing into you local theater as soon as possible. If you have, pretend like you just found it in another universe and go see it again. It’s worth it.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is currently in theaters.