In the world of Marvel Comics, Spider-Man is quite arguably the company’s most iconic superhero. Ever since his creation in 1962 by Stan Lee (R.I.P.) and Steve Ditko, everyone’s favorite web-slinger has made an incredible impact on readers worldwide and has had one of the most prominent roles in Marvel’s comic history. This, of course, has also translated quite well to his run on the big-screen, with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man playing a major part in redefining the superhero film genre when it was released in 2002 and spawning a highly successful trilogy. Admittedly, the franchise then had to go through some tricky times in the early 2010s with an attempted series reboot that ultimately didn’t go anywhere, but the ‘second’ attempt at a live-action reboot is doing well so far. 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming was the highest-grossing superhero film of the year, and a large part of its success was thanks to Marvel Studios’ involvement with it. This was thanks to a deal that they made with Sony (who currently own the character’s film rights) that allowed Spider-Man the chance to finally participate in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while Spidey’s next adventure, Spider-Man: Far from Home, will be hitting theaters next summer, right now we’re getting something a little different from this long-running franchise in the form of an animated Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This new film, the latest from Sony Animation, primarily comes courtesy of the duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, both of whom are producing it while Lord is the primary screenwriter. And under their influence, Into the Spider-Verse is a highly entertaining spin on the Spider-Man mythos that boasts some of the best animation to come out of a film in recent years.
In the borough of Brooklyn, teenager Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) prepares to start school at the prestigious Visions Academy. However, while spending time with his uncle Aaron Davis (voiced by Mahershala Ali) one night, Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider that gives him the same spider-like abilities as the beloved hero Spider-Man AKA Peter Parker (voiced by Chris Pine). Unfortunately for Miles, Spider-Man ends up dying at the hands of crime-lord Wilson Fisk AKA Kingpin (voiced by Liev Schreiber), thus leaving Miles with the responsibility of continuing where his predecessor left off. But as it turns out, thanks to Fisk’s recent test of a device known as the Super Collider, the door has been opened to a wide variety of alternate dimensions. And because of this, Miles soon finds himself meeting another Peter Parker, this time a far more disheveled Peter B. Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson), who was transported to Miles’ dimension. Although initially hesitant to serve as the mentor of an up-and-coming Spider-Man, Peter B. agrees to help Miles learn the ins and outs of being a superhero, and together, the two work to ensure that Fisk doesn’t use the Super Collider for his sinister purposes. To do so, they must use it themselves so that Peter B. can return to his dimension after the two realize that he can’t stay in Miles’ dimension forever. This situation only becomes further complicated, however, by the arrival of other Spider-based superheroes from other dimensions, including Gwen Stacy AKA Spider-Gwen (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld).
Much has been said about this film’s animation, and sure enough, it’s undoubtedly one of its greatest aspects. The filmmakers and animators did such a phenomenal job when it comes to recreating, for lack of a better term, the ‘comic book’ style. This may be a computer-animated film, but practically every shot in this looks like it came from a traditionally-animated 2-D film that was straight-up ripped from the comics themselves. And while the main influence behind this film’s animation style is the works of artist Sara Pichelli, who helped co-create the character of Miles Morales with writer Brian Michael Bendis, the film does a great job when it comes to honoring the art styles of all the Spider-Men and Spider-Women who are featured in it. This great attention to detail also carries over well to the story, which is very well-handled especially considering that, on paper, it’s mostly just your basic superhero origin story. Simply put, it does go through all the usual plot developments in a story about a main protagonist who gains superpowers and is then immediately thrust into a situation where he initially struggles with learning how to use them properly. But thanks to the implementation of the ‘multi-verse’ plot-line, this film’s plot does have more of a unique flavor to it compared to other superhero origin stories. And, of course, being a project that was worked on by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, this film’s humor is strong throughout. Whether it’s a bit of meta-commentary on Spider-Man’s pop-culture status or a visual sight gag that pays homage to the comics, this is up there with the likes of Thor: Ragnarok and Deadpool 2 as one of the funniest superhero films ever made.
Into the Spider-Verse has the distinction of being the first Spider-Man feature film to focus primarily on the character of Miles Morales, currently the most famous occupant of the Spider-Man persona aside from Peter Parker. While it has been reported that Morales will be implemented into the MCU in the future (his uncle Aaron appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming played by Donald Glover, who happened to be one of the main inspirations behind the character), this film is ultimately the place where he gets to make a first impression. And overall, he does make a great first impression as the sympathetic up-and-coming superhero that he is, with Shameik Moore (star of 2015’s cult hit Dope) bringing much personality to the role. There’s also a lot of heart to this character as well, namely thanks to his relationships with his uncle Aaron (especially after Miles learns his uncle’s dark secret) and his father, police officer Jefferson Davis (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry). And as for the OG Spider-Man himself, Peter Parker, we get not one but two great and vastly different interpretations of the character. First, there’s Chris Pine, albeit in a very brief appearance, as a traditional Peter Parker who’s said to be an amalgamation of all the live-action interpretations of the character. And then for the rest of the film, we focus on the more bumbling Peter B. Parker, with Jake Johnson doing a fantastic job as a hilarious and far more apathetic take on this classic character. The other Spider-Man based heroes in this are major standouts as well, including Hailee Steinfeld as the badass Spider-Gwen, Nicolas Cage as the 1930’s-inspired Spider-Man Noir, and John Mulaney as, yes, Peter Porker the pig AKA Spider-Ham. And finally, in a manner akin to Vincent D’Onofrio’s critically-acclaimed take on the character in the recently canceled Daredevil series, Liev Schreiber’s Kingpin is a solid villain whose motivations for using the Super Collider are emotionally-driven.
Alternate universes have always been a long-standing aspect of superhero comics, effectively giving readers a wide array of unique spins on classic characters. On the big screen, however, there hasn’t really been any major attempts at a multiverse story arc when it comes to the current era of live-action superhero films. Granted, it has been done in superhero TV shows like DC’s current lineup of shows airing on the CW, but on film, the most prominent cases of audiences getting a different take on an established character are usually just whenever the role is recast. As such, it could be argued that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse could potentially pave the way for future superhero films to tackle the multiverse concept. And even if it doesn’t, it is still one of the most electrifying superhero films of the modern era. While its main plot is a traditional superhero origin story, the added layer of the multiverse does give this film a lot more meat to it compared to other entries in the genre. And thanks to the involvement of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, this film’s humor is on point throughout while never losing sight of the heart of the story of how a kid from Brooklyn named Miles Morales became Spider-Man. But, of course, the biggest reason to see this film is for its amazing animation, as its impressive recreation of the classic comic-book style legitimately rivals the likes of Disney Animation and Pixar. As such, it seems like this year’s race for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars is shaping up to be an exciting 3-way competition between this, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and Incredibles 2. Regardless of who wins it all, however, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a big win for Sony Animation… which is a big deal considering what happened last year with The Emoji Movie.
Rating: 5/5!
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