Modern superhero movies are built around event films, these giant crossovers that bring together multiple heroes for a common cause. It was first popularised by 2012’s Avengers Assemble, where Marvel’s titular superhero squad were brought together in live action for the first time. Now, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is concerned with the multiverse, brining alternate versions of their characters into the fray, but they were not the first to try it.
Spider-Man is Marvel’s most popular superhero and so the property lends itself the unique position of being able to be easily recognised in multiple different incarnations. Having since the year 2000 no less than three individual big screen franchises, as well as the countless tv shows, video games, and of course comic books dating all the way back to the 1960’s.
So, with a history as rich as his, it only seemed right for Marvel’s first foray into multiversal-traversal be with the web-head himself…although in a way quite unlike anything seen before.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is an intelligent and gifted teenager who has recently transferred to a new school that will be able to properly foster his academic prowess, however it has come at the cost of his Brooklyn identity, and African American heritage.
When Miles finds himself caught up in a battle between Spider-Man (Chris Pine) and Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), Miles not only witnesses the death of Spider-Man but is bitten by a radioactive spider and granted similar powers.
Tasked with stopping Kingpin by the late Peter Parker, Miles soon finds that he is far from the only spider-person in New York City.
Teaming up with spider-people from other dimensions, Miles must find himself and learn to harness his new powers with the help of Spider-Man/Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), Ghost-Spider/Gwen Stacey (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir/Peter Parker (Nicolas Cage), SP//dr/Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), and Spider-Ham/Peter Porker (John Mulaney).
Spider-Man is Marvel’s most popular superhero and so the property lends itself the unique position of being able to be easily recognised in multiple different incarnations. Having since the year 2000 no less than three individual big screen franchises, as well as the countless tv shows, video games, and of course comic books dating all the way back to the 1960’s.
So, with a history as rich as his, it only seemed right for Marvel’s first foray into multiversal-traversal be with the web-head himself…although in a way quite unlike anything seen before.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is an intelligent and gifted teenager who has recently transferred to a new school that will be able to properly foster his academic prowess, however it has come at the cost of his Brooklyn identity, and African American heritage.
When Miles finds himself caught up in a battle between Spider-Man (Chris Pine) and Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), Miles not only witnesses the death of Spider-Man but is bitten by a radioactive spider and granted similar powers.
Tasked with stopping Kingpin by the late Peter Parker, Miles soon finds that he is far from the only spider-person in New York City.
Teaming up with spider-people from other dimensions, Miles must find himself and learn to harness his new powers with the help of Spider-Man/Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), Ghost-Spider/Gwen Stacey (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir/Peter Parker (Nicolas Cage), SP//dr/Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), and Spider-Ham/Peter Porker (John Mulaney).
Across the Spider-Verse is straight-up one of the best superhero films ever made, and I would also argue one of the best animated films ever made thanks to its excellent story, characters, humour, themes, and style. I’m going to be honest, there’s nothing about this film that I dislike, or even think could be improved. It really is such a rare case of every single element of a film coming together so perfectly to create something that is engaging, original, and genuinely meaningful.
Despite the previous live action Spider-Men each receiving multiple films to develop their characters, Miles has so much more personality and depth than any Spider-Man before him. Drawing on elements of identity in a multicultural society, as well as expectations placed onto you by family and society, Miles is dealing with so much more than just juggling being a superhero with being a teenager that is so usually the case with Peter Parker’s origin story.
He’s desperately trying to discover who he is whilst fighting back against what his family wants him to be, and also contending with adopting the Spider-Man moniker from the deceased Peter. Moore also brings the character to life so well with his fantastic voice performance. He’s equally funny and endearing as he navigates such a turbulent time for the character.
Where all previous incarnations of Spider-Man have had to go it alone in most respects, Miles finds himself the trainee of a team of people who are just like him, and each of them adds a dimension to Miles’ character.
The original Peter Parker (Pine) is the amalgamation of all of Spider-Man’s greatest strengths. He is, for the most part, a flawless representation of what the character has always been…and then he’s swiftly killed off. It’s a powerful moment that will likely illicit tears from any long-term Spider-Man fan, as Miles has the weight of the world put on his shoulders as a hero passes.
Then comes the other Peter Parker (Johnson) who is all of the worst qualities of Spider-Man rolled into one. He’s an older and washed-up hero who’s lost everything he cares about because of his own fears and insecurities. He’s lost sight of what it means to be Spider-Man, and as writer Phil Lord put it, he’s Mr Miyagi if Mr Miyagi didn’t know anything. He’s such a fun take on the character because he’s the antithesis of what you expect Spider-Man to be, and Johnson’s performance nails that so brilliantly. I would say that Johnson is the standout voice performance of the whole film, and it really feels like he was born to voice Spider-Man. He’s so witty, and his timing is just perfect every single time. He’s so sarcastic and dry, every word that coms out of his mouth is comedy gold and it doesn’t even seem like he’s trying.
Steinfeld’s Gwen more closely aligns to what we expect of someone wearing the mask of the webhead. But like Miles, she’s dealing with more than just powers and teenage drama. Most notably, she’s a woman, she has different expectations and barriers to overcome. Her origin also hinges on her best friend, another Peter, dying because she failed to save him. So, the dynamic she shares with Johnson’s Peter is somewhat strained because she’s literally looking at her dead best friend. Steinfeld’s performance is also very strong, like Johnson her comedy just seems to come so naturally to the role, but this is nicely balanced against the other pillars of Gwen’s usual character traits to make her more than just another wise cracking spider-person.
Despite the previous live action Spider-Men each receiving multiple films to develop their characters, Miles has so much more personality and depth than any Spider-Man before him. Drawing on elements of identity in a multicultural society, as well as expectations placed onto you by family and society, Miles is dealing with so much more than just juggling being a superhero with being a teenager that is so usually the case with Peter Parker’s origin story.
He’s desperately trying to discover who he is whilst fighting back against what his family wants him to be, and also contending with adopting the Spider-Man moniker from the deceased Peter. Moore also brings the character to life so well with his fantastic voice performance. He’s equally funny and endearing as he navigates such a turbulent time for the character.
Where all previous incarnations of Spider-Man have had to go it alone in most respects, Miles finds himself the trainee of a team of people who are just like him, and each of them adds a dimension to Miles’ character.
The original Peter Parker (Pine) is the amalgamation of all of Spider-Man’s greatest strengths. He is, for the most part, a flawless representation of what the character has always been…and then he’s swiftly killed off. It’s a powerful moment that will likely illicit tears from any long-term Spider-Man fan, as Miles has the weight of the world put on his shoulders as a hero passes.
Then comes the other Peter Parker (Johnson) who is all of the worst qualities of Spider-Man rolled into one. He’s an older and washed-up hero who’s lost everything he cares about because of his own fears and insecurities. He’s lost sight of what it means to be Spider-Man, and as writer Phil Lord put it, he’s Mr Miyagi if Mr Miyagi didn’t know anything. He’s such a fun take on the character because he’s the antithesis of what you expect Spider-Man to be, and Johnson’s performance nails that so brilliantly. I would say that Johnson is the standout voice performance of the whole film, and it really feels like he was born to voice Spider-Man. He’s so witty, and his timing is just perfect every single time. He’s so sarcastic and dry, every word that coms out of his mouth is comedy gold and it doesn’t even seem like he’s trying.
Steinfeld’s Gwen more closely aligns to what we expect of someone wearing the mask of the webhead. But like Miles, she’s dealing with more than just powers and teenage drama. Most notably, she’s a woman, she has different expectations and barriers to overcome. Her origin also hinges on her best friend, another Peter, dying because she failed to save him. So, the dynamic she shares with Johnson’s Peter is somewhat strained because she’s literally looking at her dead best friend. Steinfeld’s performance is also very strong, like Johnson her comedy just seems to come so naturally to the role, but this is nicely balanced against the other pillars of Gwen’s usual character traits to make her more than just another wise cracking spider-person.
The other spider-people don’t feature as heavily. But they are worked into the story well. With Cage’s Noir take on the hero presenting a considerably darker take on Spidey that we all know, with him being a Nazi fighting private detective.
Peni and her robot spider are perhaps the most under-utilised, but they add just another layer of awesome to the already great roster of characters. Then finally there’s Peter Porker…oh boy. I mean he really is just there as a recurring gag, and it’s a good one, but he is the weakest character of the whole film as a result because his only meaningful contribution is a couple of wacky one-liners.
These three really only serve to broaden the horizons of what’s possible with a multiverse film, by bringing in three of Spider-Man’s lesser-known variations and putting them alongside the more well-known characters of Peter, Gwen, and Miles.
The story harnesses the theme of identity and expectations brilliantly and runs that parallel to an unexpected but wonderful menagerie of villains. The main villain spot is held by Wilson Fisk, A.K.A Kingpin. Now Kingpin is usually a villain I don’t think particularly highly of because he’s just a guy with a lot of money who’s one goal is world domination…it’s a bit bland. But in Spiderverse he’s presented in a way I’ve not seen before. Fisk blames Spider-Man for the death of his wife and son and has built a collider to cross dimensions and take his wife and son from a different world so he can be reunited with them (it’s only now I’m realising that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness basically stole the plot to this film).
He’s assisted by a host of well-known Spidey villains such as Doc Ock (Kathryn Hahn), Prowler (Mahershala Ali), Green Goblin (Jorma Taccone), Tombstone (Marvin Jones III), and Scorpion (Joaquin Cosio). Only Fisk, Prowler, and Octavius are given any significant screen time, and it’s one of the only areas of the film where I would fault it as it does beg the question of why include foes like Goblin, Tombstone, and Scorpion if you’re just not going to do anything with them. Hahn stands out as the most impressive vocal performer of all the villains, and her take on a female Doctor Octopus is definitely a nice change from the norm.
Peni and her robot spider are perhaps the most under-utilised, but they add just another layer of awesome to the already great roster of characters. Then finally there’s Peter Porker…oh boy. I mean he really is just there as a recurring gag, and it’s a good one, but he is the weakest character of the whole film as a result because his only meaningful contribution is a couple of wacky one-liners.
These three really only serve to broaden the horizons of what’s possible with a multiverse film, by bringing in three of Spider-Man’s lesser-known variations and putting them alongside the more well-known characters of Peter, Gwen, and Miles.
The story harnesses the theme of identity and expectations brilliantly and runs that parallel to an unexpected but wonderful menagerie of villains. The main villain spot is held by Wilson Fisk, A.K.A Kingpin. Now Kingpin is usually a villain I don’t think particularly highly of because he’s just a guy with a lot of money who’s one goal is world domination…it’s a bit bland. But in Spiderverse he’s presented in a way I’ve not seen before. Fisk blames Spider-Man for the death of his wife and son and has built a collider to cross dimensions and take his wife and son from a different world so he can be reunited with them (it’s only now I’m realising that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness basically stole the plot to this film).
He’s assisted by a host of well-known Spidey villains such as Doc Ock (Kathryn Hahn), Prowler (Mahershala Ali), Green Goblin (Jorma Taccone), Tombstone (Marvin Jones III), and Scorpion (Joaquin Cosio). Only Fisk, Prowler, and Octavius are given any significant screen time, and it’s one of the only areas of the film where I would fault it as it does beg the question of why include foes like Goblin, Tombstone, and Scorpion if you’re just not going to do anything with them. Hahn stands out as the most impressive vocal performer of all the villains, and her take on a female Doctor Octopus is definitely a nice change from the norm.
Into the Spider-Verse’s art style is perhaps its most obviously striking feature though, and the folks at Sony Pictures Animation have gone above and beyond the remit of what would be expected of an animated film to ensure that Spider-Verse looks the part as much as its story and characters.
Drawing heavily from a wide variety of Spider-Man comic books, Spider-Verse employs multiple animation styles in each frame, distinct to each character, to not only give the film a unique visual styling, but also visually indicate that characters are from different universes. The way Miles is animated is strikingly different to how Gwen is animated, and that’s different to Peter Porker, who’s different from Peni, and so on. Even within the same universe, characters and environments are designed in unique ways to make them stand out or reflect their personality.
They represent a wide range of animation styles from various cultures across the world, and even retain different frame speeds whilst running alongside each other. So, whilst the film moves at a typical twenty-four frames per second, some characters and objects move at a different speed, giving this unique effect as they inhabit the same space as things moving at different speeds to them. I’ve never seen anything like it before, and technologically it’s very impressive.
This is of course matched with a burst of colour, and I highly recommend watching the film in 4K HDR as you’ll get the full range of colours and the little details that make the world so much more vibrant are more easily visible, and it makes it look so much more like a comic book in motion. Plus there’s so many cool visual gags, things like thought bubbles for inner monologues, visible panelling when switching between some camera shots, and much more…it’s a comic book nerd’s dream.
But Into the Spider-Verse doesn’t just look great, it sounds absolutely incredible. The sound effects sound exactly like you would expect a comic book ‘POW!’ or ‘Thwip’ to sound like, and the score is also excellent, providing some great backing to the excellent visuals. But the film uses an extensive soundtrack featuring artists like Post Malone and Jaden Smith. All the songs were written for the film, and it they tie in so well to Miles’ struggles and the themes of the story, plus they’re all used in exactly the right moments. Scenes like the funeral of Peter Parker punctuated by Lil Wayne’s ‘Scared of the Dark’ carry so much emotional weight. I just find it incredible that the film is consistently knocking it out of the park on a story level, with great characters and dialogue, it looks awesome, and then just seemingly out of nowhere this awesome song starts playing to give the scene that extra life from just being great to being amazing.
It's rare that a film comes along where every component of it meshes so well together, but it’s even rarer to find one like Into the Spider-Verse where it’s impossible to think of it being done any other way. Every single creative decision made for this film feels like the perfect one, and it amounts to a film that is one of the most inventive, enjoyable, and well produced films of the past decade. I really, really adore this film, and I’m proud to proclaim it as one of my favourite films of all time. This is a gamechanger for animation and for superhero films, and honestly, the prospect of getting even more of it with the upcoming Across the Spider-Verse has just made me consistently giddy since it was announced. If you’re yet to check out Into the Spider-Verse yet, then that is something you absolutely need to change.
Drawing heavily from a wide variety of Spider-Man comic books, Spider-Verse employs multiple animation styles in each frame, distinct to each character, to not only give the film a unique visual styling, but also visually indicate that characters are from different universes. The way Miles is animated is strikingly different to how Gwen is animated, and that’s different to Peter Porker, who’s different from Peni, and so on. Even within the same universe, characters and environments are designed in unique ways to make them stand out or reflect their personality.
They represent a wide range of animation styles from various cultures across the world, and even retain different frame speeds whilst running alongside each other. So, whilst the film moves at a typical twenty-four frames per second, some characters and objects move at a different speed, giving this unique effect as they inhabit the same space as things moving at different speeds to them. I’ve never seen anything like it before, and technologically it’s very impressive.
This is of course matched with a burst of colour, and I highly recommend watching the film in 4K HDR as you’ll get the full range of colours and the little details that make the world so much more vibrant are more easily visible, and it makes it look so much more like a comic book in motion. Plus there’s so many cool visual gags, things like thought bubbles for inner monologues, visible panelling when switching between some camera shots, and much more…it’s a comic book nerd’s dream.
But Into the Spider-Verse doesn’t just look great, it sounds absolutely incredible. The sound effects sound exactly like you would expect a comic book ‘POW!’ or ‘Thwip’ to sound like, and the score is also excellent, providing some great backing to the excellent visuals. But the film uses an extensive soundtrack featuring artists like Post Malone and Jaden Smith. All the songs were written for the film, and it they tie in so well to Miles’ struggles and the themes of the story, plus they’re all used in exactly the right moments. Scenes like the funeral of Peter Parker punctuated by Lil Wayne’s ‘Scared of the Dark’ carry so much emotional weight. I just find it incredible that the film is consistently knocking it out of the park on a story level, with great characters and dialogue, it looks awesome, and then just seemingly out of nowhere this awesome song starts playing to give the scene that extra life from just being great to being amazing.
It's rare that a film comes along where every component of it meshes so well together, but it’s even rarer to find one like Into the Spider-Verse where it’s impossible to think of it being done any other way. Every single creative decision made for this film feels like the perfect one, and it amounts to a film that is one of the most inventive, enjoyable, and well produced films of the past decade. I really, really adore this film, and I’m proud to proclaim it as one of my favourite films of all time. This is a gamechanger for animation and for superhero films, and honestly, the prospect of getting even more of it with the upcoming Across the Spider-Verse has just made me consistently giddy since it was announced. If you’re yet to check out Into the Spider-Verse yet, then that is something you absolutely need to change.