Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse SPOILER Movie Review

Step into the Spider-Verse, where anyone can be a Spider-Man (or woman), even YOU!

Directed by

Bob Persichetti
Peter Ramsey
Rodney Rothman

Written by

Phil Lord

Rodney Rothman

Starring:

Shameik Moore as Miles Morales

Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker

Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy

John Mulaney as Spider-Ham

Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker

Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir

I can’t say that when word broke that we were getting an animated Spider-Man movie starring Miles Morales that it set fandom on fire with excitement. Marvel may be currently crushing it when it comes to live action movies, but as far as animation goes, DC still holds the crown and even then, most are direct to video, with a limited engagement of a night or two at best. Thus, I approached this initial announcement with caution, half expecting the plug to be pulled at any given moment. I was happy to see Miles get the spotlight, but would the general, non-comic reading audience care to see a Spider-Man that wasn’t Peter Parker, especially as we’ve already had three live action Peters over the last fifteen years?

Then the first trailer dropped and the visuals let us know that this wasn’t your typical comic adaptation. Oh, no. This was as if the comic, nay, Spidey himself, was leaping off the page, onto the screen, then bouncing out into the audience. 

As time progressed, I began to anticipate the movie more and more. We started getting hints that while this may be focusing on Miles’ origin, he wasn’t coming to the Silver Screen alone. Peter Parker was coming along. AND Spider-Gwen. Then Spider-Man Noir, Sp//dr, and Spider-Ham. The Prowler. Green Goblin. The Kingpin. This was going to be anything but a typical romp!

2018 has definitely been a banner year for Spider-Man. The Amazing Spider-Man has finally returned to greatness under the pen of Nick Spencer. Marvel’s Spider-Man on the PS4 console is the closest we’ve been to actually feeling like the web-slinger. Even a Venom solo movie, which no one wanted to see without Spidey, is currently sitting at a worldwide gross of $850 million, placing it fifth for the year (although some potential heavy hitters are about to drop). Oh, and let’s not forget, Spidey also featured in the biggest worldwide hit of the year, Avengers: Infinity War, which has grossed over $2 billion across the globe! Is there room for a third movie featuring Spider characters or is it one broom stick too many in an overcrowded janitor’s closet that you can’t close the door on without them falling all over you?

I’m here to tell you this is the Spider-Man movie the world needs; the cherry on top of The Year of The Spider! Remember how The Lego Batman Movie was a massive love letter to the character, paying tribute to all eras? Well, that was just the warm-up for producers Lord and Miller.  Ample tributes are paid to not just Spidey, but the medium of comics and their creators as well, most notably and above all, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. 

This film looks gorgeous from start to finish, like a living, breathing comic book. Thought boxes pop up as dialogue is spoken, onomatopoeia flourishes the screen when appropriate, and characters move in a distinct style, with emotions emanating as if they were live action actors. 

And the Spider-People! Oh, the Spider-People! Each has their own distinct style of animation, which must have been unbelievably challenging for the over 140 animators who worked on this movie! Gwen’s world is colored like she walked off a Rodriguez/Renzi page. Noir is suitably in greys, peppered liberally with zipatone like he emerged from an old comic from the 1940’s. Peni and Sp//dr have a manga bent to their animation and Spider-Ham maintains a Saturday-morning cartoonish aesthetic, replete with sound effects, wooden mallets, and anvils. When they all stand together, each costume looks unique in its texturing, especially the contrast between Noir and say, Spider-Gwen, whose suit looks like its using the latest fabrics fresh of the Marvel Studios loom. 

 As spectacular as it all looks, it’s nothing without a solid story. Thankfully, Into The Spider-Verse has that in spades, wrapped up in a heartfelt bow. While this may be a Miles origin movie (spoilers really begin here), we actually start off being introduced to Peter as Spider-Man, laying the groundwork for the story. Knowing that modern audiences are well-versed in Peter’s origin, we are graced with a montage that glosses over the key moments for this Spidey, who, as far as we know at this point, is the “real” Spidey. In fact, all the Spideys get the similar treatment (save Miles), getting everyone up to speed with a touch of humor and not dwelling that we are getting 7 origins in one movie. It’s a fun trick and treats the audience with respect, trusting that they can handle the exposition and the fact that there are a multiverse of Spider-Folk. 

Anyways, as in the Ultimate comics, this Peter Parker dies in a battle involving the Green Goblin. However, this yarn is spun a bit differently as an experiment goes awry, causing an explosion that leads to a rift, bringing the various Spider-People to this particular dimension. This explosion leads to Peter being wounded, perhaps mortally so, and a recently bitten Miles happens to be in the vicinity of the battle, but doesn’t help. It’s actually the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, who delivers the lethal stroke, a fact I’m sure George Berryman would take umbrage with, but one I had no issues over. This Kingpin is depicted as a mountain of a man, and while not seemingly possessing extraordinary powers, it’s reasonable to assume he could kill Spidey in his gravely injured state. 

Just like in the comics, Miles feels very responsible for Peter’s death and wants to right his wrong, especially as Peter entrusted him with a mission. One of the key ingredients of Spidey to me is a sense of responsibility, which Miles definitely possesses in his big screen debut.  It’s worth noting that while Miles does have a roommate, it’s not explicitly stated to be Ganke, and in fact, they really don’t interact till the end. Those hoping to see that lifelong friendship up on the big screen will have to tide themselves over with re-watching Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The various Spider-People all come into Miles’ life at various points throughout the movie, even if they were all brought over during the inciting incident. The two with the most screen time are Spider-Gwen, who enrolls herself at Visions Academy, where she and Miles meet cute, and Peter B. Parker, who then serves as the story’s predominate Peter for the rest of the adventure. It’s worth noting that one Peter, or Spider-Man, is not made to be thought of as more valid or original than the other. They are all treated as Spider-Man equally and all “count” just as much. To them, they are each the real deal. 

While the recently departed Peter Parker, voiced by Chris Pine, seems to have been fairly successful at life, even having a Christmas album, Peter B. Parker has been struck more with the infamous Parker luck. He is older, perhaps more weary, and has hit marital problems with his Mary Jane and is now divorced. This leads to his disheveled and out of shape exterior. No mention of devil deals to save his dying aunt here, though. Despite all the extraordinary things about this movie, Peter and Miles are grounded by real world problems and struggles and as such are very relateable. 

Characterization is so strong here throughout, even if most of it is focused on Miles and Peter. While the villains aren’t given too much attention, the Kingpin’s motivation, getting his deceased family back, rings very true to the character and doesn’t need to be fleshed out more than the service it gets. I was happy enough to get a movie focused on the heroes compared to spending time on how the villain got to be, not that it isn’t important, but there was a lot of ground to cover in this movie. 

There’s almost an unorganized Sinister Six in this movie, with appearances made by The Kingpin, The Green Goblin, Tombstone, The Scorpion, The Prowler, and Doctor Octopus. The Green Goblin with his hulking menace and Prowler with his stalking growl were the most menacing to me, but that’s not to imply that the others posed no threat. Scorpion seemed inspired by his second Ultimate incarnation which was cool to see, especially with one already featured in live action recently. 

Less time with the Kingpin also meant more time to flesh out the Miles/Jefferson/Aaron dynamic, which is a crucial one for Miles, even moreso with Jefferson being an active cop in this version, which puts him into a more current conflict with Aaron’s lifestyle of career criminal. Miles clearly loves both his dad and uncle, but becoming Spider-Man creates a conflict in both of his relationships with them, but for different, contrasting reasons. I loved the irony of Jefferson seeing Spider-Man as a villain to be stopped, while Aaron the actual villain saw him as a hero to be eliminated. The Spidey identity causing problems for the civilian guise is a hallmark for the character, one represented perfectly in this iteration. 

There is so much going on and I was so enraptured, that I didn’t even notice that Miles doesn’t get his more unique look until the final act. He spends such a fair amount of time doing Spidery things and with everyone else in costume, the viewer doesn’t feel neglected of any super-hero action.  Speaking of suits, it’s an easter egg lover’s dream when the Spiders go to the fallen Spidey’s lair and see all the outfits he’s developed during his career. Did anyone catch the PS4 Advanced suit in the background?

When Miles finally embraces his destiny it is easily a highlight of the film. Events are woven together and inter-cut seamlessly, the music gets the blood pumping as Miles dives head first through the cityscape, and even in 2D, I felt like I was swinging right beside him. It was thrilling, one of the most thrilling Spider scenes in any of the preceding movies. In fact, as this was an animated movie and it’s all “fake”, I felt more accepting of the cartoonish reality as opposed to seeing a CGI Spider-Man against the plate of a real city (or CGI Spidey swinging in a CGI New York). 

The film crescendos to a life or death, earths shattering conclusion, but still feels very personal as it boils down to a struggle between Miles and Kingpin, with the love of his dad and inspiration from his Uncle Aaron being pivotal to his win. While the focus is rightfully on Miles’ arc as things close up, that isn’t to say Peter B. doesn’t have his own struggles that get some attention. 

Towards the climax, Peter B. runs across this world’s Mary Jane and it winds up being very cathartic for him as he is able to anonymously say what he couldn’t to her. It was one of my favorite parts as he gets what he feels are his relationship failures off his chest, particularly as he spends the movie grappling with the idea of mentorship/fatherhood. Plus, it was fun to see a comic accurate Mary Jane. I thought visually there was a touch of inspiration from artist J. Scott Campbell to her, and unlike other live action counterparts, being animated her hair color gets to stay visually consistent! 

It was pretty hard to hold back the tears as Peter B. goes back to his own reality. Being from a different dimension means that all the visiting Spiders occasionally go through fits of pain as this reality is rejecting them. Feeling Miles isn’t up to the task of sending everyone home and then destroying the collider that is causing the whole mess, Peter opts to be the one to give his life and close the portal once everyone has safely left. Miles rises to the challenge and swings in to save the day. Peter is unsure he can pull it off, but as Miles holds him over the gateway to his home dimension, he finally relaxes his grip and is able and willing to dive back into his corner of the Spider-Verse. It’s not only his blessing on Miles, bestowing his faith upon the fledgling Spidey, but an admission that he, too, is willing to embrace his responsibility back home and try again with Mary Jane. Much like current Spidey comics, we don’t see this Peter and MJ remarried, but the film leaves you with the hope that it is very much a possibility on the horizon and it made me so happy to see him outside her door with flowers, in a seeming reversal of the “Face it, Tiger” moment. 

It’s been an interesting few years in the Spider-Verse. While there have been alternate Spider-Men before (Miguel O’Hara and Ben Reilly to name a few), it was really the emergence of Miles Morales that made it seem to be a more universal, all-encompassing affair. Comic Book Resources has quoted Spidey co-creator Stan Lee as saying, “The costume he wears covers him completely. You see no skin at all. Now, because of that, any youngster can imagine that he is Spider-Man. It could be a black kid, it could be an Asian kid, it could be anybody of any skin color. They could imagine they’re Spider-Man because he’s all covered up and he could be anybody. We didn’t do that purposely, but it’s certainly worked out that way.” Bendis certainly ran with that philosophy when he created Miles and now Sony has presented it to the world in a beautiful, colorful package. Combined with a touching dedication to Lee & Ditko that not only pays tribute to them, but empowers us all to be our own Spider-Man, the film ends with a feeling of resolute triumph and joy, with perhaps a touch of bittersweetness that Spidey’s creators won’t get to see what comes next in the Web-Slingers’ newest chapter. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the music. Daniel Pemberton provides the score. While I am only familiar with his work on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. movie, he provides a sensational backdrop to the action, providing a unique sound to this very different type of Spider-Man film. It’s not Elfman, it’s not Zimmer, but still sounds very heroic and exciting. The soundtrack is also a departure for the character, featuring artists like Post Malone, whose song, Sunflower, serves as a mantra for Miles. I loved how even Miles didn’t know all the words and just made up his own gibberish for the parts he didn’t understand!

I can’t stress how much enjoyment I got out of this movie. The voice cast is particularly awesome, especially Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir. I was worried at first when I heard his casting, not being able to picture him as the character, but he was perfect and his comedic timing was excellent!

My love for Peter Parker is at its highest since pre-OMD comics and Miles and Spider-Gwen are characters my kids and I have bonded together over during the last seven years. As personal as Peter feels to me, I’ve been building that relationship with Miles and Gwen, too,  through sharing their adventures with my kids. It was a delight to see this movie with them, to hear the audience laughing, and especially to hear the applause from the crowd at the end. I’d have to sneak glances over at them from time to time during the film and their faces were lit up with pure enjoyment seeing Miles and Gwen’s worlds writ large and in bold colors. 

Despite it telling the origin of Miles Morales and thus giving him the main focus, Peter Parker fans will find plenty to love and hopefully a new sense of appreciation for the character of Spider-Man. It’s been stressed that Spidey is the Every Man and that is why he is so relateable.  Into the Spider-Verse puts that philosophy into action and immortalizes it on celluloid for the rest of the world to catch on to what comic fans know. 

There’s so much to love in this movie, stunning, unique visuals, a sense of humor and adventure, references to past creators, a slew of Spider-People and several of their villains, and some genuine emotion stirred in the audience. It’s too soon to tell, but this may be my favorite Spider-Man movie and I want the sequel yesterday, especially after that post credits scene, the groundwork of which was subtly laid throughout the whole movie. There hasn’t been an animated movie like this. It’s the closest we’ve come to a living comic book with a fresh take on a half century old myth, renewed again for a new generation. Peter Parker lit the way to where we can ALL be a Spider-Man; we just need to remember that with great power must come great responsibility and to never give up. Excelsior! 

MY GRADE: A+