Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Academically gifted Brooklyn teenager and Spider-Man fan Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) struggles to fit in at an elite boarding school. The son of overbearing police officer Jefferson Davis (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry), Miles instead gravitates toward Jefferson’s estranged brother Aaron (voiced by Mahershala Ali), a petty criminal who encourages Miles’s graffiti art. While tagging a subway, Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider, but just as Spider-Man’s abilities begin to manifest, he finds himself embroiled in a criminal plot. Business magnate Wilson Fisk, secretly the Kingpin of crime (voiced by Liev Schreiber), has commissioned a particle accelerator to open gateways to parallel universes so that he can track down alternate versions of his dead wife and son. A test run goes disastrously wrong, but it is only a matter of time before the machine is repaired and Fisk tries again, with potentially catastrophic consequences. Inspired by Spider-Man’s heroism, Miles attempts to stop him, but the inexperienced newcomer will need some help. Fortunately, the accelerator has opened the door for other spider-powered beings to lend a hand, including an older, reluctant Peter Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson).

Phil Lord and Chris Miller have turned self-aware nostalgia into a cottage industry. The filmmakers behind 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie produced this animated Spider-Man outing with a trio of directors working from Lord’s script. It is therefore no surprise that Into the Spider-Verse is loaded with winks/nods/allusions/self-deprecation (the poor quality of some Spider-Man merchandise, Peter’s notorious dancing from Spider-Man 3, and the “Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man” meme are all referenced here), nor is it surprising that the film capably balances action and comedy. What is surprising is that the film has as much emotional depth as it does: the computer animation and PG rating belie well-developed characterization and sound storytelling.

Aesthetically, Into the Spider-Verse is unique. The bright palette and exaggerated character designs (The Kingpin, most recently portrayed in live action by a bulked-up Vincent D’Onofrio, fills nearly the entire screen here) signal a move away from both mock-realism as well as prior Spider-Man cartoons (with the exception of a deliberate nod to the low-fi 1960s series). Moreover, each dimension’s spider-being has their own distinct style: Spider-Man Noir is perpetually surrounded by shadows while Penni Parker and her SP//dr robot would look right at home in an anime. Not to be outdone, Kingpin’s enforcer The Prowler is given both a nightmarish costume and a chilling, unnerving theme. The movie’s soundtrack offers tracks from Nicki Minaj, Jaden Smith, Lil Wayne, and Post Malone, but, sadly, not Childish Gambino (Donald Glover was the impetus for the creation of Miles and plays Uncle Aaron in live action).

Against this backdrop, Lord’s script uses audience awareness of the source material as a touchstone while taking characters in new directions. Spider-Man’s familiar origin story is repeated to the point of mockery, but this movie toys with Uncle Ben’s maxim. Yes, great power and great responsibility come with being Spider-Man, but simply having both does not a hero make. Witness, for instance, Miles trying to be responsible and failing due to inexperience. Or, as a better example, take alternate-dimension Peter: an experienced hero who is also cynical, divorced, parentless (his Aunt May having died), somewhat out of shape, and pushing 40. Rather, what this movie tries to instill is more along the lines of “anyone can be Spider-Man, so rather than trying to live up to the original, be your own best self.”

The voice cast delivers this message with conviction. Moore, a largely unknown 23-year-old, is completely convincing as an overwhelmed kid who is a decade younger: he brings out Miles’s resourcefulness and courage as well as a heaping dose of awkwardness and self-doubt. Johnson’s exasperated and quasi-pathetic take on Peter is a nice contrast to the youthful exuberance (Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland) or angst (Andrew Garfield) that usually define the character. Lily Tomlin makes for a resourceful and supportive Aunt May, Hailee Steinfeld is a spunky yet guarded Gwen Stacy, Nicolas Cage is hilariously deadpan as Spider-Man Noir (a 1930s pulp version of the hero), and Jon Mullaney’s Spider-Ham (a spider bitten by a radioactive pig) comes across as a madcap Looney Toons castoff. Only Schreiber’s performance seems out of place. He nails the Kingpin’s force of will, but he also uses an exaggerated New York accent, geographically appropriate but completely at odds with the character’s affectations of formality.

Into the Spider-Verse contains one of the last cameos of Spider-Man creator Stan Lee (who appears as himself hawking Spider-Man merch), and it fittingly affirms his belief that one person can make a difference. That it does so sincerely and inspiringly is one of this film’s biggest triumphs.