Just when you thought we didn’t need another one

By: Julianne Gabis

Out of all the existing characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or in any universe at all, Spiderman is the least superhero that is in need of another spin-off. With three Spidermen that played our web-slinging, New York swinging hero–with the recent one dying with the snap under the reign of Tom Holland, we almost thought we didn’t need another origin movie about the radioactive spidey. This assumption is now obliterated by a gleeful and funny spin-off of our favorite spider, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This time with the much awaited cinematic debut of Miles Morales, who’s been in the comics since 2011.

With that in mind before seeing it, you already know it’s going to be the most comic book faithful cinematic adaptation ever made. It follows the story of Miles, a high school kid with a mundane life who’s just trying to live normally but gets bitten by a radioactive (and super aesthetic) spider and… you know how it goes.

But he isn’t the only Spidey around with other iconic spider-people getting sucked into Miles’ universe including Spiderman Noir (Nicolas Cage) and Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld). It isn’t a Spiderman movie, of course, without Peter Parker. Miles is now left with no knowledge of the ways of the web and a paunchy teacher to teach him how to be a hero. With this, Peni Parker and Spider-Ham also join the scene, getting sucked into the same parallel universe through the particle collider which they have to eventually destroy or everyone’s universes will be obliterated.

It amazingly brings the dynamics of the comics into the screen that clearly surpassed efforts of the three live actions combined. Imagine a comic book page with the classic drawing style detailed with Lichtenstein dots and lines laid into a 3D stop-motion animation.

It also featured different animation styles incredibly rendered into the movie having Peni Parker drawn in anime style and Spider-Man Noir in the classic 1930s cartoon style.

Miles is a milestone in the history of Marvel, having earned praise from critics and Hollywood celebrities as he became a symbol of representation for the Black and Latino community. Well-deservingly, Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse won awards and recognition from the Critics’ Choice, New York Film Critics Circle, and the Golden Globes.