Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Film)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Release date	December 14, 2018 (United States) December 21, 2018 (China)
Rating	PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Director	Bob Persichetti Peter Ramsey Rodney Rothman
Writer(s)	Phil Lord Christopher Miller
Producer(s)	Phil Lord Christopher Miller Amy Pascal Avi Arad Matt Tolmach Christina Steinberg Sony Pictures Entertainment Columbia Pictures Sony Pictures Animation Marvel Entertainment
Editor	Robert Fisher, Jr.
Distributor	Sony Pictures Releasing
Music By	Daniel Pemberton
Running Time	117 Minutes
Previous Video	Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors
Next Video	Marvel Rising: Heart of Iron

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an animated feature from Sony Pictures Entertainment. It is the second animated theatrical film based on Marvel Comics after Big Hero 6 and the seventh theatrical film based on Spider-Man. It marks the feature-film debut of Miles Morales, who was created as the successor to Spider-Man following the death of Peter Parker in the Ultimate Marvel Comics line. It was released December 14th, 2018 to rave reviews. It won numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Following the death of famed superhero Spider-Man, a boy from Brooklyn named Miles Morales takes up the webslinging mantle. However, he gets the surprise of his life when a Spider-Man from an entirely different universe appears and takes him in as his mentor. But things get weirder when more Spider-Men and Spider-Women appear and they must all band together to stop a threat to all of their universes.

Story[]

Spider-Man is a well known superhero. He has saved the world, met and fell in love with Mary Jane Watson, spawned a cereal and ice cream bar, produced a Christmas album, and starred in a cartoon with a catchy theme song.

He is admired by Miles Morales, a young kid and skilled artist. Miles lives with his parents nurse Rio Morales and police officer Jefferson Davis. He is attending an elite boarding school but wants to get out of it. Miles starts walking to school, secretly putting stickers with his art on it. Jeff finds him knowing he is putting the stickers places. He drives him the rest of the way convincing him to give the school a chance.

At school, Miles is overwhelmed with the work. He arrives late for a physics class, which is talking about alternate dimensions. He makes a joke causing only one other student, a beautiful girl, to laugh and he tries to strike a friendship with her. His teacher confronts him on a true or false test that he scored a zero on, noting that the only way he could do that would be to know every answer and purposely answer wrong. She assigns him an essay to explore who he wants to be.

Later, he leaves his dorm room to meet with his uncle, Aaron Davis, whom his father does not want him associating with. Aaron gives him advice on how to talk to him and how to charm the beautiful girl he met earlier. When he notices Miles's artwork, Aaron takes him to an abandoned subway station to practice his art. While they are leaving, a spider appears and bites Miles on the hand. He swats it dead and thinks nothing of it.

The next morning, Miles finds he has grown out of his clothes. At school he bumps into the girl, who introduces herself as Gwanda and then Wanda. He tries his uncle's move on her but ends up getting his hand stuck on her hair. They are forced to go to the nurse's station to cut her hair off. A security guard tries to confront Miles about him leaving the night before causing him to run. He ends up in the security guard's office. Trying to get out, he finds himself unable to not stick to the walls and ceiling. He crawls out the window ending onto the side of the building, getting spotted by Wanda. Miles realizes he is just like Spider-Man.

Miles tries to call Aaron, who is away for several days on some business. He returns to the station to ensure that the spider was just a normal spider. When he finds it, he notices that it "glitches" when he touches it. He hears a noice down a nearby hall and follows it.

He comes across a laboratory where Spider-Man is fighting Green Goblin. During the melee, Miles is accidentally thrown into a massive chamber. Spider-Man tries to insert a USB device into a panel in the chamber but is stopped by Green Goblin. When Miles is put in danger, Spider-Man swings down to save them. Suddenly, they both have their Spider-Sense go off and the superhero realizes there is another with his powers. Miles says he doesn't want to be like him but Spider-Man says he may not have a choice, promising to help train him after he destroys the accelerator.

Kingpin arrives and orders the accelerator to be turned on. Prowler appears and starts fighting Spider-Man. The accelerator activates and the room fills with energy. Green Goblin snatches Spider-Man forcing him into the accelerator's beams giving him a vision of what's inside. The scientist find they have contacted five other parallel universe. The energies in the room cause an explosion destroying it, shutting off the machine, starting an earthquake, and causing a power outage in the city. Also, numerous glitches happen around the city bringing in strange objects and effecting buildings.

Miles searches the debris finding a critically injured Spider-Man. The hero gives him the USB device saying he has to destroy the accelerator before the city is destroyed. Miles looks at the panel on the ceiling but doesn't know if he can get to it. He hears Kingpin and his henchmen below. They find Spider-Man who tells Kingpin that he knows what he is trying to do and it won't work. Kingpin gets angry and smashes him with his massive fists killing him. In his shock, Miles accidentally knocks something down calling their attention. Kingpin sends Prowler after him to kill him. Miles makes his way back to the subway with Prowler hot on his heels. He loses the villain when a subway train nearly runs him over.

Miles returns home in tears. He is comforted by his parents who allow him to stay the night. Miles overhears the news that Spider-Man's body has been found and identified as Peter Parker. The news spread quickly through the city causing everyone to mourn. Miles goes to a costume shop where the elderly owner, Stan, tells him he will grow into the costume. Miles attends the funeral for Peter where Peter's Aunt May and wife Mary Jane Parker offer a eulogy. Miles tries to jump off a building to test his new powers but becomes afraid of the height. During his training, Miles accidentally destroys the USB.

Miles goes to the grave of Peter to apologize for not living up to his legacy. Just then, an older man sneaks up behind him. In his surprise, Miles shocks him knocking him out. However, the man spins a web to his chest. Miles sees the man's shirt is actually a Spider-Man suit and that he looks just like Peter except older.

In another universe, Peter Parker lived a similar life. He saved the city, fell in love with Mary Jane Watson, and married her. However, she wanted children and he was afraid of what could happen. After making some questionable investments that didn't pay out, Peter and Mary Jane divorced. Peter moved into his own apartment and became slightly overweight. One day while eating pizza, Peter noticed a portal in his ceiling that pulled him into another dimension. He found that everything was similar but slightly different, and that his counterpart was dead. He watched over the funeral from a nearby rooftop lamenting the loss for this Mary Jane. He found Miles at the gravesite and was knocked out.

The police arrive at the graveyard and find Miles and the second Peter. Miles grabs the new Peter and uses the webshooter to swing away. The police chase the two but they lose them. The new Peter wakes up, in Aaron's apartment, tied up. Miles questions him, explains the accelerator, and tries to get this Peter to train him like the other Peter promised. Peter gets out and takes the USB device realizing that the accelerator can get him home. Miles follows eventually guilting Peter to train him. At a restaurant, that Peter has chosen since the one in his world closed, Miles realizes that this Peter may not be the best teacher. They realize they need to make a new USB to stop the accelerator.

Spider-Man and Miles go to Alchemax headquarters following the supposed path of the dead Spider-Man. Spider-Man leaves Miles behind to guard the exit. When Miles sees Kingpin arrive with Tombstone, Miles follows. They sneak into a scientist's office and see her password. They go inside to steal the data and they find that Miles can turn invisible. The scientist walks in on Spider-Man realizing that he is from another universe. She questions him while Miles breaks into the computer. She reveals that she is Olivia Octavius, this universe's Doctor Octopus, and attacks Spider-Man.

Miles grabs the computer itself and runs out. Spider-Man soon follows with Doctor Octopus on his tail. During their escape, more Alchemax personnel attack and they flee into the nearby woods. Spider-Man gives Miles a webshooter so they can websling together. Doctor Octopus pursues and nearly gets the computer back. When Doctor Octopus nearly gets him, a female Spider-Woman arrives to knock her out. She takes off her mask revealing herself to be Wanda, whose real name is Gwen Stacy.

In her universe, Gwen was bitten by the spider. She also joined a band as the drummer. Her father is a cop she helped save. Her best friend, Peter Parker, became Lizard and as killed. Since then she has stayed away from friends. One day she was sucked into a portal, but was actually sent a week into the past. She sensed she had to go to the same school as Miles.

Kingpin thinks back to a time he fought Spider-Man. While viciously beating the hero, his wife Vanessa and son Richard walked in on him. Horrified as his actions they sped away and were killed in a car accident. Kingpin wants to use the accelerator to bring a new Vanessa and Richard to him. Doctor Octopus returns to Kingpin saying that the heroes got away but says the good news is the accelerator works.

On their way back, Miles blames Peter for the broken USB and finally finds the courage to talk to Gwen who is pleased to talk to another superhero. The three heroes make their way to the home of Aunt May. She initially thinks they are more annoying mourners until she finds the older version of her dead nephew. She takes them to a shed in the back that leads to a secret lair underneath containing computers, the Spider-Mobile, and a Spider-Cycle. Miles is astounded by the array of various suits this Spider-Man has. Peter sees a picture of this universe's Mary Jane and begins missing his ex-wife. Just then, May introduces them to three other heroes who came and found her: a black and white noir version of Spider-Man also named Peter Parker, a young Japanese girl with an advanced robot named Peni Parker, and a anthropomorphic comical pig named Peter Porker. Each were pulled into this universe by the same accident.

The noir Peter is a detective in a 1930s universe often making questionable choices. Hailing from a far future, Peni has a psychic bond with a spider that resides in the advanced armor. Porker was bitten by a radioactive pig.

At that point, the visitors all start glitching. They realize that if they stay in this world they will be killed, so they must return their homes. However, the group realize that someone has to stay behind to destroy the accelerator. Miles volunteers as he is the only native, but the group doubt his abilities.

Feeling left out, Miles tries to call his father but then decides to go to Aaron's apartment. He writes a note to his uncle saying he might be leaving. Just then, Prowler starts entering the apartment. Miles turns invisible to hide from the villain, who takes off his mask revealing that he is his uncle Aaron. Miles makes a run for it and Prowler pursues. The boy is only able to elude his uncle following a traffic accident though Prowler watches him flee.

Peni makes a new USB. Just then, Doctor Octopus arrives at May's home along with Tombstone, Scorpion, and Prowler. The heroes and villains engage in a battle that destroys the home. Miles gets away with the USB with Prowler in pursuit. Prowler corners Miles on the roof and begins strangling him. Miles takes off his mask and, in his shock, Prowler takes off his as well. Kingpin orders Prowler to kill the boy from a nearby car. When Aaron refuses, Kingpin shoots him through the back. Miles grabs his uncle and flees as police arrive. In an alley, Aaron apologizes to Miles saying he is the best of them and then dies in his arms. Jeff spots the two and tries to arrest this Spider-Man. Miles turns invisible and flees while Jeff finds his brother dead and thinks Spider-Man killed him.

Miles returns to his dorm room and begins trashing it in anger. The other heroes arrive and explain they have all lost loved ones knowing exactly what he is going through. Miles' roommate Ganke Lee enters and the group sneak around on the ceiling. When Ganke finally spots them he faints and they put him in his bed. The group tells Miles that the older Peter has volunteered to stay behind to destroy the accelerator since they doubt Miles. They leave and Peter points out how he cannot control his abilities. He webs Miles to the chair so he cannot follow. Miles asks when he knows he is Spider-Man, but Peter replies that he won't and it will be a leap of faith.

Jeff arrives at the dorm to tell Miles about Aaron, but he is still webbed up and doesn't have the strength to get out. Jeff tells his son that he is sorry for the mistakes he made and assures him he has always believed in him. This motivates Miles to finally break out using his electrical abilities. He returns to May's house who gives him the dead Peter's webshooters and a costume. Miles paints the costume black and red then jumps off a building in a leap of faith finally realizing he is a Spider-Man.

The other heroes arrive at Fisk Towers finding that Kingpin is hosting a memorial event to Spider-Man. They see the waiters all wearing masks and realize they can simply walk around with any problems. They pretend to be waiters to get by. Mary Jane then asks Spider-Man, not realizing it is another Peter, about some bread. Spider-Man starts apologizing vowing to make things right, then stumbles to make it about her dining request.

The five sneak into the lab and start searching for the panel. As they find it, Doctor Octopus appears and attacks with Scorpion also appearing. The heroes engage in a fight but seem overwhelmed. Just then, Doctor Octopus's tentacles begin attacking her. Miles appears in his new Spider-Man outfit and Peter realizes he can finally control his abilities so he can send them home. However, Kingpin sees them and turns on the accelerator. He puts a strand of Vanessa's hair in the middle so the accelerator can find her. However, this starts pulling in objects like cars, trains, and even buildings in from the other five worlds. During the battle, Peni's SP//dr mech is destroyed by Scorpion who is then defeated by the Noir Spider-Man and Spider-Ham. Doctor Octopus is eventually defeated by the two Spider-Men.

The accelerator causes more earthquakes, more power outages, and more glitches. Jeff sees the glitching around Fisk Tower and heads inside.

Miles plugs in the USB and sends in the other heroes one by one. Before she leaves, Miles and Gwen promise to be friends. Before Peter can leave, Kingpin makes his way to the panel vowing vengeance. Peter starts to attack but Miles stops him saying he can handle it, as he wants to stop Kingpin himself since he couldn't do anything to stop the original Spider-Man from dying at Kingpin's hands. Before he goes, Peter asks how he knows he won't screw things up and Miles tells him to take a leap of faith.

With the other heroes gone, Miles fights Kingpin alone. Jeff arrives at the lab to see the battle going on. They get on a train flying around the accelerator but Kingpin easily overwhelms Spider-Man. They eventually fly into the energy beams where Kingpin sees several visions of different Vanessas and Richards, each as terrified of him attacking Spider-Man as his were. Realizing he has alienated even more of his family his attacks grow even more aggressive. He threatens to kill his entire family, and that is when Spider-Man sees his father nearby. Kingpin eventually slams Miles into the ground with the same force he used to kill the last Spider-Man. Miles gets up then, using what his uncle taught him, shocks Kingpin back with his electrical blast. He webs Kingpin around slamming him into the button to destroy the accelerator once and for all.

After the chaos dies down, Miles calls his father to apologize and they finally talk again. He ends the call and jumps down, as Spider-Man, near Jeff. Jeff says he realizes Spider-Man is not the enemy even if he doesn't agree with him. He is then shocked when Spider-Man hugs him and says he loves him before swinging away.

Miles embraces his new identity as Spider-Man and wows the people of New York. In the other universes, Peni rebuilds her mech, the Noir Spider-Man plays with the Rubik's Cube he took, Spider-Ham eats his hot dogs, while Peter goes to Mary Jane to make up. As Miles is laying in bed, a portal opens above his head and he hears Gwen's voice.

Some time later in Nueva York, a holographic woman speaks to yet another Spider-Man. She informs him of what happened and that the Multiverse was saved. She gives him a device allowing him to easily move in and out of alternate dimensions, saying he could be either the first or last to do so. Spider-Man decides to go to "the beginning" and slides into Earth-67. He appears before another Spider-Man and they start pointing at each other accusing the other of pointing at him. A police officer asks J. Jonah Jameson who started pointing. Jameson claims it was Spider-Man but does not specify which one.

Quotes[]

"You know me and your dad used to do this back in the day."

-Aaron Davis

[Internal Monologue] "Why am I sweating so much"
"Why are you sweating so much?"
"It's a puberty thing."

-Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy

"I don't think you know what puberty is."

-Gwen Stacy

"It always fits. Eventually."

-Stan

"I'm from another universe. Another, another universe."

-Spider-Woman

"Nice hair."
"You don't get to like my hair."

-Miles Morales and Spider-Woman

"How many Spider-People are there?"
"Save it for Comic-Con."
"What's Comic-Con?"

-Miles Morales and Spider-Man

"You're the best of all of us, Miles. You're on your way."

-Aaron Davis, dying words

"You can't think about saving the world. You have to think about saving one person."

-Spider-Man

"How will I know I'm Spider-Man?"
"You don't. That's all it is, Miles. A leap of faith."

-Miles Morales and Peter Parker

"I see this spark in you. It’s amazing."

-Jefferson Davis

"About time you showed up."

-May Parker

"That's all folks."
"Can he say that? Legally?"

-Spider-Ham and Spider-Man

"That a person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero."

-Stan Lee Dedication

Trivia[]

• The seventh Spider-Man film and first to be animated.
• The year this was released, Marvel Comics published the sequel to Spider-Verse titled Spider-Geddon.
• The first superhero feature film to feature a multiverse, even though they have been a mainstay of the comic book world for decades.
• The concept of a Spider-Verse can be traced back to the Spider-Man finale "I Really, Really Hate Clones" and "Farewell, Spider-Man". This was the first instance where a superhero would team up with alternate versions of himself to defeat a common foe. DC Comics's Crisis on Infinite Earths featured characters from various universes teaming up but they were different characters. The concept would later be used for the video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. That game also featured the original Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, Noir Spider-Man, 2099 Spider-Man, and a post-credit cameo by Spider-Ham.
• Released the same year as the Spider-Man related film Venom, released about two months earlier. Along with Avengers: Infinity War, this marks the third film with a Spider-character.
• Writer/producers Lord and Miller previously made Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which featured Neil Patrick Harris. Harris was the voice of Spider-Man on Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. Harris went on to play the main Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, which features a similar story and number of parallels.
• Spider-Man stops a speeding elevated train by standing in front and shooting webs as the passing buildings, just like Spider-Man 2. Though this time he keeps his mask on.
• Spider-Man sits in a cafe with Mary Jane Watson when a car smashes through the window, just like in Spider-Man 2. Though this time he is in costume and punches the car back outside.
• The car that comes into the cafe is a BMW sedan of some kind.
• At the wedding of Peter and Mary Jane he steps on a glass, a Jewish tradition. It's been a long-standing but unconfirmed rumor that Peter is Jewish. Director Rodney Rothman said of the reference, "It was just something that I wanted to do. It was kind of a running joke that we had, was me insisting that Peter Parker was Jewish, but we’re not really saying—first of all, we’re not really saying Peter Parker is Jewish. It could be that MJ is Jewish in this universe. It could be that in an alternate universe, Buddhists step on glass. We don’t know. It’s an alternate universe. But I mean, I guess when I thought about Stan Lee and Forest Hills and Peter Parker… I thought for 15 frames, we can do this."^[1]
• Songs in the Spider-Man Christmas album include: Spidey, It's Cold Outside, Swingin' Around the Mistletoe, Silent Night (You're Welcome), Joy to the World (That I Just Saved), Spidey the Snowman, It's Beginning to Look Like a Non-Denominational Holiday, and Ave Maria. Of those, only the last one is the actual song instead of a Spider-Man-based twist.
• Actor Brian Tyree Henry is a main cast member on Atlanta, which was created by and stars Donald Glover who was the first to play Miles Morales on Ultimate Spider-Man.
• Feature film debut of Miles Morales, though he was alluded to in the Marvel Studios film Spider-Man: Homecoming.
• Miles has posters of Batman and Superman, the two biggest superheroes from Marvel's main competition DC Comics. Writer/producers previously made The Lego Movie, which had Batman as a major character while Superman appeared in several scenes. Batman has a blocky art style as a reference to that film.
• Miles as a Deadpool logo in his room. This film was released the day after Once Upon a Deadpool.
• Miles has a drawing of the Leopardon, a robot created for the Japanese Spider-Man series and later introduced into the comics playing a part in the Spider-Verse comic arc. The book Ready Player One featured the Leopardon while the film, released earlier in 2018, replaced the reference for another.
• In Miles's universe, the New York Police use the initials PDNY.
• The side of Jefferson's police car says "COURTESY PROFESSIONALISM RESPECT" with CPR highlighted.
• Jefferson Davis's police car has the license plate RFD-960, a reference to New York-based crime series Law & Order as the number of the plate the police detectives drive. Mahershala Ali appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
• In Aaron Davis's apartment there is a picture of someone who looks like Donald Glover. Glover was the first to play Miles Morales on Ultimate Spider-Man and first to play Aaron Davis in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Christopher Miller acknowledged the likeness but wondered if he could legally say it was him.
• First time Kingpin has fought Spider-Man, his original enemy, since the Spider-Man: The New Animated Series episode "Royal Scam".
• When Prowler chases Miles through the subway, the word "SNIKT" appears when he extends his claws. This word is most commonly associated with Spider-Man ally Wolverine.
• The church the original Peter is buried at is the Our Lady of Saints Church, most commonly known as the place Peter got rid of the symbiote before it bonded with Eddie Brock forming Venom.
• Peter Parker is supposed to be in his mid-40s. Original Spider-Man live-action actor Tobey Maguire is 43 as of the film's release. There are numerous references to his films.
• Feature film debut of Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman. The character appeared in three previous films but without powers.
• When Peter is wearing sweatpants he bears a resemblance to Pavitr Prabhakar, the Indian Spider-Man.
• Peter's insistence that Spider-Man doesn't wear a cape could be a reference to the Disney-Pixar film The Incredibles, which humorously shows several heroes, and one villain, who wear capes having tragic results because of them.
  • To be fair, Spider-Man did wear a cape in Spider-Man Unlimited.
• Dr. Olivia Octavius bears a physical resemblance to Dr. Dora Skirth from Sony's earlier 2018 film Venom.
• The second film of 2018 to feature the Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman after the made-for-television film Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, though that film renamed her as Ghost-Spider to coincide with her renaming in the comics.
• Lily Tomlin, who plays May Parker, previously appeared on The West Wing and Grace and Frankie along with Martin Sheen, who played Ben Parker on The Amazing Spider-Man.
• Peter's grave states he lived from 1991 to 2018, making him about twenty-seven years old at the time of his death.
• Spider-Man kisses Mary Jane Watson upside down in a reference to the 2002 film Spider-Man, which was the background for Spider-Man: The New Animated Series.
• There is a sign on the side of a bus and a billboard for Koca-Soda clearly in the style of Coca-Cola.
• There is a billboard for a Yugo. Also known as the Zastava Koral, it was a highly derided car sold in the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Apparently, in Miles's universe they are still popular.
• In his phone, Miles has the numbers of Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli. These two were the original creators of Miles.
• First version of Ganke Lee outside the comics. Though the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Ned Leeds is obviously based on Ganke.
• Spider-Man's Hall of suits includes the original, Electro-Proof suit, Spider-Man Advanced Suit from the Playstation 4's Spider-Man game also released in 2018, Iron Spider Armor, Secret Wars suit, Spider-Man Armor Spider-Man Armor MK II, Spider-Man Stealth Suit, Spider-Man Dusk Suit, Spider-Man Inverted Suit, Spider-Man Blue Suit, Spider-Man Red Suit, Spider-Man Cape Suit.^[2]
• In the comics, the Iron Spider armor was created by Iron Man, indicating he may exist in Miles' universe. Iron Man is mentioned by name in a deleted scene. This scene was incorporated into the Alternate Universe Mode that was released as a special feature on the film's Blu-ray release.
• Concept art showed the Spider-Man Bag Man Suit in the Spider-Lair. In the comics, this suit was given to Peter to use by Human Torch after Mister Fantastic separated him from the Venom Symbiote.^[3]
• In the comics, the original Gwen Stacy was the girlfriend of Peter while the Spider-Woman Gwen became the girlfriend of Miles.
• Both Peter and Miles stand atop a cat-like metal statue jutting from a building. This is a reference to the earlier 2018 film Marvel Studios's Black Panther, where in one early poster had Black Panther atop a similar looking statue.
• In one multi-panel shot, Spider-Man can be seen fighting Scorpion, Doctor Octopus, and giant green creature that could be either Green Goblin or Lizard.
• In the True Life Tales of Spider-Man comic, Spider-Man fights Chameleon. The cover is a renamed version of The Amazing Spider-Man #186.
• Spider-Man (Noir) is the tallest of the superheroes.
• Ganke reads a Imagine That... comic produced by Marvel Comics, obviously inspired by Marvel Comics What If. Appropriately, it is titled "There was more than one Spider-Man".
• During the final battle, the FLDSMDFR, from Christopher Miller and Phil Lord's first film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, enters the chamber.
• Spider-Ham's last words to the others is "That's all folks," a reference to Porky Pig who would often end Looney Tunes cartoons. Spider-Man's reply about legally saying that is a reference to the fact that rival studio Warner Bros. owns Looney Tunes and Marvel's main competition DC Comics.
• When Kingpin sees the various versions of his wife and son on the train, one of the versions of his son wears glasses and has blonde hair like a young Matt Murdock, Kingpin's other major enemy.
• When Miles runs after a train, he passes a sign that says Perry Joe, a clear reference to Joe Perry who made the theme song for Spider-Man.
• When Miles runs along a train, Stan the costume seller can be seen inside.
• Spider-Man 2099 goes to the "beginning" and slides to Earth-67. The "beginning" he goes to is Spider-Man, the first Spider-Man animated cartoon that started airing in 1967.
• The film beats the runtime of Big Hero 6 by nine minutes.

Goofs[]

• When Mary Jane is upside down kissing Spider-Man, her hair doesn't obey the laws of gravity.
• Tombstones usually give the month and day of birth.
• The purpose of the collider is to find alternate universe counterparts to the one who's DNA is in the beam. But this raises questions as to why Gwen Stacy was pulled when all the others were either Peter Parker or in Peni's case the gender-swapped version.
• There's no reason given why Gwen is sent back in time.
• Peter starts glitches as soon as he meets Miles but Gwen, who was in the universe longer, apparently never glitched before she met the others.
• How did Gwen enroll at a prestigious school without any kind of identification or documentation?
• When Olivia meets the alternate Peter she takes a sample of his cells and notes the glitching, something she apparently expects, yet never tells Kingpin this. If she knew about the glitching she should know that any version of Vanessa and Richard Fisk would have such problems as well meaning Wilson would have to watch his family's cells tear themselves apart. Given his obvious rage, he would undoubtedly take it out on her.
• Peni could have saved some trouble for the group by making more than one goober.
• When the Spider-Gang swings away after leaving Miles behind all of their webs attach to a non-existent surface far above the building they are on. It happens again when they are swinging onto Fisk Towers.

Continuity[]

• A post-credits scene for Venom, released two months earlier, is actually two separate clips from this movie, featuring Miles dressed as Spider-Man escaping from Prowler before meeting and knocking out Peter and fleeing from the police. It is proceeded by the title card "Meanwhile, in another universe..." indicating that the two movies may exist in the same multiverse.
• The first Marvel feature to include the multiverse. It is also the first theatrically released comic book movie to include a multiverse.
• Feature film debut of Miles Morales, Jefferson Davis, Rio Morales, Ganke Lee, Tombstone, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, Peter Porker, Vanessa Fisk, Richard Fisk, Spider-Man 2099, and Lyla.
• Feature film debut of the Spider-Woman Gwen Stacy. All previous versions were the original powerless Gwen.
• Features the deaths of Green Goblin, Miles's Peter Parker, Aaron Davis, Gwen's Peter Parker, Vanessa Fisk, Richard Fisk, Scorpion, and Doctor Octopus.
• Only appearance of Olivia Octavius in any media. The only other female version of Otto Octavius was named Octavia.
• The first film where Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson are married.
• There is currently an unnamed sequel and at least one spin-off planned.

Cast[]

Actor	Role
Shameik Moore	Miles Morales/Spider-Man
Jake Johnson	Peter Parker (Alternate Universe)/Spider-Man
Hailee Steinfeld	Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman
Mahershala Ali	Aaron Davis/Prowler
Brian Tyree Henry	Jefferson Davis
Liev Schreiber	Wilson Fisk/Kingpin
Lauren Velez	Rio Morales
Lily Tomlin	May Parker
Nicolas Cage	Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Noir)
Kimiko Glenn	Peni Parker/SP//dr
John Mulaney	Peter Porker/Spider-Ham
Stan Lee	Stan
Chris Pine	Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Zoe Kravitz	Mary Jane Parker Mary Jane Watson
Kathryn Hahn	Olivia Octavius/Doctor Octopus
Lake Bell	Vanessa Fisk
Jorma Taccone	Green Goblin Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Post Malone	Brooklyn Bystander
Oscar Isaac	Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man (2099)
Krondon	Tombstone
Joaquin Cosio	Scorpion
Adam Brown	J. Jonah Jameson
Peter Sohn	Ganke Lee

On April 13th, 2017 The Hollywood Reporter revealed Shameik Moore had been cast as Miles Morales and Liev Schreiber had been cast as the film's villain though did not specify the role.^[4] While filming Dope, Moore kept a journal. The first two things he wrote were "I am Miles Morales" and "I Am Spider-Man".^[5] Lord and Miller hired Moore after seeing in him that film.

Miles and Ganke were the first roles to be cast. However, if the latter had any lines they were removed as he has no speaking lines only a few vocal noises. The actor was not credited.

Moore told Entertainment Weekly, "This power is kind of handed to [Miles] when he’s not really looking for more responsibility. That phrase 'with great power comes great responsibility' it means the same thing, but it comes from a different place with this Spider-Man." He also said, "Everybody has a purpose and a reason and a place. I think that’s what [Miles’s] conflict is, finding his place. He's like, 'If there's Peter, then how do I be Spider-Man? Can you teach me? How do I do this?'"^[6]

Moore said of accepting the role, "I feel blessed and feel chosen. There's a lot of black people, a lot of latino people. I'm sitting in front of you so you know I took a private jet, two private jets in the last six months. I took two private jets in the last six months. It's been life changing, is what I'm getting at. New experiences; I have a desire to inspire youth and others, to be a positive role-model. I think this is a good way to start. [Johnson's] character definitely holds it down for the OG Spider-Man, don't you think?"^[7]

Moore had considered giving Miles a Brooklyn accent. "Personally you know I worked on the show called The Get Down and I was representing the Bronx. A New York accent is a New York accent so I wanted to talk like I was from New York you dig you know I wanted to get into that with Miles but they were like 'Nah, Moore we want everybody to understand this stuff.' So I think it is a little bit more like if you’re from New York you’ll get it. In the trailer so it shows a moment where Miles is flipping off of the building and he's like going head-first down he's like 'BROOKLYN!' Those moment's people will get."

On June 6th, 2018, Variety confirmed that Schreiber, whose role was initially kept secret, was playing Wilson Fisk/Kingpin.^[8]

On June 21st, 2017 Tracking-Board reported that Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali was cast as Miles' uncle Aaron Davis while Brian Tyree Henry would play Miles' father Jefferson Davis. Ali had previously played villain Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes on the Marvel Netflix series Luke Cage.

The middle-aged Peter Parker is a mentor to Peter.^[9] Sony announced at CinemaCon on April 24th that Jake Johnson will play the alternate universe Spider-Man.^[10]

Johnson said of Peter, "This is Peter Parker at forty. This is Peter with a bad back who doesn't know if he wants to be Spider-Man anymore, and then he meets Miles who needs a mentor and Peter doesn’t really want to be a mentor but he sees something really special in this guy."^[11]

In another interview Johnson said, "I was really glad Wonder Woman happened and we had a female superhero. I think all different types of people in power doing showing that to young people is great so I'm really excited we're going to watch this movie I think it is a positive movie. I think for those original kind of OG Peter Parker Spider-Man fans, you’re going to get it. He's here. I really like Peter Parker so for me I really like reading these scenes and getting to go there he is but he's forty now and he’s tired now. But I also really like to act with Moore and see Miles and when we do it in the booth together so in the scenes I get to hear it and be like oh that's a cool new take. And then Gwen comes out and there’s a female Spider-Man. So I'm excited for people to see this movie this movie and a whole new fanbase to check it out in this kind of new way and I think that's really exciting."

Johnson said of recording, "This has been unique. Mostly you'll do for a movie at least that I've been a part, or a TV show, you'll do a few different sessions and they get everything they need or you say a line ten different ways. This we've been in the booth over and over; I think I put over seventy hours in a booth of just doing scenes. Every scene in this movie I feel like I've recorded twenty-five to thirty different times and then it times we get to do it together at times you're alone and then they'll make a slight tweak and you go at it again and you take another swing on it. I know Chris and Phil really likes to work in a way where they’re always opening things up and always wants to test things out and try new things so it has been a lot of collaboration. While they do have a really solid script so we have improvised but we're not adding ourselves into it because they've really built this thing. But once you're in a scene you know, if Moore and I are doing a scene together and it’s going and we're making eye contact and we're no longer reading the lines but we’ve done the scene a lot and we know how it ends, they do like when you're in your present you’re acting so it feels a lot of an organic."

When asked what would surprise audiences about Peter, Johnson replied, "I don't think it's the Spider-Man you’re totally used to, I think it's a more realistic Spider-Man. It's what would Spider-Man would look like if he were real and he wasn't doing his cool Spider-Man things which I think is really fun. I think it's the dirty corners of Spider-Man that rarely get revealed in superhero movies. They pretend to like waking up late make you a regular person. That doesn't make you a regular person. This shows Peter Parker as a real human being who happens to have this ability because he was bit by a spider but he is a real person so I think this movie actually shows that real person getting older and getting older on its own and mortality is real for everybody. He just happens to be Spider-Man."

Moore said of Miles' relationship to Peter that he "just wants a teacher, he doesn't want to be a hero, he doesn't want to be anything but a student. Then he finds this guy, Peter, who doesn't want to help him but Miles needs it."

In a separate interview, Johnson said of the relationship, "Well I'll say with Peter first I think Peter's forgotten why he loves being Spider-Man and that he's forgotten what a gift it is to have all this I think he's at a point where he's forgotten what he lost when he stopped being Spider-Man and seeing a young person first fall in love with the ability to be Spider-Man and how great it is to have this special gift. I think Miles for Peter is the spark plug that thing that remind you of how good you got it." He and Moore both said that their characters were each others' best friends at the end of it with Moore saying, "At first I was going to say like a father figure, but no. Obviously you know people connect and become friends for a whole bunch of different reasons Spider-Man is a great way to become very close."

Following the release of the film, Johnson said, "If I was pitched this role, and they wanted to make a movie called 'Peter,' about a guy who works hard at his job and his job is to save people, and his life falls apart and now he's trying to put it back together and he teaches this young kid how to do it, as an actor, I like that character. I would never have imagined that to be Spider-Man. We'd hopefully go to Sundance with it."

Additionally at CinemaCon, Sony announced that the film would feature Green Goblin, Kingpin, and Prowler. No actors were announced, though in the Ultimate comics from which Miles comes from his uncle Aaron Davis became Prowler rather than the original version of Hobie Brown.^[12]

The day the first full trailer was released, writer/producer Chris Miller announced that Hailee Steinfeld, Luna Lauren Velez, and Lily Tomlin were cast.^[13] At the time, only Steinfeld's role was revealed as Spider-Woman/Gwen Stacy, popularly known as Spider-Gwen.^[14]

Steinfeld was excited to be a female superhero with a great relationship to her co-stars.

On July 3rd, 2018, Discussing Film announced that unnamed sources confirmed that Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage was added to the cast as Spider-Man Noir.^[15] At the Sony panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Cage was officially confirmed along with Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker and John Mulaney as Spider-Ham.^[16]

Bob Persichetti later revealed that Cage was the first lead actor officially cast in the film, secretly being cast two years before the film was released. He said, "When looking at who we could approach to play the alternate dimension Spider characters, we thought about seminal actors that also might be comic book geeks. There were so many different casting meetings where a lot of options were put in front of us, but with Spider-Man Noir, we kept coming back to Nicolas Cage and wondering if he could or even would do it." Producer Christina Steinberg, who worked with Cage on the National Treasure film series, had set up a pitch meeting where the filmmakers sold Cage on the character. Persichetti said, "We showed him some artwork we had created for the film and pitched the character to him and he was immediately in. Noir was a character that spoke to him. And the black and white costume was the icing. He was our first official lead cast because it felt so right. So we actually cast him over two years ago, but he couldn't tell anyone."

Cage recorded his lines in pitch dark glasses. Persichetti said, "He never took them off, and never broke character. There was a palpable Humphrey Bogart energy that he brought into the room. It was really fun. We worked through his lines in three hours. He delivered awesome pulp magazine style line reads, and also comedy pulp style readings. He's so good at it! Then we were done, he said his goodbyes, walked out of the room and that was it! No small talk, it was all business. He was just amazing."^[17]

In discussing his role, Cage told Entertainment Weekly, "There are multiple Spider-Men in different dimensions that are kind of colliding together. My character's Spider-Man Noir. He's really Peter Parker from the '30s. I tried to channel those noir films with [Humphrey] Bogart, and have those kinds of sounds that he might make with [James] Cagney, or Edward G. Robinson, that kind of way of talking. I tried to give the character that. It was a lot of fun. I think it should be quite funny. The movie definitely has a sense of humor, and that's a good thing because it's good for the whole family."^[18]

John Mulaney was not aware of what he was recording for when he was brought on board. He was brought to the recording studio and then told what the film was about. The producers allowed him to improvise and he found himself swearing a lot. It was afterwards he asked what the movie was rated and found out it was PG. He recounted this on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.^[19]

Stan Lee, who has a cameo is most Marvel works, had his part revealed during the screening of the first thirty minutes at New York Comic Con.^[20] This is the second Lee cameo in a Marvel animated feature following Big Hero 6, his second animated cameo of 2018 following Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, and third animated movie total. Lee will play Stan, the same name he used on Ultimate Spider-Man.

This was Lee's first appearance released after his death on November 12th, 2018, though his physical likeness was used in Walt Disney Animation Studios's Ralph Breaks the Internet. Miller said of Lee's role, "I remember when we talked about it, we said, 'You know, he's so integral to the spirit of this movie that we don't want to just give him a little passing cameo.' We wanted him to be more important and carry some emotional weight to the movie." Lord added, "Essentially we really thought since he was the guy who created the character with Steve Ditko that he should really give him something important like a talisman. So he gives him the spider suit, and says, 'There's no give backs.' And we thought that was really important." Lord also said, "We certainly felt really happy to do it with him, and obviously this last week [with Stan Lee's passing], it made it extra meaningful and moving to watch the movie get finished and just know that he gets to be such a resonant part of it. And we showed some fans the feature maybe two or three days after he passed away, and it was really emotional just watching everyone engage with it and collectively salute him."^[21]

The cameo had gone through several changes. Rodney Rothman said, "“The thing that was interesting for us is that it evolved. We recorded it a year ago and it was not that long after his wife Joan had passed away. We had versions that tried a little harder to be funnier and tried a little harder to be harder. What ended up in the movie were the lines that had the most meaning to him." His line was originally going to be that the costume never fits but changed it in a spur of the moment. Rothman said, "In the moment, he has to deliver just enough to get that kid to put the suit on."

There were three other lines considered for Lee to deliver to Miles. They were "I can't believe it. I didn't think Spider-Man could die," "Why this stuff sells, I'll never know," and "Always thought he'd outlive me." Lee loved the one they ended up using. The original scripted line was that the suit "Never fits" but was changed on a follow-up take to the one used.^[22][23]

Lee also provided the voice of J. Jonah Jameson, replacing the audio of Paul Kligman. Lee has always said he wanted to play the character as he based the character in part on himself.

On November 29th, Sony released press materials revealing the casting of Chris Pine, Zoe Kravitz, Kathryn Hahn, Lake Bell, Jorma Taccone, Post Malone in an acting part, and Oscar Isaac. The release also revealed the inclusion of a female Doctor Octopus, Vanessa Fisk, and Spider-Man 2099. It also revealed the name of Stan Lee's character.^[24]

On December 1st, rapper Marvin Jones III, known professionally as Krondon, revealed that he was voicing Tombstone.^[25] Like Tombstone, Krondon is an African-American albino. He has also played African-American Albino Tobias Whale on the series Black Lightning.

In discussing which characters would appear in the film Miller said, "The obvious first choice was Gwen. You just take one look at that book and it's so striking, the colors, the design, the style. And her as a character was so aspirational and cool that it was an obvious no-brainer. The rest of them was about how to make a group of people that felt different from each other, not just in animation style but also in their point of view toward the universe and their experiences. Having so many people from different walks of life, different ages, different backgrounds, different genders, different animals! The thing about Peter Porker is that he was a spider that was bitten by a pig. But having them all find some sort of common ground got to something true and universal about what it means to be a hero."

In Miles's universe, Mary Jane goes by the last name Parker rather than Watson-Parker. In most versions, Mary Jane is typically shown using the hyphenated name, as most celebrity women do.

Archival audio of the officer's line came from "Double Identity" for the post-credits scene. Jorma Taccone played Spider-Man replacing Paul Soles.

Rodney Rothman revealed he wrote a scene that would have included the three live-action Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland. "I don't want to get into it, but I did write that scene, but there's a lot of anxiety, there's a lot of anxiety around the movie generally and there was anxiety about confusing people."^[26]

Holland said of the cameo, "At one point I was supposed to be in it. There was going to be another Peter Parker. There was like a scene in a train station or something, and it was going to be like an Easter egg. I was going to walk through the background and say like 'Hey, kid' or something. Never happened. Heartbroken."

Jacob Batalon, who plays Ned Leeds alongside Holland, also revealed he approached Amy Pascal about playing Ganke as his portrayal of Leeds is based on Ganke. "I tried to throw my hat in for Ganke. I was trying to hit up Amy."

The production team said of Doctor Octopus, "The Doc Ock we see in this movie is something entirely new and original - a super intelligent and ambitious woman who is blinded by the possibilities of science."^[27]

Production[]

According to Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal and Avi Arad approached him and Phil Lord with the idea of doing a Spider-Man animated movie. "And of course, the first thing you think is, well, doing an animated movie with the source material of a comic book, you can really, really get into the artistry in a way that no live action version of a comic book movie ever did, and that was really exciting. But then we also were really excited to tell the story of Miles Morales. So, first we said, 'Uh.' And then we said, 'We'll do it, but only if it's the Miles Morales story.' And luckily, they were super on board."

The original concept was to focus on Miles and have an older Peter mentor him. When the Spider-Verse series came out, Lord and Miller were inspired to bring in other characters and changed how their Peter would be introduced. Up to ten characters were considered but edited down as to not overcrowd the story.

Rumors about the film were first circulated on December 9th, 2014 following the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack. The Wall Street Journal attained some emails taken from the hack. The emails suggested that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, coming off the success of The Lego Movie and 22 Jump Street, would direct an animated feature.^[28]

On April 22nd, 2015, Sony officially announced the film at CinemaCon.^[29]

At the time it was reported that this depiction of Spider-Man would not be a part of the The Amazing Spider-Man series, which was later officially ended, or Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It was slated for a release on July 20th, 2018. Sony then shuffled several of their release dates pushing this film back to December 21st.^[30]

Here is the official press release:^[31]

On July 20, 2018, Phil Lord & Christopher Miller the directors of The Lego Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and 21 and 22 Jump Street, are taking Spider-Man back to his graphic roots with the first-of-its-kind animated Spider-Man feature, it was announced today at CinemaCon by Tom Rothman, chairman of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group. The film will exist independently of the projects in the live-action Spider-Man universe, all of which are continuing.

Lord & Miller are masterminding the project, writing the treatment and producing the film.

As previously announced, Spider-Man will next appear in a live-action Marvel film from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU). Sony Pictures will thereafter release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise, on July 28, 2017, a live-action film being produced by Kevin Feige at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago. The animated film from Lord & Miller, dated July 20, 2018, has Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Pascal also serving as producers.

On May 27th, 2016, Heroic Hollywood reported from unnamed sources that the film would follow Miles Morales, the second Spider-Man of the Ultimate Universe. They also reported that the film would be called either Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man or The Ultimate Spider-Man: Miles Morales. They also reported that the film would be connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.^[32][33] On January 18th, 2017, Sony Pictures Animation president Kristine Belson spoke at a slate presentation officially confirming that Morales would be the star of the film. At the presentation Lord and Miller said of the project, "What inspired us the most is that anyone can wear the mask. You can be any race, creed or color." They also showed a clip of some early development and exploratory art work. It showed the Morales Spider-Man on the streets of New York in a dark mood in the style of a graphic novel.^[34]

On June 20th, 2016, Sony announced their plans for their upcoming animated features. They announced that Bob Persichetti would direct the film.^[35]

Lord said of the film, "We wanted to make a movie about Miles. The thing that’s excited to us is the idea that anyone can be behind the mask." He continued to say, "It seemed like a really good opportunity to subvert your expectations of what you thought a Spider-Man movie could be."^[36]

Dan Slott, writer of the original Spider-Verse comic arc, said, "Stan always said that one of the things that was so alluring about Spider-Man for readers was the mask. Anyone could have gotten bitten by the spider, anyone could be under the mask. When you see that character running around you can associate with it. No matter who you are: race, color, creed, gender." He added, "There's something universal about the second that mask goes down. It's great to see a Spider-Man movie, possibly one of the greatest movies ever, where you can be Spider-Man. Anyone can be Spider-Man."^[37]

In deciding to focus on Miles Lord said, "Well, to me, it sort of all circles around to his family. He has a very different family than Peter Parker did. First of all, both of his parents are alive, so that's a huge difference right there. And being able to portray a very grounded family with a mother and father who both want the best for their son, but go about it in different ways. Also an uncle that loves him, but is encouraging him to go down a different path. That whole dynamic is really the center of what the whole movie's about, and it was really important to us to get right. And it really speaks to Miles trying to figure out who he is and who he's gonna be, what kind of a person he's going to become."

At Comic-Con, Miller said of the film, "We wanted to make a totally unique experience that felt like you were walking into a three-dimensional comic book."

Ramsey said of the project, "Comics fans have known Miles for a while, but the world at large doesn't know him. They don't have experience dealing with a new character in this mantle."

Lord and Miller said that they were most intrigued by how to put a new twist on a superhero origin story that's been told so many times in the last fifteen years. Lord said, "Everything good we've ever done has started with a bad idea. And then we slowly figure out a way that seems like it would be surprising. An animated Spider-Man movie, on the surface it felt like, well, do we really need that? But you start to think about the opportunities that it gives you. Because it's like the nineteenth Spider-Man movie, it forces you to make different choices than everybody else."

In an interview, Ramsey said of Miles, ""We see in the movie. He definitely is a character who's torn between different paths to take. When he meets Peter Parker, Spider-Man, who's the only person he knows in the universe that can really understand what he's going through. That kind of becomes the core of how he finds his way to make a choice as to what kind of person he is going to be. So it very much is a story of a young person looking for 'what's the path for me'?"^[38]

Rothman added, ""That's very specific to Miles story. He has a family around him, an extended family around him. And a lot of his struggles as a teenager involve his family and reconciling things with his family and that for us is part of the heart of the comic books, so it's part of the heart of the movie."

Persichetti also said, "I think your point of seeming that he has a lot of mentors, or possible mentors in his life is a big part of this. And it's how to deal with many different influences and find his own unique voice and distill all these different messages from many different points of view and take them in and have his own unique point of view. And that's the thing that we're really trying to successfully land. Is that, you can have all these different influences and you're not obligated to follow any of them. But they can all influence your path. So that's really what we are trying pull off." Rothman responded, "Ultimately you have to make the choice. Figure things out for yourself."

The producers initially had difficulties making Miles different from other heroes. Peter Ramsey said, We struggled really early on with just his voice. What Rodney brought attention to was how he talked, how he carried himself. We didn't want him to be mopey or self-pitying or entitled. We were trying to walk the line of why this kid is disenchanted with school. What's his problem? He seems to have it pretty good. And somehow we ended up finding a way of him being expressive and empathetic." Rodney Rothman said it was an early test with Shameik Moore that pinned down his character. "I was blown away. For me, it wasn't about what Miles was saying, it was about how he was performing and how the animators were emphasizing parts of Shamiek's voice and the things he wasn't saying. That gave me an idea of how we might write Miles." He added, "It was about understanding how he internalizes a lot. He might be confident at points, he might be talkative at points, but a lot of what he's saying doesn't matter. Part of what his uncle is conveying to him is to be improvisational as an artist, as a person. And that's the opposite of what Miles' dad is conveying to him, which is more rigid, high-stakes, preparing for a future."^[39]

In another interview, Persichetti commented on the differences between Miles and Peter. "We're adapting Bendis' story, so in that sense it was a great place to start. Miles is and amazing character, he has a lot of people around him that influence in his life and that was really was sort of the catalyst for the story we were telling. This is the first time we seen the Spider-Man in an origin story where we have both parents and I mean it’s like it's the exact opposite of Peter in a way where we have too many mentors and we made that part of the process that Miles has to go through to become Spider-Man. He has to figure out how to how to take in all these voices and then find his own voice within that."

In discussing the creation of Miles, Persichetti said, "Another thing that I think is pretty interesting is when Miles first came out in comics, 2011, he was kind of the first of this wave of characters of different ethnicities taking on the identities of classic heroes and stuff like that and since then that idea has become pretty normalized. So coming out with the Miles Morales movie now I think part of the task was to say okay it's not just that you're plugging someone of a different background into the costume into the movie It's how do you really flesh out what being a different background is. So there's a lot of details of Miles' life, where he grows up, what his family life is like, what the school is like, what is the neighborhood like. One of the ideas is this is about New York and its different boroughs being like really specific characters. What is Brooklyn like now. What is Queens like now."

When asked about which alternate versions to include Lord said, "We wanted everyone to be canonical. We didn't want to make anything up, because we felt like it would feel like we had a Great Gazoo to the movie or something like Scrappy Doo. We wanted to make sure that they all were originating from the comic, so we just sort of went to Marvel Wiki and having read the books and some of the event crossover books, we thought that these were characters that were as diverse as possible [and] had as many different colors to them.

"Like, Spider-Man Noir is such a special dude because he's so characterologically different than all the other ones and darker. He's got a different personality and point of view. Spider-Man is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. So we really were looking for a Benetton ad of spider people in terms of the personalities and their visualization. So that when you put them together on the screen they didn't feel like it belonged necessarily. And one of the most fun things to watch is this black-and-white character next to this highly saturated cartoon next to an animated character next to Peter and Miles. It's a really neat sight gag to get them all in one frame."

In developing the mentor Peter Parker Miller said, "I think the idea is that this Peter Parker is an amalgam of all the Peter Parkers that you have seen in popular culture. So there's elements of the Homecoming Tom Holland Spider-Man, of an Andrew Garfield Spider-Man, of the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man, of Spider-Man from various comics and TV shows. And sort of in this universe the Spider-Man that comes to Miles' world is one that looks similar to but is not exactly the same as the ones that you know. And so, that's why all of those plots are similar, but there's a twist to them."

Lord added, "Yeah, the Spider-Man in Miles' universe that he meets early in the movie was meant to be as competent a Spider-Man as possible, and is meant to be living in an alternate universe that we would all consider the mainstream comics universe. So you'll see that like he and M.J. kiss in the rain upside down, but she's upside down, and he's right side up. Just trying to find little ways to say, 'This is a parallel dimension'."

The film took about three years to complete. Peter Ramsey said that was crazy as far as what they were able to accomplish in that time. He said they put a lot of "Blood, sweat and tears and anguish" into making it also adding "But a lot of love and a lot of passion." He also said, "The minute we knew this was the Miles Morales story, we knew we had to introduce a new Spider-Man who has to speak to people in a new way." The intention was for the audience to "go on this journey with him and want to see him succeed, see the story though his eyes, and really let him live as a character."^[40]

There was some pushback to having the alternate universe versions. It all came together when discussing Miles's role. Bob Persichetti said, "This was all about being selfless because we're all heroes, but also the one guy who wouldn't die as a result of staying behind [Miles] can't do the job. And it was great because now we were in a really cool predicament. And we could push forward."

Production designer Justin K. Thompson said that Kingpin is "this giant black hole that moves through space and time and swallows up everything in the room."^[41]

Thompson also said of Prowler's motorcycle, "Prowler is a brilliant cat burglar who is very good at putting things together - just like his car, boots and other gadgets, he put this racer together using found parts."^[42]

The first draft of the script featured Doctor Strange appearing at the end of the film saying "Okay, I have some things to tell you." The idea was that Strange would be involved due to his own involvement with alternate dimensions. Coincidentally, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange did meet in the Marvel Studios earlier 2018 film Avengers: Infinity War, while the 2004 film Spider-Man 2 contained a reference to Strange.^[43]

Rodney Rothman said in an interview they had a difficult time finding the proper balance for humor in regards to Spider-Ham. In early tests children enjoyed the character but adults saw him as annoying as not all the jokes worked. During the scene when the team recounts their lost loved ones Spider-Ham said that he lost his Uncle Frankfurter, "He was electrocuted, and it smelled so good." The joke got some of the biggest laughs for the film but was removed after it was felt it undercut the emotional moment. "We just decided, 'This is a bad laugh. This is throwing off the energy in the scene.' Spider-Man is a real person with real feelings, and we wanted people to get that."^[44]

Another joke they cut had to do with the infamous stage musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Phil Lord said, "There used to be a Turn Off the Dark joke in the movie, but there just wasn't time for it. There was a moment before Miles came back to Aunt May's, after he found out about the Prowler. They're all hanging around waiting for him and they're all talking about Spider-Man in their various different universes. And Peter B. Parker said, 'Yeah, there's a crazy musical that Bono did in my universe,' and they're all like 'that's crazy'!" Lord called the Rubix cube joke more important and kept that instead.^[45]

In the comics, Gwen wears sneakers with her costume while in the film she wears ballet slippers. Spider-Gwen creator Jason Latour said that this was to highlight her abilities and strength as a dancer to set her apart from the others. He said that he prefers the sneakers but was supportive of the slippers for the film. "Are ballet slippers what I would have done? Probably not. But what I like about it is that by making Gwen a ballet dancer, it gives the opportunity to make her move differently than the other Spider heroes. More gracefully and controlled. You get just enough information to set up her character just from how she moves, plus I like the juxtaposition with her ballet dancing and the punk band. It instantly conjures up a story that exists around the corner, and lives in the imagination." He added that he hoped the sneakers would appear in future installments.^[46]

After the initial final credits end, there is a tribute to the late Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spider-Man's original creators who both passed away in 2018. It features a quote of Lee summarizing the themes of the film.

Phil Lord called the post-credits scene "the dumbest thing of all time." Christopher Miller said of introducing Spider-Man 2099, "We talked about 2099 because he's such a cool character. The movie, because it's Miles' story, couldn't fit everyone in it and still be about Miles. We wanted to both tease the possibility of opening up the world and the possibility of the future. So he seemed like the perfect person to do that with." He said of the scene, "We can’t just do something straight!. It's not just a regular end credit tease and 'Here's the cool new character that you might see in the future!' We had to subvert it somehow." Miller said of referencing the famous meme, "That meme felt like it was something that was the movie itself anyway and so it had to be in there somewhere. That seemed like the spot to do it." Lord said he is obsessed with Spider-Man.^[47]

Deleted and Extended Scenes[]

A number of scenes were developed that were not included in the film. Some, but not all, even reached the animation stage. Some of those scenes were included on the home video release.

• As seen in the original teaser trailer, Miles and the second Peter sat in a subway station. Miles asked Peter how many more Spider-People there were.^[48]
• As seen in the first trailer, the restaurant scene is extended to Miles and Peter receiving the bill for their food. It's handed to Peter who then asks Miles if he has any money since he has none.

Animation[]

The animation is computer generated, a collaboration between Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks. This is the first Spider-Man film to be animated and second Marvel theatrically released animated film after Big Hero 6.

Phil Lord said of the art style, "Well, we went to the artist who created the books that we grew up with, and then Sara Pichelli, who co-created Miles with Brian Bendis and another couple of artists, like Robbi Rodriguez and [some] other folks who are doing contemporary work that's really special and specific to the characters that are in the movie. So we really tried to make it feel like an artist had touched every frame, and that an artist had interpreted his story so that it never felt like a computer simulation of a drawing, but always the idiosyncrasies of an artist.

"So that's why you see so many different stylistic takes, even in the comic books that appear in the movie. They are a combination of Steve Ditko and John Romita. There's a lot how some of the comics treated Kingpin, and the books that we grew up with in this picture. And then Gwen's stuff looks like her book. And obviously the noir has a specific style all the way to Spider-Ham, which we tried to make as cartoony as we could, so it stood out. And we got our friend Craig Kellman to really do an exaggerated cartoon version of him. So there's so much that it really feels like there's a super team of artists that are collaborating, just the way like the super-genius spiders are collaborating."

He also said, "And thank goodness we've got such a amazing group of people [working on the] animation [and] doing all that stuff, including our friend, Justin Thompson, who is the production designer on the two Cloudy [movies] and the guy we've been working with for a really long time. And one of the cool things is to watch a lot of crew members that have worked with us on other movies change gears and tell a different kind of story, a different visual language. It was really cool."

The animation contains deliberate errors, Ben-Day dots, halftoning, and other stylistic choices to imitate a classic comic book look. It also features speech bubbles at various times. Miller said of the text bubbles, "The idea was: Let's make a movie that feels like you're walking into an immersive comic book." Lord said, "We were just really intrigued with the possibility of making an animated movie in a completely different way with a completely different set of characters that didn't have to abide by the normal rules. A big franchise can either back you into safe choices or it can give you the opportunity to take huge risks. And that risk version was what was intriguing to us."

Production designer Justin K. Thompson said of the look, "One of our big goals was to make the movie look as gritty as the classic comic books, which offer a window through these mysterious worlds."^[49]

Animator Alberto Mielgo was hired to direct the first animation test. The test contained several shots that would eventually make it into the end film such as Miles looking into the mirror in his store bought costume and his leap of faith. There were other shots that did not make it into the film or were altered, such as Peter Parker's death being more graphic. "I was hired to direct the first animation test for Into the Spider-Verse animated film. My main goal was to explore the language of comics and cinema and merge them together. We fully finished only four of the shots. Those finished shots open a door to a pipeline and its possibilities and help to estimate the overall film. I can see that the final film preserved many of my shots. I would like to congratulate and thank the whole team that finished the final film for preserving the compositions and the original intention of these shots. It shows that everyone felt inspired and that they really cared for this particular vision."^[50]

At the time of the Comic-Con panel, the movie was about fifty-five percent complete. Persichetti said of the animation, "We have a really big animation crew now because the animation is kind of so hard, takes so much time so that the amount of animation each individual animator produces is a lot less than usual now we have like a hundred and forty two animators right now which for one of these movies is a lot."

When asked about the different animation style, Persichetti said, "That was the goal. That was the drive. We're going to make another Spider-Man movie, why? Because it's Miles. Wonderful. We want to do animated but we don't want the animation to feel like animation by Pixar or Disney or DreamWorks, all these places that we've all mostly been a part of. We don't want that so I want something that that honors where Marvel and Spider-Man came from, your comic books, and we looked at that. We're not going to have any rack focus on this movie we're going to do this and it's like this offset printing thing, we're not going to have any kind of motion blur which for CG that's like death. There is not a single motion blur in our movie and that alone is was like 'I'm sorry?' We spent more than a year really banging away trying to create a style of animation that felt looks different and it's still all CG."

The alternate universe characters have varying animation styles. Spider-Ham has a more cartoonish style while SP//dr is closer to anime. This technique was used in the Spider-Verse episodes of Ultimate Spider-Man. In deciding on this style, Lord contacted production designer Justin Thompson to talk about the movie being almost like a collage film. He said he wanted to reinforce the story. "The movie is about bringing people from different walks of life together and having them recognize that they all share something deeply in common. The visuals only serve to emphasize that. The other thing we wanted to do was take this story that has been told a million times and peel it apart and look inside the seams and see how it works. So the movie, as it goes on, starts to break apart and you go in between the lines and the dots. We wanted that to be the principal metaphor and the visuals are the best way to express that." Miller noted that comic books have different artists with different styles doing the same characters saying, "And the whole idea was let's feel the artist's hand on screen in a way we’ve never seen. "

Artist Yashar Kassai said of Peni and SP//dr's design, "One of design's greatest pleasures is stark contrast. From her look to her behavior, Peni is anime through and through. To see her standing alongside Miles creates the kind of variety the film embraces."^[51]

Lord said of the unique animation style, "It's really easy to say 'we want it to look like nothing's ever looked before. It's a lot harder to do it."

Miller added, "It actually feels like you walked into a comic book. And it's easier to say, but to actually actually accomplish it is super, super hard. It took years to figure out a process where we can match CG animation with hand-drawn 2-D animation and all these, like, comic book textures and effects and have it all feel like it was one painting." He also said, "It was four times as hard as making a CG-animated movie. It takes a week for an an animator to make one second of footage on this, whereas normally, it's like four or more seconds in a week. So, it's a really hard process but we feel like it was worth it."^[52]

Production designer Justin K. Thompson said of Mary Jane's design, "Mary Jane is an extremely important character in the Spider-Man canon, so I wanted her to have a classic, iconic look that would be instantly recognizable."^[53]

According to Miller and Lord, the word balloons and intertitles were always in the script though everything was constantly debated. Miller said, "You can't imagine how much debate was on everything. The thing about animation is there's a debate of how many beads of sweat are on a guy's brow, how many freckles are on his cheeks." They try not to go too far with the comic book style worrying it might become gimmicky. Lord said, "We never had a moment where we felt we went too far and had to pull back. It was always like 'We have an opportunity to do something no one's ever done. You have to break the mold. You have to break the tools. I want you to tell me we melted the server down and we don’t know how to fix it.' Only then are we going to be really satisfied."^[54]

Spider-Gwen creator Jason Latour provided the artwork for Gwen's comic book covers. Miles Morales co-creator Sara Pichelli created the artwork for Miles's comic book cover.^[55]

When the villains attack Aunt May's house, all of the heroes put on their masks on in slightly different ways to illustrate their personalities.^[56]

The image of Stan Lee appears in several crowd scenes. Every animator was eager to animate the legendary creator. At the Golden Globes, the directors wished fans could have the Blu-ray challenging them to find all the cameos.^[57]

The opening company logos "glitch" into various versions. Some are older versions the company once used, some are altered versions used once or rarely, and some are completely original to this film. Deva Studios said of the opening logos, "In our initial meeting with Phil Lord and the Sony Pictures Animation creative team on Spider-Verse, they told us they wanted a logo sequence that would transport the viewers into a comic-book world. The logo sequence was an integral part of the film, a surreal onramp to the wild ride that the viewer was about to be plunged into. We walked out beyond inspired, ready to break all the logo-sequence rules to craft an intensely memorable opening for this fantastic film, in a tremendous collaboration with the Spider-Verse film-makers." Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal responded saying, "Within the first thirty seconds you know you're watching something new. A sensational title sequence threatens to be the design equivalent of flashbang grenades, yet the art isn't assaultive, only inventive, with hues that stretch the spectrum as far as the eye can see."^[58]

On December 12th, Deadline reported that Sony had applied for a patent on the animation process used in the film. The filing cited about half-dozen specific components to the process. The style was completely reinvented to differentiate it from other animated films. Most computer animated films take about a week of effort to complete just four seconds of film. For this film, a week resulted in just one second of footage. This film also contains anywhere from two to three times the number of shots for an animated feature.^[59]

During the film, Spider-Man sits at a desk looking at Miles stumble around. Later in the credits, there is a shot of hundreds of Spider-Men sitting at desks and another shot of Spider-Man sitting at a desk with a picture of him behind him. This is a reference to the Spider-Man episode "Electro, The Human Lightning Bolt". In the episode, Spider-Man hides behind at a desk and then pops up. This has become a famous meme and the shots are references to that.

Similarly, the after-credits scene where two different Spider-Men point at each other is a reference to the episode "Double Identity". The shot of Spider-Man and a villain dressed like him pointing at each other has also become a famous meme.

The film took four years to complete using roughly eight-hundred animators. Christopher Miller said, "Anytime we've done something with a [pre-existing] IP, we've tried to use it as a Trojan horse to bring in something new, because having a known property makes studios feel comfortable. So that is the best way to try and make something that is the most radical." The production team then assembled a group of like-minded individuals who would think outside the box. Phil Lord said, "Every opportunity we had to put a Rubik's cube in a black-and-white character's hands, or stick Spider-Ham in an environment where he didn't look right, to put him against Scorpion, who looks rusty and really realistic, that was the joy for us. In a funny way, it doesn't feel crazy. That's just how we see the world."

Jake Johnson said of the process, "Everything that they did with this movie felt different. I've done animation before, and mostly you say the lines and it's got to be perfect because it’s all timed out. With this, any imperfection or anything you could bring to it, if you would take a big, deep breath in between lines, thinking they'll cut it, they'd animate around that breath so that it feels more human."

The film used chromatic aberration to denote depth of field. It also used a variable frame rate using twelve frames per second, rather than the industry standard of twenty-four, to modulate action and emotion.

Lord said, "I'm not a programmer or a world-class artist. Our job was just to say, 'More,' and 'Crazier,' and to say 'Yes' to the wildest idea in the room, because we knew we had a chance to do something that hadn’t been done before. What’s funny is the movie looks conservative to me now, we’ve been looking at it for so long. So I know on the next one what we’re going to do."

He also said, "The idea that any style of art that a person can make can be represented in animation in motion, not just in this world but in the world of animation, will hopefully lead other people to feel that it's not risky to try something that has different looks to it, and push for a wider diversity of styles in studio filmmaking."^[60]

Artist Yuhki Demers said of Miles and Ganke's dorm room, "This set is the first glimpse we get of Miles' soul. With echoes of his uncle’s apartment, the backdrop really cements the idea that, for the most part, Miles is a normal teen with normal problems associated with that age."^[61]

At a panel discussion, Bob Persichetti revealed that there were ten minutes of fully animated sequences that were cut out. This is rare in animated feature films, which usually make the cuts before the animation is finished. Ten minutes is also quite high even for removed scenes. He said that the filmmakers wanted to make the sequences worked but could not. "There's one scene specifically that was one we all really loved, but the movie just kept pushing it out. It was like a splinter, and your body's like, 'Nope, you’re not gonna fit there. Get out'." The panel did not discuss what was in the removed scenes, though some were possibly seen in the trailers, and did not reveal if they would be seen on the home releases.^[62]

The color management software that was used for the film, called OpenColorIO, was also used on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Alice in Wonderland, and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation. Following the release of the film, Sony made the software open source so that anyone could use it. Sony Pictures Imageworks vice president and head of software development Michal Ford said, "We want to contribute OpenColorIO back to the community that relies on it, and the Academy Software Foundation is a natural fit. The developers and companies that use it every day will guide the project roadmap, starting with the features and release cadence for a new 2.0 version."^[63]

When Peter B. arrives to Times Square there is a poster for a movie called From Dusk Till Shaun. This was a real idea for a sequel to the popular British zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead that was discussed by the film's producers. However, it never got past the initial discussion stage while the cast and crew would work on thematic sequels unrelated to the actual story. Director Rodney Rothman reached out to Shaun director Edgar Wright^[64] and Wright allowed use of the idea.^[65] A full poster was created for the fictional movie.^[66] The poster features Shaun and a zombified Ed, likely making it the sequel the real world never got.^[67]

Concept Art[]

In the art for Peter's apartment, he can be seen watching Walter White on Breaking Bad, a series from Sony Pictures Televison. He is saying the quote "Say My Name" from the episode of the same name.

Music[]

See also Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Score, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Soundtrack, and A Very Spidey Christmas.

Daniel Pemberton is providing the musical score for the film.^[68] He received credit for the use of his music in Venom.

The soundtrack was released on December 14th, the same day as the film. The music is compiled by Republic Records. The score for the film was released December 17th, produced by Sony Classical.

Rapper Post Malone and Swae Lee recorded a song to be featured on the soundtrack called Sunflower.^[69] Malone debuted a ten-second clip on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.^[70] The music video was released on October 18th.^[71]

Raper Blackway and DJ duo Black Caviar also produced the song What's Up Danger for the film. Blackway said of the song, "Being presented with the opportunity to be a part of this project is probably the coolest thing that has ever happened to me, and 'What's up Danger' is the product of me being able to work with creative minds like Jared Piccone and Troy Hinson of Black Caviar. The production behind the record is so intense and full of the perfect kind of energy for the film." Black Cavier added, "When the opportunity to write a song for the new Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse film came up, our ten-year-old selves were freaking out. We got connected to Blackway and on day one in the studio, he laid down the [wildest], tense, aggressive lyrics we could've imagined, and the song was born."^[72] The song was released on November 1st.

On December 7th, actor and singer Jaden Smith revealed he had a song titled Way Up on the soundtrack.^[73]

On December 10th, the full soundtrack was revealed announcing that Vince Staples, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Ty Dolla $ign, Amine, and Juice WRLD were contributing to the album.^[74]

The film contains a brief clip from Spider-Man using the famed theme song made by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris.

During the credits, Chris Pine sings Spidey Bells based on a joke earlier about Spider-Man releasing a Christmas album. On December 20th, the album A Very Spidey Christmas was released featuring Pine, Jorma Taccone, Shameik Moore, and Jake Johnson.^[75]

Promotion[]

Sony Pictures Entertainment held a panel at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con to talk about the film. The panel included Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, and Bob Persichetti.

A clip for the film was shown after the credits of the Sony film Venom, released two months earlier. The clip shows Miles dressed as the original Spider-Man running away from Prowler before escaping him on the streets. He visits the grave of Peter Parker apologizing for not living up to his name, and then knocking the visiting Peter unconscious. He realizes this man is wearing Spider-Man's suit and escapes with him fleeing the police. The clip features the voices of Shameik Moore and Jake Johnson as well as Daniel Pemberton getting credit for his music. See Continuity.

The first thirty-five minutes of the film was screened at the 2018 New York Comic Con. Miller, Lord, Moore,, Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, and Lauren Velez attended a panel following the film. Lord said of the film, "Maybe we can use the fact that this story has been told a lot of times to our advantage, so the expectation is how can we make it differently.". Co-director Persichetti said, "This was our chance to lean into a medium that was just made for Spider-Man. How can we take advantage of this medium that has been expressive for so many years and tie it to the original source material, which is a comic book?". He added that they decided to "lean into flash frame and visuals that are reminiscent of drawings but figure out how to do it with a computer, which is its own giant task." Johnson compared the relationship of Peter to Miles as Mr. Miyagi. Henry said of the film's representation, "To see a black boy and his father, you don't really get to see that."

Videos[]

Posters[]

The posters are designed by BLT Communications.

The French poster translates, according to Google Translate, to "The family event of the end of the year."

Rotten Tomatoes ranked the first poster as one of the best movie posters of 2018 saying, "Most Spidey posters emphasize action and speed, but this Into the Spider-Verse poster evokes those brief seconds of hangtime Spider-Man experiences at the peak of his swinging arc before the world, and all its problems, come crashing in towards him. (Yes, we played the hell out of the PS4 game this year.)"^[76]

Release[]

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was released in the United States on December 14th, 2018. The film was released in China on December 21st, and in Mexico and Italy on December 25th. It will be released in Brazil on January 10th and Japan on March 28th.

In France, the film is called Spider-Man: New Generation.^[77]

The world premiere of the film was held at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, California on December 1st, 2018.^[78]

The film is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for frenetic sequences of animated action violence, thematic elements, and mild language.

Following the film's Academy Award win, Sony gave the film a "huge" re-release with numerous IMAX screenings.^[79]

Critical Reception[]

Critics loved the focus on Miles over Peter as well as inclusion of various other heroes. The humor and interactions between the characters were praised. Several critics did note that while the movie made an attempt to reference and parody typical superhero cliches it still fell into them. Peter's story was criticized and many felt it went on too long.

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a near-perfect score of 97% citing an overwhelming positive reception. The Critical Consensus states, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse matches bold storytelling with striking animation for a purely enjoyable adventure with heart, humor, and plenty of superhero action." Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film as the twenty-fourth highest rated film of the year, with the same score as the Marvel Studios film Black Panther.^[80] As of the end of the year, Spider-Verse ranked as the third highest ranking film on the site with an adjusted score of 110.858%. It ranked just below Wonder Woman with a 93% and adjust score of 111.004% and Black Panther also at 97% with an adjusted score of 118.186%.^[81] Without adjustments, it ties with Black Panther and original film The Incredibles as the highest ranking superhero movie ever made. Rotten Tomatoes also ranked it as the twenty-fifth best reviewed movie of the year, the best reviewed animated feature, and just two spots below Black Panther as the second best superhero film.^[82] The film was the fourth highest ranking wide-release of the year^[83] and the best reviewed animated feature.^[84] They later ranked the film as seventy-seventh of the top two-hundred essential movies to watch. It was the second highest of both Marvel and superhero films behind only Black Panther.^[85]

Metacritic gave the film a score of 87, all positive reviews with only one mixed and none negative. The animation was widely praised for its unique style. Metacritic ranked it as the thirty-first highest ranking film of the year.^[86] It was also the eighteenth most discussed film of the year. Metacritic users ranked the film as the ninth best of the year.^[87]

Peter Debruge of Variety felt that despite the numerous reboots of Spider-Man movies this one put them all into perspective. He said the brilliance of the movie was that it expanded all that came before while also being a reset. He positively compared it to the blockbuster film The Lego Movie, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. He praised the animation, comparing the style to artist Roy Lichtenstein, calling it fresh and matching the hip-hop score. He noted that while Marvel Studios's earlier 2018 film Black Panther was overly political in its treatment of identity this film treated Miles's non-white background as a non-issue. He felt the movie's true brilliance opened the doors for Sony to introduce an infinite number of spin-offs. He did note that the first fight with Green Goblin left something to be desired. He claimed that while most superhero movies feel over-crowded when featuring too many villains this one essentially requires it. He enjoyed the banter between the various heroes. He felt the screenplay was strongest when providing character detail, though it waned during the battles. He praised the high-speed chase outside Kingpin's estate but felt the rest of the action was clunky and over-stylized. He noted that the humor is savvy about the superhero formulas, but was disappointed when it resorted to using those same cliches. He felt the wit was the movie's most satisfying selling point, but was sometimes too clever for its own good. "But in this universe, where audiences are suffering from the very real phenomenon of superhero overload, ambition and originality are to be encouraged, especially it broadens the mythology to include women, people of color, and yes, even that hammiest of scene-stealers, Peter Porker."^[88]

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter felt it helped to be well-versed in Spider-Man lore to fully appreciate the film. He said it was a fresh origin story that both referenced the past and created something new. He did claim that it exhausted itself from the producers' cleverness and a runtime he felt was twenty minutes too long. He felt the freshest and most stimulating aspect was the visual style combining numerous different styles. He claimed this was more up-to-date than any other Spider-Man film and loaded with attitude. He praised the animation saying it showed more power and kill than anything live-action had tried. He said Marvel geeks would appreciate the attention to detail. He felt the multi-verse aspect allowed for audiences to be constantly surprised, variety of visuals, and fun-house craziness. However, he said the downside was sensory overload and that it was pitched more for comic book readers than for regular film audiences. He felt that there was a sense that nothing really mattered because universes could come and go. He also noted that the film reached a climax then kept going for too long. "This is not to deny the pleasures and welcome arrival of this fresh new approach to all things Spidey, the new cast of characters and the adventurous approach to animation that invigorates before staying too long at the party. There will almost certainly be more to be heard from this group of hipster crime fighters, who here have begun to carve out a fertile new neighborhood both in Brooklyn and the Marvel-Verse."^[89]

Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B- rating. He noted the film's visual style went for the opposite of the realism that defined previous Spider-Man films, taking inspiration from graffiti street art as well as comic books. He called the style fascinating comparing it to Enter the Void, liking how it changes after Miles gets powers. He felt the focus on Miles rather than Peter was a bit of "franchise throat-clearing" following the classic style Tobey Maguire film, "Xtreme bro" Andrew Garfield films, Tony Stark's sidekick Tom Holland films. He felt Miles is the first truly contemporary Spider-Man. He praised Shameik Moore's performance feeling like every line is improvised. He called the soundtrack fun. He did deride that so much of the film was dedicated to Peter Parker's redemption, calling him a spiritual avatar for the entire Spider-Man franchise. He derided Peter not liking his own iconography saying it was a trend in many recent movies where the hero hates what they have become, such as Wolverine in Logan, Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, or Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. He felt this was an attempt at deconstruction but ending up falling for its own criticisms, negatively comparing it to Deadpool. He praised the other heroes, citing Spider-Gwen's role as a great set-up for her own spin-off. He lauded Nicolas Cage's role as Spider-Man Noir claiming his readings belong in a museum. While praising the additional heroes, he did feel it became too much when they showed up. He did not think the film ever decided if it was a straight parody like The Lego Batman Movie or a sincere attempt to make a statement about what Spider-Man means. He claimed the cheery vibe clashed with a narrative full of deaths. He felt Kingpin could have been any bad guy. He did say it was full of small delights and looked unique. He wondered what the future would hold for the series without having to focus on how crucial Peter Parker is. He did feel the movie was missing something, such as the presence of Mary Jane Watson grounding the series with a regular person. "It's not, like, On the Waterfront, but it is the kind of a real-person character arc that feels entirely lost in the current age of big-screen superheroes. In between the cool costumes, Spider-Verse calls up a version of Mary Jane who seems partially lobotomized, a woman keeping the candle burning for her plottishly-important love interest. Scholars will notice some degeneration. In Spider-Man 3, Mary Jane was the audience surrogate looking on with horror as Spider-Man got high on his own iconography, a onetime nerdly sweetheart transformed by popularity and self-righteous rage into a toxically masculine skirtchaser. In Spider-Verse, Mary Jane worships Peter Parker, as everyone is expected to do. At one point, she gives a speech to a crowd cosplaying Spidey outfits, preaching how 'We are all Spider-Man.' I liked it more when we were all Mary Jane."^[90]

In a rare negative review came from Roger Moore of Movie Nation giving the movie two out of four stars. He derided the animation for looking blurred, jerky, and pixelated. He noted that is how it is supposed to look but felt Sony should not have released the film this way. He claims that after several minutes he found a representative from Sony who told him that is how it is supposed to look. He called it ugly, comparing to anime from the 1960s. He felt that the producers went too far trying to make it look like a comic. He called the animation direct-to-video quality and intended for home viewing where the flaws wouldn't be obvious. He felt the story was just recycled variations of generic comic book themes and nothing special. He did say that the flippant tone gave the movie a lift. He complained of the film's length saying the front half was loaded with laughs that thin out later on. He felt the movie wasn't justified for being on the big screen. "And if I'm the only one to say that, so be it. I can't review anything but the headache-inducing blown-up TV (under) animated miasma I see before me. This is sloppy."^[91]

The film received a perfect A+ rating from audiences who were polled by the popular marketing research firm CinemaScore.^[92]

The movie received an 8.7 out of 10 on the Internet Movie Database, high enough to make it the twenty-sixth highest ranking film on the site.^[93] Users on Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 94% with an average score of 4.6 out of 5. Metacritic users gave the film an 8.8.

Movie site Rotten Tomatoes ranked Brian Tyree Henry as one of the top breakout stars of 2018 noting he appeared in eight films specifically citing this one, Widows, and If Beale Street Could Talk.^[94]

On July 18th, 2022, Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film as the single highest rated superhero movie of all time.^[95]

Industry Reception[]

Original comic book Spider-Verse writer Dan Slott said, "Lily Tomlin's voice is now my Aunt May in my head." He later called it one of his favorite movies ever having seen it in theaters more than any other in his adult life.^[96]

Spider-Gwen creator Jason Latour said of the film, "These guys (Phil Lord and Chris Miller) and everyone that worked with them were just the best. I went up to Sony Animation in L.A. after Comic-Con this summer and screened the film before it was done. Even at about sixty percent finished, and what was there was so close to great already, it was hard to believe it could survive the concerns of Hollywood and come out even better. I gave them five or six actionable notes, mostly on Gwen's character and her relationships, and a few dumb jokes and insights into Spider-Ham (who we all bonded pretty deeply over). And man, I was so thrilled and surprised to see my input was not only received but that a lot of it was actually incorporated into the movie. It's just such a rare thing to be asked into the process, let alone listened to."^[97]

Elizabeth Banks, who worked with Lord and Miller on The Lego Movie as well as having played the live-action Betty Brant, praised the film. She said on Twitter, "Just saw #SpiderMan & mind was blown. Amazing film. Great characters & brilliantly funny. @philiplord, @chrizmillr & @rodneyrothman crushed this. Thank you @SonyPictures for the generous screening for the kids! I wanna be part of the #SpiderVerse! #WildStyleVerse"^[98]

Recurring Marvel actor Clark Gregg praised the film saying it "was one of the best movies of the year and one of the best superhero movies ever made."^[99] Karen Gillan, who plays Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, called the movie "completely brilliant."^[100]

Writer Phil Lord would team with Spider-Gwen creator Latour to write Spider-Man Annual #1. The description for the issue states, "When Spider-Gwen's dimension-hopping web-watch falls into the wrong hands, it's up to everyone's favorite wisecracking web-slinger, the wily waddler known as SPIDER-HAM, to save the day!"^[101]

Tom Holland said of the film, "It was so good. It was so funny. And I was so stressed when it came out! It was really awesome." Speaking on Moore's portrayal, "He’s really really good in it. But I'm just excited to introduce Miles into our own universe one day. I think that’s going to be really good."^[102]

Miguel O'Hara's co-creator Peter David said of the character's inclusion, "I was so freakin' thrilled to see Miguel up there, I was just so happy." Though he did add, "I was mildly annoyed that Lyla did not look at all like Marilyn Monroe, but I can understand why Sony decided to avoid getting protests from the estate of Ms. Monroe over it. I mean, I'm sure they didn't give a damn about her showing up in the comic book, but if she's in a big screen motion picture, they might have gotten a tad, you know— letters from lawyers, and who needs that aggravation?"^[103]

Famed director Francis Ford Coppola, who is the uncle of Nicolas Cage, came under fire in October 2019 after expressing negative opinions of Marvel Studios films. However, Peter Ramsey said that Coppola was complimentary of Into the Spider-Verse. "Actually, Francis HAS seen it and was very complimentary and really appreciated the innovation and animated performances."^[104][105]

Box Office[]

Industry insiders placed this film as the first big movie following the Thanksgiving weekend. Estimates place the opening at $30 million dollars for a reasonable start, though it could jump as high as forty million. Noting the demographics of those who watched the trailers, they noted the predicted audience would be mostly males younger and older than twenty-five and females under twenty-five. It was predicted that if the movie doesn't find its audience in its opening weekend it would find one in the post-holiday season. It is hard to predict the film's estimates as 2007's TMNT is the only theatrically released superhero movie that released to $24 million, Big Hero 6 being considered more of a Disney than superhero movie. They noted that Sony's earlier Spider-Man movie Venom got thirty-six percent of its foreign gross from China boding well for this film.^[106]

The film was released facing competition from The Grinch and Walt Disney Animation Studios's Ralph Breaks the Internet, both PG movies marketed to families. It also came the day after the superhero movie Once Upon a Deadpool, a reedited release of a popular film from earlier in the year. In addition, December has never seen an animated movie deliver a large opening weekend, with the largest being Sing at $35 million. Big Hero 6 was the closest approximation for this film's predictions, though that was released in November and did not feature well-known characters like Spider-Man. Box Office Mojo predicted a performance of $40 million.

In the Thursday night previews, the film brought in $3.5 across 3321 locations. This was short of Ralph Breaks the Internet, which debuted to $3.8 million. This made it the tenth largest preview gross for an animated feature ever.^[107] On its first Friday, the first official day of showings, the film earned $12,665,081. This resulted in an average of #3322 across 3813 locations.^[108] In its opening weekend, the film earned $35,363,376 for an average of $9274 across the locations.^[109] The film topped the weekend box office and resulted in the largest three-day opening for an animated film in December beating Sing. It was projected that would play well into the holiday season and beyond. Opening crowds were mostly male at sixty-three percent with forty-one percent being twenty-five years-old and up.^[110]

Internationally, the film earned $21 million from forty-four overseas markets. It earned $3.3 million in South Korea, $2.9 million in the United Kingdom, $2.3 million in Russia, and $2.3 million in Australia. The following weekend, it opened in eleven more markets including China and Spain.

After six days, rival company The Walt Disney Company released Mary Poppins Returns causing this film to drop to second place for the first time.^[111]

The following week saw the release of superhero film Aquaman and franchise film Bumblebee. Spider-Verse dropped to number four at the box office grossing $4.85 million for a 62% drop. It accumulated almost $53 million after eight days.^[112] The film finished the weekend at number four with an estimated $16.7 million with a 53% drop. This put it just shy of $65 million. The drop was a little more than anticipated, attributed to the competition it faced. The film had an average of $4,363 per screen, having lost ground in no theaters.^[113]

The same weekend the film opened in China where it debuted at number one with an estimated $26.1 million. This resulted in a $38 million international total.^[114]

The following week saw the positions stay the same with Spider-Verse in number four. It dropped 11.2% for the week, which was larger than expected, and ended up delivering an estimated $18.3 million for a $103 million total. The film added another $27.4 million across sixty international markets for a worldwide total of $213.2 million. There were worries about how long the film could compete with Aquaman and Bumblebee all targeting the same audiences.^[115] In the actual weekend, the film increased by 14.2% for an average of 4929 per screen.^[116]

Sony became the third highest grossing studio of 2018, with Into the Spider-Verse being the studio's top grossing December release. This was the studio's best year since 2012 bringing in $1.28 billion.^[117]

On the first week of 2019, Spider-Verse just barely beat out Bumblebee by $235 thousand to maintain fourth place with $13 million for a domestic total of $133.8 million. Bumblebee earned more overseas as Spider-Verse earned $11.7 million for an international total of $141.5 million. It was doing well in the Chinese market where it earned $60 million.^[118] The film dropped 30.8% as it lost 394 theaters, the first time it was reduced. With a new theater count of 3419 it earned $3805 per location.^[119]

Following the Golden Globe win, the film added another $9 million domestically dropping just thirty-one percent. This brought the domestic total to $147.7 million. It was estimated that it would soon pass Hotel Transylvania making it Sony Animation's third highest grossing film domestically. It also added $9.4 internationally bringing the global total to over $300 million.^[120] The film remained in fourth place despite losing 390 screens for 3029 total, for an average of $2988 per screen.^[121]

The next week the film dropped to fifth place but had the smallest percentage drop of the top ten with just 19.8% with an estimated $7.25 million. This put the domestic total at $160 million, just $9 million short of Sony Animation's highest grossing domestic release Hotel Transylvania 2. It added another $4.7 million internationally putting its total at over $322 million.^[122] It lost another 317 screens for 2712 total, for an average of $2793 per screen.^[123]

The following week the film maintained its position at number five with $6.11 million, bringing the domestic total to $169 million. This placed it just $700 thousand behind Hotel Transylvania 2, and on track to beat the previous film. It also added another $2.8 million internationally for an international total of $169.1 million and $338 million total.^[124]

For the entire month of January, the film was the fourth highest grossing film. It grossed a total of $63 million in the month. It was Sony's highest grossing film of the three the studio had during that time. It was notably slow box office for the month, only the eleventh best of all time.^[125]

During the Super Bowl weekend, the film earned another $4.4 million officially becoming Sony Animation's highest grossing film passing the $175 million mark domestically. It added another $1.6 million in international markets for an overseas total of #172 million.^[126]

The following week saw the release of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, written and produced by Lord and Miller, becoming the first children's movie to compete with Spider-Verse.^[127] This movie dropped 33.1% to ninth place with $3 million for a $179.8 million total.^[128]

The next week the film finally dropped out of the top ten to eleventh with $2.7 million for a $183.4 million total.^[129]

In the first weekend of March, the film was given a "huge" expansion following its Academy Award win. The film increased by 143.3% earning $2.2 million, though still staying in eleventh place. This brought the domestic total to $187.4 million.^[130]

The expansion was short-lived, returning to its previous theater count for the same week as the release of Marvel Studios's highly anticipated Captain Marvel. The film dropped to fifteenth place grossing $649 thousand, the first time it came in under a million, for a domestic total of $188.8 million.^[131]

The following weekend, the film fell to twenty-third place earning $317 thousand for a $189.5 million total. The theater count dropped to 366 for a $866 average per screen.^[132]

The next week, the movie dropped to a theater account of 278 but actually climbed to twentieth place. With a $919 average per screen it brought in $255 thousand for a $189.9 million total.^[133]

The final week of March 2019 was the film's final weekend, ending a sixteen week run. It earned $178.8 thousand with an average of $820 across 218 screens. The film ended with a $190,173,195 box office total against a $90 million budget.^[134]

Home Video[]

Sony announced on February 18th, 2019 that the film became available for digital streaming on February 26th and will be available on physical releases including 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 19th. The releases will contain over ninety minutes of bonus features. At the time of its announcement, the only confirmed feature was a short featuring Spider-Ham titled Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham.^[135][136]

The day the film was released on digital, it was the number one movie on iTunes.^[137]

The film will be released on the Netflix streaming service on June 26th, 2019.^[138]

Several retail outlets have exclusive versions of the Blu-ray with their own features. Amazon's version features a 3D holographic cover.^[139] Best Buy's version uses a steelbook case.^[140] Target's version comes with a forty-eight page mini-book containing artwork of the film.^[141] Walmart's version comes with a Miles Morales figurine.^[142]

Alt-Universe Cut[]

The home release includes an "Alt-Universe Cut" that contains additional finished footage that was edited out. Rodney Rothman explained the movie, "had an unusual amount of material at every stage of production. So, an insane amount of storyboard material, like insane, like break your high end edit systems insane. An insane amount of layout, an insane amount of finished animation that didn't make it into the movie... an unusual amount. So the Alt-Universe Cut contains a bunch of that stuff that we chose not to put in the movie, but that in an alternate universe easily could have ended up in the movie. So, uh, that's kind of the premise behind it."

Rothman and Bob Persichetti admitted that the cut isn't the same quality as the finished version, but felt there was some great stuff that audiences would want to see. Persichetti noted that the film was originally going to be closer to the comics. For example, there would have been a stronger bond between Miles and his roommate Ganke. However, they felt that Ned Leeds of Spider-Man: Homecoming stole their thunder. Persichetti said, "The alt version is more beholden to the idea that Miles and Ganke were buddies and roommates, and there's a lot more of roommate stuff happening. And what we ended up running into was just to two things. It was just like, 'Oh, wow. Homecoming, Ned, very similar to Ganke.' Really. And then, 'Well, maybe it's actually better if Miles experiences these things without a really well-educated Sherpa holding his hand through all the powers coming on and everything,' and it ended up helping us out for that place where Peter comes into the movie." The directors suggested that the material between Miles and Ganke could have entirely been a buddy comedy. Persichetti said, "And I will say this, though, there was a version that's not exactly the Alt-Universe version, but we had a version of the first act a long, long time ago with Ganke in it fully, and the relationship between those two guys was amazing." Ramsey responded, "You could've watched a whole movie that never and had a Spider-Man."

The cut has the Spider-Ham short spliced in at the beginning.

The directors stated they hoped the cut would help audiences discover the process the movie was made and understand why it was left out. Rothman said, "One of the cool things about this movie, and especially since it's been released, is that we do actually like to share a lot about the process of making it, and the different iterations we went through because so many people worked for so long in this movie, and we did really try a lot of different things. So that version of the movie is like a great window into how the movie evolved, and different things that we were working on. And for any filmmakers out there, anyone interested in our movie or movies generally it will be interesting. I know I love that stuff when I see it."

Persichetti and Ramsey said that a scene between Miles and Peter on a billboard was incredibly beautiful and almost finished. It was in the movie for about two years before being cut. Persichetti said, "Totally, totally. And at the end it was like we have to cut it out. And we were all so in love with it. And we were just like, 'The movie is better without it.' And so I think everybody will get to see that, and they'll get to understand sort of the weird process that we go through where we make movies as if it's just a script. But we're actually making it, and then we just throw the pages away, except there's a little more than pages."^[143]

Awards[]

Academy Awards[]

On October 24th, 2018, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science released a list of film that had been submitted for Best Animated Feature, previous winner being Big Hero 6. Into the Spider-Verse was among the selection.^[144] On January 22nd, 2019, the Academy announced their nominations for the 91st Academy Awards. The winners were announced on February 24th.^[145] The film was the clear favorite to win with betting odds, experts, and users predicted it would win.^[146]

The film's win made it the second superhero film to win following Big Hero 6. It was the highest rated film to win since Toy Story 3 and first non Pixar Animation Studios or Walt Disney Animation Studios film to win since Rango.^[147]

The acceptance speech was cut short by the orchestra. According to Persichetti, they were just about to thank Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. "We were just going to thank Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for inspiring this whole thing and for being a force of believing that all of us, human beings, have the potential, the capacity, to be heroes."^[148]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Feature	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Bob Persichetti Peter Ramsey Rodney Rothman Phil Lord Christopher Miller	Won

African-American Film Critics Association[]

On December 11th, 2018, the African-American Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best films of 2018.^[149] The winners were announced February 6th, 2019.^[150]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Film	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse	Won

American Cinema Editors[]

On January 7th, 2019, the American Cinema Editors announced their nominees for the sixty-ninth annual awards.^[151] The winners were announced on February 1st.^[152]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Edited Animated Feature Film	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Robert Fisher, Jr.	Won

Annie Awards[]

On December 3rd, 2018, the Annie Awards announced their nominations for the 46th annual Annie Awards. Into the Spider-Verse had a total of seven nominations, behind the Walt Disney Animation Studios's Ralph Breaks the Internet.^[153] The winners were announced on February 2nd.^[154]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Feature	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Animation)	Won
Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production	David Han	Won
Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in an Animated Feature Production	Shiyoon Kim	Won
Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production	Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman, and Peter Ramsey	Won
Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production	Justin K. Thompson	Won
Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production	Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman	Won
Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in an Animated Feature Production	Bob Fisher, Andrew Leviton, and Vivek Sharma	Won

Art Directors Guild Awards[]

On January 7th, 2019, the Art Directors Guild announced their nominees for their 23rd Annual ADG Excellence in Production Design Awards.^[155] The winners were announced on February 2nd.^[156][157]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Film	Justin K. Thompson	Nominated Lost to Isle of Dogs

Billboard Music Awards[]

On April 5th, the Billboard Music Award announced their nominees for the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. The winners will be announced on May 1st, 2019.^[158]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Top Soundtrack	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Soundtrack	TBA

British Academy Film Awards[]

On January 9th, 2019, the British Academy Film Awards announced their nominees for the 72nd annual awards. The winners were announced on February 10th.^[159][160]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Film	Bob Persichetti Peter Ramsey Rodney Rothman Phil Lord	Won

Chicago Film Critics Association[]

On December 7th, 2018, the Chicago Film Critics Association announced their nominations the best in film for 2018. The winners were announced the following day.^[161]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Film	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse	Won

Critics Choice Movie Awards[]

On December 10th, 2018, the Critics' Choice Movie Awards announced their nominees for the 24th annual awards. The winners were announced on January 13th, 2019.^[162]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Feature	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse	Won

Detroit Film Critics Society[]

On November 30th, 2018, the Detroit Film Critics Society announced their nominations the best in film for 2018. On December 3rd, the winners were announced.^[163]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Film	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse	Won

Golden Derby[]

On January 30th, 2019, the Gold Derby Awards announced their nominations for the 2019 awards.

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Feature	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Bob Persichetti Peter Ramsey Rodney Rothman	TBA

Golden Globes[]

On December 6th, 2018, the 76th Golden Globe Awards announced their nominations. The awards were announced on January 6th, 2019.^[164][165]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Feature Film	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse	Won

Grammy Award[]

On November 20th, 2019, the Grammy Award announced their nominations for the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. The winners will be announced on January 26th, 2020.^[166]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Record of the Year	"Sunflower": Post Malone Swae Lee	TBA
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance	"Sunflower": Post Malone Swae Lee	TBA
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Soundtrack	TBA

Harvey Award[]

On October 5th, 2019, the Harvey Awards announced their choices during New York Comic-Con.^[167]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Adaption From a Comic	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse	Won

New York Film Critics Circle[]

The New York Film Critics Circle's winners for the 2018 year were announced on November 29th, 2018.^[168]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Film	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Bob Persichetti Peter Ramsey Rodney Rothman	Won

Online Film Critics Society[]

On December 26th, 2018, the Online Film Critics Society announced their nominations. The winners were announced January 2nd, 2019.^[169]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Film	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse	Won

Producers Guild of America Awards[]

On January 4th 2019, the Producers Guild of America Award announced their nominations for the 30th annual awards. The winners were announced on January 19th, 2019.^[170]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Animated Motion Picture	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Avi Arad Phil Lord Christopher Miller Amy Pascal Christina Steinberg	Won

Utah Film Critics[]

On December 16th, 2018, the Utah Film Critics announced their awards for the best in film of 2018.^[171] The wins marked the film's first awards for categories not related to animation.

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Best Picture	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse	Won
Best Adapted Screenplay	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Phil Lord Rodney Rothman	Won
Best Animated Feature	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse	Won

Visual Effects Society[]

On January 15th, 2019, the Visual Effects Society announced their nominees for their 17th annual awards. The winners were announced February 5th at an event hosted by Patton Oswalt.^[172][173]

Category	Winners and Nominees	Result
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature	Joshua Beveridge Christian Hejnal Danny Dimian Bret St. Clair	Won
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature	Miles Morales: Marcos Kang Chad Belteau Humberto Rosa Julie Bernier Gosselin	Won
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature	Graphic New York City: Terry Park Bret St. Clair Kimberly Liptrap Dave Morehead	Won
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature	Ian Farnsworth Pav Grochola Simon Corbaux Brian D. Casper	Won

Critics' Lists[]

Metacritic ranked the film at number fourteen in regards to its placement on critics' top ten lists, appearing in sixty-five lists with it placing at number two in ten lists and number one in four.^[174]

The staff a CinemaBlend ranked the film as the best of the year saying, "This was a big year for Spider-Man on the big screen. Through the first eleven months of the year we not only saw him battle aliens in outer space and turn to dust, but also saw his good name a bit desecrated due to association with Venom. Because of this, we didn't fully know how to prepare for the arrival of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse -- but it turned out it didn't matter. This is because the movie is a phenomenal and unique vision for which nobody could have properly prepared, as it stands not only as one of the best superhero films of all time, but also one of the best animated features ever. The way in which Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse cuts to the core of what makes the webslinger such a special entity in pop culture is the beating heart of the movie, but truly this is a cinematic adventure that has everything. The performances by the fantastic ensemble and script are both hilarious and emotional, and visually it's unlike anything human's eyeballs have ever encountered in a multiplex. Every single person on our team who has seen the film has given it a five-out-of-five -- which made it an easy win as our number one film of 2018."

Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter ranked this film and Black Panther as the best of the year. "With Spider-Verse, the boldest movie on the list, you can feel the love the filmmakers and producers have for the hero, distilling decades of stories into something that is fresh and modern, thrusting not just Spider-Man but superhero movies into the future while embracing the past. And don’t get us started on the astonishing storytelling and visuals, a gorgeous blend of CG and hand-drawn styles. Easily the best animated movie of the year, and one of the best in general. But both [this and Black Panther] also transcend their original intentions to be mere movies by becoming something bigger. They just don't push the art form itself but broke ground for race, for representation, for inclusivity, for reflecting many people’s hopes and for being acts of inspiration."

IGN named the movie the Best Movie of 2018 saying, "There's no replacing a comic book legend like Peter Parker, but Sony Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse proves that more "Spider-People" is a very, very good thing. So good, in fact, that it’s IGN's Best Movie of 2018. Miles Morales' journey from zero to hero is brought to life with jaw-dropping animation, whimsical callbacks to previous Spider-Man media, and memorable side characters from the multiverse that range from fan-favorite Spider-Gwen to the outright bizarre Spider-Ham. But at the center of the film is the dual stories of the brand new Spider-Man Miles and his washed-up mentor from an alternate dimension. Both discover the best parts of themselves in their journey together, and we fall in love with both as a result. Taking a bold departure from the Pixar animation style we've come to expect from mainstream animated films, Into the Spider-Verse delivers a dynamic visual experience unlike any other. But perhaps most importantly, Spider-Verse feels fresh, different and new in a landscape full of superhero movies."^[175] It also won Best Comic Book Movie^[176] and Best Animated Movie.^[177] Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman were in consideration for Best Director(s).^[178]

Germain Lussier of iO9 ranked the film as the best of 2018. "Can you believe this? A Spider-Man movie is the best movie of the year. And not just any Spider-Man movie, an animated Spider-Man movie featuring Miles Morales meeting other Spider-people from different dimensions. There's no way when any of us first heard about what would become Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that we could have dreamed the film would be as incredible as it is. That it would look so good, be so exciting, have such poignant and important messages, and truly nail the heart of the character. That it could wrangle our emotions and surprise us at every turn. Spider-Verse may not just be one of the best superhero films of all time, it may be one of the best-animated films of all time too. There almost aren't enough words to adequately describe this movie, but here's one that comes close: perfection."

Site	Critic(s)	Rank
Austin360[179]	Joe Gross	Unspecified
Austin Chronicle[180]	Matthew Monagle	Ninth
Austin Chronicle[181]	Richard Whittaker	Ninth
BBC Culture[182]	Nicholas Barber	Sixth
Birth. Movies. Death.[183]	Leigh Monson	Fourth
Birth. Movies. Death.[184]	Priscilla Page	Unspecified
Birth. Movies. Death.[185]	Scott Wampler	Sixth
Boston Globe[186]	Ty Burr	Unspecified
Business Insider[187]	Jason Guerrasio	Second
BuzzFeed[188]	Alison Willmore	Ninth
CBC[189]	Eli Glasner	Second
Chicago Daily Herald[190]	Dann Gire	Unspecified
Chicago Sun Times[191]	Richard Roeper	Ninth
CinemaBlend[192]	Staff Consensus	First
CNN[193]	Brian Lowry	Unspecified
Collider[194]	Matt Goldberg	Fourth
Collider[195]	Vinnie Mancuso	Second
Collider[196]	Perri Nemiroff	Seventh
ComingSoon.net[197]	Alan Cerny	Second
ComingSoon.net	Scott Chitwood	Second
ComingSoon.net	Max Evry	Ninth
ComingSoon.net	Spencer Perry	Fifth
Den of Geek[198]	Staff Consensus	Third
Den of Geek[199]	David Crow	Tenth
Film Pulse[200]	Chris Luciantonio	Sixth
Film Pulse[201]	Adam Patterson	Ninth
The Film Stage[202]	Christopher Schobert	Tenth
Filmspotting[203]	Tasha Robinson	Fourth
First Showing[204]	Adam Frazier	Fourth
Gamespot[205]	Staff Consensus	Unspecified
Gatehouse Media[206]	Ed Symkus	Unspecified
The Globe & Mail[207]	Barry Hertz	Tenth
Heat Vision at The Hollywood Reporter[208]	Borys Kit	First (Tie)
The Hollywood Reporter[209]	Michael Rechtshaffen	Ninth
IGN	Staff Consensus	First
iO9[210]	Germain Lussier	First
JoBlo[211]	Staff Consensus	Unspecified
Mashable[212]	Angie Han	Fourth
National Post[213]	Chris Knight	Fifth
National Review[214]	Kyle Smith	Third
Nerdist[215]	Staff Consensus	Sixth
New York Post[216]	Johnny Oleksinski	Fifth
Paste[217]	Staff Consensus	Third
The Playlist[218]	Oktay Ege Kozak	Fifth
PopCulture.com[219]	Staff Consensus	Second
Relevant[220]	Tyler Daswick	Seventh
RogerEbert.com[221]	Odie Henderson	Ninth
RogerEbert.com	Kristy Puchko	Fifth
RogerEbert.com	Collin Souter	Fifth
The Salt Lake Tribune[222]	Sean P. Means	Third
San Francisco Examiner[223]	Jeffrey M. Anderson	Tenth
Screen Rant[224]	Staff Consensus	Second
Slashfilm[225]	Hoai-Tran Bui	Seventh
Slashfilm[226]	Jeff Cannata	First
Slashfilm[227]	David Chen	Fifth
Slashfilm[228]	Jacob Hall	Second
Slashfilm[229]	Devindra Hardawar	Ninth
Slashfilm[230]	Ben Pearson	Second
Star Tribune[231]	Chris Hewitt	Third
Toledo Blade[232]	Kirk Baird	Third
Uproxx[233]	Staff Consensus	Eighth
USA Today[234]	Brian Truitt	Sixth
Vice[235]	Noel Ransome	Unspecified
Washington City Paper[236]	Staff Consensus	Unspecified
WhatCulture[237]	Staff Consensus	Second
Wired[238]	Staff Consensus	Unspecified
Yahoo Movies[239]	Staff Consensus	Seventh

Future[]

• See Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

On November 27th, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Sony already had plans for a sequel and spinoff. Amy Pascal will return to produce. Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Avi Arad, and Christina Steinberg are expected to return though no deals have been made.^[240]

Joaquim Dos Santos is currently set to direct the sequel with David Callaham writing. No details regarding the sequel were initially given other than that this film would plant seeds for one. Pascal said in a later interview that the sequel would feature the romance between Miles and Gwen, something this movie largely cut out of the original script. On November 1st, 2019, the sequel was given a release date of April 8th, 2022.^[241] On April 19th, 2021, Sony officially confirmed Dos Santos as director along with Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson.^[242] Thompson served as a production designer on the first film.

Lauren Montgomery is in negotiations to direct the spinoff with Bek Smith writing. The initial report only revealed about the planned spinoff was that it would feature an all-female team. It was later revealed that the spinoff would focus on Gwen teaming up with Cindy Moon/Silk, and Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman who all star in the comic series Spider-Women. Pascal noted they are also trying to get a Silk live-action film made but noted that the differences between the two portrayals would be like Doctor Octopus in this film and Alfred Molina in Spider-Man 2.

Pascal said, "I think it's great that we're going to be able to tell movies about female superheroes in this realm, and in the live-action realm as well, because I believe that there are going to be characters that really resonate for people. They're funny and quirky and different, and heroic in all kinds of different ways that only animation allows you to do."

Each of the characters were written with the possibility that they could be in their own spinoff, with Spider-Ham being one the producers are especially excited to consider.

Moore expressed interest in reprising the role for live-action. "I definitely want to be the live action Miles Morales. I understand that he's a young kid, but hopefully you know, they can play with time and put me in there. But I'm thankful for the opportunity. I would love to be fighting Venom as Miles, with Tom Hardy. You know what I mean? That would be great. I would love to play on screen with my favorite actor out right now." He added, "Yeah, at the end of Venom they show our clip, Into the Spider-Verse. And I think that's a seed, it just has to be. Hopefully in the bigger universe, I look like Miles Morales, all I have to do is cut my hair, so let's make it happen."^[243]

An Aunt May prequel has been rumored but dismissed by numerous sources, and actresses who have played her. In response to this, Miller said, "Once you open up your mind to alternate universes, and it doesn't have to be canon, then you're a little more forgiving to try thought experiments that could be fun or interesting. Lily Tomlin did an amazing job, the idea was that she would be the Q to Spider-Man's Bond in this universe."

Pascal stated that having both animated and live-action Spider-Man films simply made the franchise better and bigger.^[244]

In a candid interview, Lord and Miller said that characters they would like to see in future installments included Silk, Spider-Punk, the Japanese Spider-Man, and Italian Spiderman. Miller said, "What's cool about the movie is that if you are into that sort of stuff, the deep comic-book canon, it's awesome. But even if you have no understanding of what comic books are, and you've never opened a page of one, these movies are still for you, too."^[245]

When asked, Lord and Miller said that live-action Spider-Man actor Tom Holland was not off limits for future sequels. "Nothing is off limits. The beauty of the multi-verse is that literally anything is possible, any variation you can think of. We'd like to think that all of these movies and worlds can exist in parallel, and you know, we'll see what happens."^[246]

Miller joked that he would like to see Midnight Run, a buddy cop comedy action film, with Spider-Man (2099) and Spider-Man (1967) saying, "That would be amazing."

Rotten Tomatoes called news of the sequel and spin-offs to be the best movie news of December in 2018.^[247]

Writer Phil Lord said on Twitter, though it may have been a joke, that if the film made $200 million domestically he would put the Japanese Spider-Man into the sequel. This Spider-Man did play a part in the Spider-Verse comics and his Leopardon was included as a drawing of Miles.^[248] After the announcement for the release date of the sequel, Lord did say that this Spider-Man had been designed.^[249]

Director Rodney Rothman indicated that Olivia Octavius, who seemingly died in the finale, would return for future installments. In an interview he said, "In the end, we found the movie played fine without us tagging every single possible thing. But we definitely think of Liv as someone who is not gone from the story, and who in many ways, is our most powerful bad guy. She's manipulating a lot of things to achieve her own grand ambitions."^[250]

On April 29th, 2019, it was announced that Lord and Miller signed a five-year deal with Sony Pictures Televison to develop both live-action and animated series. Some series would be adaptations of their Marvel characters, known as the "Spider-Verse." At the time, it was unspecified if any of these series would tie into this film.^[251]

Longtime Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal signed a deal with Universal Pictures seemingly ending her relationship with Sony. However, she stated that she would continue co-producing works already in production.^[252]

On October 14th, 2021, a LinkedIn profile for animator Simon Corbaux stated he was working on a film called Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, leading to the belief that this was the title for the sequel. However, not only did Corbaux remove the listing but later his page was removed entirely.^[253]

On December 4th, 2021 the official title of the sequel was revealed to be Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, being made back-to-back with Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.^[254]

Influence[]

On October 1st, 2020, it was announced that actor Jamie Foxx would be playing Electro in the third Spider-Man film from Marvel Studios. Foxx previously played Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is a separate continuity from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. He would be joining J. K. Simmons in the film, who previously played J. Jonah Jameson in the original Sam Raimi film series. This led to speculation that Into the Spider-Verse would have far reaching consequences for the live action films. Interestingly, Raimi would return to Marvel by making Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which presumably deals with the same subject matter as this film.^[255]

The annual The Simpsons Halloween special "Treehouse of Horror XXXI", which aired October 18th, 2020, has a segment parodying the film. The second segment is called Into the Homerverse and feature different versions of Homer Simpson coming together including a pixelated version, one based on Hanna-Barbera character Snagglepuss, a noir version, and a female Disney princess version.^[256]

The version of Miles Morales seen in the film became a pre-order bonus alternate suit for the 2020 video game Spider-Man: Miles Morales as well as being unlockable.^[257]

References[]

External Links[]

• Official Website
• Screenplay
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Metacritic
• Box Office Mojo
• IMP Awards
• Amazon
• iTunes
• Marvel Animation Age
• Internet Movie Database
• Wikipedia
• Marvel Database
• Marvel Movies

Sony Universe
Films	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse • Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse • Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
Shorts	Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham • The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story
Comics	Spider-Man: Octopus Girl