Released in 2018, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse tells a story about what Spider-Man means and why anyone can wear the mask, and it does so through a visual language so distinctive and so precisely calibrated to its subject that the form and the content become inseparable. No previous Spider-Man film had attempted anything like it. Very few films in any genre have.
At a Glance
Director: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Runtime: 117 minutes
Starring: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez
Release: 2018
Critics Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars, the finest superhero film of its decade)
Audience Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars, a film that changed what animation could be)
Plot
Miles Morales is a teenager from Brooklyn who is bitten by a radioactive spider and discovers he has inherited the powers of Spider-Man. When the Kingpin activates a collider that tears holes in the multiverse, Miles finds himself alongside multiple versions of Spider-Man from different dimensions: a tired, divorced Peter B. Parker, Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham. Together they must destroy the collider before it tears New York apart, while Miles struggles to master powers he does not yet understand. The plot is constructed with precision and economy, and the film earns its climax by establishing exactly what it costs Miles to become Spider-Man.
Characters
Miles Morales is one of the great characters in superhero cinema. His relationship with his father, a man who loves him deeply and expresses it badly, is the film's emotional engine, and the scene in which Jefferson Davis speaks to his son through a closed door, not knowing Miles can hear him, is among the most moving moments in the genre's history. Jake Johnson's Peter B. Parker is a brilliant creation: a Spider-Man who has failed at everything the character is supposed to stand for and who finds, in mentoring Miles, a reason to try again. Hailee Steinfeld's Gwen Stacy is given a depth and specificity that live-action versions of the character rarely achieved. Shameik Moore's voice performance is assured in the best sense, finding Miles's humour, vulnerability, and growing confidence with a naturalism that makes the character wholly convincing. Mahershala Ali's brief appearance as Miles's uncle Aaron gives the film one of its most devastating sequences. Brian Tyree Henry's Jefferson Davis is the film's most underrated performance: a man whose love is expressed through worry and discipline, treated with complexity and compassion.
Meaning / Themes
The film's central argument is that anyone can wear the mask: Spider-Man is not a specific person but an idea, a set of values that can be embodied by anyone with the courage and will to try. This is a radical statement in a genre historically reluctant to move beyond its established protagonists, and the film makes it not through polemic but through the quality of its storytelling. Miles's journey is the most emotionally honest origin story the genre has produced.
Direction
The direction is a collective achievement of staggering ambition. The film's visual style, drawing on comic book printing techniques, halftone dots, misregistered colours, and multiple simultaneous animation styles, is not merely decorative but expressive, using the language of comics to tell a story about comics in a way no previous adaptation had attempted. The climax, in which Miles finally embraces his identity and leaps into the void, is one of the great sequences in superhero cinema, a moment that earns its scale through everything that precedes it.
The film's tonal range is astonishing. It is funny, with a comic rhythm and visual wit that operates on multiple levels. It is deeply moving, with emotional beats that land with a force the genre's live-action entries rarely achieve. And it is thrilling, with action sequences of a visual invention that makes the best live-action superhero action look pedestrian. The film moves between these registers with a fluency that feels effortless, even though the craft required is immense. Daniel Pemberton's score blends orchestral and hip-hop influences with a precision that mirrors the film's own tonal agility.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse received universal critical acclaim on its release and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, becoming the first superhero film to win in that category. It performed strongly at the box office for an animated film with an unconventional visual style, and its cultural impact has been significant and enduring. It is now regarded as one of the defining films of its decade in any genre, and its influence on subsequent animation, both in its visual approach and its willingness to centre non-white protagonists, has been widely noted. The film's argument that anyone can be Spider-Man resonated with audiences globally and is regarded as one of the most important creative statements in the franchise's history.
Final Verdict: A landmark of animation, superhero cinema, and popular storytelling. Into the Spider-Verse reinvented what animated films could look like, what superhero films could say, and what Spider-Man could mean. Miles Morales is one of the great characters in the genre's history, the visual invention is without precedent, and the clarity of its emotional argument is matched by the ambition of its craft. The finest Spider-Man film ever made.