Being a Spider-Man comic or film does not mean we have to love every single installment. But there’s something unexplainable which occurs in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” whether you’re a fan of the Marvel Universe or not, or too sceptical about the animated version of it, you will simple admire. And not only that, respect and appreciation will be in the air for movie no matter in what continent you watch it. Because it is rich, colorful, intense, creative, intelligent, funny and more importantly, it’s so damn entertaining.
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” directed by a great ensemble of directors, Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman take us to the world of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) who finds himself in a shared multiverse called “Spider-Verse”, which is full of different alternate universes that has its own super heroes. When Peter Parker dies right in front of Miles, still feeling helpless, the young man is determined to keep the promise he gave to his dying hero that he will stop Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) and his Super Collider.
The film begins with Peter Parker who pretty much tells us the old story of how he became Spider-Man. Then, we are taken to Brooklyn where we meet Miles Morales who does his best to live up to the expectations of his parents, Rio Morales and police officer Jefferson Davis. Doing great at school, the young man befriends “Gwanda”(Hailee Steinfeld), his classmate for whom he started developing some feelings. His uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) may not be the best man on Earth to teach him who to become, but continues being a soft spot for Miles, especially after being taken to an abandoned subway station where he could continue drawing his graffiti. This is when he got bitten by a genetically modified spider that slow turns him into the Spider-Man of his universe, but with skills he’s yet to develop.
It is actually quite interesting the way character development progresses in the film. For instance, the Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) we knew was happy with MJ (Zoë Kravitz) and continues being the only tool in the fight against enemies, in this case, Kingpin. The other Spider-Man is not so happily married with MJ, and in fact separated. He does not work out any more and has gained some weight. All the Spider-Men you meet in the film, especially the one from the 1933, known as Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage) are so interesting and absorbing, no matter how much they try to hold back, there’s always more we learn about them as the film progresses.
We also learn about why Kingpin came to the idea to create the Super Collider and why he so viciously takes Spider-Man’s life. All these occurs in the light of an intense fight of Miles Morales with his new identity that he must be careful of not revealing to the world. Despite his young age, he appears more mature than all the other version of Spider-Men, however, as he’s the only one who realizes the price of sacrifice and is willing to make it in the name of good.
Needless to say how delightful and enjoyable Sony’s “Spider-Man: Into the Verse” is. It’s truly stunning seeing the level of creativity, thinking outside the box, and limitless possibilities that were unset to reach one goal – to deliver the best animated Spider-Man movie you will probably see in your entire life. Stan Lee’s cameo was emotional and appealing. After all, if it were not for Stan Lee, there would be no Spider-Man whatsoever. The cast, of course, did an amazing job by breathing voice into these amazingly cool characters that felt more alive than it is possible to describe.
In the end, everything comes to one conclusion, “Into the Verse” is a story of one boy who at some point will say, “If I don’t destroy the collider, none of us will have a home to go to.” It’s about dreams that comes true. It’s about the Universe we all love. It’s about one particular character no matter from what Universe, we all must rely on. And to quote Stan Lee, he said, “I guess one person can make a difference,” which comes to Miles Morales who got a chance to make that difference both visible and invisible to his world at the same time. Because the hero is not one who brags about its super abilities, but one who shares the same abilities without revealing his real name.