As Miles Morales struggles to use his powers, there’s an image of Jackie Robinson in the background. This scene completely exemplifies Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and paints a vivid picture of the film’s heartfelt message: Anyone can be Spider-Man.
Jackie Robinson fought, struggled, and paved a path for anyone to achieve their dreams. Apparently, directors Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, and Robert Persichetti Jr. were inspired by the legendary baseball player, because there are clear parallels between him and Miles Morales.
With a black dad and a Hispanic mom, Miles Morales is the first bi-racial Spider-Man to hit the big screen. He is a pioneer for children of color everywhere and makes us all believe that we can achieve anything we want – even if our dream is to become a superhero.
The moment the film starts, you feel as though you’re transported into an entirely different universe. You leave reality and enter a world full of color, action, and adventure. You no longer hear the movie’s words, you see them on the screen and you feel as though you yourself have become a comic book character.
The animations in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse are completely new and unique, and you know that you’re watching a part of movie history as soon as you see the opening credits. There’s no other movie out there that is able to take animation and build a world that’s much more real and engaging than reality.
The story follows teenager Miles Morales as he battles high school, teachers, and talking to girls. However, his life literally turns upside down when he gets bit by a spider and ends up crawling up walls and the sides of buildings.
Now, we’ve definitely heard this story before. Spider-Man’s origin story has been played over and over again in movies, shows, and comics. However, that’s exactly where the similarities between Miles Morales and past Spider-Men end. After getting bit by his spider, Miles shows us an entirely new side of Spider-Man and opens up a whole world full of possibilities.
In the film, the space-time continuum is disrupted and all of the different Spider-Verses are merging together. Although this is extremely bad for the universe and fate of humanity, it allows Miles to meet some other-worldly Spider-people to help him on his heroic path. These heroes all come with their own personalities that are both hilarious, engaging, and fun. They make us fall in love with each and every one of them as they attempt to return to their own universe.
The best part of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is that it doesn’t simply focus on Miles’ transformation to Spider-Man. Every character in the film has his or her own arc that may or may not be fulfilled at the end of the film. We watch as Miles’ dad, a police officer with a deep-rooted hatred for Spider-Man, fights his inner demons and attempts to connect with his son. We also see Peter B. Parker, a Spider-Man from another dimension come to terms with his life decisions, and Gwen Stacy dealing with her relationship issues.
Throughout these character arcs, we become drawn into the story and start to feel as though they’re our friends, our family members, and our enemies. There’s also just enough humor to guide the story along and more than enough emotion to make us shed a tear (or bawl our eyes out).
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Overall, I give Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse a solid 9 out of 10. I believe it’s the best adaptation of Spider-Man ever made and will draw anyone and everyone into the world of comics.