Review: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse might be the best comic adaptation ever

If you haven’t kept up-to-date with the increasingly convoluted slate of Spider-Man comics in recent years, creators have expanded the character’s mythos by showcasing a number of Spidey’s from different dimensions, which differ from the Peter Parker we’ve come to know over the decades in revealing and sometimes ridiculous ways. The most popular and impactful of these various Spider-people is Miles Morales, a young biracial teenager who takes up the Spidey mantle when the Peter Parker in his universe dies.

As the title implies, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse dives head-first into the Spider-Man mythos and throws a number of these alternate dimension Spidey’s into one gloriously strange and hilarious animated movie, one that replicates the feeling of reading an actual comic better than any superhero film has ever done. Co-directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, and based on a story by Phil Lord (who co-wrote the similarly zany The Lego Movie with Christopher Miller), Into the Spider-Verse is a bold and exciting new direction for a character that seems to get the reboot treatment every 3 years.

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is a smart kid in New York City who gets bit by a radioactive spider just before the Spider-Man in his universe is killed while trying to stop a giant collider device from opening up the pathway to alternate dimensions. In the small time the portal is open, a number of Spider-folk from across the multiverse make their way to Miles’ world, including Peter B. Parker, a grumpy Spider-Man with a dad bod (Jake Johnson), Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), the scene-stealing Spider-Man Noir, who exists only in black & white and speaks exclusively in 1930’s Bogart-isms (Nicolas Cage), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), the Manga-esque version of Spider-Man who comes complete with a robot companion, and finally, Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), who is essentially a Looney Tunes version of a superhero.

Once the various Spider-folk encounter each other, they band together to defeat the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), who was responsible for opening the portal in the first place, in order to send everyone back to their respective dimensions.

Throwing this many strange characters into one film is a risky proposition, but somehow Into the Spider-Verse manages to juggle all of this insanity while still providing some real character moments. Miles Morales remains the center of this absurd crew, and his relationship to his newfound powers (and we all know what comes with great powers) provides the true heart of this movie. While dealing with the responsibility of becoming Spider-Man, Miles also has his parents to contend with (including a delightful Brian Tyree Henry as a doting cop father), along with his relationship with his estranged uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali).

Much of Into the Spider-Verse is basically a buddy movie between a grumpy Peter Parker and his excitable young protegé in Miles Morales, which provide some of the best laughs in what is already one of the funniest movies of the year. Their interactions also lead to some of the film’s most heartwarming moments as the duo learn from each other, not just about being the best Spider-Man you can be, but the best person in general.

While the plot may be fairly generic, the look of this film is simply remarkable. Like a 60’s issue of Amazing Spider-Man come to life, the screen is often broken up into panels with speech balloons, with the backgrounds even retaining the dot matrix look of old printed paper. This is an animated film that actually looks like it has texture, a unique and visceral style that changes a number of times throughout the film. As the different spider-folks come into the picture, the animation often changes styles completely, from the Manga-inspired kaleidoscopic flourishes when Peni Parker roars into action, to the stunningly psychedelic 2001-esque finale.

Into the Spider-Verse boasts an incredible lineup of voice actors, with everyone giving it their all. Nearly every character here is interesting enough to lead their own movie, from Nicolas Cage’s beyond-bleak Spider-Man Noir to John Mulaney’s hilarious Spider-Ham. Jake Johnson gives a pitch-perfect performance as Peter B. Parker, a down on his luck schlub whose decisions have lost him the love of his life, but the film really succeeds due to Shameik Moore’s portrayal of Miles Morales, who may just be the most relatable version of Spider-Man ever brought to the screen.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a definite gamble from the studio — this is the umpteenth version(s) of Spider-Man in recent years, and the dreaded superhero fatigue should be setting in with this character by now. But by blowing open the possibilities of who can actually wear the mask, the filmmakers have created a much richer and inclusive superhero world. The film ends with a very touching post-credits tribute to Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee, and Into the Spider-Verse is a rousing testament to the power and longevity of the character he helped create over 50 years ago. Here’s hoping he got to see it.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is in theatres now.