I was never a huge Spider-Man fan, for a long time in my life. It took getting into superhero movies (albeit, the Marvel Cinematic Universe) for me to give the original Spider-Man movies with Tobey Maguire a shot, and then the remakes with Andrew Garfield. I even became a fan of Tom Holland’s version of the friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man.
But nothing – and I mean nothing – compares to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Miles Morales is a game-changer. The whole entire movie really is, anyway. Marvel really pulled this one out of the park and left nothing behind. While I could talk about how much I love it right here, I’m going to turn to the rest of this list to explain why I think that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the best Spider-Man movie of all time.
The Representation Is Off The Charts (POC, Different Races, Different Ages)
Not only is Miles Morales both an African American and Puerto Rican (one half of who I am, as a proud Latina), the group team-up in this is amazing. From Spider-Gwen (a woman) to a Japanese girl, to someone from the 1930s (an older man), all the way down to a dog (a little bit of a joke but still cute). The amount of inclusiveness in this is insane and really shows that no matter who you are, black, white, old, young – even dog or cat, you can wear the mask. And for someone like me, that means a lot.
Into The Spider-Verse’s Animation Is Stunning
Admittedly, I originally didn’t want to see this movie because I thought the animation was going to hurt my eyes. But boy, was I wrong. The animation is so unique and beautiful. I never thought watching a straight-up comic book movie would be like watching art, but from the fight scenes to Miles’ little voice inside his head, they did a wonderful job with it.
The Multiple Origin Stories Is Banger
With every different Spider-Man comes a different origin story, and sometimes that may be hard to juggle for a movie like this but the producers and creators did such a great job showing how there were so many different ways to become a hero. But the constant reoccurring theme is that no matter what they took the classic ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ line and ran with it with all of these amazing sequences. And truly, I never could have been happier.
The Best Action Sequences Are In Into the Spider-Verse
I mean, it is a superhero movie despite it being animated. I’m sure all of us at some point were expecting some awesome action scenes, but I don’t think any of the viewers were quite expecting how amazing they would be. Some of these scenes are so visually breathtaking that it just took my breath away. Colorful and beautiful. That one part where it just freezes when Miles is falling down and the world looks upside down – ugh, just kill me movie, why don’t you?
The Contrast Between Old Man Peter Parker And Miles Brings Surprising Emotional Depth
I was a huge fan of the relationship between these two. The bright-eyed, bushy-tailed new guy who just wants to learn how to save the world and the tired, beaten-down hero who just wants to take a nap. Not only did it provide comedic relief from the sometimes heavy nature of the film, watching Peter Parker somehow find his strength again after everything he loved was taken from him really makes you think, how no matter what, we can always get back up and try to be the hero again.
The Overlapping Themes In Into The Spider-Verse Are Beautiful
There are so many themes within this movie that just fit so well together. The idea of getting back up after you’ve been knocked down, never giving up. That anyone can wear the mask, no matter who you are or where you come from. That even when you don’t trust yourself, everything is a leap of faith, and you just have to take it. Damn, I’m crying already thinking about it. All of it ties in beautifully to this movie to show that sometimes, we need to trust ourselves and where we’re going, despite the fear that we may feel. And that’s a lesson that can get carried on to the real world.
The Soundtrack Is Amazing
I mean, I feel like I don’t need to dive too deep into this one because everyone knows “Sunflower” is a bop, but the rest of the soundtrack slaps too. It’s just a fun, upbeat, type of music that makes you want to cheer for Miles, while also making you move in your seat and dance with him, or ‘attempt’ to sing like him – even if we’re not super good at it.
The Easter Eggs
It’s a Marvel movie. Of course, there will be easter eggs. The very first one in the movie is related to Spider-Man 3. It’s just so funny for people who have seen the former Spider-Man movies or Marvel moves, or even read the comics, that there are these little tiny bits of information that only you can quite understand. It’s a really nice, interesting tie-in to fans of the series that have been around for a while and not just the ones who came to watch just this movie.
The Set Design In Into The Spider-Verse Is Astounding
Look. I’m from New York. I grew up about twenty minutes from the city, had family members that I visited every single weekend in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. And they killed it with the set design in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful representation of the city that I love so dearly. But not only that, they truly made it look so colorful and magical that to an extent, I wanted to leave the real world and step into this comic-book version of it.
Stan Lee Makes An Appearance Post-Death (Already Crying)
Stan Lee, one of the creative leaders of Marvel and creators of many of the superheroes we all know and love today, passed away in 2018, about a month before Into the Spider-Verse released in theaters. As someone who was seriously crushed by the news, seeing his face in the animation, as well as hearing his voice again made me sob like a little baby who just got her first shot. And even though his line from this was sort of soaked in a no-refund policy (he was a store-manager in the movie), “it (the suit) always fits eventually,” we can equate that to anything in real life, how at first something seems scary but we always grow into it. And that was simply perfect to cap off one of his last cameos ever. Rest in Excelsior, Stan.
You can stream Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse on Netflix here.
