Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a 2018 American animated superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman from a screenplay by Phil Lord and Rothman, it is the first animated film in the Spider-Man franchise. Shameik Moore stars as the voice of Miles Morales, with Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Vélez, Zoë Kravitz, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn, Nicolas Cage, Kathryn Hahn, and Liev Schreiber in supporting voice roles. The film's story follows Miles as he becomes the new Spider-Man and teams up with other Spider-People from various parallel universes to save his universe from the Kingpin. It was produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel Entertainment.
Plans for an animated Spider-Man film by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were leaked in 2014 and announced in April 2015. Persichetti, Ramsey and Rothman joined over the next two years, with Moore and Schreiber cast in April 2017. Lord and Miller wanted the film to have a unique style, combining computer animation with hand-drawn comic techniques inspired by the work of Miles Morales co-creator Sara Pichelli. The film required the largest crew of animators used by Sony Pictures Animation on a feature film.
The film premiered at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on December 1, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 14. The film grossed $395 million worldwide against a $90 million budget and received critical acclaim. The film won Best Animated Feature at the 91st Academy Awards, and numerous other accolades. The film is lauded as one of the most important animated films of the 2010s, and acknowledged for its groundbreaking achievement in animation, with praise for its aesthetics and recognition of its influence.
A sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, was released on June 2, 2023, to similar critical acclaim and greater commercial success, while a third film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, is scheduled for release on June 18, 2027, with spin-offs in development.
Plot
New York City teenager Miles Morales struggles to live up to the expectations of his father, police officer Jefferson Davis, who sees Spider-Man, the superhero persona of Peter Parker, as a menace. Miles's uncle Aaron takes him to an abandoned metro station to paint graffiti as a way to cheer him up. There, Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider and gains abilities similar to Spider-Man. Returning to the station, he discovers a collider built by Kingpin, who hopes to access parallel universes to abduct alternate versions of his late wife Vanessa and son Richard, whose deaths he condemns Peter for.
Peter attempts to shut down the collider while fighting Kingpin's enforcers the Green Goblin and Prowler, but is badly wounded when Green Goblin shoves him into it. He gives Miles a USB flash drive designed to sabotage the collider, warning that the machine could destroy the city if reactivated. After watching in horror as Kingpin murders Peter, Miles flees. As the city mourns Peter's death, Miles tries to honor his legacy by succeeding him as Spider-Man but inadvertently damages the flash drive. At Peter's grave, he meets an alternate Peter from another dimension.
The duo infiltrate Alchemax to steal data for a new flash drive. They are confronted by its proprietor, Olivia Octavius, who discovers that Peter will die from cellular decay if he remains in their dimension. She reveals herself as this universe's Doctor Octopus and attempts to attack, chasing Miles and Peter into the nearby forest. The duo are then saved by Gwen Stacy, a Spider-Woman from another dimension. Following her defeat, Octavius returns to the lab where a furious Kingpin is waiting for her, whom she reassures that getting rid of them will be no problem and he and his family will be reunited. They visit Spider-Man's aunt, May, who is sheltering more Spider-People from other dimensions who slipped into Miles' universe due to the collider's influence – Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker and Spider-Ham – who are also deteriorating. Miles offers to help the others return home but they tell him he lacks experience.
Distraught, Miles retreats to Aaron's apartment, where he discovers his uncle is Prowler. He returns to the Parker house, where the new drive is completed, being followed by Kingpin's team. In the ensuing brawl, he reveals his identity to Aaron. Unwilling to murder his own nephew, Aaron attempts to spare Miles, but is fatally shot by Kingpin in retaliation and dies in Miles' arms. Miles flees just as Jefferson arrives on the scene and mistakes the new Spider-Man as his brother's murderer before regrouping with the other Spider-People. Not wanting to let Miles get killed, Peter restrains Miles and chooses to sacrifice himself by staying behind and deactivating the collider.
Jefferson arrives outside the door of Miles's dorm room as he apologizes for his mistakes and expresses his faith in Miles, inspiring him. Miles manages to control his powers, escapes his restraints and creates his own Spider-Man suit with the help of Aunt May. He joins his allies in defeating Kingpin's enforcers and uses the new drive to send them home. Kingpin fights and overpowers Miles, attracting Jefferson's attention. Realizing that Spider-Man is not the menace he saw him as, he encourages Miles, who throws Kingpin at the collider's kill switch, destroying it. The city is saved and Kingpin's team is arrested as Jefferson receives evidence of Kingpin's murders of Aaron and the first Spider-Man.
Miles embraces the responsibilities of his new life. Later, Gwen finds a way to contact Miles from her home dimension. Elsewhere, Miguel O'Hara travels to Earth-67 and ends up arguing with its Spider-Man.
Voice cast
Shameik Moore as Miles Morales / Spider-Man: An intelligent and rebellious teenager of African-American and Puerto Rican descent, who is imbued with spider-like abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider and eventually becomes the new Spider-Man. Producers Lord and Miller described the character as unique among Spider-Men because of his Brooklyn upbringing, his African-American and Puerto-Rican background, and the fact that his family is still alive, with that family dynamic being central to the film's story. Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker / Spider-Man: Miles' reluctant mentor, a disheveled, jaded and brown-haired 38-year-old counterpart of Spider-Man from another dimension. The character is intended to be an amalgamation of all pop culture Spider-Man adaptations and interpretations. Lord and Miller envisioned him to be like Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid franchise, if "Mr. Miyagi doesn't know anything", which they thought was a "really neat color to put onto Peter that we hadn't seen before". Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen / Spider-Woman: A dimensionally-displaced counterpart of Gwen Stacy with spider-like abilities, who takes up the alias of "Gwanda" while at Miles' school. In onscreen comic books while explaining her origin story, the character is referred to as "Spider-Gwen". Her relationship with Miles is depicted as a growing friendship, while he displays outward romantic feelings on his end. This decision was made to avoid relegating Gwen to being a love interest and to help her to be defined by her capability as a hero. Mahershala Ali as Aaron Davis / The Prowler: Miles' uncle, who moonlights as a masked enforcer for Kingpin while keeping it a secret from his family. The character is rebellious, causing him to be looked at poorly by Jefferson. Brian Tyree Henry as Jefferson Davis: Miles' African-American and police officer father, who disapproves of Spider-Man's vigilante actions. At the age of thirty-five, Henry had said he was too young to portray a father of a teenager, but agreed to the role after learning that Miles Morales was the only black and Latino Spider-Man. Lily Tomlin as May Parker: Peter's aunt, who is deceased in Peter B. Parker's universe and provides refuge for the other Spider-People in Miles' universe. Luna Lauren Vélez as Rio Morales: Miles's Puerto Rican and nurse mother. Zoë Kravitz as Mary Jane "MJ" Parker: Peter Parker's wife in Miles's universe and Peter B. Parker's ex-wife in his universe. John Mulaney as Peter Porker / Spider-Ham: A talking animal-based Spider-Man from a cartoon-based anthropomorphic universe, who was once a spider, bitten by a radioactive pig. Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker / SP//dr: A young Japanese-American girl from an alternative and anime-based universe who copilots her late father's biomechanical suit with a radioactive spider that she shares a telepathic link with. The filmmakers initially considered using Silk as their Asian-American Spider-Man, but eventually settled on Peni because of her more distinctive power set compared to the other Spider-People. The character's designs went through a few iterations as her initial design was particularly "iffy". Production designer Justin Thompson considered Lord and Miller's desire to use an anime design and came up with the idea to portray her in an art style similar to Sailor Moon. Nicolas Cage as Peter Parker / Spider-Man Noir: A Spider-Man from a monochromatic universe set in the 1930s. Cage based the character on the films of Humphrey Bogart and voices of actors from that era such as James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. Kathryn Hahn as Doctor Olivia Octavius / Doctor Octopus: The head scientist and CEO of Alchemax and a scientific adviser to Kingpin. The character uses highly advanced tentacles and is featured in much of the marketing for Alchemax, even being seen in a documentary shown at Miles' school. Liev Schreiber as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin: A crime lord and the benefactor of Alchemax in Miles' dimension. The character is heavily responsible for the creation of the collider and is attempting to bring an alternate version of his deceased family into his dimension.
In addition to the six main versions of Spider-Man present in the film, Chris Pine is featured as the version of Peter Parker's Spider-Man native to Miles' dimension. Though the character offers to mentor Miles, he is murdered by Kingpin following the collider's activation before he can do so. This iteration of Parker was intended to be "as competent a Spider-Man as possible" and combines elements from previous Spider-Man portrayals, but with slight differences to indicate that he is from a different universe than the others. According to Parker's eulogy, he was a graduate student and married to Mary Jane Parker.