Written by Jambareeqi

Posted 10th December 2017

So, the Trailer for an upcoming animated adaptation of Spider-Man has recently been released. This teaser features Spidey in action, but not as agile as we know him, and to make things weirder… it turns out that there’s more than one Spider-Man! You see, this movie is based on a Spider-Man comic series called the Spider-Vise, which I will admit that I have not read personally.

The Hero on screen is Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino teenager who dons the Spidey suit following the death of Peter Parker, and as far as I know, we’re yet to learn the identity of the other Spider-Man in the trailer.

The trailer itself is a rush of energy, seeing Miles fall from a tower, hop between cars, and land a little clumsily onto a roof. Now, I’ve not read the editions of Spider-Man that feature Miles, so this trailer is sort of my introduction him. I actually like how rough and flawed his athletics are, there’s something identifiable about a super hero who isn’t quite perfect. So, colour me intrigued regarding his character.

The trailer is going for a red & black cyber punk visual style, and features a hard hip hop/cinematic orchestral soundtrack, getting us truly pumped up about a grittier take on the web swinging hero. It’s an artistic look that’s rarely seen in Western animation, so how can we not get hyped up?

Despite the dark tone, I’m doubtful that this adaptation will be entirely serious, considering that renowned comedy filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie, 21 Jump Street, Cloudy with a chance of meatballs) are attached to the project. Both Lord and Miller are taking on producing duties, with Lord on scripting respectively. Oh and Gravity Falls’ Alex Hirsch helped with the story, a dude who is awesome at coming up with fantastical black comedy tales. I’m excited to see a controlled balance of dark drama and a self aware sense of humour, maybe something harking back to the classic Teen Titans TV Show.

The idea of multiple Spider-Men is a fascinating twist too, how will this world work? What will the relationships between all this duplicate Spider-Men be like? If there’s more than one Spider-Man, what does the Super Hero identity mean to Miles? I can’t wait to see how the film will answer these questions. I’m certain that fans of the Spider-Verse comics already have a strong idea, but as an outsider of that series, this is fresh material to me.

Although, there’s still stuff here to make me feel on the fence. Firstly, the fact that Sony Animation is involved is already a red flag, considering that the studio’s recent productions of “The Emoji Movie” and “The Star” featured some grotesque levels of pandering. My fear is if this string of laziness will carry on through into this film, but I really hope not.

Second of all, I’m uncertain about why the frame rate is intentionally off kilter, this isn’t Lord & Miller’s “The LEGO Movie”, which wanted to replicate Brickfilm, so why skip these frames? I’m unsure if it fits the character designs, and I’m afraid that this maybe style for the sake of style. However, perhaps I’ll warm up to it once I see the film, there’s a chance I will.

To Conclude, I’m cautiously optimistic about “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” based on this teaser. On the one hand, it looks refreshingly different, as we do need more mature films for teenage audiences, a demographic that Hollywood Animation tends to ignore. Not to mention, the visuals look beautifully impressive in terms of style and overall ambition. On the other hand, the Sony Animation logo makes me tug my collar, and the frame rate choice is a little unnerving. I’ve linked the trailer below, see what you all think:

The Film should be in US theatres Christmas 2018.