As soon as I saw that SpiderMan into the Spider-Verse opened with the “approved by the comic code authority” logo I knew I was going to be happy. In a world where comic book movies and not necessarily comic books themselves have become mainstream, it was refreshing and inspiring to see a fresh take on a superhero film. Into the Spider-Verse is essentially a comic book on the big screen which is something I cannot say I have ever seen successfully done. Now I must confess that SpiderMan is my favorite superhero of all time (Shout out to AC for giving me Spiderman socks and cufflinks as a groomsman gift) so I am extremely biased in loving this film. But simply enough I loved this movie and here are a few reasons why.

1. I’m pretty sure this is a sequel to SpiderMan 3 (Toby Maguire universe)

The opening of the film gives a synopsis of the universe and shows some iconic moments from the OG Spiderman films. It even shows Spiderman doing the amazing/creepy dance from SpiderMan 3. Toby Mac is the greatest Peter Parker and there is nothing anyone can say to disprove this fact so having one last adventure in this universe made an 8-year-old me quite happy.

2. The Animation

As I had previously mentioned Into the Spider-Verse is a comic book on the big screen. Whether it was the text boxes to show the character’s internal monologues, the pen, and ink art style that made me feel I was flipping pages, or the duel, tri, and quad cells that popped up during action sequences, this film made me want to go out and buy comics. It embraces and honors the origins that not only SpiderMan but all of our favorite masked heroes originate from comic books and hopefully will inspire more kids to read comics!

3. Miles Morales is the Luka Doncic of comics 

Part of my love for SpiderMan is the relatability of Peter Parker. Peter is not an alien, demigod, or a billion playboy philanthropist. He is a regular nerdy kid who becomes a regular nerdy adult with a job, and a family which he famously has to juggle around on top of being a web-slinging vigilante. Yes, Peter is a brilliant scientist and mathematician (which my 7th-grade students will tell you I cannot relate too) but he is also the guy to oversleep for a test, lie to his girlfriend and have a job delivering pizza which in some way or another we can all relate too. Miles shares this trait with Peter but does so in his own way. Miles like Peter is just a goofy kid when he gains his powers and has to learn to balance his new found powers with his newfound responsibility. Just as a past generation saw themselves in Peter I think a new generation of people will see themselves in Miles and come to love him as a character. Miles, like Luca Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, is young and full of potential and I am planning to buy as much Miles Morales stock as possible.

4. Nick Cage

Noir SpiderMan is an absolute masterpiece. Now I will not spoil how this character comes into the story but I could not get enough of him. There is something about an old-school private eye who says “see” after every sentence that just does it for me. Also, he is voiced by Nick Cage so what else could you want.

So if you could not tell I was a huge fan of this film. Go see it for yourself and make your own opinions. Also please re-watch the Toby Maguire SpiderMan films, so good!

I give this 4.3 crossroads out of a possible 5.