The character of Peter Parker as Spider-Man has been around ever since his conception in 1962 when he was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Since then they have been rebooted for three different franchises, nine different animated shows, and thousands of issues of comics. Point being, he has definitely been around for a long time. While a character like Peter Parker is no doubt iconic, there are many other renditions of Spider-Man. So it was odd that up to this point, no studio had taken a swing at putting the second most popular Spider-Man, Miles Morales, on the big screen. This was until producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (directors of The Lego Movie) and Sony Pictures Animation fulfilled the idea.

Not only did Sony bring Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) to the big screen, but they brought other characters from the Spider-Man multiverse to life, such as Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage). The film uses unique animation styles that make the film look like a comic book that came to life. It uses vibrant colors, comic book action, and thought bubbles to supply the film with animated visuals that are truly one of a kind.

The movie has five superheroes and six different villains, including Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), the Green Goblin (Jorma Taccone), and Prowler (Mahershala Ali) to name a few. Before movies like Avengers: Infinity War or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse this would seem like way too many characters, resulting in a movie that seems overstuffed. But both movies, especially Into The Spider-Verse prove that with a wonderful script like it has, every character resultantly has a part to play and the presence never makes you feel overwhelmed.

Into the Spider-Verse takes the overcomplicated plot of the Spider-Verse, a comic storyline published by Marvel in 2014, and simplifies it into movie form. Each character has their own motivations and traits (which can result in some pretty solid jokes), but the movie still remains easy to follow. The story is simple in a way as well; Miles gets his powers, teams up with the other heroes, and stops the bad guy to save the day. However, it still remains very enjoyable. You see Miles’ journey from being a smart kid from Brooklyn to a full-on superhero. Miles’ character is the example of the message that the movie is trying to give throughout, “Anybody can put on the Spider-Man suit, but it’s who you are inside of the suit that matters.”

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is a wonderful film that proves itself as one of 2018’s best, not only as an animated movie but among all the films released this year. If Sony Pictures Animation continues on with stories like this and great minds like Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Sony just might be able to make something special with Miles Morales’ Spider-Man.