SPIDER-MAN

PETER PARKER. MILES Morales. Peter B. Parker. Another Peter Parker. Yet another Peter Parker. And, erm, a pig named Peter Porker. As Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse establishes so handily, anyone can wear the mask. Anyone can be Spider-man. (Although it does help if your name is

Peter Parker.)

Because being your friendly neighbourhood Spider-man is about more than being able to crawl walls and spin webs.

The very best Spider-man movies — and there have been a few since Sam Raimi cracked the code that had eluded James Cameron and others, back in 2002 — understand that the key to the character, whether it’s Parker or Morales, isn’t just “with great power comes great responsibility”. That’s important, of course, but its importance has been overstated enough to become a crutch. Just as important, we’d argue, is the “friendly neighbourhood” part.

Yes, Spider-man can fight aliens. And has. Yes, Spider-man can save the world. And has. But first and foremost he should be the little guy, ever so slightly unsure of himself, nevertheless doing his best to stand up against overwhelming odds. To do the right thing. Think of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-man straining himself so hard to stop a runaway passenger train that he passes out. It’s Andrew Garfield’s Spidey (great performance, iffy movies) giving hope to the people of New York by showing up out of the blue to beat the crap out of Paul Giamatti’s Rhino, and his dodgy Russian accent. It’s Tom Holland’s Peter Parker crying whilst buried under a ton of rubble, somehow summoning the strength to dig a way out. It’s Miles Morales’ glorious moment of self-actualisation, a leap of faith so monumental that for a second, the sky and the frame turn upside-down. When done right, Spider-man is about heart, and humanity. And great, big, whacking handfuls of both.