Spider-Man’s new web of intrigue
FRESH TWIST ON ANIMATED ADVENTURE
SPIDER-MAN: Into The Spider-Verse is an animation following teenager Miles Morales, who discovers the infinite possibilities of a shared multiverse know as “Spider-Verse”, where anyone can wear the mask. Stars Shameik Moore and Jake Johnson talk about the movie’s message, building their characters, and being role models.
WE admit it – a film about Spider-Man doesn’t exactly scream “groundbreaking”.
However, put any doubts aside, as new animation Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse proves there can never be too many portrayals of this particular superhero.
From the creative minds behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, this big-screen adventure feels unique, using a pop-art inspired visual style, with comic book-like captions and thought balloons – and there’s a fresh hip-hop, R&B and blues soundtrack too.
The story, meanwhile, introduces us to Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) and the Spider-verse, where more than one person can wear the superhero’s mask.
The modern message of the film – that anyone can do what Spider-Man does, if they have the powers and the motivation – is something Illinois star Jake Johnson, who voices the familiar character of Peter B Parker, insists “doesn’t just feel like a statement that they’re saying for press, it actually feels like the heartbeat of the movie”.
“Everyone has the power to change the world and make it a better place, and you ought to do it,” suggests the 40-year-old, best known for his role as Nick Miller in the Fox sitcom New Girl.
“Right now there’s a lot of talk about this is as bad as it’s ever been, and then, the more history you read, you realise it’s always been pretty bad and it’s always pretty good.
“It’s always very important for people to try to do right, just like it was 100 years ago and 200 years ago. I think young people are doing it, and, as a guy who isn’t a young person anymore, I want to follow those millennials out there.”
A variety of spider-heroes make up the cast-list, to prove that no matter what your age, gender or creed, you could be a hero: as well as Johnson’s older, more jaded Peter Parker, there’s Gwen Stacy, aka Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfield), Spider-Man Noir (Nicholas Cage) and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney).
But it’s Miles, an African-American/ Puerto Rican youngster struggling to fit in at a new private school for gifted students in Manhattan, who’s at the centre of the action.
After being bitten by a radioactive spider, he develops superpowers – venom strike, camouflage, sticking to objects, incredible hearing – and life gets very complicated, just as we have seen in previous Spider-Man films.
Especially troubling in this version is nefarious criminal mastermind Kingpin (voiced by Liev Schreiber), who has developed an ultra-secret nuclear super collider which opens up a portal to other universes, bringing the different versions of Spider-Man into Miles’s world.
And with multiple other baddies threatening New York City, it’s time for Miles to step up.
How does it feel for Moore, 23, to be playing a role model?
“I feel honoured,” responds the actor, who was born in Atlanta to Jamaican parents, and whose acting credits include the film Dope and Netflix TV show The Get Down.
“The version of Miles, I felt like I was looking at myself. I can imagine there’s a 14-year-old kid in Brooklyn with curly hair that’s half-black and halfPuerto Rican that will look at this and think, ‘Wait a second, that’s me!’
“And even if not, somebody might be just like Peter, somebody might be just like Gwen.”
Johnson echoes this sentiment, suggesting that a theme of the movie is “inclusion”.
“It’s not about saying, now SpiderMan is just Miles so Peter Parker, everything you knew, that’s over – Peter’s not gone,” he continues.
“And if you’re a young girl and you love this franchise, and you don’t want to be Spider-Man girl, then you can be Spider-Gwen, because she’s coming too and she’s cool.”
There’s no denying though, the Peter Parker we see in this story is notably different from what we’ve seen before.
“He’s the same Peter Parker that you know and has all the same skills he had when he was THE Spider-Man,” Johnson enthuses.
“But now he’s grown up a little bit and he’s 40 years old and life has kind of kicked his ass a little bit; I like that humanity of a superhero and having to rethink what it means to be a superhero.”
The actor adds that the role was also a fresh challenge, because of it being animation.
“It was really different because you don’t get to rely on any of the tricks you rely on in live action.
“They’re both obviously acting and there’s a purity to both of them, but what was nice about this specifically is it’s all based off your voice and how you deliver the material.”
Both Johnson and Moore recorded on their own before getting to do a few sessions in the studio together.
Getting to bounce off each other in person really helped them in forming their characters.
“Miles and Peter, obviously it’s a strong relationship in the movie,” notes Johnson.
“Doing it without each other didn’t feel as authentic, so we were able to do it together a few times then go into the booth alone remembering what the other guy sounded like.”
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is out now