Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as soon as it was released, became an instant favorite to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. It did, and it wasn’t the film’s only victory during awards season. It took home top honors in that category at the Golden Globes, the Critics’ Choice and scored seven Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature—the highest honor for an animated film. Well, guess what? The absolutely stunning on so many levels flick, is coming home on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download formats.
There is a bevy of brilliant folks behind the making of this instant masterpiece. For starters, The LEGO Movie helmers (who also gave us those 21 Jump Street movies)—Phil Lord and Christopher Miller—have been championing this project for years. When they were given the green light from Sony Pictures Animation, the producers assembled a brain trust of Spider-Man aficionados and amazing animators and set out on the path of crafting something downright revolutionary. Not simply for Spider-Man centric films, but for animated features as a whole.
They succeeded, and then some.
Imagine a world where there is more than one Spider-Man. In Spider-Verse, that is exactly what occurs.
Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) is a high school kid, living in Brooklyn. His mother is Latina and his police officer father is African American. He knows all too well about Spider-Man (voiced by Chris Pine), the hero who has been saving the day for some time in this world. Early in the film, something shocking happens to Spider-Man and Morales is there to see it all go down. Before you can say “Pow!” or “Bam!,” Morales is bitten by that pesky radioactive spider himself. He goes to bed not feeling so hot and like so many other Spider-Men before, he awakes with a new perspective on life and that is putting it mildly!
After some dramatic plot events (no spoilers here!), Morales needs guidance, something every other Spidey incarnation never had—save Tom Holland’s, after all he had Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to help him in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Morales runs into Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson). His version of the webbed wonder is a little rough around the edges, after years of doing this gig. He’s tad overweight, doesn’t eat well and has a much different perspective on saving the day than any Spider-Man audiences have experienced … pretty much ever. Also, he and Mary Jane are on the outs and that is hitting him terribly hard.
That something that happened, that I won’t get into, caused several realms or dimensions to blend together. If Spider-Man (Peter B. or Miles) cannot figure out how to fix it, things are going to get a whole lot worse for everyone. Luckily for our two Spideys, there are a few more Spider-people to brainstorm how to get each back to their own respective dimensions. In the process they will also seek to stop a nefarious, power hungry fellow—Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber)—from gaining more power at the least and destroying all that we hold dear at the most.
Joining Peter B. and Miles are Gwen Stacy—aka Spider-Gwen—(Hailee Steinfeld, most recently seen in Bumblebee), a very piggy Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), Japanese-American Spider-Man Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) and Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage!).
Directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman work Lord and Rothman’s screenplay in a way that gives the audience pure bliss and joy through every frame. Never has a comic book movie felt so authentically comic book as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It is as if the audience dove into the brilliant mind of the late Stan Lee and has been gifted the opportunity to live and breathe the landscape in every facet possible. You would be hard pressed to find an animated movie possessing such beauty, stark tonal and color contrasts, as well as a level of visual brilliance that not only pushes the animated envelope, but completely shreds it. The bar has now been set infinitely high for this milieu of film. I, for one, look forward to seeing how this revolutionary approach permeates exponentially through the collective that are animated artisans.
The supporting cast (beyond all those sensational Spideys) is sublime. Lily Tomlin is Aunt May and has an utter blast in her first comic book experience. Recent Oscar winner (for Green Book) Mahershala Ali is Miles’ uncle Aaron. He and his brother, Jefferson Davis (Brian Tyree Henry) are at odds, which makes things complicated since Miles thinks his uncle is pretty darn cool. Miles is a wizard of street art with spray paint and his Uncle finds little nooks and crannies in the city that allow him to express his artistic vision without fear of arrest. It was while Miles was at one of those places where he could paint—underground in a never developed subway stop—where Miles and that radioactive spider’s fate converge.
Luna Lauren Velez delivers the richest of performances as Miles’ mom, Rio Morales. Zoe Kravitz is a Mary Jane. You’re thinking, “another one?” Remember, we’re dealing with multiple dimensions colliding—pretty mind-blowing stuff. Her Mary Jane possesses mad street smarts and a high opinion of herself that never veers into cockiness. We even get a Doc Ock (our personal favorite Spidey villain from Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movies) that could not have scored a better thespian to tackle the iconic evil-doer role. The one and only Kathryn Hahn (Bad Moms) dazzles in the part and like everyone else in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, permeates an explosive sense of delight to merely be a part of this production.
What speaks volumes about the quality of the script and the vision of the creative team is how some big names signed up—just to be a part of something so extraordinarily special. For example, Oscar Isaac (The Last Jedi) is the voice for Interesting Person #1! Lake Bell voices Vanessa Fisk (our villain’s better half), while music superstar Post Malone kills it as Brooklyn Bystander!
For more on the film itself, don’t miss my theatrical Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse review.
There is so much going for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that this home video release is absolutely the first must-own of 2019. Not only are you going to want to witness the film itself repeatedly over the years (heck, even just this week), but those bonus features are so compellingly rich, entertaining and enlightening, that they too will require multiple views—an utter rarity for a home video release.
There are over 90 minutes of special features, including an animated short film focused solely on the one and only Spider-Ham! Also, give something unique a try: Watch the movie with the Alternate Universe Mode activated. It allows viewers the opportunity to discover the film in entirely fresh ways that include alternate scenes, different plotlines and much, much more. It’s wickedly creative. I would love more home video releases to explore this option.
Don’t miss The Spider-Verse Super-Fan Easter Egg Challenge. Think you know Spidey and all the “eggs” strewn throughout the film? Think again. This feature allows fans to witness every single Easter Egg from the flick, many you may have missed, that will add so much to the entire experience.
One of the most resonant aspects of the film is its theme that centers on the idea that there is a Spider-Man in every single one of us. We Are Spider-Man delves deeply into the richness and diverse collective that is this group of Spider-Men (and Women). Anyone can wear the mask. Think about that. That is a powerful message whose influence I suspect we’ll see for decades to come.
Spider-Verse: A New Dimension firmly shines the spotlight on the artists who changed the medium with what they were able to achieve with Spider-Verse. The stunning art that rivals anything any painter could achieve is further explored in this bonus feature. That comic book look I referred to earlier, this featurette shows us how that was achieved. It is a study in determination and dream-achievement. It also serves as an announcement that Hollywood has an animation house in Sony Pictures Animation whose commitment to enhancing the majesty of the art of animation is one that rivals Disney Animation, Pixar and DreamWorks Animation. They’ve already given us those joyful Hotel Transylvania movies, as well as Angry Birds and The Smurfs. After what was achieved with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the mere mention of the company’s moniker will have us marking their films’ release dates on the calendar.
Designing Cinematic Comics Characters is a fascinating two-part featurette. It takes two angles to break down every element conceivable when it comes to crafting the layered heroic characters that inhabit this universe so splendidly. It is a priceless piece that only further enhances the overall animated Spidey experience. Heroes & Hams introduces viewers to all of those who wear the mask in this Spider-Verse and the second featurette under this banner—Scorpions and Scoundrels—dazzles in its look at those villainous souls who live to create chaos on the Spider-Verse.
The brand new animated short, Spider-Ham: Caught In a Ham, focuses on one of our favorite souls who wears the mask. It is such an utter delight. The Mulaney voiced character works so well because of how it’s written, sure, but also in the manner that the SNL veteran voices and captures the superhero pig. Never thought those words would ever go together, “superhero pig.” Then again, who would have ever thought that a kick-ass racoon would be a fan favorite (cough, cough—Guardians of the Galaxy). Spider-Ham’s short finds him battling his biggest villain, all while killing it with those pesky puns that only the pig can deliver. Perhaps a Spider-Ham stand-alone movie should be green lit, sooner than later. In fact, every single one of our Spider-Verse Spider-people deserves their own flick.
As we mentioned earlier, there are so many big names and talented voice performances delivered that it is so welcomed to discover a bonus feature exploring each one and their stellar contributions to this movie miracle. The Ultimate Comics Cast puts every other animated movie on notice. It’ll be incredibly difficult to top what the ensemble delivered in Spider-Verse.
There are two lyric videos featuring songs from the flick, Sunflower from Post Malone and Swae Lee, as well as Familia by Nicki Minaj and Anuel AA (featuring Bantu).
Last and absolutely in no way least is the touching and marvelously memorable featurette A Tribute to Stan Lee & Steve Ditko. It goes without saying how much these two have influenced popular culture, but specifically the entity that is Spider-Man. There are legacies, and then there is what Lee and Ditko have left the world. The tribute featurette, like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, is absolutely perfect.
Film grade: A+
Bonus features: A+