There’s a whole lot more to Spider-Man than Peter Parker, and the new trailer for the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse spinoff is ready to show that off.
It seems that Into the Spider-Verse will be introducing viewers to Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) as he grows into his role as Spider-Man, mentored by an older, more inveterate take on Peter Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson) than any we’ve seen before.
Not only will Miles Morales — the Afro-Latinx teen who became the first non-white iteration of the swinging superhero with Marvel’s Ultimate line of comics in 2011 — be taking to the streets of New York in Into the Spider-Verse, but there’s also a glimpse of Spider-Gwen. She’s another popular take on the character in yet another universe where Gwen Stacy gets the radioactive spider-powers instead.
I’d be remiss in not pointing out that the art style of the film is absolutely gorgeous, with a textured, brightly colored vibe that looks like someone blended a comic book with Pixar-style 3D animation.
The new trailer also gives a bit more context about the setting of Into the Spider-Verse for fans who might not be as well-versed in the universe-hopping shenanigans of comic books. According to Morales’ voiceover, the film takes place in “another universe, that looks and sounds like yours — but it’s not.” (So don’t expect to see Tom Holland’s incarnation of the character swinging through the streets.)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hits theaters on December 14th.
Share. We break down everything you need to know about the basis for the upcoming animated film. We break down everything you need to know about the basis for the upcoming animated film.
Sometimes it seems like Spider-Man is the loneliest and unluckiest hero in the entire Marvel Universe. But as it turns out, he's far from the only wall-crawling hero out there. The Marvel multiverse is full of like-minded do-gooders who use their spider-powers to defend innocent lives. And when those heroes come together, the Spider-Verse is born.
And now, with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on its way as animated film, what better time to delve into the history of the Spider-Verse? The film stars the voice talents of Shameik Moore (as Spider-Man/Miles Morales), Jake Johnson (as Peter Parker), Hailee Steinfeld (as Gwen Stacy), Mahershala Ali (as Miles' uncle Aaron), Brian Tyree Henry (as Miles’ father Jefferson), Luna Lauren Velez (as Miles’ mother Rio), Lily Tomlin (as Aunt May), and Liev Schreiber (as The Kingpin).
Exit Theatre Mode
The Spider-Verse concept has become an increasingly important part of Spider-Man's mythology in the comics. The animated series Ultimate Spider-Man has also delved into it, and now with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse it's going mainstream in a big way. But if you don't know your Spider-Ham from your Spider-Gwen, here's a quick refresher on the background and significance of the Spider-Verse.
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Spider-Verse Explained: The Basics
There are millions of alternate universes that all make up the Marvel multiverse. And as it turns out, many of them have their own versions of Spider-Man. In many cases, these alternate Spider-Men aren't so terribly different from the original. On some worlds, Peter Parker stayed married and had a child. In others he might be a gun-toting vigilante or still a teenager learning the ropes of the superhero game. And on still others, it wasn't Peter Parker who was bit by the radioactive spider at all, but someone else.
The idea behind Spider-Verse is that these many Spider-people can breach their interdimensional barriers, join forces and tackle threats too great for any one hero to face alone. Who needs the Avengers when you can have an entire team of heroes with the brains of Peter Parker and the proportionate strength, speed and agility of a spider?
Spider-Verse: Major Characters
There are far too many members of the Spider-Verse to list in one place, but there are a handful of heroes who tend to show up whenever the Spider-Verse comes into play in the comics.
Miles Morales - Miles is a resident of the Ultimate Universe, a place where Peter Parker died fighting the Green Goblin and Miles took up the mantle in his place. These days, however, Miles has migrated to the traditional Marvel Universe and receives guidance from that world's Peter Parker.
Spider-Gwen - On Earth-65, it was Gwen Stacy who was bitten by the radioactive spider and a jealous Peter Parker who accidentally transformed himself into the Lizard. Gwen often struggles to balance the pressures of being a hero with her civilian life as a high school student and the daughter of a police captain.
The Superior Spider-Man - For a brief period, Otto Octavius managed to place his mind into the body of Peter Parker. Otto was determined to prove he could be a better Spider-Man than his nemesis, though he ultimately realized the folly of his plan and willingly turned control back over to Peter. However, thanks to the magic of time travel, an earlier version of this hybrid hero/villain still exists.
Spider-Man 2099 - Miguel O'Hara hails from one possible version of the Marvel Universe's future, a place where the massive Alchemax Corporation reigns supreme and where the world once again needs a Spider-Man.
Spider-Girl (Mayday Parker) - Time moves a little differently in the MC2 Universe. Here, Peter Parker is a middle-aged family man, leaving his daughter May "Mayday" Parker to take up the mantle in his place.
Spider-Man Noir - The Marvel Noir universe is a dark, Great Depression-era world riddled with crime. Accordingly, this version of Peter Parker sticks to the shadows and augments his spider-powers with a twin set of pistols.
Spider-Ham - Peter Porker hails from a Marvel Universe where everyone is an anthropomorphized animal version of their usual self.
Spider-UK - In addition to having spider-powers, this British Spidey is also a member of the interdimensional police force known as the Captain Britain Corps.
Spider-Man India - What if Spider-Man lived in India rather than New York? That's the gist behind Pavitr Prabhakar, the Spider-Man of Earth-50101.
Spider-Girl (Anya Corazon) - The young heroine Anya Corazon has gone through a number of changes in costumed identity and abilities over the years, but these days she serves as the designated Spider-Girl of the mainstream Marvel universe.
Madame Web - The leader of sorts of this loose-knit team, Madame Web is the only person capable of interpreting the Web of Life and Destiny and sensing new threats to the multiverse. For many years this role was filled by the frail, elderly Cassandra Webb, but now that mantle has been passed down to former Spider-Woman Julia Carpenter.
Spider-Verse: Origin and Background
Marvel has been introducing new versions of Spider-Man for decades, whether in the form of spinoff characters like Spider-Woman and Spider-Girl or alternate universe characters like Spider-Man 2099. However, in more recent years Marvel has worked to build a greater sense of interconnectivity among these various characters and establish how they're linked by a mystical, totemic force. Spider-Verse is basically the culmination of the process.
The original 2014 Spider-Verse crossover took place in the pages of the ongoing Amazing Spider-Man comic and various other offshoots and tie-ins. It brought together hundreds of versions of Spider-Man in order to protect the mystical Web of Life and Destiny (basically the Force to Spider-Man's Jedi Knight) from a terrible enemy. That enemy was the Inheritors, a family of vampiric creatures who feast on heroes connected to the Web. One of the Inheritors, Morlun, is infamous for having mortally wounded Spider-Man in the 2005 crossover "The Other" (though he got better, obviously).
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the original Spider-Verse crossover is that it didn't focus simply on bringing together Marvel's various comic book universes, but nearly every incarnation of Spider-Man that's existed in any medium. That includes the Spider-Men seen in the daily newspaper comic strip, the classic Hostess Fruit Pie ads, and animated series like Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. The series even briefly references live-action Spider-Men from the Sony movies, the stage musical Turn Off the Dark and the PBS series The Electric Company.
Spider-Verse wrapped with the Inheritors being defeated and imprisoned on a post-apocalyptic world with little sustenance. However, dozens of Spider-Men were consumed in the process, leaving the multiverse even more in need of watchful heroes. Marvel later introduced a new team called the Web Warriors (consisting of Anya Corazon, Spider-Ham, Spider-UK, Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Man India) who have banded together to help protect the Web of Life and Destiny. Additionally, Spider-Verse has inspired a similar Venom-themed crossover called Venomverse.
Spider-Verse: Beyond the Comics
The Spider-Verse concept has quickly worked its way into other Spider-Man media. It became a major focus in later seasons of the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, with Peter Parker teaming up with his alternate universe counterparts to form the Web Warriors and bring down an upgraded Green Goblin. Additionally, the first season of the reboot series Marvel's Spider-Man introduced characters like Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen, though they all exist in the same universe as Peter Parker.
Exit Theatre Mode
The Spider-Verse concept has also played a big role in Marvel's Spider-Man video games, even before the "Spider-Verse" name was actually coined. 2010's Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions allows players to take control of four different incarnations of Spidey (classic, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Man Noir and Ultimate Spider-Man) in order to help Madame Web reconstruct an artifact called the Tablet of Order and Chaos. Its 2013 sequel, Spider-Man: Edge of Time, reunited Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 in a bid to prevent Alchemax from destroying New York.
Spider-Verse is also at the core of a mobile game called Spider-Man Unlimited. This endless runner allows players to battle different incarnations of the Sinister Six and build up a roster of dozens of different versions of Spider-Man. The game even featured its own adaptation of the Spider-Verse storyline shortly after the debut of the comic.
Exit Theatre Mode
Now Spider-Verse is headed to the big screen thanks to the CG-animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This film is set to hit theaters in December 2018 and will focus on Miles Morales. Who knows? Maybe this will be the start of an entire series of Spider-Verse films focused on different heroes!
Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
Sony has launched a new trailer and confirmed Mahershala Ali as Miles Morales' uncle Aaron and and Jake Johnson as Peter Parker.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has caught a few more stars in its web.
In addition to unveiling a new trailer Wednesday, Sony has added some new names to the cast, while confirming others who had been rumored to be involved. Among those confirmed to join Shameik Moore, who voices Spider-Man/Miles Morales, are Jake Johnson as Miles' mentor Peter Parker, Hailee Steinfeld as the classic Spider-Man character Gwen Stacy, Mahershala Ali as Miles' uncle Aaron (the character played by Donald Glover in Spider-Man: Homecoming), Brian Tyree Henry as Miles’ father Jefferson, Luna Lauren Velez as Miles’ mother Rio, and Lily Tomlin as Peter Park's beloved Aunt May.
Also of news of interest: Liev Schreiber's character has been revealed as The Kingpin, the formidible crime boss who runs New York.
Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman direct the film, which is produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (who just unveiled their Lego Movie 2 trailer). Lord penned the script.
“We are lucky to have such an amazing cast of funny, genuine creative souls to populate the Spider-verse. They have generous minds and great big hearts. And they have very talented throats. Which is where their delightful voices come from.” Lord and Miller said in a statement. “We can’t wait for the world to see Miles Morales on the big screen. He’s such a fun and exciting new character, and telling his story through a revolutionary visual style makes for a totally fresh cinematic experience that, if we may say so, is freaking amazing.”
In the comics, the 2014 "Spider-Verse" storyline ran across multiple issues of The Amazing Spider-Man and other related titles, centering on a teamup of Spider-Men across parallel universes to defeat an entity known as Morlun. Just as Marvel Studios films Avengers: Infinity War or Captain America: Civil War, it seems that Into the Spider-Verse will not closely follow the comic book storyline that gave it its name.
Sony is opening Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Dec. 14.
