Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse is an upcoming animated film from Sony Pictures Animation and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The LEGO Movie). Starring the voices of Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Jake Johnson (Peter Parker), Hailee Steinfeld (Spider-Gwen), Liev Schreiber (Kingpin), Mahershala Ali, Lily Tomlin and more, the film opens in theaters December 14, 2018.
Spider-Man crosses parallel dimensions and teams up with the Spider-Men of those dimensions to stop a threat to all reality.
When the first teaser trailer hit for Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse I was convinced it would be a direct to video/on demand/whatever. And that’s even when the teaser said it would be hitting theaters this December. Sure it looked cool. Sure it has Miles Morales, aka the Spider-Man we probably should have to begin with under Marvel Studios, but it’s an animated movie and Marvel doesn’t waste their time with those do they? I guess not – Sony Pictures Animation sure does though and they have stacked this film with an incredible cast, unique visual style that doesn’t look like anything else out there right now and loaded it with cool characters we haven’t seen on the bigscreen yet, including Spider-Gwen.
The latest trailer is a lot of fun but there was just one thing I couldn’t wrap my head around. Peter Parker’s voice. Hell – even the look of Peter Parker… It all seemed off to me. New Girl star Jake Johnson is a fantastic actor and comedic talent, whose work I have enjoyed in EVERYTHING. He’s one helluva performer but his voice, matched up with Parker, who they are now playing off as some sort of tired and grizzled mentor just doesn’t vibe with ANY of the previous Peter Parkers we’ve seen or even read about. With Johnson’s gravely and tired voice matched up with with this doofus in the diner who openly exposes his Spider-Man suit under his jacket, everything about Peter Parker has now turned him into the third wheel in forgotten Bill & Ted movie. Dude looks high and or sleepy AF. I don’t get it. Also why is he double fingering his throat at the restaurant? It’s gross.
Maybe that was the point though – to show Peter Parker as the veteran who is getting sloppy – or just doesn’t showcase that youthful wit and charm we all know and love from literally every other comic or movie incarnation of all time… But as a fan of the character and franchise, this choice seems off to me in a major way. I’m still going to watch the hell out of this movie when it hits theaters though – I can’t wait to take my kids and have a blast, but I just hope they really didn’t turn the original Spider-Man into a dopey ass loser.