Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Miles Morales’ life has never been easier. As if it wasn’t annoying enough that he was sent to a boarding school, which he really doesn’t want to do. He is also bitten by a spider and then develops quite strange powers. And last but not least, he has to watch his great idol Spider-Man die. Now it’s up to Miles to carry on the legacy of the superhero he promised him. But how is that supposed to work when you have absolutely no idea how to control these powers? Luckily, the teenager soon receives unexpected support because he is not alone in his fate.

Just a few years ago, Spider-Man was something like the black sheep of the Marvel films. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe broke record after record and the X-Men and their offshoots found a lot of fans, the future of one of the greatest heroes looked rather bleak. Because of all his comic adaptations, viewers ran away while budgets exploded. The low point was The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which barely made a profit, so some rumored that the film rights would be returned to Marvel in the foreseeable future. But things turned out differently. The Spider-Man: Homecoming created with the MCU was a remarkable leap forward with critics and moviegoers alike, the previously ridiculed Venom becoming one of the biggest surprise hits of the year.

And then that. Spider-Man: A New Universe, produced by the in-house animation division Sony Pictures Animation ( Hotel Transylvania, Emoji – The Movie ), is not only one of the best films of the often ridiculed studio. It’s also one of the best animated films of the year, easily taking the lead in this year’s Marvel movies. And that’s not a given in a year that sees events like Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War produced. Because like hardly any other film, this reinterpretation embraces its comic heritage, at the same time manages to deal with it in a self-ironic way, and yet takes the stories and fans seriously.

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse