#WHERE TO WATCH SPIDER MAN INTO THE SPIDER VERSE SERIES#
Two years later, Sony announced it would be rebooting the Spider-Man film series with The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and actor-rapper Donald Glover expressed interest in playing Peter Parker. In 2008, America elected President Barack Obama, whose biracial background and message of hope also served as a bridge. The immigration of Mexicans and Africans to America was receiving increased attention, schools were becoming increasingly diverse, biracial relationships were increasingly common and our language was changing not only in the increase of bilingual persons, but in how our slang was infused with Spanish and Ebonics. America was experiencing a shift in culture. But even as he was telling this story, the world was rapidly changing. For a decade Bendis told Peter Parker’s story, reinventing friends and enemies, and asking how a teenage superhero would function in the world of cellphones, Internet and instant celebrity. In the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley re-envisioned Spider-Man for the 21st century, capitalizing on the buzz surrounding the production of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (2002). But what if we could be just as much like Spider-Man when we unmasked as well? But at home, on the playground, in our minds, we could be Spider-Man because our sense of humor, our joys, our pains, were just as important as Peter Parker’s. In the comics Peter Parker may be Spider-Man. It doesn’t even really matter what gender you are. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have Superman’s blue eyes or Batman’s superior chin. I can’t remember a time when Spider-Man wasn’t a part of my life, and I think part of the appeal, as it is for so many other children of color, is that you can’t see behind the mask. Part of the reason behind that accessibility is because Spider-Man doesn’t operate on terms of race. For many kids he’s an entry point into the world of superheroes, be that through comic books, animated series, video games or movies. Following Peter’s adventures provided a means to grow up with the character, change as he changed, while never losing sight of the responsibility that comes with growth. It’s equally unsurprising that so many remain fans through their teenage years and into adulthood. The fact that so many kids are drawn to Spider-Man should come as no surprise. Additionally, most of Spider-Man’s earliest villains were older men, poisoned by their own worldviews. Teenage Peter Parker didn’t fit in with his peers, he made mistakes and even as Spider-Man he wasn’t immediately embraced by older superheroes like the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.
When Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created Spider-Man in 1962, they created a character tailor-made for younger readers. Into the Spider-Verse isn’t just the next great leap in superhero movies because of its introduction of the comic book multiverse, but because it treats black and Latino heritage as a key piece of a superhero identity, and that’s just as important as any spider symbol. But that means more than just putting on a costume. Under the tutelage of Spider-Men and Spider-Women from alternate realities, Miles Morales learns to become his own Spider-Man.
Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which lands in theaters this weekend, is a celebration of that sentiment.