Once upon a time, Sony Pictures was riding high on their collection of Spider-Man properties; with “The Amazing Spider-Man” franchise in full swing (no pun intended), Sony’s higher-ups were planning an interconnected universe they hoped would rival that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Plans were in place for a “Sinister Six” team-up film, a “Black Cat” movie, and even, beyond reasoning, an Aunt May origin story.
Now, only a handful of years later, with Spider-Man under Kevin Feige’s control, the only remnant of these planned films is “Venom.” Despite a top-notch cast and a decent director, fans are finding it difficult to get excited for the anti-hero flick, especially since Sony marketing is throwing whatever they can at the wall to see what sticks. That’s why it’s a bit refreshing to see a Sony-backed Spider-Man film that seems to know its source material as well as it should: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which has a new trailer.
Produced and written by “21 Jump Street” directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the animated ‘Spider-Verse’ is the first cinematic appearance of fan-favorite character Miles Morales (voiced by “Dope” actor Shameik Moore) and offers another perspective in the classic Spider-Man story of balancing high school and being a superhero. Unlike the other big screen adaptations of the classic Marvel character, however, this film will include more than one of the many comic book Spider-People.
From a more mature Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), who will mentor Miles, to Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), and Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), and what’s sure to be a number of other high-profile cameos, Lord and Miller are reaching into the deep corners of comic book lore to fill out their Spider-Verse. Joining them are several other high-caliber stars, from Mahershala Ali (Aaron Davis, played by Donald Glover in “Spider-Man: Homecoming), Liev Schreiber (Kingpin), Luna Lauren Verez (Rio Morales), Lily Tomlin (Aunt May), and Bryan Tyree Henry as Jefferson Davis.
‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ swings into theaters on December 14. You can watch the trailer below: