Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

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Name: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Abbreviation(s): Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Verse
Creator: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman (directors), Phil Lord (story)
Date(s): 2018
Medium: animated film
Country of Origin: USA
External Links: Wikipedia, IMDB
Freestyle, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse by masaolab (2018)
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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a 2018 superhero animated film based on the Marvel comic book character Miles Morales (also known as Spider-Man). It was produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel Studios, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the first animated feature film in the Spider-Man franchise, and is set in a shared multiverse called the "Spider-Verse", which has alternate universes of various Spider-people.

It is the second film in the Sony Pictures Spiderverse, following Venom (2018). It won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

A sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse was released in 2023, and a third film is planned to be released in 2024.

Canon

This is the first feature film with Miles Morales as the main character.

Miles Morales is a teenager who admires Spider-Man, and struggles living up to the expectations of his parents. His father, police officer Jefferson Davis, sees Spider-Man as a menace. After meeting a new classmate ostensibly named Gwanda, Miles seeks advice from his uncle Aaron Davis, who brings Miles to a disused subway station where he can paint graffiti. While there, Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider and develops spider-like abilities.

Miles later returns to the station and finds a particle accelerator built by Wilson Fisk to access parallel universes. Spider-Man arrives to disable the accelerator. During the battle, Spider-Man meets Miles and senses they are alike. Spider-Man gives Miles a USB drive to disable the accelerator. However, Fisk kills Spider-Man.

News of Spider-Man's death spreads and the secret identity of Peter Parker is revealed to the public. At the original Peter Parker's grave, Miles meets Peter B. Parker, an older and jaded Spider-Man from another dimension. Peter has been brought into Miles's dimension by the accelerator and needs to return home, so he begrudgingly agrees to train Miles in exchange for help repairing the accelerator.

Miles and Peter B. encounter Fisk's Chief Scientist Dr. Olivia Octavius. Miles and Peter are then rescued by "Gwanda," revealed to be another dimension-displaced heroine whose real name is Gwen Stacy. Gwen leads Peter and Miles to that universe's May Parker, who is revealed to be sheltering three more "spider-people": Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham, and Peni Parker and SP//dr.

Miles discovers that his Uncle Aaron is Fisk's henchman, Prowler, before Fisk kills him. Miles learns to control his powers, then joins the other Spider-People and successfully sends all the Spider-people back home.

In a post-credits scene, Miguel O'Hara's assistant, Lyla, informs him of the crisis and gives him dimension-hopping technology. He decides to "go back to the beginning", and ends up arguing with that universe's Spider-Man. The scene is a parody of the "Spider-Man Pointing at Spider-Man" meme featuring the Spider-Man from the 1967 Spider-Man TV series.

Main Characters

Spider-People

  • Miles Morales/Spider-Man (Earth 1616)
  • Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man (Earth 616)
  • Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman: An alternate universe version of Gwen Stacy. (Earth 65)
  • Peni Parker/SP//dr: A young teenage Japanese-American girl from an alternative anime-like universe who co-pilots a biomechanical suit with a radioactive spider that she shares a telepathic link with. (Earth 14512)
  • Peter Porker/Spider-Ham: An alternate funny animal version of Spider-Man from an anthropomorphic universe, who was once a spider, bitten by a radioactive pig. (Earth 8311)
  • Peter Benjamin Parker/Spider-Man Noir: A dark and monochromatic alternate version of Peter Parker from a 1930s universe. (Earth 90214)
  • Peter Parker/Spider-Man from Miles's universe: Often referred to a Peter A. Parker by the fandom. His death inspires Miles to become Spider-Man. The directors intended this version of Parker to be "as competent a Spider-Man as possible", and combines elements from previous Spider-Man film portrayals (most notably the 2002-2007 trilogy) but with slight differences to indicate that this is an alternate universe from those. His most notable physical difference to most portrayals of Spider-Man is his blond hair. (Earth 1616)

Other

Fandom

There is a widespread fandom on Twitter. Fanart is very common.

Tropes and themes explored in Into the Spider-Verse fanworks frequently include:

  • Family dynamics: either between Miles and his parents (particularly in the form of an identity reveal) and/or exploring the mentor/father-son relationship between Miles and Peter B. Parker
  • Other universes: fanworks frequently feature the six "spider-people" finding ways to communicate with and visit each other in their respective dimensions (sometimes resulting in chatfic) and then going on to discover other dimensions with other Spider-people. Miguel O'Hara often appears in these fanworks, assisting the spider-folks with their efforts, together with his virtual assistant Lyla
  • Fix-it/denialfic: fix-its are common for the two main deaths in the film: the Peter Parker from Miles' universe, and Aaron Davis.

Crossover fanworks with other Spider-Man movieverses, including Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Amazing Spider-Man universe, are also popular - especially as the film universe has established the existence of parallel dimensions, giving an in-universe reason to incorporate these characters.

Spidersonas

Fans created their own alternate universe Spider-People. These were sometimes OCs, sometimes characters from other fandoms.

Art was frequently posted with the "spidersona" hashtag.

Shipping

Into the Spider-verse fandom features a mixture of canon and non-canon relationships, both slash and het, as well as crossover ships with other parts of Marvel fandom. Major ships include:

  • Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson (canon) This can appear as a past pairing, or as the subject of fix-it fics.
  • Miles Morales/Gwen Stacy (canon-ish) In the film, Miles is established as having a crush on Gwen, though they remain friends throughout. At the end of the film, Gwen finds a way to contact Miles, giving many fanworks creators an opening to explore a future relationship between the two.
  • Spider-Man Noir/Spider-Ham, aka Hamnoir (non-canon) A popular crack ship, sometimes featuring human!Ham (but often not).
  • Peter B. Parker/Mary Jane Watson (canon) Sometimes a past pairing, exploring the relationship between the two prior to the events of the film. Other fanworks explore what happens after Peter B. goes back to his dimension.
  • Miles Morales/Peter B. Parker (non-canon) Many fans imagine the relationship between Miles and his mentor figure developing into something more, making this a popular slash pairing.

Minor pairings include:

  • Peter B. Parker/Wade Wilson (non-canon) A take on the popular Spideypool pairing, often featuring Peter B. remaining apart from MJ and getting together with Wade, or else being in a poly relationship with both of them.
  • May Parker/Olivia Octavius (non-canon?) During the film, Olivia Octavius mentions that her friends call her "Liv" - a nickname which May Parker uses to refer to her, hinting strongly at a past history between the two.

Fanworks

Fanfiction

Much of the fic in the fandom is gen or fluffy and explores platonic relationships, particularly between Miles and his father or Peter B. Parker, or between the various Spider-people. Ship-oriented fic is still present, but less prevalent than in many other fandoms.

Morales Family-Centric

  • Superhero Adoption Agency by brushstrokesApocalyptic, 06 Jan 2019, T. Jefferson Davis realizes that Spider-Man is a child, and is determined to put an end to his recklessness. Miles disapproves.
  • It’s a School Night, Why are You Out Saving the World? by TechnicolorVocab01, 14 Jan 2019, G. Jefferson Davis can’t lie to himself anymore. No matter how much he hates vigilantes-- especially of the masked variety-- a child is a child. And a dad is a dad. (In which Jefferson Davis realises that the new Spider-Man is a child, and sets out to Parent him).
  • spiderman loves you by owlinaminor, 03 Jan 2019, T. Or: how to figure out if your son is actually Spiderman without letting him know that you suspect he’s Spiderman because you want to make sure you’re right about him being Spiderman before you ground him for the rest of his adolescent life.
  • Spinsta (Spidey Insta) by Ravenesta, 29 Dec 2018, T. There are things that Jefferson Davis simply does not understand. He's starting to, though.
  • the family brooklyn series by tactfulGnostalgic, 3 February 2019, T. A series of fics set in the Spiderverse about home, and its variations.
  • New Moves by WildInkling, 14 February 2019, G. "Miles needed something else - he needs more moves, he needs new moves. Watching old Spider-man videos on Who-Tube was not gonna be enough." Or: Miles Morales takes up ballet.

Multiverse-Centric/Spider-Family

Fix-It Fics

  • Leptidea juvernica by DarthyAbby, 15 Jan 2019, T. Leptidea juvernica, the Cryptic White Butterfly. Rare, recently discovered, and difficult to study. A little white butterfly can change a lot... surely a little white-suited spider can change even more. Or, Gwen Stacy chooses not to sit by and wait this time.
  • you gotta choose a side (you gotta pick) by Yevynaea, 18 April 2019, T. Seven times Prowler and Doc Ock are kind of, sort of, maybe, possibly, slightly like friends.
  • Secrets in the Dark by kearlyn, 4 Februray 2019, G. Jefferson doesn't expect to find the new Spiderman creeping into his brother's hospital room.

Ship Fic

While much of the fic is gen or focused on platonic relationships, there is a decent selection of shipfic as well. The most popular ships in the fandom are Miles Morales/Gwen Stacy, Miles Morales/Peter B. Parker, and May Parker/Olivia Octavius

Miles Morales/Gwen Stacy
  • your love would be too much by comeseetheduck, 19 December 2018, Gen. It took Gwen a lot longer to figure out than it had taken Miles. Especially because Miles knew from the day that they had first met. But for Gwen, it took some time.
  • Feels Like Summer by Killjoy013, 11 January 2019, T. Miles has been acting differently. Not a bad different, no, but he's been happier than before. Jefferson thinks he knows what or who is causing this. Fluff.
  • Sticky Situation by athingofvikings, 3 May 2019, T. Things are going great for Gwen. She has a steady boyfriend--in another dimension, sure, but she can commute. Of course, that doesn't help The Awkward when his dad catches the two of them making out... Whoops.
  • Hanging on the Edge by Thirst4Chicken, 20 January 2019, E. Miles and Gwen take a break from fighting crime to "blow off some steam." Against the side of a building. Thirty stories up. At night. No one does it like Spider-people do it.
Miles Morales/Peter B. Parker

In contrast to the other ships in the fandom, the majority of Miles Morales/Peter B. Parker fic is rated Mature or Explicit, and much of it is marked as Underage

  • If You Don't Mean It by KennyMoonFic, Completed April 12, 2021, Explicit. After the collider is destroyed and he gets permanently trapped in a new dimension, Peter B. Parker finally has something to live for in mentoring 16-year-old Miles Morales. But can Miles balance school, family, being an awkwardly-normal teen, having a crush on his mentor, and being Spider-Man? No...no, he cannot.
  • Entangled by Wolfspider, 24 January 2019, M. Kingpin's collider did more than just open a door to other worlds: that first failed experiment mixed all the Spiders' atoms together, and now Miles finds himself involuntarily jumping, torn across universes by the magnetic pull of friends he's become attached to on a quantum level.
  • Collider by starwheel, 25 April 2019, E. Sex pollen + omega in heat.
  • practice makes perfect (yes i can prove it) by theangryorchard, 6 March 2019, E. Miles asks Peter to teach him to kiss. (Miles is sixteen.)
May Parker/Olivia Octavius
  • To Have and to Hold by Traincat, 15 December 2018, T. Pre-Canon fic in which May Parker and Olivia Octavius are getting married.
  • time differential by owlinaminor, 23 December 2018, T. Pre-Canon backstory. Three times Liv bursts in.
  • Bail and Bowties by asterCrash, 26 December 2018, T. Liv's got a month off waiting for her trial, why not pay an old flame a visit?
  • don't trust in me, my dear by Yevynaea, 11 January 2019, T. They’re both close to the end of their respective college careers, when things start going wrong, when tensions start rising. Two job offers from Alchemax, and Olivia is excited, eager, while May is too wary to accept, sure in her ethics.

Fanart

Comics

Vids

Archives & Fannish Links

References

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