How Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Changed Animation Forever

With the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse almost upon us, let’s take a look back at how its predecessor turned the world of animation on its head.

Considering the integral part it has played in cinema’s storied history, it will never not be disheartening to hear animation’s good name disrespected. Routinely belittled and frequently looked down on, animation has nevertheless been there with cinema since day one, constantly proving itself to be the most adaptable, creative, and expressive film medium (not genre) around.

With an ever-changing industry and an ever-evolving audience, animation has had to adapt to survive, continuously finding new ways to dazzle and entertain audiences of all ages. All along the way, animation has bobbed and weaved its way through film history, frequently dropping moments that would change the game forever.

Whether it’s the very first time we met Mickey in Steamboat Willie, the moment feature-length animation was born with Snow White, or the day our minds were blown when CGI brought Andy’s toys to life in Toy Story, animation history is peppered with ground-breaking, game-changing moments that have forever altered it.

Which is where Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse swings in.

How Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Changed Animation Forever

While it initially felt like Sony desperately scrabbling around for a way to squeeze more cash from the Spider-Man name, it wasn’t long after we locked eyes on Into the Spider-Verse that all our spidey-senses started collectively tingling.

Purely on a surface level, there was just something so undeniably different about the way Into the Spider-Verse looked. Despite rapidly advancing animation technology, in the years before Spider-Verse’s release, the medium had hit an aesthetic brick wall, as CGI monotony became the industry norm, however, in one foul swoop, this film changed everything.

Quirky, jittery, and positively mesmeric, the film’s strikingly unique animation clearly wasn’t aiming for the computer-generated sheen of a Pixar or a Disney, nor did it feel like the more traditional offerings of a Studio Ghibli, however, the results were no less impressive. Innovative and intrepid yet comfortingly classic, the film’s intoxicating mix of 2D and 3D animation styles truly felt like a comic book come to life.

Big, bold, and bursting with energy, Into the Spider-Verse just doesn’t let up, offering something that we’d simply never seen from a big studio animation before, let alone one tied to such a huge superhero commodity.

And, just like that, animation would never look the same again.

Quite frankly, for a hero as kinetic and exuberant as Spider-Man, the standard animation treatment just wouldn’t have felt right. Now take one of Marvel’s hottest new characters in Miles Morales and throw him head-first into the multiverse, and it’d be downright criminal to not go as wild as humanly possible.

The very fact that the easy road wasn’t taken, and that a studio as notoriously erratic with their Spider-Man output as Sony fully bought into the insanity Phil Lord and Christopher Miller sold them, felt like a true watershed moment for animation everywhere.

Looks-wise, Into the Spider-Verse was a true breath of fresh air, however, it helped tremendously that the film had the writing to back itself up. Nailing a concept as singularly bizarre as a multiverse full of spider-people is one thing, but Spider-Verse’s ability to provide a story strong enough to carry it will remain one of the defining moments of 21st century animation.

Of course, it’d be churlish to suggest that great animated storytelling hadn’t existed before, however, this was something else entirely. Animation has been the conduit for so many incredible stories through the years, yet few have come close to telling one as brazen, bizarre, beautiful, and satisfyingly accessible as Into the Spider-Verse.

In landing all this so superbly, Into the Spider-Verse was a storytelling triumph, yet it would’ve been futile had they fumbled Miles Morales’ introduction. After many years of Peter Parker as the only big screen Spider-Man, the film had an incredibly tricky task on its hands convincing us that there was an alternate version worth rooting for, however, Spider-Verse delivered.

The sheer power of having an Afro-Latino teen lead a Spider-Man movie should not be underestimated. For all its good looks and impressive storytelling, it was Into the Spider-Verse’s representation that felt the most revolutionary, not only for animation, but for the wider film landscape, and having it arrive at the end of a year that brought us the game-changing Black Panther only solidified this.

For all the wonderful things mainstream animation has done through the years, diversity and cultural representation have been frequently found wanting. There are exceptions of course, and things have improved over time, however, this has been an area of cinema that has felt so overwhelmingly white for so long, so for Into the Spider-Verse to have a Spider-Man of color front and center was a truly monumental statement.

All of this, however, would’ve been for nothing had Into the Spider-Verse not clicked at the box office. For all its quality and laudable ambition, had the film been a financial flop, it would’ve been all too easy for Hollywood to dismiss Spider-Verse as an admirable failure and continue as they were before.

Animation history is littered with honorable financial flops, yet, with an exceptional $400 million return on a $90 million production budget (a total that would surpass Hotel Transylvania 2 as Sony Pictures Animation’s highest grossing film domestically), Into the

Spider-Verse showed that the passion, commitment to visual creativity, and devotion to representation were all worth it.

The truth, as stark as it is, is that the movie business is just that – a business – and for any individual film to drive significant change within the industry, the bottom-line studios so aggressively covet must be taken care of, and Into the Spider-Verse did just that, proving beyond all doubt that audiences were willing to take a leap of faith if Hollywood jumped first.

In the years since the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the shift in animation’s tectonic plates has been clear. From The Mitchells vs the Machines to Puss In Boots: The Last Wish via The Bad Guys, the medium has blessed us with an array of surprisingly experimental delights, and with the glorious-looking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Nimona arriving later this year, animation’s brave new dawn looks set to continue.

With the adventures of Miles and the spider-gang set to continue in Across the Spider-Verse, the proof is now undeniable that Sony’s triumph back in 2018 changed everything, proving that animation outside the norm could not only survive but thrive, and no matter where our multiversal adventures take us next, it’s safe to say nothing will ever be the same again.

NEXT: Chris Miller & Phil Lord Talk Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

About Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, Spider-Man™: Across the Spider-Verse. After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters the Spider Society, a team of Spider-People charged with protecting the Multiverse’s very existence.

But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must set out on his own to save those he loves most. Anyone can wear the mask – it’s how you wear it that makes you a hero.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swings into theaters June 2nd.