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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has unique potential for its universe

By Rob Wolkenbrod

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2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse may not be a live-action movie, but there’s potential to unleash all of Spidey’s friends.

Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther and Deadpool 2 will understandably receive most of the superhero movie hype in 2018. These are blockbuster films, with the potential to be ground-breaking, record-setting or a terrific sequel. That doesn’t include Aquaman, Ant-Man and the Wasp and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. However, even though it’s an animated movie, don’t rule out Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which flashes the potential to be special.

On Saturday, Sony dropped Into the Spider-Verse’s trailer. It’s difficult to say there were any expectations for this, as the live-action movies receive the headlines, while animated features take a back seat. Though, with this one-minute, seven-second trailer and the official reveal of the movie’s name (it was untitled), it surprisingly opened the floodgates for Spidey’s world.

With that said, let’s dive into the Spider-Verse:

This Spider-Man film won’t feature Peter Parker under the mask. If anything, the trailer potentially revealed his death at the 0:20 mark. It’s a story about Miles Morales, perhaps the biggest non-Peter Parker name to hold the Spider-Man mantle. He’ll attempt to fend off an unknown villain, played by Liev Schreiber.

Beyond this, we saw Morales in action, presumably in New York City. Though, in the midst of this, three things stuck out: “Enter a Universe,” appearing at 0:39, the interaction at 1:05 and the movie’s title itself, Into the Spider-Verse. Essentially, it’s Sony plastering that more than one web-slinger will appear.

Spider-Verse isn’t a Sony-created name. It’s the name of a storyline used in 2014, featuring all versions of Spider-Man to exist. They were attacked by Morlun and the Inheritors, a group that literally feeds on humans, superheroes and totems.

So, yes, Parker and Morales aren’t the only versions of Spider-Man to exist. They’re just two of a group that includes Spider-Gwen, Silk, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Girl, Superior Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. In other words, don’t just expect Parker’s potential tombstone and Morales to appear in Into the Spider-Verse.

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Sony will open a universe, with the potential for more movies if the animated world finds box office success. It’s an interesting answer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man, whose rights were reacquired by Marvel Studios a few years ago. While these may not compare, given that live-action and animation are separate things, it’s the next-best thing for Sony to fill in their Peter Parker-sized void. It’s using the Morales character, something the Marvel Cinematic Universe hinted at (Donald Glover’s Aaron Davis is the uncle to Miles in Spider-Man: Homecoming), to bring something fresh and innovative to the table. Morales and the amazing animation was the first step.

Step two should see Sony go beyond this, introducing a bevy of web-slingers characters. As noted, there’s more than enough versions that can appear. Including if one of them becomes Morales’ love interest, potentially Spider-Gwen, connecting with a recent version of the comics.

The upside is rich for Into the Spider-Verse. There’s a full year to wait but, with all the superhero movies that will air between, it should beautifully bridge the gap, not only to this movie but Venom (another Sony production).

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hits theaters on Dec. 18, 2018.

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