Why Into the Spider-Verse Is the Most Ambitious Crossover Ever

by Staff & Contributors on July 18, 2019

in Gaming

With the announcement that Sony will continue to make its Marvel comics movies set in the animated “Spider-Verse,” fans rejoiced. The cartoon feature seemed like a risky gamble, especially since this film didn’t bear Marvel Studios’ Midas Touch. Released in the same year as Avengers: Infinity War, dubbed the “most ambitious crossover ever,” by internet fans, Into the Spider-Verse seemed to be repeating the mistakes of the past. The film promised to introduce no fewer than six Spider-people, a bold move for the studio who killed their last Spider-Man franchise will lots of characters and set-ups for sequels (that never happened). Yet, because of the success of the film, Into the Spider-Verse might actually deserve the title for most ambitious crossover ever, because of what it promises is possible.

One thing that makes Marvel Studios such a powerhouse is their deep roster of characters. Sure, some of their biggest stars and most well-known characters bowed out during Avengers: Endgame. Yet, if they can make Ant-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy box office smashes, they can turn any of their weird, little-known characters into huge hits. Studios like Fox, now owned by Marvel’s parent company Disney, tried with varying success to maintain a Marvel Studios-size franchise with their X-Men films. Riddled with continuity problems because they didn’t actually reboot the X-Men franchise, it seems studios are doomed one way or another. But the storytellers behind Into the Spider-Verse figured out a way around it.

 

The First (Failed) Attempt at a Spider-Verse

When Sony announced that director Sam Raimi left their fourth Spider-Man film, skeptical fans wondered if a franchise reboot would work. Only a few years removed from the profitable, but not beloved, Spider-Man 3, Andrew Garfield’s take on the character fought an uphill battle. The first film worked, but the second one crashed and burned in a big way. As with Spider-Man 3, fans felt the storytellers put too much into one film. There was Jamie Foxx’s unique take on Electro, the introduction and heelturn of Dane Deehan’s Harry Osborn into the Green Goblin, the death of Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy, and needless foreshadowing of villains like Doc Ock, the Vulture, and others. This wasn’t an accident, at least not the last part. Sony planned to create their own shared universe of films, building up to Spider-Man’s battle with the Sinister Six. Fans didn’t care, and thus Sony felt forced to crawl to Marvel begging to share their most popular character.

 

How Into the Spider-Verse Changed the Game

Comic book fans are very familiar with the concept of a “multiverse.” Comics suffer the same problems as these long-running franchises. Storytellers come and go, and the larger narrative gets muddled and confused. So, by establishing that there are “multiple realities,” it allows all those stories to exist in their own space. They all “happened,” but future storytellers aren’t hamstrung by decisions made a decade ago. This central conceit is a huge part of the film, as it is what allows Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, and the cartoonish Spider-Ham to all exist on the same plane of existence. So, this means that in future Spider-Verse films, more familiar Spideys could come into the story, specifically the versions of the character portrayed by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and maybe even Tom Holland (if the Marvel/Sony deal ends up renewed). What makes this idea perfect is that because it’s an animated film, it doesn’t matter how old the actors are. When Tobey Maguire made his last Spider-Man film he was well into his thirties. Now, into his fourth decade of life, he probably doesn’t want to have to don a full-body Spandex suit again. Yet, he still sounds like Tobey Maguire, so if he lent his voice to an animated version of the character, he wouldn’t have to spend a single day in the gym. If these versions of Peter Parker enter the Spider-Verse, it would be a nice treat for fans of those movies. Also, it could be a way for the two actors to revisit the character after both had ignominious last outings. Both Garfield and Maguire were excellent Spideys, and this could be a chance for them to remind everyone of that fact.

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