Adapting a retro comic aesthetic with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

When Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was first announced, as the fourth feature film starring Spider-Man in three years and the ninth since Sam Raimi first brought the character to the big screen in 2001, it was clear that the hero’s first animated feature would have to do something to distinguish itself from its live action counterparts. The film’s teaser trailer suggested this would not be a problem, revealing three key unique selling points: firstly, it would focus on Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), the half-Puerto Rican, half-African-American Spider-Man introduced in 2011, rather than the traditional, white Peter Parker character. Secondly, entitled Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it would be a dimension-hopping adventure, bringing together a diverse group of alternate spider-people, including an older Parker (Jake Johnson); Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), a spider-powered take on one of Parker’s classic love interests; the cartoonish, porcine Spider-Ham (John Mulaney); the anime-inspired cyborg SP//dr (Kimiko Glenn); and the gritty, 1930s-esque Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage). Thirdly, it would combine brand-new computer animation techniques with hand-drawn flourishes and graphic elements taken straight from comic books to create a unique visual style unlike anything seen before in mainstream animated feature filmmaking.