“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is the latest animated version of Spider-Man to come out, and it’s probably the best comic book movie I have ever seen, definitely the best Spider-Man movie I have ever seen. It’s an origin story that pokes fun at its own origin story, but creates an original story out of it, making a great first impression to yet another new Spider-Man. 

The animation of the movie allows it to be more creative than its live action brethren, you never end up with the “here goes the part that will be all CGI” moment. That freedom allows for some great action and cinematic shots that couldn’t be done easily in live action, if at all.

 From the get go it feels like a comic book, the characters on screen are in focus but the back round is slightly out of focus, making this film stand out from other animated films. At one-point, comic book bubbles start showing up, but they aren’t done in a distracting way, it’s to highlight the change the main character is going through. 

The main character Miles Morales — voiced by Shameik Moore — is, you guessed it, bitten by a radioactive spider, but unlike when it happened to Peter Parker, he isn’t the only one. Miles doesn’t have to go through the growing pains of becoming a super hero alone, he has someone who can teach him how to be Spider-Man. Except this version of Peter Parker isn’t exactly a well put together hero. 

With Spider-Man, probably more than any other super hero, the everyday persona is just as important as the suited-up hero. Peter Parker is present every time Spider-Man goes into action, not just in the physical sense, but mentally and emotionally. Spider-Man has to wrap up his fight quickly, so Peter won’t be late for a date with Mary Jane.

This Peter is no different. When his personal life hits a bump, it effects his hero attitude. Peter is a little bit overweight, (Spider-Gut needs to be a new pop culture reference) at one point he goes into a mission wearing sweatpants over his Spider-Suit, he has a five o’clock shadow and he sounds exhausted by the grind of super hero life. 

The voice acting is great in this movie, especially for Peter, voiced by Jake Johnson. He sounds like a defeated hero who still does the job, because that’s what you do when you’re a super hero. 

Miles quickly realizes that Peter isn’t going to be the mentor he was expecting, and Peter doesn’t really want to mentor Miles. But the super collider that threatens to tear apart the world can’t be destroyed by a single hero, so the two team up. Even here where you know that the two will end up as a team it doesn’t feel as cliched. Peter, who usually has to do everything alone, sounds relieved when he sees that Miles won’t let him do the super hero stuff alone. 

After the two team up, it’s the que to drop in more Spider-People. Seeing all of them on screen at once is hilarious, and once again the creativity of the movie is shown. In part because of the different animation styles used for the lesser known other versions of Spider-People, but also because they all seem so out of place, and because of the established ridiculous element of the movie, it works well. Hearing Nicolas Cage’s voice come from Spider-Man Noir a black and white character in a color movie fits so perfectly, it’s hard to put into words, it’s something you have to experience for yourself.

Another stand out in the voice cast is Lily Tomlin as Aunt May, she brings a certain experience needed for this version of Aunt May, but also has the credibility as someone who can make an impact with limited screen time. Wilson Fisk, the main bad guy voiced by Liev Schreiber, sounds more like a two-bit gangster than the hulking Kingpin, but the contradiction works well for the movie, adding to the comic book feel. 

Eventually Miles goes through the mandatory loss that every Spider-character needs to go through to step up to be the hero, and even though we’ve seen it before, it’s an emotional moment that delivers. The action of the climatic fight scene also delivers, and again shows the real strength of animation, doing things that wouldn’t be easy for a live action film. 

In a day and age where comic book movies rule the box office, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” stands out.