While we’ve seen some unusual titles, and a lot of Adam Sandler movies, dominate Netflix’s rankings in recent weeks, arguably one of the best comic book movies of all time is doing pretty well on the service this weekend. 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is currently the tenth most popular film on all of Netflix, something we’re not too surprised about, given the quality of the movie. But what exactly makes Spider-Verse so special?
Primarily, Spider-Verse’s CGI take on Spider-Man mythology boasts some of the most stylishly realized animation for a major studio movie, in this or any other era. Throw in an engaging lead character in the Shameik Moore-voiced Miles Morales, and the multiple webslingers crossing over from different dimensions, and you have an engaging superhero story that also manages to be funny and respectful to the complex mythology behind the character.
The success of Spider-Verse has long generated talk of a live-action adaptation of the concept, with Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire rumored to be targeted for a return to the role of Peter Parker. The not-always-stable relationship between Sony and Disney, however, hasn’t helped get a new live-action Spider-Man movie off the ground, although there have been some firmer talks this month about progress on a sequel to the 2018 Spider-Verse.
Speaking as part of a screening party for the film, the directing and producing team behind Spider-Verse confirmed they’re still working on the project, with a 2022 release planned. Due to COVID-19, however, the original plan to drop the sequel in April 2022 now looks to be shelved, with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 more likely to be out in October that year. Plot details are so far sparse, but it should feature even more characters from the wider Spider-Man universe.
In the meantime, it’s certainly worth catching up on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on Netflix, with the film’s animation and voice performances alone making it worth a revisit.