With all the to-do about Sony’s upcoming Spidey reboot with Spider-Man: Homecoming, it was easy to forget that there is in fact another movie featuring Marvel’s friendly neighborhood wall-crawler on the horizon from the studio: an animated Spider-Man film, in fact. The movie is scheduled to hit on December 18 of 2018, but many fans have wondered what there is to differentiate between the live-action Spidey and the animated one. Why have both at the same time? Well, that’s because it has just been confirmed that the Spider-Man animated film won’t be featuring Peter Parker, but instead will feature the second Spidey, teenage hero Miles Morales. This inclusion is a huge win for people who want to see more diverse superheroes up on the big screen, as Miles is a bi-racial hero.
There had been rumors that the upcoming Spider-Man animated movie would focus on Miles Morales and not Peter Parker, but the news is now official thanks to an announcement made by Sony Pictures Animation president Kristine Belson, at an SPA slate presentation on Wednesday morning. The animated Spider-Man movie was written by Phil Lord, who will also executive produce the film right alongside his Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street partner Chris Miller. The pair will soon begin production on the Star Wars stand-alone Han Solo movie, which they are directing together. Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey are set to co-direct Spider-Man.
Our own writer and weekend editor, Luke Y. Thompson, was at the Sony event today and got to see a brief clip of the movie, and shared that “the visual style is like the already-revealed logo, a combination of cel shading and graffiti art, with lots of bright colors and dark blacks.” He also caught a glimpse of the animated Spider-Man and said “Spidey costume is very classic red and blue, with big cartoony eyes, and slightly angular build, like a 3D version of a Clone High character.” Sweet MTV animation reference, Luke!
Miller and Lord also had a brief video intro to the footage, where they said what they love about Spidey is that anyone can wear the mask, regardless of race or gender. Gotta love it.
The character of Miles Morales was created by premiere Marvel Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli, and the bi-racial teen hero was first introduced back in 2011 as a part of Marvel’s Ultimate Comics line. In the Ultimate universe, Miles took over the role of Spider-Man after that universe’s Peter Parker died tragically, and he carried on his legacy. After several years, Marvel decided to end the Ultimate imprint in 2015, but unlike almost all the other Ultimate universe characters, Miles was so popular that he was incorporated into the main Marvel universe, and currently has his own title, which is simply called Spider-Man. Miles has actually made an animated appearance already, as he is part of Disney XD’s animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, where he is voiced by actor Donald Glover.
Will Glover reprise his role as the voice of Miles? It’s certainly possible (and totally welcome), but he’s hardly the only choice. Michael B. Jordan would be a good choice to be the voice actor for Miles, as would Star Wars’ very own Finn, John Boyega. In fact, Boyega has the boyish, slightly nerdy enthusiasm as Finn that would be perfect for a character like Miles Morales. Whoever they cast, hopefully it won’t be Jaden Smith. Other actors that would be ideal for the character, who is half Puerto-Rican, would be Puerto-Rican actors like Mark Indelicato, best known for his role on Ugly Betty, and Freddie Prinze Jr, who although older, still has a boyish quality to his voice when he wants to (and is known for his voice acting on Star Wars: Rebels).
Has the revelation that Miles Morales is the star of the upcoming animated Spidey film upped your enthusiasm level for the movie like it has for us? Let us know down below in the comments!
Image: Marvel Comics
