If there ever was a wish list for a Spidey fan; undoubtedly it would include having Spider-Man join the Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, give Miles Morales his due, and forget the Marc Webb films every happened. Last summer we crossed off the first item off that list and come December 21, 2018 we shall see another when Miles Morales will take up the web slinging mantel for a feature animated film. The Animated Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has big shoes to fill in comparison to its live action counterparts but if Sony Animation were to take on such a task; why not do it with Miles Morales.
As of right now there is no word as to who is voicing Spider-Man. Many are holding out for Donald Glover, but I feel his presence would be overkill. Glover is in part responsible for the birth of Miles Morales. After a viral campaign to have him play a live action Spider-Man, Brian Michael Bendis created the character in his likeness, as well as President Barack Obama’s. Naturally, Glover would go on to voice the character in the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series, and with Glover acting in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming, I think we have reached a point of over saturation. It’s time to hand the webs over to another personality, if only to steer away from Miles Morales being mistaken as “that Donald Glover Spider-Man” and focus more on the character’s biracial status.
Some critics have noted that the current run of superhero films have started to feel formulaic. But surely, critical darlings Phil Lord and Chris Miller will have no quarrels stopping any such criticism. Chris Miller will produce with Phil Lord penning the script along side Rodney Rothman, and I can’t be more excited. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs was a surprise hit and The Lego Movie was far smarter then it ever should have been. Now take all that goodness and throw it in the blender with the familiar charm of Spider-man but add the somewhat new face of Miles Morales. I will be surprised if what we get is not the wet dream of everyone who watched the 90’s animated Spider-Man. Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey will direct and round out this “right kind of crazy” crew. Not enough praise can be made of this team simply because they take chances and thats exactly what a Miles Morales Spider-Man movie needs to do.
I can’t stress enough how little interest I have in another Spider-Man origin story. My main gripe with the Marc Webb’s films is how hard they tried to tell the same origin, with all the same beats as the Sam Raimi films, but its as if they replaced every other word with a synonym from a thesaurus and called it good. So it may be a hard pill to swallow but I think this may have to be an origin story of sorts. Mile Morales basically betraying his fathers hatred of super heroes and his uncles own criminal lifestyle is essential to the character. It marks the moment he stops being a wallflower and decides to be the poster child for change. This message all the more powerful by the nonchalant racial theme behind his half-black half-hispanic heritage.
While I do think the Morales origin story is essential, I’m more keen on having Mysterio as the main villain. Mysterio’s levels in the Spider-Man video games were always a personal favorite of mine. Getting to fight with the hallucinations mixed with the hypnotic hippie vibes were mildly addicting. As one of the villains not yet seen on the big screen there is a lot of room to work with. If in this iteration Miles’s mother dies, I can see Mysterio taunting him with visions of her alive. The contrast of dark torment and colorful illusions would be a perfect introduction to a Miles Morales Spider-Man.
