Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Blu Ray Review (Sony)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a 2018 animated superhero film directed by Bob Persichetti (Shrek 2, Monsters vs. Aliens, & The Little Prince), Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians, Shrek the Third, & Sausage Party), & Rodney Rothman (22 Jump Street, Grudge Match, & Undeclared) who also co-wrote the screenplay. It was co-written & produced by Phil Lord (The Lego Movie 1/2, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 1/2, & 21/22 Jump Street). It was also produced by Christopher Miller (Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Lego Batman Movie, The Last Man on Earth, & How I Met Your Mother), Stan Lee (Iron Man franchise, Captain America franchise, Thor franchise, Hulk franchise, & The Avengers franchise), & Avi Arad (Spider-Man franchise, Venom, X-Men franchise, & Blade franchise). It was originally announced in 2014. This is the second adaptation of the “Spider-Verse” comic after being used on “Ultimate Spider-Man”. The production required 180 different animators to finish the film. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film. The budget was $90 million & it grossed $375.4 million worldwide at the box office!!!!

Teenager Miles Morales (played by: Shameik Moore from Dope, The Get Down, The Pretenders, & Incredible Crew) struggles to live up to the expectations of his father police officer Jefferson Davis (played by: Brian Tyree Henry from Child’s Play, Widows, If Beale Street Could Talk, & Atlanta). He sneaks out to his uncle Aaron Davis’s (played by: Mahershala Ali from True Detective, Luke Cage, Green Book, & Predators) house to paint graffiti. He is bitten by a radioactive spider & he starts changing. He goes back to the abandoned subway station to find the spider. He accidentally discovers a particle accelerator called “The Super-Collider” built by Wilson Fisk (played by: Liev Schreiber from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Goon 1/2, Ray Donovan, & Scream 1/2/3). He witnesses Spider-Man (played by: Chris Pine from the Star Trek franchise, Smokin’ Aces, Hell or High Water, & Wonder Woman) battling Fisk, Green Goblin, & Prowler. The wounded Spider-Man gives Miles a USB drive to disable the accelerator & warns that the machine could destroy the city if reactivated. Miles meets Peter B. Parker (played by: Jake Johnson from Jurassic World, The Mummy, Let’s Be Cops, & Neighbors), an older & worn-down version of Spider-Man from another dimension.They are confronted by the evil scientist Olivia Octavius (played by: Kathryn Hahn from Crossing Jordan, Step Brothers, Our Idiot Brother, & We’re the Millers) but they are rescued by Gwen Stacy (played by: Hailee Steinfeld from Bumblebee, The Edge of Seventeen, True Grit, & Term Life), Spider-Woman from another dimension. They track down Peter’s aunt, May Parker (played by: Lily Tomlin from Grace and Frankie, Short Cuts, Damages, & Big Business). She is helping out the other heroes from different dimensions which includes Spider-Man Noir (played by: Nicolas Cage from Raising Arizona, Wild at Heart, Leaving Las Vegas, & The Rock), Spider-Ham (played by: John Mulaney from Saturday Night Live), & Peni Parker (played by: Kimiko Glenn from Orange Is the New Black). Wilson “The Kingpin” Fisk with Prowler, Octavius, Scorpion (played by: Joaquín Cosio from Narcos: Mexico, The Strain, Quantum of Solace, & Savages), & Tombstone (played by: Marvin ‘Krondon’ Jones III from Black Lightning) hunt down the superheroes, this leads to a war between them! Miles’s father Jefferson Davis & the police department are blaming the wrong team for recent actions. Can they save the city & themselves at the same time????

I am not going to lie, when this was first announced & I seen a few of the trailers for it, I wasn’t really impressed by it. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was so much better than what the promotional material made it out to be. It’s one of the best animated films that I’ve ever seen in my life & it’s a very unique entry for the Spider-Man universe. The vocal cast was top notch which includes Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Chris Pine, Liev Schreiber, & Kathryn Hahn plus it has some awesome cameos. So many characters that usually wouldn’t get much notice or screen time were in this. Personally, I think Wilson Fisk should have been the main villain in one of these recent MCU productions over some of the other ones that they used in the past. It’s a shame that role has only been featured on Netflix when it comes to live action from the last few years. It’s been a long time since they released that Daredevil film & I think a lot of people have forgotten about that one by now. It was also great to see lesser known villains in this like Prowler, Scorpion, & Tombstone. I wish Green Goblin had a bigger role & I’ve never seen this version of Doc Ock before which was an interesting twist to the classic nemesis. Each Spider-Man brought something different to the table & it was amazing to see them work together like that. This had a nice balance of comedy & action, I know it would have been hard to pull off but a live action version would have crazy to experience. DC generally has the better animated features but this one was something special & I hope Marvel continues to produce high quality stuff like this in the future to compete with them. This was beyond entertaining & so much fun, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Sony! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer is one of the best looking animation films that I’ve ever seen. I love the unique style to it, it really stands out from all the others. I can only image what the 4K release looks like. It has 3 different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1, & Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 on the disc. The dialogue is very clean, all the action is boosted, & the score shines on it. It has English, English SDH, French, & Spanish subtitles. Both picture & sound are very impressive when it comes to the technical aspects of the release.

Let’s discuss the special features from Sony on this blu ray. “Alternate Universe Mode” is a completely different version of the film. This is a really cool extra plus it has an “Audio Commentary” with Will Gluck. “Audio Commentary” with the creative team which includes Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, & Rodney Rothman. They talk about the animation for this. They bring up the nice comedy balance it has. They chat about the chemistry between the actors. They mention stuff that almost didn’t make the cut. They point out some Easter eggs from the feature. They talk about some of their musical choices for Spider-Verse. They chat about some characters being different from what most fans known them as. They go over the visual style for the production. They bring up the emotional scenes mixed well all the other stuff from Spider-Verse & it really fueled the story. They mention moments they had to cut out or edit for this. They all have good chemistry here on this track. They do lots of scene by scene chatter with a good amount of information about the production. “Caught in a Ham” is a short film & it’s a little over 4 minutes. “We Are Spider-Man” is almost 8 minutes. It has interviews with the creative team, actors Shameik Moore, Mahershala Ali, Hailee Steinfeld, Kimiko Glenn, & other members of the production. They talk about being excited about adapting the Spider-Verse story. They chat about the unique characters involved including women versions of the role. They mention it being a different spin on the classic hero & the differences with these roles. It shows behind the scenes footage. “Spider-Verse: A New Dimension” is a little over 5 minutes. It has interviews with various members of the production team. They talk about the visual style for the film. It takes you behind the scenes on how they created some of the shots. They chat about what they were doing was nothing like before & original. They mention that they wanted to live up to all the other Spider-Man projects.

“The Ultimate Comics Cast” is a little over 15 minutes. It has interviews with the creative team, actors Shameik Moore, Mahershala Ali, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Brian Tyree Henry, Liev Schreiber, Kathryn Hahn, John Mulaney, & other members of the production. They talk about why they cast the actors in the roles & basically getting their first choices for everyone. It has all kinds of behind the scenes footage of the actors recording their parts. They chat about their characters & experience on the production. “Designing Cinematic Comic Book Characters: Heroes & Hams” is almost 8 minutes. They go over the visuals & look of all the heroes from Spider-Verse. They talk about doing their research & wanting to create the best possible version of them. “Designing Cinematic Comic Book Characters: Scoundrels & Scorpions” is a little over 5 minutes. This is basically the same as the previous extra except it focuses on the villains. They bring up some of the changes they made to them & how it makes them different in this dimension. “A Tribute to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko” is a little over 8 minutes. It has an older interview with Stan Lee. Various people talk about the two biggest creative forces when it came to Spider-Man. They chat about the original material having a big impact on this production. “The Spider-Verse Super Fan Easter Egg Challenge” is a little over 5 minutes. The creative team points out a variety of references they put in the feature. It’s a real fun to see some of the stuff that you originally missed. “Lyric Videos” for Post Malone featuring Swae Lee “Sunflower” plus Nicki Minaj “Familia” featuring Anuel AA, & Bantu. I just want to add that Post Malone is garbage & should never be allowed be used in the movies ever again. It also includes a slipcover, a digital code, & a DVD copy of the release. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!