Story
In a parallel universe, Spider-Man (voice of Chris Pine) has been killed by the villain Kingpin (voice of Liev Schreiber). Back in Brooklyn, African-American teen Miles Morales (voice of Shameik Moore) is bitten by a radioactive spider, which gives him Spider-Man-like abilities. As Kingpin tries to open a portal to other parallel universes, a host of Spider-People begin to appear in Brooklyn. With the help of a burned-out Peter Parker (voice of Jake Johnson), Spider-Gwen (voice of Hailee Steinfeld), Peni Parker (voice of Kimiko Glenn), Spider-Man Noir (voice of Nicolas Cage) and Spider-Ham (voice of John Mulaney), Miles must stop the portal from destroying Brooklyn, return his new friends to their own spider-universes, master his new powers, and be back in bed before his parents notice.
Themes
Revenge; responsibility; crime; friendship; family; death; loss; loneliness; bullying
Violence
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has some violence. For example:
- There’s frequent animated and cartoon-style action violence throughout this movie. Both heroes and villains are violent, and the violence has no serious physical consequences. For example, characters punch, kick and throw other characters against walls. They also fall from buildings, get hit by cars and shot by laser guns, but they aren’t hurt.
- Kingpin smashes his fists down hard on Spider-Man, and he dies.
- A character on the brink of redemption is shot dead by another character.
Sexual references
None of concern
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None of concern
Nudity and sexual activity
None of concern
Product placement
The following products are displayed or used in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse:
- Sony headphones
- Nike sneakers
- Sony Androids smartphones
- Converse
- Jeep
- Snapchat
- well-known branded products, media and businesses, but with variations on their names – for example, Kola Soda, RedEx and so on.
Coarse language
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has some mild coarse language, including ‘freakin’ and ‘hell’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a gorgeous, animated comic book-style origin story of Miles Morales’ Spider-Man. The movie offers a surprisingly fresh take on a seemingly over-exposed superhero. With excellent and innovative visuals, and a heart-warming yet intensely funny script, this movie will entertain audiences of all ages, even those who might not usually enjoy superhero movies.
Although the movie is appropriate and enjoyable for viewers from eight years and older, children under 10 years will need parental guidance, because of some frightening and intense scenes. Parental guidance should also be considered for children under 13 years, because some characters, themes and visuals might distress children in this age group.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include:
- working as a team
- seeking family support when things are difficult
- believing in yourself, even when faced with challenges.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like the following:
- Trespassing, especially in dangerous areas like the rooms behind the tracks in a subway station.
- Illegal graffiti – this is glamorised in the movie.
- Attitudes toward women or girls and dating – for example, Miles and his ‘cool’ uncle discuss girls at school and Miles having ‘game’. Although this is only a passing conversation, it might contribute to objectifying attitudes in dating contexts.
- Parkour – for example, many characters, including Miles, do dangerous parkour. It’s possible that children of a similar age might want to copy these parkour stunts.
- Bullying – for example, Miles is bullied by others at school.