Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse swung into theaters in December of 2018 and immediately captivated audiences with its revolutionary take on the beloved superhero genre and breathtaking animation style. Directed by the talented trio of Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, and Bob Persichetti, this animated masterpiece defied conventions and soared to unprecedented heights.

The film successfully introduces the concept of the multiverse and seamlessly weaves together the stories of various Spider-People from different dimensions. At its core, the film follows the journey of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a teenager grappling with newfound powers in the wake of the death of his universe’s Spider-Man. His world is spun even more out of control as he meets alternate universe heroes that make him question if he is ready for his new responsibilities.

Accolades poured in for the film, with the crowning achievement being the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. This recognition affirmed not only the technical brilliance of the animation but also the emotional depth and storytelling prowess that elevated Into the Spider-Verse beyond the status of a mere superhero film.

As first time viewers delve into the intricate web of dimensions and the extraordinary journey of Miles, it becomes clear that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is more than a cinematic experience – it’s a groundbreaking achievement that redefined expectations for animated storytelling in the West and left an indelible mark on the superhero genre.

In this Movie List from The Film Magazine, we are highlighting the 10 best moments from the film that define why Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse continues to enthral audiences, and we will explore its legacy as one of the best comic book movies of all time.

Follow @thefilmagazine on X (Twitter).

10. Welcome to the Spider-Verse

This is how you start a movie.

The rising intensity of the opening music. The glitching of the studio logos. The flashes of graffiti. Then blam: the intro fully kicks in and we are treated to the visual feast that is this movie. An explosion of colours and funky graphics inform us that Into the Spider-Verse is unlike any other comic book movie in that it is unashamed of its genre.

Following this is the opening monologue from Peter Parker (don’t get too attached), beginning the recurring “Alright, let’s do this one last time” gag. Peter, voiced by Chris Pine, gives a brief rundown of things most audiences will already know, narrating his life and the responsibilities that come with being Spider-Man. Yes, we’re technically seeing another screen Spider-Man origin story, but the writers make this one concise and fresh. This self-awareness lends itself nicely to some humorous moments, such as detailing the smaller Spider-Man duties, like having his own cereal or recording a Christmas album. 

Furthermore, there are plenty of references to Spider-Man in pop culture for fans to feast on. Did anyone expect them to reference the abominable Spider-Man popsicle? The animators even draw comparison to other Spidey iterations on screen, like the upside down kiss, the train scene in Spider-Man 2, and the legendary dance scene from Spider-Man 3.

It is the film’s thesis statement: funny, fast-paced and visually spectacular. The perfect introduction to one of the most unique comic book movies. Simultaneously, these opening 2 minutes are a celebration of all things Spider-Man, and a reminder why the iconic hero has endured for so long on page, on screen, and in wider popular culture.

Recommended for you: 10 Best Moments from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy

9. Meet Miles

A film is arguably only as good as its characters, and a film filled with fantastical Spider-people could have a hard time making its protagonist stand out. Within seconds of meeting Miles Morales, its clear audiences have a beloved hero to root for.

The first time we see Miles, he is caught up in his passions: artwork and music. His singing is gradually drowned out by his parents calling his name. He is pulled out of his daydream and into an all too relatable scenario – a teenager late for school. 

This quickly transitions to a high-energy montage showcasing Miles’ daily life, complete with the vibrant backdrop of Brooklyn. We are immersed in the sights and sounds of Miles’ world as they see a new side to him. As he walks through his neighbourhood, he is cool and approachable. His effortless charm makes him instantly likable. The dynamic animation, coupled with a hip-hop soundtrack, creates a sense of kinetic energy that mirrors the pulse of Miles’ urban environment. As Miles parades through the streets, leaving stickers of his artwork, he trips and is caught by his dad, a police officer. We are reminded that, despite his coolness, he’s still an awkward kid. These relatable struggles form the necessary strong connections between Miles and each of us.

These first moments with Miles do more for the film’s central character than a lot of comic book movies manage to do in their entire runtime. Miles’ humour and occasional awkwardness make him endearing. He embodies the youthful enthusiasm and idealism associated with adolescence, making him a perfect vessel for audiences diving into this larger than life story.

“There was an idea…”

Said idea was different to almost every version of the big screen superhero seen previously. Rather than each costumed hero existing in their own sealed-off vivariums, what if they could all share one interconnected universe containing a single ever-evolving and expansive story?

Once the idea gained traction, billions of dollars, and many “phases” of franchise continuity, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) became the envy of every studio with a lucrative intellectual property to siphon and thus many attempts were made to replicate the success of the “Marvel Formula”.

Much like the James Bond series in the decades before it, the MCU is primarily a producer-led franchise, the ultimate mastermind behind the project being Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, though distinct directors like Jon Favreau, Joss Whedon and Taika Waititi have certainly left their mark on their respective entries in the ongoing series.

What keeps us (and wider box office audiences) coming back, aside from the ever-increasing levels of superhero spectacle and long-form storytelling borrowing liberally from 80-plus years of comic books, is the time you’re afforded to grow to love the characters and their relationships with each other, especially in the ambitious team-up Avengers movies.

In this edition of Ranked we at The Film Magazine are assessing every entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and because fans have very different opinions on the best, the worst and everything in between regarding this series, we’ve attempted to find a balance between average critical consensus and general audience reception, as well as genre innovation and the lasting impact on popular culture, to order all of them definitively from worst to best.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your consideration… Every MCU Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie Ranked.

Follow @thefilmagazine on X (Twitter).

33. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

“A guy dressed like a bee tried to kill me when I was six. I’ve never had a normal life.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review

The Ant-Man films are probably the most inconstant sub-series in the MCU, quality wise, but because the final chapter of their trilogy tries to go both big and small, it well and truly overreaches itself.

Pitting the Lang/Van Dyne family against Kang the Conqueror in the Quantum Realm, force of nature Jonathan Majors playing a fascinating villain isn’t quite enough to save Peyton Reed’s threequel from being just an eye-catching jumble of mismatched, tonally confusing ideas.

For Kang’s first, less maniacal appearance and the start of this whole Multiverse Saga, make sure to watch Season 1 of ‘Loki’.

32. Eternals (2021)

“We have loved these people since the day we arrived. When you love something, you protect it.”

Eternals Review

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) is a great director, no doubt, but she was just not a good fit for the MCU in this story of space gods guiding humanity’s progress. Considering the usually grounded and singular vision of her work, this was a particularly crushing disappointment for most audiences.

The ambition and epic millennia-spanning scope of Eternals sadly did not pay off in this jarring, misjudged slog of a final product that couldn’t even be saved by a stellar and diverse cast. 

31. The Marvels (2023)

“Listen to me, you are chosen for a greater purpose. So you must go. But I will never let you go.”

The Marvels Review

The Marvels smartly builds a lot of its appeal around its central team-up of Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan as their power usage causes them to swap places across the universe, but their found family warmth and oodles of charisma can’t overcome all the film’s flaws.

This needed more purposeful storytelling, a villain that doesn’t feel like a retread of what came before and more direct confrontation of the darker implications of the story. The musical elements will likely make an already decisive movie more so, but the MCU overall could do with some more audacious imagery like what Nia DaCosta does with alien cats.

Watching ‘Wandavision’ and ‘Ms Marvel’ through beforehand will certainly help you connect with two of the three leads that bit quicker.

30. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

“Whosoever holds these weapons, and believes in getting home, if they be true of heart is therefore worthy, and shall possess… for limited time only, the power… of Thor!”

Thor: Love and Thunder Review

Taika Waititi is the kind of distinct voice that gave the MCU a jolt in the arm when it was most needed, and he was vital in reinvigorating the Thor series, but the tonal balance and technical polish certainly felt off in 2022 release Thor: Love and Thunder.

Good performances from Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Christian Bale, and some memorable set pieces aside, Thor’s latest adventure battling a god-killer with his now superpowered ex-girlfriend Jane Foster at his side feels like too many mismatched stories smashed together.

Recommended for you: Taika Waititi Films Ranked

29. Thor: The Dark World (2013)

“One son who wanted the throne too much, and other who will not take it. Is this my legacy?”

The God of Thunder’s third film appearance tries to live up to its title with a story of dark elves trying to snuff out all light in the universe. Sadly, a late change in director – Alan Taylor taking over from would-be Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins – and extensive Loki-centric reshoots didn’t help an already disjointed film feel any less so.

Thor’s dynamic with his Earthbound friends is still funny and more Loki (shoehorned in or not) is always a good thing with Tom Hiddleston in the role, but the storytelling is inconsistent at best and Christopher Eccleston under heavy prosthetics as Malekith may be the most boring villain in the MCU so far.

28. Iron Man 2 (2010)

“The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself, which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what state you’re in.”

The MCU’s first direct sequel went bigger and darker with Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark fighting a vengeful Russian inventor, a rival industrialist and potentially fatal health problems. Unfortunately, this ended up being a much less focussed, overblown and not all that compelling movie.

Scarlet Johansson makes her debut as Black Widow here, though she’s just a generic sexy spy at this point and not yet given the dimensions other writers would later bestow. The action is decent enough, but you wouldn’t lose out on much of you skipped over Iron Man 2 on your next MCU rewatch.

27. The Incredible Hulk (2008)

“You know, I know a few techniques that could help you manage that anger effectively.”

Lacking the clear intentions and boldness of many subsequent MCU movies, The Incredible Hulk is stylistically old-fashioned but works slightly better if you view this as a big-budget tribute to sympathetic monster movies (this one was made by Universal, after all).

A movie filled with false starts and one-off appearances (most obviously Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner would be recast with Mark Ruffalo for The Avengers in 2012), very little was carried over to the wider franchise right up until Tim Roth’s reappearance in ‘She-Hulk’ fourteen years later.

This is generally uninspiring stuff, with its most interesting man-on-the-run elements cribbed from the 1970s ‘Incredible Hulk’ TV show.

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The Marvels (2023)
Director: Nia DaCosta
Screenwriters: Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, Elissa Karasik
Starring: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park Seo-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Samuel L. Jackson

Previously on the MCU…

In Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers became the most powerful woman alive when she absorbed the cosmic energy of an exploding alien reactor. In ‘Wandavision’, astronaut Monica Rambeau gained the power to manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum when she passed through a barrier of chaos magic. In ‘Ms Marvel’, teenage superhero fangirl Kamala Khan’s inert extra-dimensional mutant powers were unlocked by a magical bangle passed down through her family. Now…

When three superheroes with light-based powers mysteriously start switching places across the universe, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) must team up to find the root cause of their conundrum and stop fanatical Kree warlord Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) from doing untold damage to the universe.

The debate about whether it’s a good move for buzzworthy indie directors to make the leap to superhero blockbusters so early in their careers continues. Cop Car’s Jon Watts managed to keep some of his directorial voice intact when he swung into the MCU with Spider-Man: Homecoming, ditto Taika Waititi taking up Thor’s hammer straight after Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but other filmmakers like Cate Shortland (going from Berlin Syndrome to Black Widow) and Chloé Zhao (following Nomadland with Eternals) have struggled to make their superhero movies stand out. Nia DaCosta (previously behind the Candyman reboot) seems to find herself somewhere in the middle of that scale, bringing plenty of personality to her story but perhaps having to temper her darker impulses to fit the studio brief.

The sheer charm of the central trio’s dynamic makes you forgive the film a lot of sins. This is what you’re watching for, to see this unconventional surrogate family unit – an absentee aunt, a grieving daughter and an over-enthusiastic younger sister who just wants to be included – puzzle out their predicament and support each other through their trials. The problem is that exactly what Captain Marvel has been doing since her movie debut, referenced in brief flashbacks and confronted directly at this film’s close, sounds a lot more interesting than the film we are actually watching. Rather than grappling with the responsibility of what to do with your near-unlimited power, seeing her make what will prove to be disastrous decisions that impact the lives of billions of extra-terrestrials, more often than not we’re hurtling around the universe searching for space trinkets for undefined reasons. 

There are some admittedly eye-catching sci-fi vistas on display, with glittering futuristic cities and spectacularly collapsing planetary bodies aplenty. There is also, disappointingly, still the odd uninspiring brawl that amounts to repetitive punching with added fireworks, usually in pretty featureless added-in-post environs. 

The action highlight is unquestionably the bravura fight sequence in the first act that is given its lifeblood and rhythm by sterling work from editors Catrin Hedström and Evan Schiff, hilariously inopportunely zipping the three Marvels in and out of their brawl taking place at three different points in the galaxy every time they use their powers. This unexpectedly not only puts the Khan family and their Jersey City home in the firing line but also keeps the powered trio physically apart and unable to effectively coordinate a little while longer.

You can’t really accuse DaCosta and co for playing it safe, mostly because of how prominently they feature multiple Flerkens (chaotic alien cats that can consume just about anything with their disguised tendrilled maws). The film also finds room for not one but two musical, or at least musical-inspired sequences to break up its more generic action. The more self-aware of these scenes that references an infamous piece of bad pop culture is the better and most memorable of the two by far and will doubtless be doing the rounds on social media as soon as The Marvels is released digitally.

This is one of the funnier Marvel movies, but most of the humour comes from the performances (especially Vellani’s insatiable excitement levels) rather than what was written on the page. The script could have used another pass for sure, and it contains very little that might be considered quotable. The warm interplay of Kamala and her protective family, the undoubted heart and highlight of her solo show, is always welcome, plus it’s amusing that they gave her parents (Zenobia Shroff and Mohan Kapur, both great value) more to do in this than Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury.

The Marvels has probably the most boring villain since we completely lost Christopher Eccleston behind his prosthetics to play Malekith. Zawe Ashton’s Dar-Benn is literally carrying around her Kree uber-bastard predecessor Ronan the Accuser’s hammer and making foreboding pronouncements, sneering through metal-capped teeth completely straight-faced without the luxury of a Star-Lord dancing to puncture her pomposity. We know she’s after a pair of magical MacGuffins and she wants to destroy a sizeable portion of the universe (which is bad) in order to save her own dying world (which is goodish), but she has no other personality or nuance to make her feel like anything more than a driver of plot.

You do wonder how much this movie was whittled down in the edit and whether DaCosta would have wanted to delve further into Carol’s costly mistakes and dwell on the dark implications of godlike power a little more in addition to delivering a fun space romp driven by sparky interplay between three gifted female performers. As it is, The Marvels is a decent enough time at the movies that doesn’t quite come together as a satisfying whole. Fans won’t need to be told to stick around during the credits for a couple of pleasant surprises. 

Score: 16/24

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Blade (1998)
Director: Stephen Norrington
Screenwriter: David S. Goyer
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N’Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Udo Kier, Sanaa Lathan, Arly Jover

People only seem to have appreciated in hindsight just how revolutionary a film Blade was. A quarter of a century later, it has become much clearer just how much this vampire action movie changed the blockbuster landscape.

Blade tells story of Eric Brooks/Blade (Wesley Snipes), whose pregnant mother was attacked by a vampire, leaving her son to be born a “daywalker” with all of their strengths and none of their weaknesses, save for an insatiable thirst for blood. Trained by the grizzled vampire hunter Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) to become a living weapon, and provided with tools of destruction and a synthetic serum to keep his darker side in check, Blade battles creatures of the night in Los Angeles and, along with Dr Karen Jenson (N’Bushe Wright), begins to unravel an elaborate plot for vampire domination masterminded by Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff).

50 years ago, Marv Wolfman created Blade for Marvel’s “Tomb of Dracula” comic. The character, much like Morbius who first appeared around the same time, capitalised on the loosening of restrictions on supernatural monsters and vampires that had been enforced by the Comics Code Authority up to that point.

Screenwriter David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight), who would pen all three Blade movies and direct the disappointing Blade Trinity, really only uses the basic concept of the title character – a formidable black vampire hunter – and otherwise creates his own original backstory, a colourful supporting cast, and sets the rules by which this exaggerated world operates.

There’s plenty of appropriately gruesome horror imagery on show here, from particularly explosive vampire deaths to seeing just how much bodily trauma a vamp can come back from (with the expected accompanying jump scare of course). The upcoming Mahershala Ali MCU reboot would do well to maintain this combination of gore and chills to mark it out from the majority of tamer comic book adaptations.

By the late 90s, Wesley Snipes had already made his name with films like White Men Can’t Jump and Demolition Man, but Blade launched him into a whole other level of stardom and it’s frankly impossible to imagine anyone else bringing the effortless cool stoicism to this character in quite the same way. Kris Kristofferson is completely at ease as a cantankerous and resourceful mentor, and Stephen Dorff is a creepily boyband-handsome big bad and can handle the action choreography with aplomb just like Snipes. It is Donal Logue though, appearing 16 years before his true breakthrough in ‘Gotham’, who steals the show as the hapless vampire punching bag Quinn, hilariously forced to slowly regenerate multiple times after several costly encounters with Blade, most memorably meeting a subway train face-first.

This film did a lot to re-write vampirism from a supernatural affliction to something viral with a pseudo-scientific explanation as would be seen in series like ‘The Strain’. Vampires in this world (Blade aside) are not the troubled souls of more romantic fiction, but instead unfeeling killers; predators at the mercy of their hunger and usually gleeful in the misery their appetites cause humanity.

The plot keeps moving and keeps the tension up throughout, but perhaps loses something in the final act where the vampire master plan is revealed to be unnecessarily convoluted and threatens to unravel with the addition of any amount of real-world logic. Plus, a major character’s death loses its power when it would ultimately be ret-conned in Blade II.

Dishearteningly, this was the second major franchise after Men in Black that decided to ditch its strong female lead for the sequel, a particular crime here considering the key part haematologist Dr Jenson (given heart and attitude aplenty by N’Bushe Wright) plays in saving the day when Blade is down for the count. They don’t even “Fridge” her, just write her out of future films without ceremony. 

It’s quite tragic that Blade’s director Stephen Norrington stepped away from the profession following his disheartening experience making The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2003, because he has got a real eye for staging this kind of action. From Blade’s early extermination of a vampire nightclub through to the climactic sword duel with Frost, the staging and choreography always maintains a punchy rhythm and was clearly influential on the following decade of “Gun-Fu” action cinema from The Matrix franchise to Equilibrium. 

The release of Blade, X-Men and Spider-Man in quick succession proved comic book adaptations to be the lucrative, must-see extravaganzas for audiences a decade before Marvel launched their shared movie universe. Though the latter two examples probably represented a more seismic, industry-changing shift overall, arguably without Blade, and how it put such a prominent black hero front-and-centre, you might never have got to Black Panther, who funnily enough Wesley Snipes also harboured a desire to play.

Blade may have only launched a franchise with steadily decreasing returns, but its slow-burn impact on multiple genres, from horror to action and superhero movies, cannot be underestimated. A lot of action movies looked like this for years to come, and a more feral, unsympathetic take on the vampire became the most common up until Twilight shifted tastes once more. Blade may not be perfect but it has become iconic and is a good old violent time at the movies.

Score: 20/24

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Sony’s Spider-Man (2002) is unquestionably one of the forefathers of superhero cinema as we know and love it to be, and Sony’s further Spider-focused films (plus several major spin-offs) are some of the most popular and influential blockbusters of the 21st century.

In this edition of Ranked, we at The Film Magazine are counting down each Spider-Man Universe feature-length theatrical release from worst to best, judging each inclusion by its own artistic merits, critical reception, and importance to its genre and cinema as a whole.

Follow @thefilmagazine on Twitter.

13. Morbius (2022)

Morbius Review

Very little was expected of Sony’s Spider-villain-verse entry Morbius when it was revealed to be hitting our screens in 2020, but when it finally arrived after mass delays the low bar for “acceptable” superhero/villain cinema was… barely met.

Jared Leto worked hard to carve someone interesting out of a character with little by way of development, and the pacing was rapid (which is particularly impressive as a lesser Spider-Man entry), but Morbius ultimately felt like the best moments from other films thumb-tacked into a CGI mess that left said moments absent of meaning or purpose.

A lot seemed to happen in this 2022 film, yet very little gave us a reason to care for the characters, and the feature’s almost complete absence of threat only compounded this issue. It would be a stretch to claim that Morbius was trying to say anything about anything – it certainly wasn’t allegorical of past or present human issues like most vampire films, nor presenting a particularly obvious audience fantasy like other superhero movies – and it did little-to-nothing to make it look, sound or feel unique within its franchise.

Like Venom before it, Morbius was a film that seemed to be made for audiences of the mid-2000s, and yet unlike Venom it lacked all of the charisma needed to carry its more corny or less inspired moments. Even the post-credits’ mildly exciting previews of other films to come couldn’t save this one from the title of “worst Spider-Man movie”.

12. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was bad. The sad, grim reality is that this Marc Webb-directed film was so badly received critically and at the box office that Sony finally caved in and brought Marvel Studios back to the table, in effect admitting their own inadequacies as regards their treatment of the character and thus sacrificing some of their multi-million-dollar profits to rival studio Disney in an attempt to fix their mistakes.

The major issue with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is its woeful screenplay, written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci of Transformers, Star Trek and The Mummy (2017) fame. In this fifth live-action franchise entry, focus shifts from a sub-par, by-the-books plot surrounding Peter Parker (and particularly his on-and-off-again relationship) to the life of his hard-working Aunt May, the reason apparently being to ensure Sally Field got her share of the run-time, the amount of space given to prominent comic book characters elsewhere in the film sacrificed as a result, the run-time dragging on to a tiresome 2 hours and 22 minutes.

Despite featuring a stellar cast including star Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Sally Field, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Felicity Jones and Paul Giamatti, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 features some of the most ridiculous cases of over-acting in the entire franchise, every highly paid professional seemingly acknowledging the standard of movie they were in even ahead of it being released. This, mixed with a woeful narrative, worse dialogue and a Spider-Man 3 level problem of filling up the movie with characters for an expected “Spider-verse”, make The Amazing Spider-Man 2 one of this beloved franchise’s certifiably lesser releases.

11. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

A considerable improvement on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the film that preceded it, The Amazing Spider-Man, a feature that made a new-look Spider-Man franchise feel viable once again; Marc Webb’s inexperienced but grounded take on the web-slinger being refreshing enough to earn the film a number of favourable reviews and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man a number of fans.

Inevitably, the creative decision to just re-do the Peter Parker Spider-Man origin story we’d seen just 10 years prior (that’s like seeing Iron Man rebooted in 2018…) was not the smartest idea, and even though director Marc Webb and company managed to effectively avoid revisiting a lot of the tropes established in Sam Raimi’s franchise, the dye was cast for what would come to be diminishing returns for the series.

A more sarcastic, some would say millennial, take on Peter Parker was the film’s shining beacon, but the studio’s obvious hesitation to try anything entirely new was evident, this 2012 release feeling every bit as much of a part of the preceding decade as its Sam Raimi-directed brethren, only with less charm and less to offer in terms of visual awe, unique scenarios and social commentary.

The Amazing Spider-Man makes for a good, although mostly irrelevant, watch; one that does just enough to keep you engaged but never once takes a stride towards creating something special.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
Screenwriters: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dave Callaham
Starring: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Bryan Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez

After four long years, the sequel to the “electric, atmospheric festival of colour” that was Sony Pictures Animation’s Oscar-winning, genre-defining, form-shaping Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has arrived. The film that fought against a tried and tested formula, that rewrote the lore of a studio staple, that was so fresh and interesting it was almost as if it should have never existed, was such a critical success that perennial safety shooters Sony were willing to experiment once again. This time, Miles Morales and company, under the stewardship of original co-writers and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, are rewriting even more of the rule book.

Shameik Moore’s cool and relatable hero is introduced to a wider spider-verse by Hailee Steinfeld’s returning Gwen Stacy, who takes on a more central and well-rounded role in this highly-anticipated sequel. The heroine uses portal devices to cross between a multi-verse of spider-people as she and Miles experience grave family struggles. The concept of the multiverse may have been overplayed in recent years, but so rarely has it seemed this original, dynamic and brimming with life, and only in Into the Spider-Verse have the personal stakes been this high.

There are spider-people and spider-creatures galore, the cameos and more influential inclusions each being illuminated by an array of animation styles, a cornucopia of unique audio-visual elements. There are eye-widening design choices and smile-inducing casting choices, and every promise Sony’s marketing department offered in Across the Spider-Verse’s trailer is spectacularly realised.

Across the Spider-Verse is the longest animated feature in history at 2 hours and 20 minutes, but it leaves barely a moment to blink, the rapid and ever-original action slowing only to propel moments of inner conflict, interpersonal dynamics or existentialism to the forefront. Every central character is well taken care of, the beating heart that made the original so comforting and charismatic still intact – every development in Across the Spider-Verse feels at one with the film that came before. This is more than a good sequel that ramps up all that we enjoyed about the original, it is a reach into an unknown pool of perfection, a ginormous studio-backed swing at something special.

This version of Spider-Man has undergone one of the more trying coming-of-age tales of the feature film spider-people we’ve seen across various live-action franchises to date, and the connection this has forged between us and him ensures that each of his potentially multiverse-altering choices is felt from the off. Lord and Miller, who worked on the original Spider-Verse and fellow Sony Pictures Animation film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, have always given a lot of room for character choices in their texts. And, in a world of so many moving parts – characters, narratives, themes, animation styles – it is testament to their commitment to character choice that Across the Spider-Verse manages to capture the same connection as the original.

There is a short period in the middle of the film where the narrative sags a little, and certainly more could have been done to develop one of the film’s two central villains and the extent of their powers in the first half of the film – where we are left guessing as to just how much of a threat this character could be and what this might mean for Miles and Gwen – but these pitfalls are barely noticeable among the pantheon of extraordinary efforts made to excite and ignite our imaginations. In these moments, comedy, cameos, references and soundtrack take the lead, each expressively exploding out of the animation.

As an animated film, there are few contemporaries. Not since Toy Story rewrote animated feature history in the mid-90s had mainstream western animation been evolved and shunted forward with such force as in Into the Spider-Verse, and Across the Spider-Verse is somehow even more eccentric. Whether it be minutes of black and white sequences, pen lines and all, or watercolour constructions that change colour to match the conflict apparent in the dialogue, Across the Spider-Verse is an Oscar-winning short film’s unique and ultra-expressionistic sensibility attached to a mainstream intellectual property and presented by over 1,000 of the world’s best animators. It’s wondrous stuff, the kind of style that is worthy of the film’s dream-factory concept.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is why people go to the cinema. It is why you should go to the cinema. It is a phenomenon of style and substance that begs to be seen on the big screen. Lord and Miller, and their partners at Sony Pictures Animation, have once again captured lightning in a bottle. Across the Spider-Verse is ultra modern storytelling that captures the personality, fears and ambitions of our current era – it is eye-popping spectacle and hearty, moving passion side-by-side. As a sequel, we must consider this among the pantheon of greats that Spider-Man 2 (2004) belongs to, and as an animated film this is a certified all-timer. There’s no doubt that you’ll be left wanting more, but as things are… Spider-Man doesn’t get better than this.

Score: 22/24

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Director: James Gunn
Screenwriter: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova, Sylvester Stallone, Nathan Fillion, Linda Cardellini, Asim Chaudhry, Mikaela Hoover

How many trilogies really stick the landing?

In 2018, writer-director James Gunn was unceremoniously fired by Disney after some bad taste jokes from his early days as a comedian were unearthed on Twitter by right-wing trolls who objected to Gunn’s outspoken political views. Following a passionate campaign from fans and Gunn’s friends and colleagues, a year later he was brought back on board at Marvel to finish what he started. If you love this particular bunch of a-holes, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is going to be an emotional one.

Scoundrel-turned-superhero Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is in a dark place after making a mistake that doomed half the universe and lost him the love of his life, Gamora (Zoë Saldaña). The Guardians were restored following the defeat of Thanos, but a different Gamora – one who doesn’t even like Peter let alone love him – now stands in his paramour’s place. When an attack on the Guardian home base of Knowhere leaves one of their number mortally injured, the team set out on a quest that brings them into conflict with mad scientist the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) and causes Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) to confront his traumatic past.

What James Gunn has been hiding in plain sight up to now is that the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is really about Rocket above anyone else. This is his journey, one that takes him from a bad start in life to being a full and happy person with people in his life he can trust and rely upon.

Much like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, if Rocket didn’t work as a VFX creation, then nothing else in this instalment (where he’s driving pretty much all the action) would either. Thankfully, the time-lapse transition between a terrified caged raccoon and Rocket’s older, cynically twitching nose that opens the film puts those doubts immediately to rest. Gunn’s empathy for all living things, but particularly those who have been mistreated, is what gives this story its power, and Bradley Cooper’s pitch-perfect vocal performance has the strength to make you feel all the feelings. Just as a raccoon crying over his lost tree friend made us shed tears in 2014, his relationship with his fellow abused creatures brings on the waterworks all over again here with some almost unbearably intense scenes in captivity. We don’t get to spend all that long with young Rocket’s animal experiment friends Lylla the otter (Linda Cardellini), Teefs the walrus (Asim Chaudhry) and Floor the rabbit (Mikaela Hoover), but we quickly grow to love them just as deeply he did.

This does have the feel of a victory lap, bringing everything full circle and giving everyone their time to shine. Everyone loves the literal-thinking lunk Drax (Dave Bautista) and towering tree-man Groot (Vin Diesel) but it is stoic cyborg Nebula (Karen Gillan) and eager-to-please empath Mantis (Pom Klementief), previously both pretty one-note, who end up being the undisputed highlights here. The former’s gruff and tough personality has gradually been eroded over her time with the Guardians, and the rare occasion when she lets down her guard and lets emotion overwhelm her really hits hard. The latter is the heart of the team, gets most of the funniest lines, and her unique power helps her and her friends out of a few tough spots in some unexpected ways.

Newcomers to this universe include Borat 2‘s Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the talking psychic cosmonaut dog who has an adorable film-long argument with space pirate Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Will Poulter as genetically engineered gold man-child Adam Warlock, and Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, arguably the most evil and irredeemable bastard in the galaxy who will mutilate, torture and thoughtlessly dispose of countless living things all in service of his delusional mission to create a “perfect society”.

The action is all very polished and exciting, and because this is the team’s last ride it all feels a lot more dangerous for our heroes somehow. A fight in a corridor in the final act might be the finest couple of minutes of action in the MCU to date – not only is it meticulously choreographed, ludicrously entertaining and set to a killer Beastie Boys track, but it lets the team work in violent harmony and gives every member of the team a chance to showcase their special abilities, each getting their own big character moment at the same time.

James Gunn has always happily leaned into the sillier visual and conceptual aspects of space opera, and rarely have such strange ideas been more convincingly brought to life as here. From a bio-formed space station seemingly made of meat to learning that the city of Knowhere (built inside the skull of a dead space god) can actually be driven to a new location, and even to a mirror image “Counter-Earth” populated by humanoids forcefully evolved from lower lifeforms, big swings are taken. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an epic, galaxy-spanning quest, but all this imagination vitally remains in service of a very intimate story. 

A minor criticism that could be levelled at this particular Guardians iteration is that the soundtrack isn’t as memorable or pitch-perfect as in the previous two films, with John Murphy’s (Sunshine, The Suicide Squad) original score extensively incorporating choral singing provoking a stronger reaction than the vast majority of the needle-drops. Similarly, the final act of the film, after over two hours of putting every Guardian through one life-threatening incident after another, keeps piling on the jeopardy to an almost absurd degree even when it is already fit to burst.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 brings this unlikely team’s journey to an immensely satisfying and appropriately epic conclusion. It is spectacular to look at and really funny, but it is also easily one of the darkest stories in the Marvel universe and does not pull its punches to make its pretty explicit discussion of abuse and animal testing any more palatable. We may see some of these characters again down the road, but for now it’s a fond farewell to them all, especially the acerbic Racoon who just wanted to be loved.

Score: 21/24

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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Director: Peyton Reed
Screenwriter: Jeff Loveness
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, William Jackson Harper, Katy M O’Brian, David Dastmalchian, Bill Murray

In 1964, Kang the Conqueror made his debut in Marvel comics, a year after appearing as another character entirely (it’s complicated, but basically Marvel writers later decided an Egyptian Pharaoh villain was another version of the time-travelling terror). After menacing The Avengers and the Fantastic Four for decades on the page in some of the most convoluted and regularly ret-conned stories around, he finally made his live-action debut in the Season 1 finale of ‘Loki’, hiding at the nexus of all realities as He Who Remains, portrayed by Jonathan Majors. His demise was one of the events that cracked open the Marvel Multiverse, and now Majors returns as Kang proper to clash with the MCU’s seemingly most insignificant super-family. Got all that? Good.

The newfound comfortable existence of Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) as a well-liked world-saver plugging his memoir is shaken when Janet Van Dyne’s (Michelle Pfeiffer) time trapped in the Quantum Realm comes back to haunt her. Threat to all reality, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who has been banished to the microverse, brings the Lang/Van Dyne family – including Scott’s partner Hope Van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), Scott’s now teenage daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) and Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) – to the Quantum Realm in order to use their size-changing technology to escape his prison.

In Ant Man and the Wasp, during our brief sojourn to the Quantum Realm to rescue Michelle Pfeiffer, a lot was made of the fact that it “melts your mind”, implying something pretty psychedelic and out-there. There are certainly some surreal vistas and weird lifeforms inspired by micro photography, especially when our tiny heroes first plummet into a tinier world, but they could have definitely gone further with the brain-melting, especially in movie with such an attention-grabbing title as Quantumania. 

The denizens of the Quantum Realm are an assortment of interesting-looking creatures you might find on the covers of pulp sci-fi magazines in the 1950s, ranging from living broccoli to anthropomorphic glowing goo to Bill Murray. Then there’s the new secondary villain, android M.O.D.O.K, who looks absolutely terrible and completely breaks your suspension of disbelief whenever he’s on screen, though that is partly because they’re trying to do the impossible and adapt his particularly goofy design from the comics faithfully into live-action.

Paul Rudd remains the lovable core of this corner of the MCU, and as well as hearing his thoughts on his fellow Avengers out loud (“I was just happy to meet a raccoon who could talk”) this time Scott Lang is really put through the wringer. There’s a warm chemistry between Scott, Hope and Cassie, here recast as Kathryn Newton (Freaky), who regularly threatens to steal the show with her sheer moxie. It’s also refreshing that Cassie has to learn to effectively use her powers very much through trial and error – the five years she was on her own post-Thanos snapping half the universe away was used productively and she has a gifted scientific mind, but she has never had to test this technology in a fight before. Michelle Pfeiffer is on (admittedly committed) exposition duty for much of the movie, while Michael Douglas keeps a straight face with his hands stuck in a couple of slugs to fly a quantum spaceship. 

But this is Kang’s or, more accurately, Jonathan Majors’ movie. This particular saga of the MCU’s ongoing story has taken some time to gain traction, but the arrival of this particular big bad could very well accelerate things. A time-travelling world-conqueror whose many variants from other timelines have caused temporal and inter-dimensional chaos, Kang creates an oppressive regime within the Quantum Realm. He desires to correct the mistakes of his other selves and ultimately escape the tyranny of time itself. Majors is a charisma supernova and is able to convey with a gesture what many of his contemporaries would struggle to evoke with a monologue, not to mention that his physique makes him a credible threat even without his advanced weaponry.

The visual effects work on this movie, M.O.D.O.K aside, is certainly more polished than on Love and Thunder, which makes you think the VFX artists were given more ample time to complete the considerable task that was being asked of them. It’s all very bright and colourful, and the action scenes are dynamic, but shots can feel a bit busy and hard to pick out the details that really matter; a problem that will only be exacerbated in post-converted 3-D, which is disappointingly starting to re-surface with another ridiculously successful Avatar instalment.

The humour in Marvel movies often receives criticism for being incessant and interfering with dramatic moments landing with real impact, and the same could be argued here. Thankfully, Rudd, Newton and even Douglas demonstrate good enough timing to make sure most of the jokes about their family’s crazy science projects and tendency to land in jail really hit home. As fun as the film’s frankly ridiculous final stretch is, for a time it looks like they’re going for something pretty bold and grounded for a change before chickening out last-minute, which is a shame.

The main problem with Quantumania is that it is trying to be two very different movies that don’t really fit together. On the one hand you’ve got a fun, Fantastic Voyage-meets-Star Wars family sci-fi, and on the other you’ve got a deathly serious Kang origin story following a tortured time-travelling mass-murderer that’s like one of the darker ‘Doctor Who‘ stories. Given that he has apparently killed a lot of Avengers in other universes, Kang understandably underestimates Scott, his family and their capabilities to his cost, and it’s this perhaps misplaced faith in his own power and the fact that he’s just a man using technology from the future and not a space god that may ultimately make him more interesting in upcoming films than Thanos was. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is OK, but continues the slightly underwhelming, slow downward trend of the post-Endgame Marvel Cinematic Universe. At least it shows some imaginative flourishes and compellingly sets up the many faces of the next villain big enough to prompt the Avengers to reform and save the universe once more.

Score: 15/24

The recently appointed co-CEO of DC Studios, James Gunn, has finally given fans some concrete plans regarding the direction of the DC Universe, after months of teasing and speculation.

Gunn and co-head Peter Safran held a press conference on Monday 30th January to detail their upcoming projects, and released a video titled ‘Chapter 1 – Gods and Monsters‘ which breaks down plans for the fans.

Before getting into specifics contained within the video, Gunn gave some context to their plans.

Their mission statement is to create a DC universe that is consistent across film, television, animation and videogames. The characters will be played by the same actors regardless of the medium and each project works under one shared story.

Gunn also explained how the upcoming DC releases, which were produced before Gunn and Safran were hired to run DC Studios, will connect to their new universe. First, Shazam: Fury of The Gods will remain part of the DCU, with Gunn saying it has always existed in its own pocket of the universe, “so he connects very well.” Next is The Flash, which will reset the entire DC Universe. This is fitting for the character, who in the comics has been used as a vehicle for DC to reboot their canon. Blue Beetle and Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom will take place after Flash’s reset.

The main takeaway here is that contrary to speculation, Gunn and Safran’s DCU is not a complete reboot. Some characters will remain unchanged, such as Shazam and Aquaman, while others are out, like Henry Cavill’s Superman. As for Flash star Ezra Miller, it is unclear whether they will return after a slew of controversy, though Safran has suggested that the door could remain open for Miller once they have completed their recovery.

In the video, James Gunn detailed DC Studios’ 8-10-year plan and the projects involved. They are as follows:

Creature Commandos

Creature Commandos is the first instalment in the newly established DCU. It will be an animated series with each episode written by studio head James Gunn. In the comics, the Creature Commandos are a team of military superhumans operating during World War II. The series’ group will consist of The Bride of Frankenstein, Doctor Phosphorus, Rick Flag, Sr., Eric Frankenstein, G.I. Robot, Dr. Nina Mazursky and Weasel, who appeared in the James Gunn-directed The Suicide Squad.

Waller

Another character surviving the cut is Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller. This incarnation of the character has appeared in both Suicide Squad films, Black Adam and television series ‘Peacemaker’. This live-action series will take place between ‘Peacemaker’ seasons 1 and 2, and will include some of that series’ cast. ‘Doom Patrol’ creator Jeremy Carver will join ‘Watchmen’ writer Christal Henry as showrunner.

Superman: Legacy

In Gunn’s words, Superman: Legacy marks the true beginning of the DCU. This live-action film will introduce a new Superman as he balances his roles as a Kryptonian and Earth’s protector. Gunn is currently penning the script with no director attached as of yet. The highly anticipated film is due for release on 11 July, 2025.

Lanterns

‘Lanterns’ will be a HBO series focused on two of the most popular Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart. This will be a series set on Earth and apparently in the same vein as ‘True Detective’, in which the heroes uncover a terrifying mystery that will connect to the larger story of the DCU. The series will reinvent Green Lantern for general audiences, after the misfire of the Ryan Reynolds-led 2011 film.

The Authority

James Gunn describes this film as his passion project. The Authority are a group of heroes who firmly believe the ends justify the means. They will do whatever it takes to save the world, with their methods often being morally grey. It holds similarities to the critically acclaimed ‘The Boys’ and could offer a different tone for the DCU.

Paradise Lost

This series will be based on Themyscira, home of Wonder Woman. Gunn describes it as ‘Game of Thrones’ with the characters from the Wonder Woman mythos. It will be set before Diana’s birth, so it’s likely we will see how the island’s political landscape changes into what we are familiar with today, as multiple Amazons attempt to seize power.

The Brave and The Bold

This will mark the introduction of the DCU’s Batman. Making his live-action debut is Damian Wayne, son of Batman, who will take on the mantle of Robin. Based on Grant Morrison’s legendary comic run, which many deem as the definitive Batman, the film will explore the caped crusader’s newfound role as a father while still serving as Gotham’s protector. Damian is the son of Bruce and Talia Al Ghul, so it’s likely the film will also explore Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Shadows, prominent figures in Batman Begins. Damian is the fifth character to take on the role of Robin in the comics, so fans are already speculating which other members of the Bat-family, such as Nightwing, could appear.

Booster Gold

This TV series will follow a loser from the future who travels back in time to become a superhero with his advanced technology. As Gunn states, it is the superhero story of imposter syndrome. It is possible that Booster Gold’s uniqueness and offbeat humour will allow him to take on a similar role to that which Deadpool has had in Fox’s X-Men Universe. Booster Gold has been a favourite character of fans for a while, so many will be pleased to see him make his DCU debut.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Based of Tom King’s acclaimed comic run of the same name, this science fiction epic film will follow Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El. Kara was raised on a floating chunk of Krypton and only witnessed death and destruction. This more jaded character will contrast well against Superman’s positivity. It is unclear as to whether this Supergirl will be the same as the one who will appear in The Flash, played by Sasha Calle.

Swamp Thing

The final project on Gunn’s list will be a horror film based on Swamp Thing, a humanoid swamp creature that can control plant life. The film will tell the dark origins of the character, and is illustrative of Gunn and Safran’s willingness to explore different genres. Based on Gunn’s namedropping of other popular comic runs, it’s likely Swamp Thing will be inspired by Alan Moore’s highly successful take on the character in the 80s. Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director James Mangold has seemingly already expressed interest in directing via a tweet, but as with the majority of these projects no named talent is currently attached.

DC Elseworlds

Popular characters who exist outside of the main DCU continuity, such as Matt Reeves’ take on the Batman, will be rebranded under the DC Elseworlds banner in an attempt to signify their difference from mainline DC stories. The Batman Part II will be released in cinemas on 3 October, 2025. Reeves’ version of Gotham will also continue to be explored in the HBO series ‘The Penguin’. Reeves himself has described his vision as an epic crime saga, and with the newly announced title echoing The Godfather Part II, it seems that vision will remain in tact.

Also included under the new DC Elseworlds banner are the Joker films from Todd Philips, Teen Titans GO! and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ untitled Superman project.

Even so, 2022 has proven to be the first non-pandemic year since 2017 to not enter a comic book adaptation into the billion dollar movie club, and has reportedly been tumultuous for the genre behind the scenes at almost every studio. As we press into 2023, Marvel continues its pursuit of longer form storytelling on its multitude of direct-to-streaming series and has come under criticism for building a cinematic universe in which everything must get bigger and bolder to remain satisfying to those who’ve already seen it all, while Sony succumbed to an internet meme to re-release Morbius without understanding that they were the butt of a joke, and DC most publicly of all faced scrutiny for late-in-the-year decisions regarding the future of the DC Extended Universe (now to be without Henry Cavill as Superman only weeks after his return) and a public falling out with the world’s highest paid actor, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, regarding his long-gestated DC film Black Adam.

Following 2021, a year of memorable debuts and the ultimate in superhero movie fan service, the comic book genre was forced to diversify in terms of its styles of storytelling in 2022, and as such offered everything from a David Fincher-tinged detective thriller to a horror master’s take on a superhero dealing with issues of the mind, from shallow children’s television-esque nonsense to deep ruminations on grief.

In this edition of Ranked, we at The Film Magazine are comparing each of the 9 major superhero movie releases (not including direct-to-VoD features like Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem in the Multiverse) in terms of their quality, their impact on our culture, their importance to the genre, and their attempts at evolving comic book adaptations beyond their previous limitations. These are the 2022 Comic Book Movies Ranked.

Follow @thefilmagazine on Twitter.

9. Black Adam

For a passion project from a former professional wrestler who earned his career and reputation for being one of the most charismatic men on the planet, it was utterly nonsensical that Dwayne Johnson would play the role of a superhero completely absent of personality. The man formerly known as The Rock, who’d regularly brag about holding the “millions… and millions” in the palm of his hand, was essentially playing a narrative trigger rather than a character, a floating and invincible agent of violence who’d be better named as Mr. Anti-Charisma than the titular Black Adam; his self-serious (but not in a funny Peacemaker way), angsty and hyper-aggressive presentation proving a vacuumous presence that sucked the life out of what was already an uninspired mess of a movie.

With visuals that look like they were taken directly from a mid-2000s historical fantasy film, Black Adam was surpassed visually by even The Rock’s poorly presented Hercules (2014) and the black and blue drabness of fellow 2022 comic book release Morbius. Worse still, Black Adam himself was barely present for large periods, his role in the film taking a backseat throughout the 2nd act as a lengthy list of side characters went in their own directions, each equally as lacking in any kind of truthful essence.

With a narrative filled with conveniences and utterly illogical character decisions, a yellow hue over the entire presentation, a backstory twist that is among the most poorly presented in the history of cinema, and enough poorly generated CG-scapes to take even the most hardened of superhero moviegoers out of any given moment, Black Adam was among the worst superhero films of the decade and must certainly be considered the worst comic book film of 2022.

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