#so when christopher showed up like 'side quest! can you help me find my dad?'

[gayofthefae]

EDDIE WASN’T IN BUCK’S DREAM AT ALL BECAUSE HE ALREADY KNOWS HE’S LOVED BY HIM AND THAT HE’S ENOUGH FOR THEM.

[zak-animation]

Miles Morales: The Hero’s Journey of ‘Into the Spider-Verse’

In this post, I’m exploring the plot of my chosen film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as an example of the Hero’s Journey as described by Christopher Vogler. The film examines what it means to be a hero, and I felt like breaking down the plot in this format would be a good start to my research into the movie and it’s narrative. For this post, I’m primarily responding to the first essay question:

Analyse your chosen narrative with close reference to the Hero’s Journey or another appropriate story template. You may write about the film’s failure to fit a conventional structure too. Understanding how a film may subvert and challenge narrative conventions is a good aspect of structural analysis.

Act 1: Separation 

1. Ordinary World - introduce the character’s everyday life After a fun opening shot featuring Peter Parker, the film quickly introduces us to the film’s main protagonist Miles Morales. Miles is a teenager from Brooklyn who admires Spider-Man, and we’re shown that he’s struggling to live up to the expectations and standards of his parents and teachers. The film establishes the strong family dynamic of the film, in which we learn that Miles’ father, police officer Jefferson sees Spider-Man as a menace. We learn that Miles has a passion for street art, and pop music that allows him a sense of comfort and ease. After school, Miles sneaks out to visit his Uncle Aaron.

2. Call To Adventure - the hero receives  a call to adventure Aaron takes Miles down to an abandoned subway station, presenting him with a blank canvas. Miles sets to work creating a graffiti ‘masterwork’, and is bitten by a radioactive spider in the process. He’s been bitten, and there’s no going back now.

3. Refusal of the Call - the hero (initially) refuses the call Though just a brief moment, Miles does initially refuse the call in a sense of disbelief. After finding out he has spider-like abilities, Miles reads an Amazing Fantasy comic book detailing the superhero origins of Spider-Man, and he draws similarities to what he’s experiencing. He refuses to believe there ‘can be two Spider-men’. He runs away, saying ‘it’s just puberty’ as the thought bubble ‘no’ flies off around him.

4. Meeting the Mentor - the hero meets the mentor Miles returns to the subway station, searching for the radioactive spider. He unintentionally finds a particle accelerator built by big bad Wilson Fisk, who wishes to open parallel universes in a tragic attempt to find alternative, alive versions of his wife and son. Miles watches as Spider-Man swings in to save the day against Fisk’s villainous cronies Green Goblin and the Prowler.

Spider-Man ends up saving Miles from falling to his death, and they share a bonding moment in which they realise they both have similar spider-like abilities. Miles meets his superhero inspiration and mentor, who says he’ll show him ‘the ropes’. Unfortunately, the mentor is gravely wounded by an explosion during the battle, which also kills Green Goblin.

5. Crossing the Threshold - the hero crosses a boundary, and enters a new world Spider-Man gives Miles a USB drive to disable the accelerator and warns him that if the machine is turned on again, the city will be destroyed. Miles makes an escape after watching Fisk pummel Spider-Man to death. Miles has been given a task, and now the city enters a new world: one without Spider-Man.

Act 2: Descent and Initiation

6. Tests, Allies, Enemies - the hero is tested  In a comical sequence, Miles attempts to master his new abilities and become the new Spider-Man - but manages to inadvertently damage the USB drive in the process. He visits Spider-Man’s grave, and meets Peter B. Parker, and older and more tired version of Spider-Man from another dimension. We find out that Peter has been dragged into Miles’ dimension by Fisk’s accelerator, and needs to return home - and so begrudgingly agrees to train the Brooklyn teenager in exchange for help in creating a new USB drive, using stolen data.

Here, Miles faces new challenges and tests as he teams up with older Spider-Man to break into Fisk’s research facility, and fight off against chief scientist Olivia Octavious. She reveals that Peter will eventually deteriorate and grows closer to death the longer he stays in their dimension, while Miles manages to take the desired data. The dynamic duo make a hasty retreat, pausing to grab a bagel before Peter teaches Miles to web-swing. They are saved by Gwen Stacy, another dimension-displaced spider heroine. Gwen takes Peter and Miles to May Parker, who is shown to be sheltering the other Spider-People: Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham, and Peni Parker and SP//dr, who are also deteriorating before Miles’ eyes. He steps up the plate, and given the fact that this is his dimension, offers to disable the accelerator to send the other Spider-People home. Miles, and the audience, begin to learn the rules of this new special world.

In this step, we are introduced to Mile’s allies and enemies, as we learn more about Peter, Gwen and the gang. Something mentioned in the research lecture when we first explored the idea of the Hero’s Journey was how this step was also known as ‘trailer material’. This was especially true with Into the Spider-Verse, as the majority of shots came from the visual gags and quick-paced action of the ‘break in’ scene and as Miles learns to web swing with Peter.

7. Approach To the Inmost Cave - the hero approaches an external / internal threat The heroes attempt to teach Miles how to use his powers, but their lecturing becomes overwhelming and he runs back to Aaron’s home for advice. When he gets back, however, he discovers that Aaron is actually The Prowler, one of Fisk’s hired guns. Terrified, he flees to May’s house, to find out that Peni has completed building the drive. Unfortunately, Miles was followed by Fisk and his enforcers Octavius, Scorpion and Aaron himself. A fight breaks out, and Miles tries to make an escape with the drive.

Prowler seizes Miles, who prepares to kill him on Fisk’s order. Miles unmasks himself, leading Aaron to realise he has been hunting down his own nephew. Prowler decides not to kill Miles, leading Fisk to shoot him in the back - killing his uncle before his eyes. Devastated and afraid, Miles makes a run for it.

The Spider-gang prepare to face Fisk by attending his dinner party in a convenient disguise, while Peter restrains Miles in his dorm and leaves him behind for his own safety. Peter decides to sacrifice himself by taking Miles’ place in deactivating the accelerator, and swings away to help the others. With his mouth webbed up and stuck to his desk chair, Miles’ father Jefferson knocks on his son’s door to tell him about Uncle Aaron. With just silence as his response, Jefferson assumes Miles doesn’t want to speak to him, and proceeds to apologise for his mistakes as a dad.

Here, our hero faces his inner demons and reaches his lowest point. Jefferson leaves, and Miles is forced to combat his own demons. He realises he’s ready for the challenge, and using an on-request surge of energy, breaks out of the web. This isn’t the Ordeal, this is just the build up to it. Miles returns to Aunt May’s house and the original Peter’s Spider-Cave, and designs his own costume using his own spray cans. We next see Miles clinging to the side of a skyscraper. He’s more confident, but he’s still scared. He’s not Spider-Man yet. Miles adjusts his position, in preparation for the ordeal, moving closer and closer to the edge.

8. Ordeal - the hero faces his threat, midpoint, death and rebirth ‘That’s all it is, Miles - a leap of faith’. Our hero lets go of the building, as the window shatters around his hand, and leaps down into the city skyline. He’s out of control, plummeting towards the ground below. We’re left in suspense as Miles takes a literal leap of faith.  

9. Reward - the hero gains something (Seize the Sword) At the last second, miles shoots a web upwards….and it sticks to a building! Miles begins to swing, moving through New York with a visually pleasing fluidity that oozes confidence. After running between taxis and across windows, Miles swings on top of the Brooklyn Bridge and catches his breath. He looks at Fisk Tower, and as an audience, know he’s ready - he is Spider-Man.

Act 3: Resurrection and Rebirth

10. The Road Back - the protagonist, now a hero, embarks on a quest back Miles swings back to meet the gang, and battles Fisk’s enforcers for a final time. It’s a quick fight, but we see how Miles has become his own hero and plays off of his team members easily. Miles manages to activate the USB drive and sends all the Spider-People back to their home dimension.  The other heroes have returned home, but the fight isn’t over: Miles isn’t out of the woods just yet.

11. Resurrection - the protagonist is reborn as a hero Fisk and Miles fight it out throughout the accelerator, which attracts his father’s attention. Jefferson watches as this new Spider-Man risks his life to protect the city and the ones he loves, and realises he’s not the enemy. Spider-Man is reborn as a hero in his father’s eyes, which inspires Miles to defeat Fisk and destroy the accelerator in the process. Jefferson and the authorities arrest Fisk and his enforcers, as the officer and the city recognise Spider-Man as a hero.

12. Return With The Elixir - the hero returns, changed Miles swings around the city, ecstatic to be Spider-Man and have his father’s approval. We literally see him return to his ordinary world - in this case, his bed, at the end of the film. Miles lays back, transformed by the experience. He embraces who he is, and the responsibilities of his new life.

Response In this post, I’ve begun my research into my chosen film of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. To kickstart the process, I’ve analysed the film’s plot in relation to the Hero’s Journey, a narrative structure described by writer Christopher Vogler. It’s clear to me that Chris Lord presents a refreshing take on the Hero’s Journey, following all the beats outlined by Vogler, but in an exciting way that’s new and distinctly…Spider-Man.

As an update on the classic Spider-Man origin story, Mile’s superheroic beginnings manage to feel unique and fresh, whilst also echoing those of Peter Parker’s. However, it should be worth noting that the film’s actual narrative - of becoming a hero - is nothing ground-breaking or particularly new. Instead, that honour goes to the the film’s animation and visual style. It’s a brand-new approach to animated filmmaking, and it’s going to make waves in the industry. 

To continue my research exploring Into the Spider-Verse and it’s narrative, I’m going to be looking at its ground-breaking comic-inspired visual aesthetic: how it was made, and how this allows the filmmakers to tap into an entirely new approach to visual storytelling in film.