Gold Coast
April 11-12, 2026
Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre
Into the Spider-Verse is possibly the best Spider-Man film yet, and the way it changes up the formula, while still respecting its predecessors, keeps it from feeling like a retread of what we’ve seen before.
So, we should get the obvious one out of the way first, this film is absolutely gorgeous. Spider-Verse has an incredibly unique visual style, one of the most distinctive looks for a comic book film ever, but more importantly, it goes beyond simple aesthetics, and the film actually leverages the art style and animation to do crazy stuff with the form.
The animation allows for insane moments that simply wouldn’t be possible in live-action, or would at least be extremely difficult to replicate, and the crew obviously know this, as the action scenes are bonkers.
The absurd nature of the plot, with the dimension-warping super-collider, allows for amazingly inventive set pieces. The pace of the film never lets up, and directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman’s creative direction keeps every scene dynamic and exciting, even the expository ones.
The fight choreography is also insane, as the various Spider-People abilities lend themselves to creating lots of momentum, with everyone zipping around and doing wild stunts. There’s lots of comic book fanservice, obviously, but not enough to water down the film’s own identity.
In terms of narrative, this is first and foremost an origin story, and while it changes the old formula, it respects the source material, which stops it from being yet another Spider-Man origin story. Thankfully, Spider-Verse does enough differently that doesn’t feel like a copy + paste. This is probably helped by the fact that series mainstay Peter Parker is actually the cynical, jaded mentor character this time around, and newcomer Miles Morales is the young man growing into his role as a burgeoning adult and superhero.
The unfortunate side effect of this is that some of the Spider-People are pushed to the side to allow for Miles and Peter to get most of the development. It’s their story, but that’s not a bad thing. Despite that, every character feels realistic and human, even the villain Kingpin, and they all have real vulnerabilities, which ties into the theme very well.
As you can probably tell, it gets quite emotional. Tears were shed. This is still a family film though, so there are still plenty of laughs to be had. As a Marvel movie, there’s a certain level of comedy to be expected, but this one goes above and beyond most MCU films. The humour is witty and quick, and more akin to a LEGO Movie than a Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Saying that, the family-friendly nature is possibly the only downside to the film. The family friendly-ness can make the film a bit ham-fisted at times, and there are some scenes that would benefit from some more subtlety and nuance, but it doesn’t ruin the overall experience.
So, if we haven’t convinced you on this fresh take for the wall-crawler, web-sling into cinemas yourself on December 13 and catch Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse!
