Broke away from my homework long enough today to venture into the wild, rainy yonder so I could spend some time with the family.
Not the usual suspects though.
No, today I went out to the movies with my sister, cousins Josh and Erica, as well as our collective Grandpa Joe!
After all the unexpected chaos of Grandma Rhea last weekend, we decided it would be a good idea to spend a bit more time with the big lug. Get him out of the home, have some fun.
So we took him out to the movies, and lunch soon after!
As the cheeky, self-reference headline suggests, we all watched Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. For Josh and I, it was a repeat viewing. For the rest it was a first.
I’m sure a lot of you will remember that I fricken adored that movie the first time I caught it.
Pleased to report that I liked it just as much, if not more, on the second go.
However, I imagine the more pertinent question on your mind is how my Grandpa felt.
Well… The reaction I got after the movie ended was, “It was alright. But I wouldn’t see it again.”
I can’t blame him. There’s a whole lot of action and visual overload throughout the film for an 87-year-old.
Granted I’m not sure it matters, all things being equal. The important part is he had a great time being out with us, especially at Johnathan J. Rockets afterward where we could chat and eat.
Might not know who his favorite spider-person was, but I’m still glad to have shared one of my favorite recent movies with him.
Grandpa wasn’t the only one seeing Spider-Verse for the first time, however. Alyson and Erica both seemed to love it, and I’m definitely looking forward to doing this gag on repeat.
For my money, the movie stayed fresh thanks to easter eggs and foreshadowing moments early on.
I live for that shit, and movies that do them well tend to become some of my favorites. Like Fight Club.
Except I’m not going to talk about Fight Club. It’s in the rules.
Instead I’ll use a part of this post to talk about some of my favorite moments of foreshadowing here, since they add a great dimension to the film.
If you haven’t seen Spider-Verse yet, don’t read past this point. I don’t care that it’s probably past spoiler barrier, it’s still an experience I’d recommend fresh.
That means you, Mom and Dad. Don’t be reading this next part yet.
Alright, spoiler time. Last warning!
I paid extra special attention to difference scenes in Spider-Verse that left some questions after my first viewing. I’m pleased to report that within the sensory overload there are some fantastic, not-so-hidden bits.
Arguably my biggest question was how obvious they made the Dr. Olivia Octavius reveal — given it was one of my favorite secret villain reveals ever.
Most of my suspicions aimed at the scene where Miles’ class watched a video featuring her the first time he met Gwen.
The filmmakers played that scene quite well, making it so Miles was standing in front of the projector screen to block her last name at that early stage. Anyone who knows the comics might have recognized “Dr. Olivia O-” in the lower third, but I sure didn’t.
However there’s a much more obvious hint later when Peter B. and Miles drop into Liv’s office for the first time. You can actually see one of her mechanical arms being repaired on the table next to her computer.
Guess there really is something to be said about inattentional blindness!
Moving from one villain to another, the first time around I expected a “Miles’ uncle Aaron is evil” reveal, but the clues that he was The Prowler were more obvious than I realized.
When we first see the man in his apartment, he’s in a T-shirt that has a faded panther on the front — similar to the one adorning a mural above his couch.
It was also interesting that when he brings Miles beyond the train tracks to tag an empty wall, he says he discovered the spot while doing a “contracting job.”
Like helping Kingpin build the collider that’s right next door perhaps?
I see you, screenwriters.
In regard to the spider-people themselves, Gwen was really the only one with an interesting pull for me. When she’s with Miles as his powers are out of control, she frequently tries to tell him to relax.
Instead of, say, freaking out to keep up her facade, she’s clearly trying to give him the same advice he gets later from Peter B. to stop sticking in Doc Oc’s office.
I also noticed that when blonde Spider-Man is pushed into the collider beam, you can see flashes of the different spider-people in fractured spaces of reality.
That one is more of a small piece that I imagine people saw the first time around, but I didn’t. It was neat seeing Gwen pop up in-costume so early considering we’d only seen her in a school uniform.
And that’s about it! All of these details really lend a lot to the clever world-building and script underlying Spider-Verse, which just adds onto my unbridled adoration. It’s the kind of trick I’m hoping to bring into my novel in full force.
If there was anything else you noticed in Spider-Verse, let me know!
Or hey, let me know if you love any other movies with really well-done hinting and foreshadowing. I always love that stuff.
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