Film

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Into the Spider-Verse reinvented what a superhero movie could look like: comic-book panels, print-dot textures, and a soundtrack that hits like a mixtape. It's Miles Morales' origin story, but really it's about the vertigo of becoming yourself while everyone insists you fit someone else's mold. Funny, gorgeous, and unexpectedly moving — built for teenagers and the adults who still remember being one.

TMDb rating4.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love animation that experiments with the page itself, with frames that jitter, overlap and borrow comic-book printing tricks, and you want a superhero story where the form is as playful as the plot.

Skip it if you want a tidy, self-contained origin story; this one is loud, rapid and fond of cutting between many ideas at once, which can feel busy if you prefer a calmer, more linear ride.

What it asks of you: Settle in for just under two hours of nonstop motion, and be ready to keep up with a visual style that changes gears constantly and rewards close attention rather than half-watching.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse2023

The direct sequel doubles down on everything that made the first one thrilling — bigger multiverse, darker stakes, even more inventive animation per frame. Miles and Gwen's story gets richer, messier, and genuinely heartbreaking.

But It ends on a cliffhanger with no resolution yet, which can feel more like a very long trailer than a complete story.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse poster

The Incredibles2004

Pixar's take on a superhero family nails the same trick — mixing genuine action spectacle with real emotional stakes about identity, expectation, and what happens when you have to hide who you are.

But It's a straighter, more conventional family movie — no multiverse tricks, no visual experimentation, just well-executed classic storytelling.

The Incredibles poster

Spider-Man 22004

Still the gold standard for what a Spider-Man story can be emotionally: Peter Parker crushed by responsibility, doubt, and love, with action sequences that remain genuinely thrilling two decades later.

But Sam Raimi's tone is earnest almost to the point of melodrama — no irony, no multiverse cool, just old-school comic-book sincerity.

Spider-Man 2 poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Iron Giant1999

Both are animated coming-of-age stories about a boy discovering extraordinary power and a father-figure mentor teaching him what kind of person to be with it — just decades apart in animation style and mood.

A boy befriends a giant robot with unimaginable power he doesn't understand, and has to decide who he'll become — the same coming-of-age engine as Spider-Verse, minus a single joke.

But It's quiet, melancholic, and hand-drawn in a style that will feel almost antique next to Spider-Verse's kinetic collage.

The Iron Giant poster
More like this (8)

Big Hero 62014

A teenage genius, grief, and a marshmallow robot combine into something surprisingly moving — Disney's underrated superhero film has real heart under its gadget-heavy spectacle.

But It's gentler and more kid-focused than Spider-Verse, without the same visual daring or emotional complexity.

Big Hero 6 poster

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem2023

Shares Spider-Verse's scrappy, sketchbook-style animation and teenage-outsider energy — a coming-of-age story about kids who just want to be normal but keep getting pulled into chaos.

But It's broader and goofier, aimed a little younger, and doesn't carry the same emotional undertow or visual ambition.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem poster

Spider-Man: Homecoming2017

If you want another take on a teenage Peter Parker juggling school, family, and heroism, this MCU entry captures that same awkward, funny, high-school energy.

But It's tethered tightly to the wider Marvel universe, so some of its stakes and cameos depend on homework you may not want to do.

Spider-Man: Homecoming poster

The Lego Batman Movie2017

A gag-a-minute comic-book pastiche that's just as visually inventive in its own plastic-brick way, and just as sincere underneath the jokes about loneliness and found family.

But The humor is rapid-fire and reference-heavy — if you don't know decades of Batman lore, some jokes will sail past.

The Lego Batman Movie poster

X-Men: Days of Future Past2014

For multiverse and time-travel superhero stakes done in live action, this is one of the best — different timelines colliding, choices rippling across decades, mutant identity under threat.

But It's a much talkier, more somber X-Men ensemble piece, with none of Spider-Verse's visual playfulness or youthful humor.

X-Men: Days of Future Past poster

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm1993

An animated superhero film from a different era proves the genre could always be this good — atmospheric, adult, genuinely tragic, with animation that still holds up.

But It's much slower and more noir-melancholic than Spider-Verse's kinetic energy — a mood piece, not a rollercoaster.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm poster

Everything Everywhere All at Once2022

Same structural idea as Spider-Verse — a multiverse used as a literal, visual metaphor for identity and choice — but told as an indie family dramedy instead of a superhero blockbuster.

A multiverse collision used to ask exactly the question Spider-Verse asks — who are you when infinite other versions of you exist — but filtered through family, laundromats, and live-action absurdity.

But It's much weirder, raunchier, and more chaotic tonally — genuinely strange in ways a family superhero film never risks being.

Everything Everywhere All at Once poster

Persepolis2007

Both use animation to tell a teenager's story of becoming yourself while the world insists on a different version of you — Persepolis just trades masks and multiverses for real history and much higher stakes.

A teenager's coming-of-age animated in stark black-and-white, about growing up amid a revolution that keeps rewriting the rules of who she's allowed to be.

But There's no spectacle here — it's hand-drawn, autobiographical, and dealing with real political trauma rather than superheroics.

Persepolis poster

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Recommended by

Deadpool, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Turning Red, Big Hero 6, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, How to Train Your Dragon, Treasure Planet, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Lego Movie, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Submarine, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Arcane: League of Legends, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, The Bad Guys, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Klaus, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Trolls, The Angry Birds Movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, The Lego Batman Movie, Miraculous: Les aventures de Ladybug et Chat Noir, Despicable Me 2, Superman, Monsters vs Aliens, Migration, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, Titan A.E., Puss in Boots, Batman Beyond, Star Wars: Resistance, LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, The Lego Ninjago Movie, What If...?, Batman: The Killing Joke, Kung Fu Panda 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Chicken Little, Storks, Ratchet & Clank, All Star Superman, Justice League: War, Cyborg 009, LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash, Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms, All Tender Things, Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman - Rage of Atlantis, Mighty Med, Krrish 3, The Smurfs 2, Eight Crazy Nights, The Cat in the Hat, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, The Good, the Bart, and the Loki, A Goofy Movie, Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama, Astro Boy, Big Hero 6: The Series, A.T.O.M.: Alpha Teens on Machines