'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Artist Drew Inspiration From 'Calvin and Hobbes'

Sony's Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse has been in theaters for nearly a month and it's been a [...]

Sony's Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse has been in theaters for nearly a month and it's been a hit with fans and critics alike. In the recently-released artbook complementing the film, the artists and crew sat down and dove into the development of the hit animated movie.

According to Patrick O'Keef, an artist on the film, one scene, in particular, took a lot of inspiration from a classic comic strip most of us are familiar with.

"As with most sets in the film, it was always about seeing how far we could reduce the world around us and how much we could get away with," O'Keefe says. "Many of the tree limbs are disconnected, and most of the foliage is still floating. I was very inspired by Bill Watterson's forest from the Calvin and Hobbes strip. There is a clustering of shapes and details that describe the whole forest as a single vignette."

Also in the art book, Into The Spider-Verse producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller explained what drew them to make a feature-length film featuring Miles Morales. Lord says it's because Morales is one of the most exciting characters in comics today.

"At that time, Miles was easily the most exciting character in the Marvel Universe. Oddly enough, around the same time, I went to the Jeff Koons retrospective in New York City — and love it or hate it — all his art is about other people's work," Lord said.

"It made me like, 'We could perhaps create a post-modern Spider-Man.' So, we leaned into this idea of a post-modern Spider-Man in this environment that has multiple spider-people from all of the comics."

Miller echoed the sentiment, calling Morales a unique character.

"It's his Brooklyn upbringing, it's his culture. He's half-Puerto Rican, half-African-American, he's a product of a happy and alive family, he's 13-years-old," Miller said.

Though a hit with the masses, the Sony Pictures Animation feature has been a bit slower at the box office. Through it's third week in theaters, Into The Spider-Verse is hovering around $230 million, half of which came domestically.

What'd you think of Into the Spider-Verse? Where would you rank it with other superhero movies of 2018? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is in theaters now.

1comments