Being a Spider-Man is not without its downsides—even beyond getting the superheroic snot beaten out of you by the occasional baddie. After a year’s waiting for it to get a public release, Sony’s new short film sees just how Miles Morales faces some of those more personal downsides as he settles into his role as a hero.
Originally debuting at last year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, The Spider Within, directed by Jarelle Dampier as part of Sony Imageworks’ LENS program highlighting young talent from marginalized backgrounds, the short sees Miles head home late one night after a rough day of school and spider-heroism—and grapple with a more literal manifestation of his anxieties than he’s willing to be equipped with.
It’s short, sweet, and surprisingly creepy—an odd thing to say for a short about Spider-Man, but if you’re a bit of an arachnophobe its representation of Miles’ anxiety might give you the creeps too! But it’s a smart and incredibly effective look at how Miles’ abilities as Spider-Man play into doubts and anxieties he has just being a teenager in the modern world: worries and struggles beyond fighting bad guys and maintaining a secret identity. It very pointedly makes clear that these are problems he cannot solve with a bio-electric blast or by swinging fists, but by reaching out to the people he loves and talking things out. A good lesson for any spider-hero to learn.
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