By: Sammy Wang

Into the Spider-Verse is a 2016 movie directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman that I believe that everybody should watch at least once. It’s a story about Miles, a teenager trying to figure out who he is with additional conflicts thrown at him; from being bitten by a radioactive spider to escaping death multiple times and family issues.

But what I think really establishes and sets Miles up to be a likable and relatable character occurs during the first 10 minutes of the film.

From the very beginning, the production logos foreshadow what Miles will be facing in the movie, with each logo glitching into different versions of itself.

Then the audience gets a short introduction from Peter Parker, otherwise known as the Spider-Man most people are familiar with. The audience is then introduced to the actual main character, Miles Morales. We are able to gain insight into Miles’s home life, community, and school for the next 7 minutes.

The audience learns that Miles is attending a new school that is bigger, newer, and further away from his neighborhood. He connects with his old friends before his father, Jefferson Davis, a policeman, decides to drive him to school instead.

During the scene where Miles and his dad talk, it’s clear that there is tension between them, further emphasized by a prisoner partition. Despite the tension, Jefferson still tries to connect with Miles through jokes and trash talk of Spider-Man, with whom he holds a grudge, due to being a policeman. Meanwhile, Miles is indifferent towards Spider-Man, unaware of how their paths will intertwine in the near future.

Before they part ways, they talk about Miles’ paternal uncle, Aaron. Their opinions on Aaron are different: while Mile’s thinks he’s cool, Jefferson doesn’t approve of his life choices.

Likewise, his school life isn’t any better as he struggles to adjust to the high expectations that are being pushed onto him by his teachers. He struggles socially despite being at the school for two weeks now.

Although Miles’ struggles with his workload and schedule, it doesn’t mean that he isn’t smart, as proven by his teacher when she confronts him about deliberately failing a recent test in an effort to get kicked out. Instead of failing him, she gives him an extra credit assignment.

By the end of the first 10 minutes, Miles sneaks out to meet his Uncle Aaron, and it’s revealed that they have a close relationship. Miles reveals more about his life to Aaron than he does to his own parents; from his struggles at school to the girls he likes, it proves how much he trusts his uncle a lot.

Despite the establishing scene being short, it conveys the most important thing about the story: it introduces the main character, his current problems, and his relationships that makes the viewers understand his actions.