Sony’s Spider-Verse movies have exploded the Wall-Crawler’s adventures into all-new territory, and numerous other Marvel superheroes should be given the same treatment. 2018’s animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduces Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) as a New York City teenager who gains the powers of his hero Spider-Man to become a Web-Slinging superhero himself. The movie, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, was followed by the even bigger 2023 follow-up Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, with Miles, Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), and other Web-Heads from across the multiverse battling to stop the plot of the interdimensional villain the Spot (Jason Schwartzman).
The Spider-Verse movies have become some of Spidey’s most popular big-screen adventures with their enthralling storytelling, action sequences, and unification of Web-Slingers from both animated and live-action into a vast multiverse (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield making cameos in Across the Spider-Verse via archive footage, along with Donald Glover properly appearing as the Prowler after his Spider-Man: Homecoming appearance). With the franchise to continue with the forthcoming Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, placing some of Marvel’s other legendary superheroes into animated movies in the vein of the Spider-Verse films is a no-brainer. Here are five Marvel superheroes who should star in their own Spider-Verse-style animated movies.
The ultimate embodiment of patriotic heroism, Steve Roger aka Captain America is one of the oldest and most enduring Marvel superheroes, and he gained a whole new level of mainstream popularity with Chris Evans’s portrayal of Cap in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Evans’s performance as Steve Rogers is undoubtedly the most iconic version of the character in live-action, the animated realm could also do with a strong take on Captain America itself.
An animated movie or series set during World War II and presented in the style of 1940s animated serials could be a great way to showcase Cap’s legacy as a war hero, while a setting in modern times with Steve bringing his shield to a contemporary military conflict could be just as compelling an animated story for Captain America.
Few superheroes are as defined by a given actor’s live-action performance as Iron Man is by Robert Downey Jr.’s phenomenal portrayal of Tony Stark from the MCU’s first movie Iron Man to his heroic sacrifice in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Comparatively, Tony has been seen in animation relatively little, and as the hero who got the ball rolling on the MCU, a Spider-Verse-esque animated movie could be the perfect way to showcase a new version of Iron Man in a whole new light.
The technological and A.I. elements inherent to Iron Man could also add some real visual fun to an animated Iron Man movie, showcasing his armor, weaponry, and adventures with the same visual impact as the Spider-Verse movies.
The Hulk has had quite a history on the big and small screens, but many fans still lament that the Hulk hasn’t had a big-screen solo movie since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, owing to Universal Pictures retaining the rights to solo Hulk movies. While that’s kept the Hulk as strictly an ensemble player in the MCU from The Avengers onward, an animated Hulk movie could fill the void of the Hulk going on his own adventures.
Funnily enough, Ang Lee’s 2003 Hulk movie arguably makes the best case for an animated, Spider-Verse-style Hulk movie with its comic book-inspired page layouts, scene transitions, and overall visual style. Perhaps even Ang Lee himself might theoretically be amenable to returning for an animated Hulk movie, bringing the same comic book style from live-action to animation in a format where it could be pushed even further.
Danny Rand, wielder of the Iron Fist and master of martial arts, didn’t have the best start in live-action with Season 1 of Netflix’s Iron Fist series. Danny’s return in The Defenders, Luke Cage Season 2, and especially the vastly improved Iron Fist Season 2 largely set him back on track, with Finn Jones game to return as K’un Lun’s immortal weapon, but Danny’s future need not be in live-action alone.
Giving Iron Fist the Spider-Verse treatment would lend itself to much the same visual flair, combining the visual style of a comic book crossed with a ’70s era kung fu flick in movie form, and could also tell a sprawling tell of Danny’s training as the Iron Fist in K’un Lun and his crime-fighting life in New York City. What’s more, the 2004 Iron Fist comic book miniseries “Breathless” also adopted a manga-inspired art style for Danny’s story, while Danny’s premiere comic book run of The Immortal Iron Fist told his story in distinctly Chinese-style art. Either approach would be perfect to send Danny on his next Iron Fist mission in a Spider-Verse-esque animated setting.
Matt Murdock embodies many different things — a man without fear, a really good lawyer, a blind ninja with super-senses defending Hell’s Kitchen, the hero who kicked off the dawn of the Marvel-Netflix era, and the first to make his return to headlining his own show on Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again. What Matt Murdock sadly cannot be called is a superhero who has frequently been showcased in animation.
The distinctly comic book-inspired visual style of both Netflix’s Daredevil and Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again show how much the world of Hell’s Kitchen on both shows could be showcased in animation with equal visual splendor, but such is also the case of Daredevil’s signature power, his radar sense. Seen only once on Daredevil, Matt’s tool of “seeing” the world through his superhuman sense of hearing could really jump off the screen in animation. Add in the major ninja theme of Daredevil as a character, and The Man Without Fear showcased in Spider-Verse-style animation just sells itself.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are available to rent and buy on Amazon Prime Video, Google Play Movies, and Apple TV, and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will be released in theaters on June 7, 2027.
Sony’s Spider-Verse movies have exploded the Wall-Crawler’s adventures into all-new territory, and numerous other Marvel superheroes should be given the same treatment. 2018’s animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduces Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) as a New York City teenager who gains the powers of his hero Spider-Man to become a Web-Slinging superhero himself. The Read More