The Spiderverse animated films have one of the world’s favorite version of Spider-Man. That’s not an easy feat when you look at the character’s history and its many succesful iterations in live action movies. “Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse” premieres this June 2nd. Not only does it star Miles Morales, a Puerto Rican boy as its lead — it was also made by the hand of various Latine creators.
Telemundo spoke with various Latine animators who shed a light on their work and were a part of the diverse group of people who realized the film. There were at least 40 Mexican artist involved in the making of the film who were joined by Puerto Rican, Dominican, Argentinean, Brazilian and Venezuelan artists.
“It’s very beautiful to participate in projects that have people from all over the world involved,” said Fernanda Ortiz Rojo in Spanish. “But when you see Latine names and Latine faces, the feeling doubles. I’m so proud to be Latina and to be able to represent Latinos in a positive light,” she said.
Other animators revealed that they were honored to work with Miles Morales considering the fact that his Puerto Rican heritage is an important part of his story. “Several Latinos that worked on the film are immigrants, arriving in a new country and starting from scratch, kind of like Miles is learning how to use his powers,” said Isaac Miranda, who worked on motion graphics and matte painting in the film. “You understand his context more... You feel like a Spider-Man too.”
“Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse,” continues the story laid out by the first film, which shows Miles obtaining his powers and learning how to be Spider-Man alongside various Spider-Men from across parallel universes. The sequel reintroduces the characters we know and love and introduces new ones, including Miguel O’Hara, interpreted by Oscar Isaac. Francisco Leana Hidalgo revealed that seeing heroes this varied is incredible. “Here is Miles and here is Miguel, and like them, there are dozens of characters of different cultures and ages. This is a movie that represents you.”
