Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse - Linear Structure

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Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse is an animated film, directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman. This review will analyze the structure of the film and what makes it a 5 act linear narrative.

The film may give a sense of non-linearity thanks to its whole premise of merging dimensions and timelines, but the story takes place in a single location and time, and specifically follows the journey of Miles, who originally resides in the setting. The only factors breaking linearity are the flashbacks of backstory when the other spider-heroes are introduced, otherwise the sequence of events follows a linear structure.

The first act sets up all the necessary exposition fluidly and consequently. It starts off by setting up who the spider-man of the current universe is, in a sequence that details his life, experiences and views. This is the first introduction to the concept of backstory flashbacks, and sets up what to expect from it. It’s after that sequence when begins the exposition of the film’s protagonist, Miles Morales. In the first shot we already learn a lot about his personality and interests. The scene is set in his bedroom, from which you can tell his interests, creativity, intelligence, but also his chaotic and unorganized lifestyle. We then learn about his family and the dynamic with his parents.
On his way to school, we’re introduced to his relationship with his friends in his old school and learn that this is the first day of him switching schools. On his way he’s seen plastering his custom stickers on public property, signaling his love for graffiti and unruly nature. This segways into him and his father in a police car, where we find out Miles’ disdain for the “elitist school” and a tension in the family with Miles’ uncle.
The school life begins and we learn about its intensity and Miles’ growing contempt towards it, as well as subtle foreshadowing of certain characters. Afterwards we are introduced to his uncle and the trusted relatable relationship with him. We follow them into a prohibited underground area, where his uncle encourages Miles to express his creativity through graffiting a design he had drawn. During this is when the inciting incident happens that leads into Act 2.

During the graffiti scene we are shown the presence of an obviously unnatural spider, creeping around them both, up until the end when it bites Miles who kills it without much thought. This is the point after which everything changes for him and all the complications start to show up.
At first it starts off with small signs, like his body changing, and reacting weirdly. It gets worse when his hands and feet start sticking to everything he touches, causing even more problems in his normal life. After a tantalizing turn of events he desperately searches for someone to reach out to, after hearing no response from his uncle and not trusting his dad enough, he makes his way to where he got bit to see the spider. This is where he is lead into finding out about the villain Kingpin and his plans, and takes upon the responsibility to stop him.
In this act he continues to explore through the hurdles of understanding his powers, meets the Peter B. Parker from another dimension, and hopes to learn from him. After complicating the journey even more by accidentally breaking the key to stopping Kingpin, Miles and Peter go on the first major mission to get the data necessary to make a new one. This is where they meet another one like them, the spider-woman Gwen. The second act ends with the mission being a success and they go to visit Aunt May in hopes of help. Here they are introduced to 3 other inter-dimensional spider-heroes.

Act 3 starts off with a fresh new hardship for Miles, when the other heroes don’t trust in his abilities. Because of this he runs off to his uncle’s place in hope of solace and to leave a sign to someone he can trust but instead he learns that his uncle works with the villain. To complicate things even more, his escape from him ends up in revealing their location at Aunt May’s and a dramatic fight ensues where he reveals himself to his uncle. In result Prowler, Mile’s uncle, is shot down by Kingpin, crushing Mile’s morale even more. The complications keep building up as its revealed that the other heroes really cannot entrust him with their mission and he is left to his own. This is when it starts gradually moving towards the climax. After a meaningful monologue from his father, he faces his fears and takes a leap of faith that was necessary for him to have control over himself. This takes us right into the climax, having mastered himself, he joins the other heroes in stopping Kingpins plan, and successfully manage to send all the other heroes back to their dimensions.

At this point the only stakes are defeating Kingpin, seeing as the climax has been achieved with the foiling of his plan and saving the other heroes. Act 4 is an action packed fight between Miles and Kingpin, as the reversal to all the build up and development Miles had gone through. This is where he puts to use all he’s learned and the story reveals and connects key factors and motivators that had driven the story, like Kingpins drive to bring back his family coming back to haunt him, and Miles’ drive to atone to his father in his own way.

After the fight we reach the denouement as act 5. The villains have been defeated, Miles reconnects with his father, and Brooklyn’s Spider-man has been restored again. Miles proceeds to do well in his real life, keeps up as spider-man and makes new friends, bringing the film to a close with a positive resolution and open doors to possible communication with his spider-friends over dimensions.

In conclusion, the whole structure of Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse comes together in a clear but seamless 5 act structure. Even with the dimension merging and time jumping with backstories, the story keeps a consistent linear structure.

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Figure 1: Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse poster (2018). Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4633694/mediaviewer/rm173371392 (Accessed on 06 November 2019)