I’ll admit it. I cried during Brand New Day.
It’s my favorite of the MCU Spider-Man films and the first one that actually feels like reading an Amazing Spider-Man comic — overstuffed IP trappings and all.
Spidey has always been the most emotionally resonant superhero — Marvel, DC or otherwise. Ever since he swung onto the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962, Peter Parker has represented the best of American youth, with truths that resonate across generations. He’s the kid who gets the powers and still can’t make rent. The affordability and loneliness crisis is nothing new to Peter Parker, and his good old Parker luck.
And despite being rather long in the tooth (webs?), Spider-Man is having the single biggest year any character has ever had at the movies. Brand New Day took the largest opening weekend in history — passing Avengers: Endgame, which needed the entire roster to do what one kid from Queens just did by himself. It crossed $2 billion worldwide in three weeks and now sits sixth on the all-time list, still climbing.1 Strongest Avenger indeed.
So during this Summer of Spidey, the Cognitive Film Society is proud to present Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) this Thursday, August 27th, at the Gold Theater at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library.
The Film
Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman — and written and produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, most recently of Project Hail Mary — Into the Spider-Verse is both one of Spider-Man’s greatest adventures and a genuine turning point in the art form.
Detailing the first days of Miles Morales, the film delves deep into the values of power, responsibility, family, love and the temptation of vengeance that define the best Spider-Man comic runs.2
As part of our Anime August series, Spider-Verse wears its manga influence openly, right down to Peni Parker and SP//dr, a straight-up anime mecha and her pilot.
The film opened in the crowded week before Christmas 2018 and quietly made its mark. It had the best December opening ever for an animated feature and grossed $395 million worldwide against a $90 million budget, winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Only Spider-Man could break that category open - when it had belonged almost entirely to Disney and Pixar.
But it was streaming that truly turned the film into Spider-scripture, with a new generation of fans finding it at home, putting it on repeat and making it their own.
Which is exactly why it belongs back on a big screen, in a dark room, with the sound up!
The Evening
We’ll open with a short introduction and an interactive discussion we’re calling “Spider-Cinema” — a survey of the room on your favorite Spider-Man films, performers and characters. Bring your arguments. There are no wrong answers, but some answers are definitely more wrong than others.
So let’s talk Raimi vs Watts. Garfield vs Tobey vs Holland. The MCU vs self-contained universes. Whatever the hell was going on with the Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man 2. We want to hear it all!
7:00 PM — Program begins: “Spider-Cinema,” an introduction and audience survey
7:15 PM — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) — 117 minutes
~9:15 PM — Out the door
Location: Gold Theater at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library — 1125 Broadway, Hewlett, NY 11557
FREE ADMISSION. Free and open to everyone, as always.
We hope you’ll join us for one last swing with Spidey before school starts on Tuesday.
And save the date: we’re back at the Gold Theater on Sunday, September 27th at 1:00 PM for Sydney Pollack’s The Way We Were (1973).
Anyone can wear the mask.
See you Thursday night.
The Cognitive Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to cultivating film culture through educational programming and community engagement.
Brand New Day opened to a record $360 million domestic — the biggest debut ever, passing Avengers: Endgame — and became the fastest film to $800 million domestic on its way past $2 billion worldwide in three weeks. As of this week it has passed The Force Awakens for sixth all-time.
The original Lee–Ditko run is the best example of this, but the Death of Gwen Stacy, Kraven’s Last Hunt and Superior Spider-Man will stay with you for years as well.