More superhero adventures on screen this week with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as acclaimed film-makers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller bring their unique vision to the Spider-Man story set in a universe that is different from the norm.

Told in a ground-breaking visual style, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduces audiences to Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales, who gets to don the Spider-Man mask.

“What drew us to Spider-Verse was the fact that it gave us the opportunity to tell the Spider-Man story in a completely new and revolutionary way for the current generation,” say Lord and Miller.

“The movie explores the superhero experience from a fresh angle, while dealing with larger universal themes such as coming of age, taking action, and finding your purpose in this world.”

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse brings a completely new take on Marvel’s beloved web-slinging superhero, who was first introduced by recently departed Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962. This latest take on the hero features a diverse cast and a revolutionary approach to the story, and is unlike any of the previous cinematic interpretations of the familiar character.

The heart of the movie is Miles’ coming-of-age story, but we wanted to tell this in a completely new and unconventional way

Lord and Miller are best known for directing, among others, Sony Pictures Animation’s hugely popular Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and the award- winning The Lego Movie.

Lord, who co-wrote the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse screenplay with Rodney Rothman, says it was the Miles Morales character that initially attracted him to the project. “We really thought it was an amazing, fresh way to tell the Spider-Man stories,” he notes. “When Sony came to us and said they wanted to do an animated Spider-Man movie, we initially said, (as we do with all of our projects), no!”

The response was prompted by the fact that, in their minds, the Spider-Man story had already been told many times. And yet, adds Lord, “we then started talking about how we would approach it in a fresh way if we were to do it, and thought, it has to be Miles!’”

Miles Morales is one of the characters known as Spider-Man in an alternate Spider-man Universe.  The character was created in 2011 by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli.

“At that time, Miles was easily the most exciting character in the Marvel universe,” continues Lord. “So, we leaned into this idea of a different superhero for our era, set in this environment that has multiple Spider-people from all of the comics. This idea of exploring different universes and playing with all the various versions of this beloved character opened up a world of possibilities to us.”

“One of the main reasons we were drawn to the project was the fact that Miles is a different kind of superhero,” adds co-producer Miller. “What’s cool about Spidey is that you can see this superhero wearing a mask and flying around, and you can think, ‘Hey, that can be me underneath the mask.’

“In a way, the heart of the movie is Miles’ coming-of-age story, but we wanted to tell this in a completely new and unconventional way,” continues Miller. “We wanted to put someone totally different in Spider-Man’s shoes and under that mask. One of the key themes of the movie is that we all have powers, and we all need to face up to our responsibilities, regardless of who we are or where we are born.”

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse features the voices of Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Velez, John Mulaney, and Kimiko Glenn, with Nicolas Cage, Kathryn Hahn, and Liev Schreiber. It is directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman.