Archive Episode - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, 2018) (with Simran Hans)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, 2018).

The Fantasy/Animation podcast takes listeners on a journey through the intersection between fantasy cinema and the medium of animation. Available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many of your favourite podcast hosting platforms!

For the final archive episode of 2025, Chris and Alex once again swing their way back into the superhero world of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, 2018), revisiting their discussion of Sony Pictures Animation’s computer-animated film that featured special guest Simran Hans, film critic and culture writer whose work has appeared in The Observer, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, Dazed, The Fader and Sight & Sound. Lots here on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s unique comic book-style design and the visual “crunch” of its evocative flattened style; the upturned generic qualities of the computer-animated film within contemporary Hollywood; and the growing pervasiveness of superhero cinema that, since the film’s release, has become further reinvigorated by Spider-Verse’s now highly influential design.

Suggested Readings

• Clute, John, and John Grant. 1999. The Encyclopaedia Of Fantasy. London: Orbit.

• Maloney, Devon. 2018. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse directors on the film’s gorgeous style.” The Verge (December 17, 2018), available at: https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/17/17609436/into-the-spider-verse-directors-interview-style-animation-filmmaking-behind-the-scenes.

• Penley, Constance. 1991. Close Encounters: Film, Feminism, and Science Fiction. University of Minnesota Press; Minnesota Archive Editions.

• Ronen, Ruth. 2009. Possible Worlds in Literary Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.