Into the Spider-Verse which won Best Animated Feature at the 2019
Academy Awards is largely considered to be the best comic
book movie ever made more faithfully capturing on screen the feel
of reading a comic book than any other film. But the story of how Miles Morales became
Spider-Man is also an excellent modern example of The Hero's Journey a storytelling structure that has existed
since mankind first began to tell stories around our ancestral fires. In my last video on The Hero's Journey, I broke
down this three-part storytelling structure and explained how Joseph Campbell's theory
was used by George Lucas when creating the original Star Wars. But despite its consistent structure from
culture to culture, every Hero's Journey plays out a little differently. It is often these differences that highlight
what exactly a story is trying to say. With that in mind, let's take a look at the
Hero's Journey of Miles Morales. While Mile's Ordinary World is less exotic
than Luke Skywalker's desert planet it still represents a realm that is fully known to
him, navigating adolescent issues such as educational
hurdles and family dynamics. "Miles!" "Yeah?" "Are you finished packing for school?" "Yeah...?" His mother, a nurse at Brooklyn General Hospital and his father, an officer on the New York
police force are loving yet ever-busy parents. But Miles, who once felt at home in his neighborhood
middle school, is going through some changes when we meet him. "Why can't I go back to Brooklyn Middle?" "Miles you've given it two weeks, we're not
having this conversation." "I just think that this new school is elitist,
and I would prefer to be at a normal school among the people." Miles has just won a lottery intended to provide
better school placement to low-income and minority children. "I'm only here cuz I won that stupid lottery." "No way, you passed the entry test just like
everybody else, okay?" "It doesn't feel like I have a choice right
here." "You don't!" We see his need for connection with his distant
father as he's driven to school and when that need for connection isn't met we watch him turn to his Uncle Aaron the first, but not the last mentor on this
journey. While this film does follow conventional Hero's
Journey structure in regards to the mentor figure what makes it unique is that many of the characters
encountered throughout this story fall in and out of the role of the mentor, as Miles
continues his search, so that we have a mentorship that is split across many characters. In fact, by the time the film ends, Miles
will have gone through three different mentorships each from a different archetype character
in the Hero's Journey. Like most Heroes' Journeys that involve a
young protagonist, the primary question asked of the hero is
what kind of person they want to be. "I'm assigning you a personal essay, not about
physics, but about you, and what kind of person you want to be." For Miles, answering this question involves
exploring these various mentorships. The first mentor, his Uncle Aaron, is a substitute
father figure who has more time to teach Miles about the world than his real father. When Miles refuses to answer the question
of who he wants to be as it is first posed to him, he goes to his Uncle Aaron. "You know about the shoulder touch?" "Course I do! But uh... tell me anyway." "Tomorrow, find that girl, you walk up to her
and be like..." "Hey." "You serious Uncle Aaron?" Here it starts to become clear that the first
act of Miles story is actually structured like a Hero's Journey in miniature with a departure, threshold crossing, period
of self-discovery, and return all before the real adventure begins. Aaron seeing Miles reluctance to return to
his schoolwork, provides him with a Call to Adventure. "Yo, you been holding out on me?" "You throw these up yet?" "Nah man, you know my dad, I can't." "Come on, I got a spot you ain't gonna believe." "I can't, I can't, I can't..." But after being thrust into the adventure,
his uncle leads him to a Threshold. After crossing, Miles finds himself in an
underground world where he can safely explore the parts of himself that are not permitted
by his father... and by extension, all of society. Given permission to express in a way that
speaks to him, Miles finally begins to answer the question. Here Aaron has acted out the mentor role by
showing Miles how to cross the Threshold and explore his own psyche. "Is it too crazy?" "Nah, man." "Miles I see exactly what you doin' here, man." "Yeah." But this is only a temporary visit. Miles adventure cannot begin in earnest until
it comes calling for him. "Miles, let's go." We are still in the first act of The Hero's
Journey, the Departure, but Miles has already crossed the Threshold into his subconscious
and returned to his Ordinary World with a boon. Yet it is how this boon manifests after his
return that kicks off the adventure for real pulling him into the world of superheroes. When Miles wakes up the next morning after
being bitten, things seem different. His thoughts are so loud that they begin to
appear in the world around him. All of his senses are heightened. As Call to Adventure grows stronger and stronger,
Miles resists refusing the call in every way possible until he is introduced, albeit indirectly,
to his second mentor. "Wait, wait, wait... how could there be two
Spider-Men? There can't be two Spider-Men." "Can there?" With Miles beginning to understand the changes
occurring in him, he starts to accept the Call, venturing back across the Threshold
from his earlier adventure without a guide this time. As he moves beyond, understanding starts to
dawn on him that the depths of his previous journey were but the surface of a larger world a larger threshold, which the hero is fast
descending towards. Remember that the concept of Descending is
used here as in many other Heroes' Journeys, to imply a descent into the symbolism of the
subconscious. We're exploring not just another world, but
the depths of Miles' mind. Here, the protagonist encounters the symbolic
denizens of this strangely familiar world... This world where the subconscious has free
reign. Including his second mentor figure. "What is this place?" "You're like me." "I don't wanna be." "You're gonna be fine." "I can help you!" "If you stick around I can show you the ropes." "I just need to destroy this big machine real
quick before the space-time continuum collapses." "Don't move!" "See you in a bit!" As he continues to descend into this super-powered
world he keeps refusing the Call whenever it is
presented to him. It is also here that he first encounters the
Dragon of this story, the notorious Kingpin who may remind us of the Dragon from another
tale. "You came all this way. Watch the test." "It's a hell of a freaking light show, you're
gonna love this." Once fully in the world of the adventure,
the mentor presents Miles with a Magical Gift or Talisman. Like that other tale, the Loss of the Mentor
occurs under similar circumstances, though much earlier in the journey of Miles Morales. Right when he seems to have found the teacher
he was looking for, fate rips him away, leaving him without a guide yet again. The death of Spider-Man hits New York hard,
but it's also the catalyst that prompts Miles to accept his Call to Adventure. When he does, he begins to attire himself
as his hero attempting to learn from his teacher even
after he is gone. However, it will not do. Miles needs a living mentor to guide him. It's shortly thereafter that Miles encounters
his Shadow Self. Now some might argue that it's actually Peter
B. Parker who fills the role of the primary mentor in this film, but it's important to remember that many elements
of the Hero's Journey are interchangeable and even intersectional. One of the key aspects of the Shadow Self
is that they reflect who the hero might become if they choose to act on the worst parts of
their nature. They embody the very issues that lie at the
center of our hero's self-discovery. This third mentor is, in essence, Miles' "Shadow
Mentor". This is further emphasized by the fact that
this version of Spider-Man is in a similar state of costume. He is half in and half out of his role as
the hero. In fact, we can easily tell what place the
two characters are at in the journey by the state of their costume. "Oh geez, are those sweatpants?" "Yep, that's what they are..." "This is amazing, you can teach me just like
Peter said he would!" Of course, this Peter Parker does begin to
mentor Miles in the ways of being Spider-Man. "Here's lesson number one kid, don't watch
the mouth, watch the hands." Yet as their journey continues and Miles undergoes
more tests of character he learns more from Peter's failings than
from his guidance. "Square your shoulders!" "Don't forget to follow through!" "Don't shoot off your back foot!" "That's too many things!" "Then stop listening to me!" "That's the best idea you've had all day." "Nice, Miles!" As the story progresses, we can start to see
that Miles' Road of Trials, as Campbell called the Adventure Stage of the Hero's Journey,
takes the form of various lessons from each mentor. A synthesis is achieved, and Miles does grow
by accepting Peter as an integral part of himself. "I gotta say, you're amazing, man!" "We're a little team! "Me as the teacher who can still do it." "You as the student who can do it... just
not as good." "I'm proud of us." It is after this synthesis of the Shadow Self,
that Miles has his encounter with a Divine Beauty. "Hey guys." "Oh, you know her." "Very cool." "I'm from another dimension." "I mean... another, another dimension." Although Miles met Gwen earlier in the film,
it's not until she is encountered in her divine form that she begins to exert an influence
on him representing all that he might become if he
chooses to accept the responsibility that comes with his new power. From here Miles once again turns to the original
Spider-Man, who continues to help him even from the grave. "Peter?" "Hey, Aunt May." "Did Peter have a place where we could make
another one of these?" "Follow me." Supernatural Aid usually appears in the form
of unexpected assistance, and in this interpretation it occurs when Aunt May gives the team access
to Spider-Man's base of operations allowing the arrival of more counterparts
from other dimensions. With the help of this aid, Miles realizes
that, although he has answered the Call to Adventure he is not yet ready to face the
Dragon. "He's not ready, it's obvious!" When in doubt, Miles returns to his mentor
from the Ordinary World, only to find that his mentor was not who he thought he was. That the Ordinary World had been overlapping
with the Fantastic World the entire time. "You know me, sir." "I don't ever quit." In a story about mentors, it's fitting that
Miles would have more than one, and experience the Loss of the Mentor more than once. "Miles?" "You're the best of all of us, Miles." "You're on your way, just... just keep going." "Just keep going." Every hero in this story is on their own journey,
and the Loss of the Mentor is all too familiar to them. "We've all been there." "You know for me... for me was my Uncle Ben." "For me it was my Uncle Benjamin." "For me it was my father." "For me it was my best friend." Miles' Belly of the Beast is actually quite
an unconventional one. While it would be easy to assume, based on
the dark, ribcage structures of the sunken church or the even deeper collider, that
one or both of these are Miles' Belly of the Beast in fact, Miles' deepest despair occurs in
his school bedroom. "Miles, I came to say goodbye." It is in this moment, after having his inadequacies
pointed out by his peers and mentor figures and feeling betrayed by their lack of faith
in him that his Shadow Mentor teaches him the most
valuable lesson of his journey into self-reliance. "When will I know I'm ready?" "You won't." "It's a leap of faith." "That's all it is Miles... a leap of faith" We can tell that this is the Belly of the
Beast not by the visual symbolism of the place he's trapped in but by the exchange that occurs while he's
tied up without the ability to speak. "Miles, uh... Miles, it's your dad." "Please open the door." In Campbell's original structure it is usually
the turning point of the story in fact the very point of the story when the hero atones with their father, either
literally or symbolically. "Look, sometimes people drift apart Miles." "And I don't want that to happen to us, okay?" "Look, I know I don't always do what you need
me to do or say what you need me to say but I'm..." "I see this... this spark in you." "It's amazing!" "It's why I push you, but... it's yours." "Whatever you choose to do with it you'll be
great." This encounter compels Miles to sink into
himself... and there encountered the truth about who he is. It is in this moment that Miles Morales dies,
and is reborn as Spider-Man. Now, Miles can demonstrate to his peers that
he has learned from his tests and trials and is ready to embody Spider-Man. The roles are now reversed, and Miles Morales
as Spider-Man, is now the mentor to Peter Parker. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me." "Don't watch the mouth, watch the hands." "That was crazy." "Aw, we taught him that, right?" "I didn't teach him that." "And you definitely didn't." "You gotta go home, man." "How do I know I'm not gonna mess it up again?" "You won't." "Right, it's a leap of faith." Our hero is finally ready to face the Dragon. To beat him, he has only to demonstrate one
last time that he has learned from his mentors' lessons. "You ever hear of the shoulder touch?" The structure of Miles' journey is tied intimately
with the message of his story. The search for a teacher led Miles to a point
where two journeys intersected which themselves led to a point where another
two intersected all of them teaching him that the true source
of mentorship occurs within oneself. This realization allows Miles to reflect on
a much larger truth that his story is one of many in a vast web
of stories and that his is one stop along the Road of
Trials in a much larger tale, starring a different hero... "It's you." "All of these symbols in mythology refer to
YOU." What is the lesson of Into the Spider-Verse? "Anyone can wear the mask." "YOU could wear the mask." "If you didn't know that before, I hope you
do now." Hey everyone, thanks so much for watching. I know this video was a little bit on the
longer side, but I really felt it was necessary to let the movie indulge in its dramatic moments. They are, after all, what makes Into the Spider-Verse
so fun to watch. If you're new here, be sure to subscribe and
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