Despite the amazing and spectacular visuals (pun INtended) from ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse,’ one cannot deny that the heart of the movie is in the writing, that in actuality, none of what we saw on screen would have been possible without a solid script to start with. And while Sony was so happy with the end results that they are rushing to patent a number of the comic book effects used in the film, they have also recognized the part the writing team has had in the film’s success, and have decided to release the script online, for free, for all the fans to read through and enjoy.
And it is a fascinating read.
There are details galore inside for anyone who might have missed something with everything happening on screen, as well as some details that you can only get in a script (such as the fact that Spider-Gwen was fighting her own Doc Ock in a collider room in her universe), but what is great is that even with those details, the screenwriters left plenty of room for the director and artists to explore and be creative, and add their own style and jokes to the movie. Here’s an example of a line from the opening of the movie lifted straight from the script:
“Spiderman [sic] saves the city, kisses MJ, saves the city some more. The shots evoke ICONIC SPIDER-MAN IMAGES, but each one is subtly different, somehow altered… Cut to Spider-Man dancing on the street, exactly like in the movie Spider-Man 3.”
In the above line, sure there’s one specific joke referenced, but they leave the door open for the animators and artists to create their own jokes, basically giving them cues and trusting them to run with the idea and come up with the best jokes they can. That’s a lot of faith, on both sides, and really interesting to see in a studio film, especially one for such an iconic character, and with so much pressure on it, since anything Sony does with ‘Spider-Man’ has a lot of expectations riding on it.
Check out the full script for yourself here, and let us know your thoughts, as well as any hidden gems you might discover, in the comments below!