‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ contained a few surprises, as worlds collided and Spider-Folk from various realities converged to help Miles Morales reach his true destiny. But prior to the arrivals of Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham and Spider-Man Noir, there was only one Spider-Man, as far as Miles knew, and as he discovered in the first act of the film, that was Peter Parker.
But as viewers quickly realized, this wasn’t the Spider-Man WE knew, either. Voiced by Chris Pine (uncredited), upon being unmasked, this Peter had blond hair. But as it turns out, the animators working on the film gave him a slightly more morbid nickname to differentiate him from the others– RIPeter. The following page can be found in the book ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movie’:
As the description points out, RIPeter’s blond hair, which still manages to look perfectly tussled after wearing a full-head mask, was inspired by Brad Pitt’s as it appeared in the film ‘A River Runs Through It’.
This perfect Peter is a huge contrast with Jake Johnson‘s slightly over-the-hill Peter that swings in from another dimension. However that Peter seems to have more in common with the Peter from the comics and earlier movies, in terms of his marriage and subsequent conflicts with Mary Jane, as well as his recollections of past adventures.
As some fans have pointed out, in the comics, the “Spider-Clone,” Ben Reilly, also known as the Scarlet Spider, bleached his hair blond to differentiate himself from Peter Parker, so that may have partly inspired the animators’ decision to give RIPeter lighter hair as well. But beyond that, there don’t seem to be any other connections between this film and the ‘Clone Saga’ from the 1990s.
While there were plenty of reality-warping shenanigans in ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’, and a sequel and a spin-off have already been ordered, don’t expect RIPeter to return. After all, his death is really the catalyst that sent Miles on his heroic path, and it is believed that he will eventually become the greatest Spider-Hero of all.
‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ is still playing in theaters everywhere.
Source: ComicBook.com
