When it was first released in theaters, more than a year ago, the visually stunning animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse became a massive success, with critics praising its every aspect - the well-written and well-executed character interactions, the original animation style in which every frame is drawn like it was ripped straight out of a comic book, even the music - as well as the clever, convincing performances of several of the actors.
While, unfortunately, not all of the film’s lead actors are particularly prolific in the film industry, quite a few of them have had big roles in blockbusters past - here are our favorites. Spoiler warning: don’t read this article unless you’ve already seen Into the Spider-Verse!
Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin delivers an invigorating, energetic performance in Into The Spider-Verse, playing an elderly version of Peter Parker’s Aunt May (from Miles’ universe). She’s a killer comedian and a talented actress, with a career spanning more than fifty years, and some of her more notable roles include award-winning films like the 1975 satirical comedy Nashville, the 1977 mystery The Late Show, and the groundbreaking 2015 comedy-drama Grandma. You may also recognize her voice from the 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, about the portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters in Hollywood - because Tomlin (who identifies as a lesbian herself) narrated the film.
Kathyrn Hahn
Hahn’s scene-stealing role in Into the Spider-Verse is as the scientist Olivia Octavius, who’s known to the world of supers as the infamous supervillain Doc Ock. This was actually her first appearance in an animated film, as she’s best known for her comedy roles, frequently appearing in films like We’re the Millers, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Bad Moms. However, some of her roles do take on a more dramatic tone - for instance, she appeared in the successful 2015 films Tomorrowland (a sci-fi adventure) and The Visit (a found footage horror film helmed by M. Night Shamalayan). She uses her enthusiastic persona to help her stay in the spotlight, so you probably recognize at least one of these energetic performances.
Liev Schrieber
Schrieber voices Kingpin, the main antagonist of Into the Spider-Verse, and does so with such intensity and emotion that his acting conveys the character’s purpose to the audience much better than many other methods could. Not all of his film roles have perfect: he appeared in Movie 43, a film often brought up in discussions as to which film is the worst ever made, for instance - but he’s had his fair share of great roles, and they showcase just how many characters he’s able to play - he was a newspaper editor in the Academy-Award-winning biographical drama Spotlight, a dog in the Wes Anderson animated hit Isle of Dogs, and a convicted murderer in the Scream franchise.
Brian Tyree Henry
Henry gave a deep, emotional performance as Miles Morales’ father, a police officer named Jefferson Davis, in Into the Spider-Verse - and as you’d probably expect, his filmography is filled with great movies - for instance, he starred in the 2019 remake Child’s Play and the award-winning 2018 drama If Beale Street Could Talk. He made an appearance in the 2018 dystopian thriller Hotel Artemis, and he also had another superhero-related role: briefly appearing in the R-rated DC supervillain origin story Joker.
Zoë Kravitz
Despite having only a minor role in Into the Spider-Verse, Kravitz was able to get in some inspired voice work as Peter Parker’s widow (in Miles’ universe), Mary Jane, with her acting ability spicing up quite a few scenes.
She’s had some other, minor superhero roles - appearing as Catwoman in 2017’s The Lego Batman Movie (a role she will again take on, albeit in live-action, in 2021’s The Batman) and Tempest in 2011’s X-Men: FirstClass - more notably, however, she’s also had supporting roles in some of the biggest movies of the decade, including the critically acclaimed 2015 post-apocalyptic thriller Mad Max: Fury Road and both films in the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
Mahershala Ali
This prolific actor has been on the receiving end of two Academy Awards, and it’s very easy to see why: several of his acting qualities - such as his spectacular line delivery and unique personality - all feature prominently in Spider-Verse, where he plays Miles’ uncle Aaron, who is later revealed to be the notorious supervillain Prowler. Besides Spider-Verse, Ali’s charismatic tones also feature prominently in Green Book, in which he stars as real-life musician Don Shirley; as well as in several other critically-acclaimed cinematic masterpieces such as Moonlight, Hidden Figures, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Shameik Moore / Kimiko Glenn / Lauren Vélez
We’ve bundled this trio together because, despite being exceptional actors, they’ve only appeared in one or two well-known movies each. They all delivered a great performance in Into the Spider-Verse: Moore as the film’s main protagonist, teenaged Spider-Man Miles Morales, Glenn as the anime-inspired superhero Peni Parker, and Vélez as Miles’ mother, a nurse named Rio Morales- but they’ve all focused more on a television career than a film career (for instance, Vélez had a lead role in the hit crime drama series Dexter, while Glenn starred in Orange Is the New Black). Nevertheless, they deserve to be recognized.
So, in terms of their film appearances, you might remember Glenn’s main role in the massively successful techno-thriller Nerve, Moore’s critically-praised acting in the award-winning coming-of-age drama Dope and the brand-new Netflix hit Let it Snow, and Vélez’s minor roles in popular films like The First Purge and Shaft.
Nicholas Cage
If the mere mention of Academy-Award-winning actor Nicholas Cage doesn’t instantly remind you of his signature voice, we kind of have to question how many movies you’ve actually seen. He took on the role of Spider-Man Noir, a superhero who also happens to be an archetypical 1930s private investigator, for Into the Spider-Verse.
His career has moved pretty steadily - after his breakout role in the 1982 teen comedyFast Times at Ridgemont High, Cage went on to star in quite a few action blockbusters over the course of the 90s, including Con Air and Face/Off; more recently, he’s diversified somewhat, lending his voice to animated films like Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, The Croods, and, of course, Into the Spider-Verse itself.
Jake Johnson
While Jake Johnson’s most famous role is actually on television, as he plays one of the most popular characters on the award-winning Fox sitcom New Girl, his performance in Spider-Verse, as Miles Morales’ demoralized mentor - Peter Parker from another universe - also earned him critical praise.
Both film devotees and those with echoic memory will probably also recognize him as Lowery Cruthers, a fan-favorite character from Jurassic World who works in the titular attraction’s control room, and others may remember him as Grouchy Smurf from 2017’s Smurfs: The Lost Village or for his supporting role alongside Tom Cruise in 2017’s The Mummy.
Hailee Steinfeld
In Spider-Verse, Hailee Steinfeld played the athletic, independent hero Spider-Gwen, greatly improving on previous iterations of the role and rattling off some of the movie’s best lines with perfect delivery. You’ll probably recognize some of her other film appearances - she starred in the 2018 Transformers franchise reboot Bumblebee as Charlie - the teenaged companion to the titular transformer; she appeared in the 2010 film True Grit as Mattie Ross, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and she played Emily Junk in the Pitch Perfect franchise’s second and third films.
