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The early box office figures for the new Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — and the demographic data of moviegoers — paint a vivid and mosaic portrait.
There are plenty of variations on who Spider-Man is, and now Miles Morales is getting the spotlight in the Big Apple.
Most Spidey fans are familiar with the original web slinging New York-based hero named Peter Parker, however, Miles is another variation of the hero in a different universe. He’s a Puerto Rican, afro-Latino teenager from Brooklyn.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has made even bigger headlines and received rave reviews
While he’s been part of the Marvel universe for years, he arguably made his biggest splash as the protagonist of the recent Spider-Man animated films, starting with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a sleeper hit from 2018 that won an Oscar for best animated feature and earned nearly $400 million worldwide at the box office.
The film grossed $208 million worldwide in its opening weekend, roughly three times as much as the opening of the first film, as reported by NPR’s critic, Bob Mondello.
Last weekend, Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse secured a $120.65 million domestic debut, according to the studio, beating conservative estimates of $80 million.
It was the best opening ever for Sony Pictures Animation and the third-biggest opening weekend for any Spidey film
According to NPR, Mondello cites the inventive animation and plot as contributing to the success along with the diversity on screen as a huge draw for audiences.
That ranges from the main hero portrayed by Shameik Moore, to the several Spider-women featured, as well as the India based Spider-guy, Pavitr Prabhakar.
According to Mondello’s reporting, the film opened strongly in 59 countries. In North America, exit tracking found that the audience was about one-third Latino and another third Black and Asian, diversity percentages far higher than for most superhero films.
The release of the next sequel, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is slated for March 2024.