In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) color and costume design play a key role in expressing the identity of the characters. This is seen in obvious ways, such as through the drastically different costumes of each of the spider-men, and in more subtle ways, such as the changes in Miles’ outfits in particular. Color and costume unite the spider-men and, in some cases, evolve throughout the film to show growth and personal development.

 

Characters with similar spider-man costumes are more alike to each other than those without. The Original Spider-Man of Miles’ universe and the Retired Spider-Man of the alternate universe both wear nearly identical costumes, albeit the Retired Spider-Man wears sweatpants for much of the film. Gwen and Miles wear spider-man costumes similar to the Original Spider-Man’s, but with their own colors and slight design differences. They are the  most developed, fully realized, and relatable characters in the film. One of the ways this is shown is in how the characters are colored. Spider-Man Noir is colored only in monotone colors so he looks like he is from an old film while Spider-Pig is shaded with barely any black at all so that he looks bright and cartoonish. Peni Parker is shaded in a completely different style compared to the other characters, with only her clothes having a comic book-like texture to them. Each character is unique, with the spider-men whose concepts are more removed from the viewer’s reality, and thus less relatable, looking as such. The differences and similarities in their costumes show that they all have their own personalities and worlds, but are united in being spider-men. It is important to remember the importance of the costume of a spider-man character when analyzing how their costume changes over time.

 

When Miles wants to begin being spider-man he wears a cheap spider-man costume based on the Original Spider-Man. It does not fit him and his eyes clearly shine through the large holes in the mask (Persichetti et al. 32:22). Instead of learning how to be a unique spider-man like the others, Miles simply tries, and fails, to imitate the Original Spider-Man. Upon meeting the Retired Spider-Man, Miles' journey towards being a hero rapidly accelerates, causing him to imitate the Original Spider-Man more and more. This is shown by his outfit losing his normal clothes, most noticeably his coat. When Miles is finally ready to make an attempt at being his own spider-man, he wears a costume that fits him (Persichetti et al. 1:29:22). This costume is a blend of his normal life, represented by his normal clothing, and his new life, which is represented by a spider-man costume in colors he likes, rather than just the colors of the original spider-man. When he fully embraces his role as his universe’s spider-man, he wears the spider-man suit alone and without the regular clothes, signaling he has fully stepped into his role as a superhero.

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Thus, in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse characters are shown to be spider-men through similar costuming and/or colors. The more relatable the character, the more they look like the Original Spider-Man. Costume and coloring are incredibly important when analyzing characters who are spider-men because they are inseparable parts of the identities of those characters.