Arachnophobia

March 27, 2024 11:57 AM

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story

Miles Morales struggles to balance his responsibilities as a teenager, friend, and student while acting as Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. After a particularly challenging day living with these pressures, Miles experiences a panic attack that forces him to confront the manifestations of his anxiety and learn that reaching out for help can be just as brave an act as protecting his city from evil. The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story was developed and produced in the inaugural year of Sony Pictures Animation (SPA) and Sony Pictures Imageworks’ (SPI) Leading and Empowering New Storytellers (LENS) program, a 9-month leadership training program that provides candidates from underrepresented groups with an opportunity to gain valuable leadership experience in animation.

Sony Unveils First Look At Spider-Verse Short Film Tackling Mental Issues & Showing Miles Morales Suffering An Anxiety Crisis
posted by Rhaomi (14 comments total)

Just watched this - it's a very powerful short that shows that asking for help can be a heroic act in of itself.

Also, "one girl in particular" - says the story there, doesn't it?
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:20 PM on March 27 [2 favorites]

All my alternative universe forms liked this, me included.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:34 PM on March 27 [3 favorites]

Charlie Kelly’s internal spider also needed help.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:00 PM on March 27

In the comics Miles has been having anxiety issues as well and they show him talking with his therapist.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:46 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]

I want to see the miles morales / ted lasso crossover support group.
posted by kaibutsu at 2:11 PM on March 27 [3 favorites]

Wasn’t this the plot point of Top Gun?
posted by torokunai at 2:15 PM on March 27

The end song is very umbrella.
posted by Ashenmote at 2:54 PM on March 27

Mods, can we a content warning for spiders?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:23 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]

Anyone know if Sony's fixed their abusive, non-union shop problem yet?
posted by egypturnash at 4:32 PM on March 27

To be honest, out of all the wildly improbable things that happen in superhero movies, the fact that all of the superheroes don't have crippling PTSD is quite possibly the most improbable. I love this short, and I can easily imagine it making a difference for a kid struggling with anxiety.
posted by zeptimius at 4:37 PM on March 27 [5 favorites]

To be honest, out of all the wildly improbable things that happen in superhero movies, the fact that all of the superheroes don't have crippling PTSD is quite possibly the most improbable.

I have said more than once that my dream Marvel television series is a Dr. Leonard Samson slice-of-life in which he deals with various superheroes' neuroses.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 4:57 PM on March 27 [4 favorites]

DC comics has a “therapy system” of sorts. I’m not entirely familiar with it but I believe it was made by Batman and Superman to use some kind of AI to help heroes and villains alike. I believe it’s called Sanctuary and goes mostly unremarked until a who done it storyline.
posted by JakeEXTREME at 5:40 PM on March 27 [2 favorites]

That was terrific. Can't wait to show it to my own overscheduled teenagers tomorrow. Thanks, Rhaomi.

Also: I saw the request for a CW for spiders and kind of chuckled. Then I watched the video. Yeah, if you have an issue with spiders, this is not for you.
posted by martin q blank at 7:30 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]

It never really occurred to me before, but PTSD and real spider-sense would be a particularly awful combination. Normally someone with PTSD would want to turn off, or at least not buy into, random flashes telling them they were in imminent danger. But if one of your main superpowers is a real psychic danger sense and your daily survival depends on immediately reacting whenever that sense tingles … then having that tingle sometimes go off based on prior trauma rather than an impending supervillain attack could be especially problematic.
posted by tdismukes at 7:05 PM on March 29 [1 favorite]