The Best Quotes From Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Over the years, Spider-Man has been established as one of the most prolific superheroes in cinema history. The Marvel character's enduring popularity is part of the reason why Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Rodney Rothman dared to bring not just Miles Morales — the successor to Ultimate Spider-Man/Peter Parker after he died in the comics — but a host of others to a big-screen team-up in a brand new animated film. Thankfully, this wasn't just a cash grab but the opportunity to bring one of the best superhero movies ever made to theaters, which it did through groundbreaking, jaw-dropping, fist-thumping visuals.

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" was even deemed by Tom Holland himself as the greatest "Spider-Man" movie ever made, and it's hard to argue. Tackling the same kind of issues that come with the blessing and curse of being New York's friendly neighborhood wall-crawler, the animated epic benefitted from some of the best writing to ever find its way into a Spidey story, either on screen or in the comics. With that, though, comes the difficult task of picking out the film's most memorable lines. Which quotes stuck with fans and general audience members so much that they're going to leave as much of a lasting impact as, "I'm Batman," or, "Avengers Assemble?" Well, we thought we'd do this one last time and pick out the winners that make "Spider-Verse" a world always worth going back into. 

"I always get up."

Besides the Spider-Man mantra of great power coming with great responsibility, there's also the simple rule that Spider-People and just about any crimefighter in a costume live by: you've always got to get back up. No matter how hard the world and its villains might hit you, standing back up for another round is something Spider-Man always does. So it makes for a truly shocking moment in "Into the Spider-Verse" when the first one we meet ... doesn't.

Beaten and broken by the joint force of the Prowler (Mahershala Ali), Green Goblin (Jorma Taccone), and a malfunctioning collider, Peter (Chris Pine) assures Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) that everything will be okay because "I always get up." Even in his final moments, this Spider-Man is like so many others in that his optimism and hope will be the last thing to crumble before he does. This attitude is something that Miles promises to carry on when he finally takes up the mantle himself.

After witnessing this Peter suffer a brutal fate under the wrath of Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber), seeing history risk repeating itself with Miles ups the stakes when the new Spider-Man has his own final showdown with the Kingpin. Thankfully, Miles/Spider-Man not only gets back up but does so with an immensely rewarding supercharged, "Hey!" to save the day.

"It always fits. Eventually."

It really is, well, fitting that one of the most important takeaways from "Into the Spider-Verse" comes from the person who co-created Peter Parker. In what would be one of his last credited cameos in the world he helped to create, Stan "The Man" Lee plays the owner of a costume shop that Miles visits while tussling with the idea of carrying on the legacy of Spider-Man after witnessing the death of his reality's wall-crawler. With the city in mourning, Stan briefly processes the loss with Miles ("I'm sure going to miss him. We used to be friends, you know?") while the young hero-in-the-making is grieving in his own special way. Purchasing his store-bought costume, Miles asks, "Can I return it if it doesn't fit?" Stan simply replies, "It always fits. Eventually."

While it might come with the great visual gag of seeing the warning sign of "No Returns or Refunds Ever!" the message is clear, and it echoes throughout this movie. Becoming Spider-Man doesn't happen overnight. It takes time, practice, struggle, and, whether Miles likes it or not, the acceptance that he'll be ready — in time. It's probably not a surprise that one of the best animated movies of all time is full of lessons to be learned, but this one, especially coming from Stan Lee, suits Miles perfectly.

"You're the best of all of us, Miles. You're on your way. Just... just keep going... just keep going..."

The consistent message throughout "Into the Spider-Verse" is that being yourself is important, but so is allowing others to learn they can be themselves as well. It's all the more heartbreaking, then, when that message is driven home in the final moments of a villain that's always been a hero to his nephew.

After the shocking revelation that the Prowler is really Miles' Uncle Aaron, the young hero's life is changed forever when he sees his uncle gunned down by the Kingpin during the battle in Queens. Once Miles gets him away from the fight, Aaron apologizes for the mistakes he made and the path he took. Regardless of his own turn to crime, Aaron always wanted his nephew to look up to him despite doing things that Miles wasn't privy to.

"I let you down, man — I let you down," Aaron admits, accepting that his end is nigh and making one last request that will undoubtedly turn on the waterworks no matter how many times you watch it. Unlike Uncle Ben's final words to Peter and the lesson of great power coming with great responsibility, Miles' uncle assures him that he's the best of what the Davis-Morales family has to offer, and a bright future is headed his way because of it. All Miles needs to do is the hero thing and keep going, no matter what.

"Miles, the hardest thing about this job is you can't always save everybody."

As is compulsory for whoever becomes a web-spinning hero, suffering a loss as part of the gig they're in is bound to happen. In Miles' case, it's his Uncle Aaron's death, and while it's fresh and raw for the newcomer to world-saving, his other arachnid-loving allies are all too familiar with the feeling. In a moment of support and shared grief, the Spider-People reveal that their own losses ultimately made them who they are, which comes as no surprise to the audience. What might be a shock, however, is that it's the most consistently unserious Spider-hero who fully acknowledges and voices an ugly truth.

Collectively deflated and defeated, it's the sweaty-palmed Spider-Ham who reveals what comes with taking up the mantle of Spider-Man: no matter how hard you try, you can't always save everyone, no matter which web-head you are. The true measure of being a hero is about continuing to try to save as many as possible. This is advice that Miles internalizes, leading to what might be one of the most iconic moments in comic book movie history. He just needs to take a leap to get there.

"That's all it is, Miles. A leap of faith."

"Why so serious?" "I could do this all day." "We are Groot." Over the years, plenty of comic book movies have dropped some unforgettable quotes that have become iconic in their own right, but "Into the Spider-Verse" might have one of the best ever. After getting a talking to from his dad (Brian Tyree Henry), Miles finally embraces the hero within and the job that needs to be done in order to stop Kingpin's plan. He doesn't know if he'll be able to succeed, but that's not the point — it's about running into danger and facing it regardless of the risk. To this end, he's going to be the Spider-Man only he can be, a decision that leads to a hero awakening unlike any other in the history of film.

The squeak of the Air Jordans and the stunning remix of Black Caviar and Blackway's "What's Up Danger?" with Daniel Pemberton's score and Jake Johnson's beloved rasp admitting the truth that Miles is only now ready to face. "That's all it is, Miles. A leap of faith." From there, a sequence unfolds that's the culmination of everything that makes this film a true masterpiece. Miles' breathtaking rise as New York's new Spider-Man is followed by the flurry of comic book panels that rapidly zoom in on a kid who is well and truly locked in as he leaps off of a skyscraper for the first time. Running across buildings and zipping down busy lanes of traffic, it's this moment that will forever be the benchmark superhero movies will struggle to top moving forward. Your move, Superman.

"Let's do this, one last time."

It can be a tough job for a comic book movie to welcome newcomers into its world of heroes and villains with magnificent powers. In the case of "Into the Spider-Verse," though, the animated gem doubles down by not only daring to revisit the familiar tropes of the wall-crawler's origin story, but also doing the same for several others while making it feel refreshing at every turn.

Both living and dead Peter Parkers, Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) go through their first chapter as a hero (complete with their own first edition covers!), and each time, it fits perfectly within the rules and reality-breaking events established in this world. More importantly, each hero's comics-inspired intro encapsulates everything that "Into the Spider-Verse" does so well, which is to balance humor and heroic storytelling in equal measure.

Anyone can wear the mask, and despite each hero taking a few moments to tell their own origin story, "Into the Spider-Verse" somehow manages to avoid an issue that other films would undoubtedly run into. Here's hoping that somehow the line gets integrated into "Beyond the Spider-Verse" when Miles' chapter closes and he saves hundreds of worlds, one last time.

"That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero."

While this quote doesn't come from the "Into the Spider-Verse" story, the movie wouldn't be anything without Stan Lee's rule-of-thumb defining character trait for a hero. It doesn't require super strength or an imperviousness to bullets. In the end, all you have to do to be a superhero is simply be a good person. It's a message that hits even harder than a punch from the Kingpin himself, particularly given that Lee's passing still lingered when the film was released. With only months separating the death of the Marvel legend from the animated iteration of Spider-Man swinging into theaters around the world, the closing to this beloved movie is a pitch-perfect one thanks to Lee's legendary rule to live by.

The presence of Spider-Man's co-creator is felt throughout the movie, whether it's in a costume shop cameo appearance with Miles or a blink-or-you'll-miss-it bus trip. But it's in the film's final moments, splashed across the screen and accompanied by those unmistakable sunglasses, when "Into the Spider-Verse" pays its last respects to the man who championed Spider-Man and his amazing friends to the world. It also put a pin in one of his final Marvel movie appearances, one that might also be his best. Excelsior!