Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse may have been delayed, but we got an appearance by Miles Morales in The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, a short film put out by Sony in partnership with the Kevin Love Fund in an effort to promote mental health awareness among children and teens.
The short, which seemingly takes place before the cliffhanger ending of Across the Spider-Verse, features Miles dealing with a lot. It’s nothing new for a Spider-Man, a character who basically defined very notion of superheroes being spread too thin, but Miles is going through it, so when he decides not to hang out with his dad and instead lock himself up in his room, things go south. There’s no big bad guy, but instead, a horrifically accurate representation of anxiety. The pressure even starts to “attack” him, eventually taking the form of a giant spider.
The short ends with Miles realizing he needs to talk about his issues with someone and reaches out to his dad, but not everyone has that kind of outlet and, if they do, are willing to engage with it. That’s where the Kevin Love Fund is helping, using this short and a new lesson plan that will incorporate it called “The Hero Within.” The lesson plan “invites students to tell their own story through the lens of mental health awareness via an interactive curriculum including a creative storyboard activity.” You can learn more about it by going to kevinlovefund.org for additional information.
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Given the fact that Miles Morales is one of the most popular superheroes right now, this Spider-Verse short is a great way to engage teens and kids in a dialogue about the mental health crisis plaguing the world. The YouTube page for the video is also accepting donations to the Kevin Love Fund if you’d like to help support it.
Published: Mar 27, 2024 01:31 pm