Golden Globes: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse creators inspire a new generation of heroes

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse took home the award for the best animated film at the Golden Globes. The creators celebrated a win not only for the movie, but for diversity as well.

The 2019 Golden Globes were filled with a healthy share of surprises as unexpected films, TV shows and actors took home those little golden awards on Sunday night. But of the many surprises that felt like they snubbed the true winner, there was one surprise that felt well-deserved. That was one of the first awards of the night, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse winning Best Animated Film.

The movie was a late entry into the category, premiering just in the nick of time in December to qualify for the awards show. While many had seen Disney’s Incredibles 2 as the front-runner in the category for several months, Into the Spider-Verse came in at the eleventh hour to knock everyone off their feet.

When Spider-Verse‘s team of producers came to accept the award, producer Phil Lord gave a shout out to the late Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for creating the titular character. Afterward, co-director Peter Ramsey took a moment to address the film’s strong message of both diversity and heroism.

“We were trying to make a movie that spoke to the idea that anyone can be behind the mask through telling the story of Miles Morales,” Ramsey said. “A kid from Brooklyn, African-American, Puerto Rican. Anybody can be behind the mask. We’re counting on you. You can do it.”

Ramsey’s brief speech reflected the themes in the movie, which were ultimately what may have snagged the movie the award (next to its stellar animation style). Very rarely in both animated and superhero movies is there well thought-out, positive representation among its cast. As Ramsey mentioned, the young protagonist, Miles Morales, was Afro-Latino. He had a loving family, he worked hard, and didn’t portray any harsh stereotypes people of color have often been subjected to in media.

And even though the movie put a spotlight on the diversity of Miles and his family, the film still showed that anyone could be a hero. No matter your race or gender, as long as you are confident and believe in yourself, you can be a hero, too. It was a message that children like Miles (and even adults) who watched could take something away from.

With such a great story and great characters, it’s not hard to see that the award was well deserved.

You can watch the entire acceptance speech from the Spider-Verse team in the clip below.

Into the Spider-Verse hopefully isn’t done this awards season. While the Academy has yet to announce their picks for the Oscars, it’s likely that Into the Spider-Verse will get a nomination for Best Animated Film. As we’ve said before, it truly is an Oscar-worthy movie. But we’ll have to see if the Academy has what it takes to give the award to a film that isn’t from Disney.