The directors of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse were played off during last night's Oscars before they could thank late Spider-Man creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. With their Best Animated Feature statues in hand, the team of directors finished their speech in the interview room, taking the time to add their appreciation for the Marvel legends.
“We were just going to thank Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for inspiring this whole thing and for being a force of believing that all of us, human beings, have the potential, the capacity, to be heroes,” director Bob Persichetti said after their on-stage speech, per Indiewire.
Persichetti went on to say that the spirit of the movie came directly from Lee and Ditko.
"Phil and Chris put together a treatment and sort a statement that was essentially a challenge — a movie that challenged the audience to believe in themselves and to believe in their neighbor and really be positive and make a difference in the world," he said. "Be a mentor, be heroic. That was it. That’s from Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.”
While the result is light-hearted and fun, the directors knew that they were taking on something important with Miles Morales' story. Co-director Peter Ramsey, the first African-American to win the award, said that they kept the kids who would look up to Miles in mind throughout the film.
"All of us deeply felt the importance of this,” he said. “Miles had a lot of back-ups — we knew how important it was going to be and show kids to be their best selves no matter who they are.”
“Anyone can wear the mask; everyone is powerful and everyone is necessary, and that is the spirit of the movie.”
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is set to arrive in a 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack and Blu-ray Combo Pack this Tuesday (Feb. 26); the DVD version will be available March 19.
