Fresh off their Golden Globes win for best animated motion picture, the filmmakers behind Sony's "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" may have had their comments about diversity cut short onstage, but they picked right back up backstage in the press room.
Director Peter Ramsey, speaking about the diversity inherent in the story of an Afro-Latino Spider-Man, struggled to jog his memory backstage.
"I'm trying to remember what I was saying because I'm still so stunned that we won," he said. "It was basically just the idea that anyone can have this kind of experience, anyone can share in this myth, be this kind of hero. And the story of Miles Morales was a way to crystallize all those feelings into one character."
The "Spider-Verse" filmmakers, who'd been presented the award by the cast of Disney's "Black Panther" (a fellow Marvel property), were not too happy to be asked about opening "Spider-Verse" in the same year as "Black Panther."
"We started this journey with Amy [Pascal, former head of Sony] four years ago ... so it was a four-year journey. Back then, 'Black Panther' was just a name ... " producer Chris Miller said, his voice trailing off.
"It all started with a fantastic vision that Phil Lord laid out, and from his very first treatment, the vision of what this movie could be was there, and I think that's what made us all sign on and want to give our all to the idea."
When asked what was their favorite part of the process, director Bob Persichetti said it was "finding a voice for Miles Morales. And creating something that could stand up to Peter Parker but could also be unique and separate and different and more representative of the world we live in today."
