Why Peter B. Parker From Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Sounds So Familiar
"Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse" was a massive hit with fans when it debuted in theaters back in December 2018, introducing moviegoers to Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, and plenty of unique Spider-Men they had yet to see on the big screen. The brain-child of "The Lego Movie" and "21 Jump Street" duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller and directed by Peter Ramsey, Bob Persichetti, and Rodney Rothman, the film told the origin story of Miles Morales in an interesting fashion.
After being bitten by a radioactive spider and stumbling upon a nefarious plot by the Kingpin that involves crossing other dimensions and realities, Miles must team up with a group of Spider-Men and women from across the multiverse and use his newfound powers to save every universe.
Serving as the Mr. Miyagi to Miles' Daniel LaRusso is Peter B. Parker, an unkempt and unlucky version of the world-famous web-slinging hero. Voicing this unique take on the classic character is Jake Johnson, a name you may know from a variety of different films and television shows across all genres.
Jake Johnson rose to fame as Nick Miller in New Girl
Though Johnson was acting before getting cast as Nick Miller in "New Girl," it was his role on the Fox comedy that truly made him rise to fame. The series premiered in 2011 and ended its run in 2018 and followed Jess, played by Zooey Deschanel, who after a brutal break-up moves into an apartment that she shares with three other men. Despite ending two years prior, "New Girl" had a resurgence during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 with many viewers taking a connection to Johnson's character.
Johnson was initially taken aback by the sudden rise in popularity of his character telling Entertainment Weekly, "It's trippy because Nick Miller must be a slow-moving acquired taste because he was not the one people cared about when we were filming the show." Even with his blossoming film career, Johnson did not let his commitment to the popular sitcom stop him from nabbing even more roles.
Jake Johnson starred in Safety Not Guaranteed
In his first big role since the first season of "New Girl," Johnson starred in the indie dramedy "Safety Not Guaranteed" which was the feature directorial debut of "Jurassic World" filmmaker Colin Trevorrow. Johnson starred as Jeff Schwensen alongside fellow sitcom alum Aubrey Plaza and indie darling Mark Duplass in a film that chronicled a group of journalists who set out to interview a seemingly hapless man who has placed a classified advertisement in order to find someone to time travel with.
The film received critical acclaim with a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was praised for its sense of heart and humor. In a red carpet interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor expressed his admiration for the film, saying, "Derek Connolly wrote a great script and you realize that the more that I'm in the business and the more scripts I read, that there's just not a lot of awesome scripts and Safety Not Guaranteed is just great."
Jake Johnson landed his first leading role with Let's Be Cops in 2014
Johnson nabbed his first leading role in a major studio comedy in 2014 with the R-rated "Let's Be Cops," which he starred alongside his "New Girl" co-star Damon Wayans Jr. The film, directed by Luke Greenfield, followed two aimless stoners, Ryan and Justin, who dress as cops for a costume party and end up being mistaken for real ones. With the attention getting to their heads, the pair end up starting to intentionally pose as real officers of the law and end up getting sucked into a real-life case that puts their lives on the line.
The film wasn't a huge hit with critics, earning a measly 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A scathing review from The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "While they demonstrate a genuine onscreen chemistry, the lead performers are thoroughly adrift, with Wayans mainly displaying pained expressions throughout and Johnson devolving into unfunny boorish mode." Despite the negative reviews, the comedy was still successful at the box office earning $82.3 million domestically off of a $17 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).
Jake Johnson dipped his toe in blockbusters with Jurassic World
Johnson reteamed with his "Safety Not Guaranteed" collaborators Trevorrow and Connolly on the massively successful big-budget blockbuster "Jurassic World," where he played Lowery Cruthers, a control room employee at the doomed amusement park. The film received generally positive reviews from critics with a 71% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and became one of the highest grossing movies of all time grossing a whopping $1.67 billion at the worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo).
While his role was not as substantial as his A-list co-stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, he was still able to bring his wit and charm to several memorable scenes. While the actor sat out from the follow-up, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" he was initially set to return for the latest installment "Jurassic World: Dominion," unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic had other plans. In an interview with Looper, he stated, "And in the end, the dates just didn't work out for that one, which was heartbreaking because apart from being in that movie, Colin's a very old friend."
Jake Johnson returned to television for Stumptown
After making his rounds in more high-profile films such as "Tag," "The Mummy" and of course "Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse," Johnson returned to the small-screen in late 2019 alongside Colbie Smulders and Michael Ealey for the ABC crime drama series "Stumptown." The series, which was based on a comic book series, chronicled the adventures of Dex, a former marine who becomes a private investigator in Portland, Oregon. Johnson starred as Grey, the bartending best friend of the lead character. Despite the budding film career, Johnson was happy to return to television, telling Collider, "When New Girl ended, I knew I wanted to do TV again and I knew I wanted to stay in Los Angeles, which limited my search. I wanted to shoot here because I've got a family here."
Despite receiving positive reviews, with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, the series was canceled after one season, after initially receiving a renewal, because of complications with the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic (via Deadline).