Entertainment Movies Brian Tyree Henry Jokes He's Jealous of His 'Spider-Verse' Character's 'Amazingly Built' Body (Exclusive) 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' actors Brian Tyree Henry, Issa Rae and Danielle Perez tell PEOPLE about relating to their animated counterparts By Jack Smart Jack Smart Jack Smart is the Movies Staff Writer at PEOPLE. With 10 years of experience as an entertainment journalist, he previously worked at The A.V. Club and Backstage. People Editorial Guidelines and Liza Esquibias Liza Esquibias Liza Esquibias is an Editorial Intern at PEOPLE. She is a rising senior majoring in Journalism at Pepperdine, where she is the editor-in-chief of the school's magazine. People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 31, 2023 03:53PM EDT Brian Tyree Henry. Photo: Momodu Mansaray/WireImage Brian Tyree Henry is always hoping to transform into his characters — even the animated ones. The star of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse told PEOPLE at the sequel's Los Angeles premiere Tuesday that he’s jealous of the computer-animated physique of his character Jefferson Davis. “I want my character’s traps and lats,” Henry jokes. “He’s so amazingly built.” Henry, 41, returns to the award-winning film franchise voicing the father to Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), aka Spider-Man. Joining Henry and Moore in reprising their roles from 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse are Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, and Luna Lauren Vélez as Miles’ mother Rio. Hailee Steinfeld Has Officially Left Her Comfort Zone “Jefferson holds a place in my heart just because he’s the kind of father I wanted to see on the screens growing up,” says Henry of his character. “I really wanted to make sure that fathers come to see themselves reflected in Jefferson — fathers that are there for their sons and will do anything for them.” In Spider-Verse, Jefferson struggles to support and connect with the teen Miles and tries “to find ways not to strangle” him, jokes Henry: “Jefferson has always got a good head on his shoulders and is trying to find a way to be there for his son in the best possible way." “Teenagers nowadays, it’s really hard,” he adds. “But it’s even more hard when they are a superhero.” New cast members of the film saw power in the representation their superhero characters bring to the screen. “While I can’t identify with the superhero part, I can identify with other elements,” says Issa Rae, who voices Jessica Drew, a pregnant, motorcycle-riding Spider-Woman. “The fact that there is a Black woman who is beautiful and a superhero is incredible." “It literally is just such a good movie,” she continues. “But I think the icing on the cake is how representative of people around the world it is, how representative of subcultures it is, how international it is.” Everything to Know About 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Issa Rae. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images Actor-comedian Danielle Perez voices another new addition to the franchise: Charlotte Webber aka Sun-Spider, a disabled superhero navigating the Spider-Verse via wheelchair. “You can do anything with animation,” she tells PEOPLE. “And to be disabled in an animated universe is just so exciting because we get to show the power that we have.” Across the Spider-Verse is in theaters Friday. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, the franchise’s third installment, has a release date of March 29, 2024.