The upcoming “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” looks set to feature seemingly countless variations on the Spidey character, be it in supporting character form or visual cameos as part of a multiverse team of Spider-People.
For starters, we get returnees Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) alongside Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya) and Indian Spider-Man (Karan Soni) as major characters.
Trailers and art have revealed multiple inclusions such as Japanese Spider-Man, the Spider-Man from the PlayStation games, Scarlet Spider, Lady Spider, Spectacular Spider-Man, Superior Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, Spider-Monkey, Bombastic Bag-Man, the Mangaverse Spider-Man, Madame Web and a young Spider-Girl among others.
Producers Phil Lord & Chris Miller, out promoting the film ahead of its release this coming week, confirm that next year’s conclusion of their trilogy will feature even more Spider-People than seen in the second.
Asked by Collider if they had saved any cameos for “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” Lord says: “You thought that you’ve seen every Spider-Person that you could imagine, but not every Spider-Person we can imagine.”
Co-director Justin Thompson estimates that the count of named Spider characters in the second film clocks up somewhere around 95. In terms of unnamed characters, the total stands closer to 280.
The first film’s co-director Rodney Rothman previously revealed they famously cut plans for an Australian Spider-Man to be included – the joke being because he lives in a timezone ahead of everyone else and so he abruptly vanishes from existence shortly after he is introduced.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” sees the arrival of the villain The Spot (voiced by Jason Schwartzman), who can create portals and travel between timelines.
To stop this new threat, Miles will join forces with the Spider Society, a superteam formed by Spider-People from every dimension. When asked to sacrifice everything for the cause, he ends up starting a Spider-People civil war that’ll echo through the Multiverse.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” opens on June 2nd, with “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse” releasing March 29th 2024.
