2018’s “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” was released to the best kind of reception, including a very solid $375 million in global box-office off a $90 million budget.
Critical acclaim was through the roof over the film, which was lauded as one of the best films of the year, and arguably the best “Spider-Man” film ever. It then went on to win Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.
Then came Sony’s announcement that not one, but two more “Spider-Verse” films are on the way – a two-part tale that will go even bigger. The first film was famed for its notable animation style, which blended computer animation with traditional hand-drawn comic book techniques and then played with frame rate and other visual elements.
With the sequel “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse,” they’re once again tearing up the rulebooks with returning producer Phil Lord telling Empire:
“The first film had one animation style that dominates the movie. This movie has six. So we’re taking those tools, adding all the things we learned on ‘The Mitchells Vs The Machines,’ and then growing them further to accommodate the ambition of this movie. Which is to wow you every time you enter a new environment, and also to make sure that the style of the movie reflects the story, and that the images are driven by feelings, as opposed to some egg-headed art project. Which it also is, by the way!”
“Across The Spider-Verse” will span multiple Spider-realities, and thus each differing art style will reflect a differing reality. Producer Christopher Miller explains that we’ve already glimpsed two of those in the film’s early teaser trailer:
“The two that you saw in the teaser trailer were what’s called Earth-50101, which we’re calling ‘Mumbattan’ – that’s based on an Indian comic-book look – and Nueva York from Spider-Man 2099’s world. That’s based on Syd Mead-style illustrations of what the future might look like. There’s also Gwen’s world, which is Earth-65. And that was a watercolour-wash style that’s reminiscent of the covers of her comic books.”
“Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” will release in June 2023, and the second part “Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse” arrives March 2024.
