Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an upcoming American computer-animated superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel Entertainment, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and is set in a shared multiverse of alternate universes called the "Spider-Verse". The film is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson (in their feature directorial debuts), from a screenplay written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham. Shameik Moore voices Miles, starring alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Jason Schwartzman, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Greta Lee, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone, Shea Whigham and Oscar Isaac. In the film, Miles goes on an adventure across the multiverse with a new team of Spider-People, known as the Spider-Force.

Sony began developing a sequel to Into the Spider-Verse before that film's release in 2018, with the writing and directing team attached. It was set to focus on the relationship between Moore's Miles and Steinfeld's Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman. The film was officially announced in November 2019 and animation work began in June 2020, with a different visual style for each of the six universes visited by the characters.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is scheduled for release in the United States on June 2, 2023, delayed from an initial April 2022 date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A third film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, is scheduled for release on March 29, 2024, while a female-focused spin-off film is in development.

Premise[edit]

When Miles Morales is unexpectedly approached by his best friend and love interest Gwen Stacy to complete a mission to save every universe of Spider-People from a mysterious new villain who could cause a catastrophic disaster, Miles is up for the challenge. He and Gwen journey through the Multiverse together and meet its protectors, a group of Spider-People known as the Spider-Force. However, Miles finds himself at odds with the Spider-Force on how to handle the threat.[1]

Voice cast[edit]

  • Shameik Moore as Miles Morales / Spider-Man: A teenage graffiti artist who took over as the Spider-Man of his universe after the death of that reality's Peter Parker[2][3]
  • Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman: A version of Gwen Stacy who is the Spider-Woman of her universe and the drummer of a rock band[3]
  • Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker / Spider-Man:
    An older, disheveled version of Peter Parker from an alternate universe who was a mentor to Miles.[4] Parker now has a daughter named Mayday with Mary Jane Watson, whom he reconnected with at the end of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018).[5]
  • Issa Rae as Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman: A pregnant Spider-Woman from an alternate universe who is a member of the Spider-Force[6][7]
  • Daniel Kaluuya as Hobart "Hobie" Brown / Spider-Punk: A British, punk rock version of Spider-Man from an alternate universe that is ruled by a totalitarian regime[8]
  • Jason Schwartzman as Jonathan Ohnn / the Spot: A supervillain whose body is covered by interdimensional portals that allow him to travel through different universes[9]
  • Brian Tyree Henry as Jefferson Davis: Miles's father and a police officer who originally disapproved of Spider-Man's vigilante actions, but now sees Spider-Man as a hero[10]
  • Luna Lauren Vélez as Rio Morales: Miles's mother, a nurse[10]
  • Greta Lee as Lyla: Miguel's AI assistant[citation needed]
  • Rachel Dratch as the counselor at Miles's school[7][11]
  • Jorma Taccone as Vulture:
    A bird-themed supervillain from a Renaissance-inspired universe.[9][11] Taccone previously voiced Norman Osborn / Green Goblin and Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the 1967 TV series in Into the Spider-Verse.[12][13]
  • Shea Whigham as George Stacy: Gwen's father, a police captain[11]
  • Oscar Isaac as Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099:
    A Spider-Man from an alternate universe set in the year 2099 who is the leader of the Spider-Force, a group of Spider-People from alternate universes tasked with protecting the Multiverse.[14][15] Isaac described O'Hara as "the one Spider-Man that doesn't have a sense of humor",[16] while the production team nicknamed him "Property Damage Spider-Man" due to the amount of destruction that he leaves in his wake.[9]

Karan Soni voices Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India, an Indian version of Spider-Man from an alternate universe who is a member of the Spider-Force.[5][17] Additional iterations of Spider-Man slated to appear in the film are Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider, Margo / Spider-Byte, Cyborg Spider-Woman, Takuya Yamashiro / Spider-Man from the 1978 Japanese television series,[18] Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the Spider-Man video game series by Insomniac Games,[19] Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the television series Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2001), Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the television series The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009), Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the Marvel Mangaverse, Otto Octavius / Superior Spider-Man, Doppelganger, Julia Carpenter / Spider-Woman, Kaine Parker, Maybelle Reilly / Lady-Spider, Charlotte Webber / Sun-Spider, Patrick O'Hara / Web-Slinger, Flash Thompson / Captain Spider, Spyder-Knight, Spidercide, Old Man Peter Parker, Earth X Spider-Man, Spider-Cop, Spider-Mechanic, Ultimate Tarantula, Underoos, Dormammu-Verse Spider-Man, Spider-Cat, Spider-Monkey, Spider-Wolf, Bombastic Bag-Man, Spider-Armour MK I, MK II and MK III, Iron Spider and Chibi Spider-Man.[20] Peter and Mary Jane's infant daughter May "Mayday" Parker will also appear alongside the alternate Spinneret and her daughter Anna May-Parker / Spiderling from the 2015 limited series Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows.[21]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

By the end of November 2018, ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse the following month, Sony Pictures Animation had begun development on a sequel to the film,[22] due to the "incredible buzz" surrounding the project.[23] The sequel was set to continue the story of Shameik Moore's Miles Morales / Spider-Man,[2][3] working from "seeds [that were] planted" throughout the first film.[22] Joaquim Dos Santos and David Callaham were set to direct and write the film, respectively, with Amy Pascal returning from the first film as producer. The other producers of the first film—Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Avi Arad, and Christina Steinberg—were all also expected to return for the sequel in some capacity.[22] The next month, Pascal revealed that the film would focus on Miles and Hailee Steinfeld's Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman, exploring a romance between the two characters that had been cut from the first film. She added that the sequel would serve as a "launching pad" for a previously announced female-focused spin-off film starring Steinfeld.[3] Sony officially confirmed the sequel in November 2019, setting a release date of April 8, 2022. Lord and Miller were confirmed to be returning as producers.[24] When making changes to its film schedule in April 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sony shifted the film's release to October 7, 2022.[25]

In February 2021, Miller revealed that he and Lord were working on the film's screenplay with Callaham and said Peter Ramsey would serve as an executive producer on the sequel after co-directing the first film.[26] That April, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson were announced as co-directors of the sequel alongside Dos Santos, with all three having been working on the project since it started development. Thompson had previously served as production designer on the first film. Additionally, Arad and Steinberg were both confirmed to be returning as producers alongside Lord, Miller, and Pascal, with Alonzo Ruvalcaba co-producing and Aditya Sood, Into the Spider-Verse directors Bob Persichetti and Rodney Rothman, Rebecca Karch and Brian Michael Bendis joining Ramsey as executive producers.[27] In December, Lord and Miller revealed that the film was being split into two parts, titled Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) and (Part Two), because they had written down the story they wanted to tell for the sequel and realized that it was too much for a single film. Work on both parts was taking place simultaneously.[14] The two sequels were renamed in April 2022, becoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. Their release dates were shifted then, with Across the Spider-Verse pushed back to June 2, 2023.[7]

[28][29] Lord and Miller revealed that they told Sony the sequel would be the same size as Into the Spider-Verse, but it ended up having the largest crew of any animated film ever, with around 1,000 people working on it. They added that the film has 240 characters and takes place in six universes.[7]