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Watch the Trailers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Will Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse be Released on Streaming or in Theaters?
What Is the Release Date of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
What Is the Plot of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
Who Is Making Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
Who Is Starring in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
When Can We Expect to See the Third Film In the Spider-Verse Trilogy?
Though the superhero industry (and honestly the entire film industry as a whole) is being dominated by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that hasn't stopped others from throwing their hats into the ring. One of the biggest examples of this is Sony, who has owned the rights to one of Marvel's most popular characters, Spider-Man, ever since the original 2002 film. Primarily they've been focusing on their own villain universe, currently featuring the first two Venom films, Morbius (2022), and more solo films for Kraven the Hunter (2023) and El Muerto (2024) in the pipeline. However, there is one other significant film from Sony that nobody really saw coming, and it went on to make Marvel history as the first Marvel Comics adaptation to receive a coveted Academy Award. That film was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), which beat out Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and Incredibles 2 (2018) for the Best Animated Feature Oscar in a historic upset.That's for good reason, as Into the Spider-Verse is almost universally considered to be a masterful animated big-screen debut for fan-favorite comics character, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore). With the high-quality ingredients of an innovative art style, fleshed-out characters, an emotionally compelling narrative, and more, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse isn't just a great Spider-Man film, it's arguably the greatest Spider-Man film ever made. Now fans will be able to return to the Spider-Verse with Miles and friends with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), the second installment of what is now a planned trilogy.The highly anticipated sequel is already showing fans more of what they wanted to see, mainly other universes we didn't get to see in the last film. Now we'll get to see not one, not two, but six different universes in the film, each with its own distinct art style, as Miles and his band of inter-dimensional Spideys team up to take on a new threat. Across the Spider-Verse has had a turbulent release schedule with repeated delays, so to find out everything we know so far about Miles Morales's next adventure, simply read below to find out all the revealed details so far.Editor's Note: This piece was updated on May 29, 2023.Related:New 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Character Posters Introduce Spider-Cat and More
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Watch the Trailers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The first teaser gives us our first look at the return to this incredible animated multiverse, albeit with some outdated information. The teaser picks up right where the last film left off, with Miles listening to the hit song from Into the Spider-Verse "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee. His relaxation is interrupted by the return of Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) through yet another inter-dimensional portal. Miles is flustered and surprised to see his crush from another dimension after their last adventure, and Gwen doesn't elaborate on how or why she's back, instead inviting "New York's One and Only Spider-Man" on a swing through the city.
Suddenly, we see Miles in his own Spider-suit falling into new dimensions, again each with its own distinct art style. As he is quite literally falling through the multiverse, he's interrupted by Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), who debuted in the end credits tease of Into the Spider-Verse. Unlike the other Spider-Men that Miles has met, this one seems to be a bit more hostile, getting into a fight before the teaser cuts to a title card. That title card is slightly outdated, no longer having the "Part One" subtitle despite a third film being confirmed and on the way. Its release date shown at the very end of the two-and-a-half-minute-long trailer is also no longer accurate.
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The second trailer follows a similar structure, with a majority of it serving as a recap for Miles' story so far as he has an emotional heart-to-heart with his mother. It doesn't take long to see the mind-bending world of the Spider-verse show up, as in addition to the return of Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and the introduction of Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), we also get to see a facility housing dozens upon dozens of Spider-Man variants, ranging from deep cut comic references like the Amazing Bag-Man to more recent fan favorites like the versions of Peter and Miles from Spider-Man PS4. Though it doesn't seem that all of these Spider-Men are allies, as Miles gets into a fight with not just the many variants but also the potential leader of the group, Spider-Man 2099.
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The second full trailer focuses on the film's main storyline. Where does Miles fit into the Spider-Verse? He's introduced to Spider-Man 2099 (Isaac) who is seemingly against Miles joining their team of Spider-Men, even referencing the nerd and Doctor Strange of Earth-199999, a nod to Spider-Man: No Way Home. Miles must walk his own path, but will that be enough to stop what's coming? Since the second official trailer, we've also seen another full-length trailer showcasing the conflict between Miles and Spider-Man 2099, a Spanish-language trailer spotlighting the Spot, and, most recently, a TV spot introducing Spider-Man India. Check that one out below:
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Will Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse be Released on Streaming or in Theaters?
Just like the last film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will be a theatrical release, finally swinging its way into theaters in the Summer. No word yet on if and when the film will be making a debut on streaming, particularly given that Sony frequently partners with a variety of streaming services. The movie is also making a new record as the longest Hollywood-made animated movie ever, with the runtime clocking in at 2 hours 20 minutes (140 minutes), so plan your bathroom breaks accordingly.
What Is the Release Date of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was one of the many films to get hit by a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, moving from its original date of April 8, 2022, to October 7, 2022. That's the date seen in the above trailer, but the film has since seen another significant delay since then. Now the film is officially set for release on June 2, 2023. Hopefully, we won't see another delay, but if it means getting a sequel that lives up to the sky-high heights of the original, we'll gladly wait. Tickets for the film are now on sale and you can get yours at the link below:
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Related:'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Director Clarifies the Movie's MCU Connection
What Is the Plot of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
The official plot synopsis for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse reads as follows:
Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, an epic adventure that will transport Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.
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We recently learned from director Kemp Powers (Soul) who that powerful villain is, and it's a somewhat surprising pick. Instead of one of the usual suspects like Green Goblin or Doc Ock, this will be a more obscure B-lister by the name of The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), whose ability to seamlessly access the multiverse will make him a powerful threat. We also know that there will be a vast variety of characters that will be present.
Writers and producers (and the creative duo behind The LEGO Movie) Phil Lord and Christopher Miller confirmed that there will be a whopping total of 240 characters and the story takes place across six universes, setting up an ambitious undertaking to rival even that of something as large scale as Avengers: Endgame (2019). The scope and scale of the film is a major talking point. Co-director Justin Thompsonbacked Lord and Miller's estimate saying:
"The exact number? Oh boy, we kept adding, like all the way up until the very end. Honestly, I'm gonna be level with you, we just finished the film, like in the last like two weeks, and I don't think I've had time to pause and actually take a final count. But I think it was about 280 the last time I looked in. Just to be clear, that doesn't mean specific, unique characters that you might recognize, it might mean variations as well. But if you're just talking about named characters, then I think there's probably about 95."
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Who Is Making Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have become two of the biggest and most respected names in feature animation, having had major roles in The LEGO Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009), The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021), and more. They return to write and produce Across the Spider-Verse, and though they initially set out to do something on the same scale as the last film, the sequel has since evolved and grown to consist of the largest crew for an animated film ever assembled. The film will feature a new trio of directors to lead this massive undertaking, each experienced in the industry with Joaquim Dos Santos (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson (Star Wars: Clone Wars). Also joining Lord and Miller in the writing department is someone with experience with writing for the Marvel multiverse, Dave Callaham (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings).
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We don't have time to list all one thousand-plus members of the crew, but to name a couple of the creative leads, we have returning Into the Spider-Verse composer Daniel Pemberton (Steve Jobs), editor Mike Andrews (Shrek 2), production designer Kevin Aymeric (Arcane) and Patrick O'Keefe (Fragile), art director Araiz Khalid (Ms. Marvel), and costume designer Brooklyn El-Omar (Raya and the Last Dragon).
Related:A LEGO Universe Will Be Featured 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'
Who Is Starring in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
Many members of the cast of the first film are returning for the sequel, particularly Shamiek Moore (Dope) and Hailee Steinfeld (Hawkeye) as Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy respectively. Also returning are Jake Johnson (New Girl) as Spidey mentor Peter B. Parker, Nicolas Cage (Ghost Rider) as the old-fashioned Spider-Man Noir, Brian Tyree Henry (Eternals) as Miles's father Jefferson Davis, and Luna Lauren Velez (Dexter) as Miles's mother Rio Morales. It's unknown if we'll see other characters return like John Mulaney (Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers) as Spider-Ham or Liev Schrieber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) as Kingpin.
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Also returning after his brief end credits appearance is Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Miguel O'Hara, AKA Spider-Man 2099, a version of the Web-Head from a technologically advanced future. This marks the third separate Marvel continuity that Isaac has been a part of, first as the titular villain in the 20th Century X-Men universe film X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and most recently as one of the MCU's more recent stars with Moon Knight (2022). We also recently learned that Issa Rae (Insecure) and Daniel Kaluuya (Black Panther) will be rounding out this new Spider-Team as Spider-Woman and Spider-Punk respectively.
Some foes we'll see are Jorma Taccone (Hot Rod) as the Vulture and Jason Schwartzman as the more obscure (but still deadly) Spot, who we got to see in a screen still from the film earlier this year. Finally, the supporting cast as of now also features Shea Whigham (Agent Carter) as Gwen's father George Stacy, and Rachel Dratch (Harley Quinn) as Miles's school principal.
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When Can We Expect to See the Third Film In the Spider-Verse Trilogy?
Even though it no longer has "Part One" in the title, Across the Spider-Verse will still be the first half of a two-part story. The continuation, currently titled Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, is set to release less than a year later on March 29, 2024, bringing this epic, groundbreaking trilogy to a close.