Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse - Everything You Need To Know

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Back in 2018, we'd seen the Spider-Man story play out across six live-action films, featuring three different actors. Then, we got word that a movie called "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" was coming along. Would this animated feature be able to stand out from the Spider-Pack?

The answer was a definitive yes. From the moment "Into the Spider-Verse" hit theater screens, it was hailed as one of the best superhero films ever made. It even won an Academy Award for best animated feature. Focusing on a new Spider-Man, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), and featuring some of the most innovative animation in recent years, "Into the Spider-Verse" brought new life and new storytelling techniques to the wall-crawler's adventures, and now, we're getting a follow-up to that Oscar-winning hit.

Titled "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," this sequel promises to take Miles Morales to all-new worlds, filled with brand new Spider-People, different animation styles, and unexpected threats. But when can we expect to see this multiversal adventure play out? Who's filling out the cast, and what Spider-Men will populate this hyper-colorful movie? Well, read on for everything we know so far about "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse."

Want big stakes? How about multiversal stakes? According to the official plot synopsis for "Across the Spider-Verse," the story will kick off after Miles Morales reunites with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld). From there, "Brooklyn's full-time friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most."

That new threat is most likely the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a lesser-known Spidey villain whose body is covered in interdimensional portals, allowing him to jump through space and across universes. It also looks like Miles Morales will be clashing with Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac) aka Spider-Man 2099, the leader of an interdimensional group of Spider-People, who has a very different philosophy when it comes to protecting the multiverse. As for all those multiversal worlds, we know the movie will visit five different universes — Spider-Man 2099's Nueva York, Gwen Stacy's Earth-65, the India-influenced Mumbattan, the punk-inspired New London, and a fifth world that hasn't been revealed yet. Interestingly, each world will be drawn in its own unique animation style.

We also know that "Across the Spider-Verse" will focus on the growing romance between Miles and Gwen Stacy, with director Kemp Powers telling Empire that there will be something of a love triangle between Miles, Gwen, and new character Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya). Perhaps most interestingly, we're wondering if "Across the Spider-Verse" will have some sort of cliffhanger ending meant to set up the upcoming "Beyond the Spider-Verse," which will be released on March 29, 2024. Why do we think that? Speaking with Empire, producer Christopher Miller compared the sequel to "The Empire Strikes Back," saying, "It shows you worlds you haven't seen, and it's an emotional story that ends in a place where you need to see the third one." Whatever happens, we know the core of the story will be Miles discovering who he truly wants to be in this vast multiverse of friends, family, and foes.

Just like "Across the Spider-Verse" boasts multiple Spider-People, the film also boasts multiple directors — three, in fact. We've got Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson.

Dos Santos has a ton of animation experience, having directed episodes of acclaimed series such as "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "Justice League: Unlimited." As for Powers, he earned an Oscar nomination for adapting 2020's "One Night in Miami...," and he also wrote and co-directed Pixar's "Soul." And when it comes to Thompson, he's been involved in animation for quite some time, serving as the production designer on titles like "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2" and the first "Spider-Verse" film.

This is an incredibly talented line-up of filmmakers, and we can't wait to see how their varying styles blend together in this exciting superhero story. They seem pretty psyched themselves. In a joint statement, the three directors said, "The crew behind ... 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' set such a ridiculously high bar, and we're humbled to take on the challenge of charting the next chapter in the story of Miles Morales. We can't wait to surprise fans with the wild new adventure we're sending Miles on with his friends, both old and new!"

The two official trailers for "Across the Spider-Verse" have got us extremely hyped for the upcoming film, with its huge cast of characters and beautifully designed worlds. The first "Across the Spider-Verse" trailer does a great job of setting the tone for what we're about to witness, giving us glimpses of both emotional moments and action-packed scenes. We see Miles and Gwen share a sweet rooftop moment, we watch Jessica Drew battle the Vulture while atop a motorcycle, and we see our hero at odds with basically every Spider-Person in the multiverse.

As the trailer plays out, we hear Miles' mom giving him words of encouragement, telling him to take care of himself — that little boy she's raised and loved — as he ventures out into the world. "Wherever you go from here," she says, "you have to promise to take care of that little boy for me, make sure he never forgets where he comes from, and he never doubts that he is loved, and he never lets anyone tell him he doesn't belong there." We have a feeling all that will play pretty heavily into the events of the film, as Spider-Man 2099 seemingly doesn't want Miles involved at all in his society of Spider-Men.

The second trailer delves more into the plot, as we see a confused Miles encountering the Spot, whose portals make him a particularly tricky villain to deal with. We also see him reuniting with Peter B. Parker, we watch as Spider-Punk rocks out, and we see Spider-Man India soaring across the screen. It also seems that Miles' secret superhero life might be causing some conflict at home, and the trailer also hints that his family life might play a huge part in the film. At one point, we see Miles' dad in serious peril, and that's when Spider-Man 2099 says, "Miles, being Spider-Man is a sacrifice. You have a choice between saving one person and saving every world."

However, ever the true hero, Miles plans on saving everyone, and he refuses to let anyone dictate how he lives his life. "Everyone keeps telling me how my story is supposed to go. Nah, I'm gonna do my own thing." We're definitely rooting for you, Miles, but with hundreds of Spideys on your trail, that's going to be quite the feat.

At the time of this writing, "Across the Spider-Verse" hasn't been rated yet. However, we expect it to follow in the footsteps of its forebearer, "Into the Spider-Verse." The 2018 Spidey flick earned a PG rating for "frenetic sequences of animated action violence, thematic elements, and mild language." Based on all the footage we've seen for the sequel, that seems to pretty much sums up "Across the Spider-Verse," so expect part two to also get a PG.

There is little denying that "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" was a huge success for Sony. Not only did it receive critical and fan acclaim and win a number of high-profile awards, but the film was also a commercial success, grossing more than $375 million at the box office. So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that a sequel would be developed to try and take advantage of that popularity. But it isn't just "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" that is on the way, with Sony also greenlighting several spin-offs as well.

According to an exclusive report by Deadline, Bek Smith is writing a "Spider-Women" film that will feature three different generations of female superheroes who all have powers similar to Spider-Man. Several producers and writers from "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" are also set to be involved, including Amy Pascal and Avi Arad. Meanwhile, Chris Miller has also revealed that he and Phil Lord are also developing a number of television series based on Marvel characters, some of which are connected to the "Spider-Verse" franchise, although the executive producer would not give out any concrete details.

When Sony first revealed the title for the "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" sequel, it also confirmed that it would not be the only sequel. In fact, the second movie was unveiled under the title "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)," suggesting that the second and third films were strongly connected and would effectively tell one story split over two parts. Phil Lord and Chris Miller later explained that when they came to write the film they had too many ideas to fit into a single release and so began working on two movies at the same time.

In 2022, we learned the third film would have a new title in the form of "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse." All indications are that this movie will continue the story from "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" and follow Miles Morales and the other Spider-People who make up its cast. It is due to release less than a year after its predecessor, with a scheduled release date of March 29, 2024.

When discussing the sheer size of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" with Deadline, Phil Lord and Chris Miller spoke about how many characters would be included in the movie. They also joked that CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group Tom Rothman wasn't aware of the scale of their project, saying: "Don't tell Tom. The number of characters. This movie has 240 characters." Considering that the film will feature five different dimensions, including a secret one that has yet to be revealed, there's a lot of scope for various heroes, villains, and other variants to appear.

Some of the new and returning characters who have been confirmed for "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" include Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Woman, Bombastic Bag-Man, and the Amazing Spider-Monkey. But some that could show up in the series include the cowboy-like Web-Slinger, the Mexican hero Arácnido, Jr., an Otto Octavius fusion known as Superior Spider-Man, and the infamous Venom. It's likely, though, that fans won't get a full picture of exactly who is included in the film until it hits cinema screens in June.

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" had a soundtrack that was made up of a traditional film score and a mixture of previously released music from established artists — such as tracks from DJ Khalil, Post Malone, and Nicki Minaj. The score was composed by Daniel Pemberton, an award-winning musician who has previously worked on "Yesterday," "Enola Holmes 2," and "Black Mirror."

The good news for fans of the first film is that Pemberton is returning for the sequel, providing a score that he has described as "the most complicated, out-there, crazy score I've probably ever written," when speaking to Polygon. He later went on to give an idea of what viewers can expect to hear when they see the film, saying it will include: "Drum solos, opera vocals, punk rock, Indian percussion, techno drums, extreme time stretching, emotional orchestration, arpeggiated synths, and crazy sound design."

Phil Lord and Chris Miller have also revealed that "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" will have music from record producer and DJ Metro Boomin. The musician has released two albums of superhero-themed music and will create music for the film that the writers believe Miles Morales would listen to (via Hypebeast).