Next summer, Sony Pictures is set to return to the animated world with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to one of the most revered animated movies in history, 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Although fans will have to wait longer than they initially expected thanks to the movie and its sequel both being delayed, Across the Spider-Verse has an entire Multiverse's worth of exciting material to tackle when it makes its way to the big screen.
This sequel has an incredible cast of characters set to make their presence felt as Miles Morales finally moves into other worlds outside of his own Earth with Gwen Stacy.
What exactly the story will hold is a complete mystery, promo material for the show has started to tease what's on the way, including the first full trailer that released at the end of last year. Now, with nearly nine months still remaining until Spider-Verse 2 releases, a new set of leaked images has provided a look at the sextet of heroes that will feature most prominently in the story.
6 Spider-Verse 2 Characters Featured in New Art
Reddit user u/SuperMTitan shared three new images of puzzles promoting Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which show new looks at six of the movie's main characters.
Front and center are Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, the leading duo that first shone in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The two are wearing the same costumes that they donned in the original movie.
Oscar Isaac's Spider-Man 2099 flies into battle next to this movie's iteration of Ben Reilly, also known as the Scarlet Spider.
The final image features the massive and powerful Cyborg Spider-Woman next to Spider-Punk, a fan-favorite Spider-Man Variant that will debut in Across the Spider-Verse.
Over the last few weeks, action figures and leaked images have provided excellent looks at some of the Spider-Verse sequel's biggest characters, which will help expand this universe far beyond what was seen in Into the Spider-Verse. And now, these three puzzles only further confirm who fans will have to pay the most attention to as this new movie hits theaters next summer.
Miles, Gwen, and Spider-Man 2099 featured heavily in the movie's first trailer, which wasn't a big surprise considering how Oscar Isaac's hero made an exciting cameo in Into the Spider-Verse's post-credits scene from 2018. And while there has been no footage yet of Cyborg Spider-Woman, Ben Reilly, or Spider-Punk, they should have plenty of time to shine in the same way that Spider-Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham did in the original film.
As 2022 comes to an end, this kind of promo material should show up more frequently in the coming months as Sony looks to take the spotlight in the animated realm once again.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will debut in theaters on June 2, 2023.
A new toy may have revealed a clue about the upcoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse movie. The computer-animated film will be the second installment in a three-part movie series following the huge commercial and critical success of its first film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018. The original movie told the story of Miles Morales, a teenage boy who becomes a new Spider-man and joins forces with Spider-people from other universes to protect his own universe against villain Kingpin. The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film and received praise for its plot, humor and animation style.
The upcoming sequel was originally set to be released in April 2022, but due to COVID-19 pandemic complications, the film's release date was bumped to June 2023, with the third installment set for release in May 2024. So far, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's cast has been set, with actors Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld reprising their roles as Morales, and Gwen Stacy alongside Oscar Isaac and Issa Rae as new Spider-Man/Woman variants. However, details about plot have yet to be announced, save for Miles heading into the multiverse with other Spider-People and its central villain The Spot, who audiences are now learning more about.
New merchandise for the film may have given fans a small clue as to what Across the Spider-verse will be about. The Hasbro toy, an action-figure of the Marvel character The Spot, traditionally a villain to both Spider-Man and Daredevil, was spotted in a Canadian Walmart and shared by Instagram user TOYSHIZ. On the back of the packaging, the toy description describes the villain in the early stages of his journey. A small line on the box explains: "If The Spot can realize the true power of his abilities, he could become a threat to the entire universe." According to the comics, the Spot has the ability to open up interdimensional portals, even over his own body, that allow him to commit crimes in multiple universes.
The Spot's Role In Spider-Verse 2 Explained
While it's confirmed Jason Schwartzman will voice The Spot in the upcoming film, little else has been revealed about th Spider-Man villain's involvement in the story. However, the description on the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse toy's packaging implies that the film may introduce The Spot around the moment he discovers his own superpower. If so, this hints at a more nuanced portrayal of the character potentially struggling to perfect his abilities while showing the scale of what he could become, unlike other villains including the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus and Tombstone who all had fully developed powers in the previous animated Spider-Man film.
Nearly five years after the incredibly popular Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, fans are getting eager and excited about the long-awaited sequel. If Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse wants to maintain the element of surprise, they need to be careful about every little breadcrumb that drops, namely in regards to The Spot, a villain yet to be adapted for a webslinging movie. Of course, by keeping fans engaged and speculating, Sony is certainly building the anticipation leading up to the film's June 2, 2023 release.
Next: Who Is The Spot? Into The Spider-Verse 2's Villain ExplainedSource: TOYSHIZ/Instagram