'Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse': everything we know

Fans unaware that "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" was part one of two were in for an unpleasant surprise. The animated film ends on one of the biggest cliffhangers in recent movie history, leaving most of its major plot points unresolved. But fear not: While there was a five-year wait for "Across the Spider-Verse," the sequel won't take nearly as long. We break down all the details about "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse."

Originally titled "Across the Spider-Verse (Part Two)"

"Across the Spider-Verse" feels like part one of a larger story, and the title originally reflected that. When it was announced, the movie was called "Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)," and that name is still attached to the December 2021 teaser trailer. The plan was for it to be followed by "Across the Spider-Verse (Part Two)," and both movies were in development at the same time. They also have the same creative team.

"Miles' story is an epic," producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller told Entertainment Weekly in 2021. "We wrote what we thought the story needed to be, and to our surprise, we realized it was two movies instead of one. We're working on them both as we speak."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

By April 2022, the second part was given its own title: "Beyond the Spider-Verse." Miller told Fandango that during production it became clear what happens after "Across the Spider-Verse" felt "like another story."

Scheduled for March 2024

The release date for "Across the Spider-Verse" was shuffled around a few times before it finally came out. But as of now, "Beyond the Spider-Verse" is scheduled to hit theaters on March 29, 2024, less than a year after "Across."

It's more than escaping the wrong universe

The cliffhanger ending of "Across the Spider-Verse" gives us an idea of what to expect next time. The film involves Gwen Stacy trying to save Miles Morales after he ends up stuck in the wrong universe, while Miles has to face an evil version of himself while also trying to prevent the death of his father, a canon event that supposedly can't be changed.

Co-director Kemp Powers told Variety that Miles being stuck on Earth-42 is a "major not-simple-to-solve problem in the third film." Miles is "going to try to do right by people who he feels he's done wrong by, and that just felt more potentially emotional and unpredictable as we go into the third film."

Some Spider-People were saved

A mind-boggling number of Spider-People were packed into "Across the Spider-Verse," but there were still some left on the table for part three. "Believe it or not, you thought that you've seen every Spider-Person you could imagine but not every Spider-Person we can imagine," Lord told Collider, while Miller confirmed "we saved" some.

The biggest Spider-Person fans are still waiting to see is Tom Holland's Peter Parker. It hasn't been confirmed whether he'll appear in "Beyond," but after viewers saw Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire in "Across," it seems unlikely the current version of Spider-Man wouldn't get a cameo.

What about live-action sequences?

The title "Beyond the Spider-Verse" has sparked speculation that the film could feature an even greater mixture of animation and live-action, such as by having Miles travel beyond the Spider-Verse into the real world. On the "ReelBlend" podcast, Miller teased that "anything is possible in the multiverse." But he also noted that what's special about these films is that they mix various animation styles in a way that "can't be done in live-action," suggesting this will remain the case in the third film.

The trilogy concludes

Lord and Miller told Entertainment Tonight that "Beyond the Spider-Verse" will conclude the current Miles Morales story, so expect everything to be wrapped up next time. "It is the end of the Miles Morales trilogy, so this whole thing is working toward that," Miller said. "That's it for us. We're so tired!"

That said, it won't necessarily be the end for these characters. Sony has confirmed a live-action Miles Morales movie is in the works, as well as a Spider-Woman film and a Spider-Man Noir spinoff series.

More familiar faces

Gwen Stacy assembles some old friends from the original film at the end of "Across the Spider-Verse," implying the sequel will feature the return of Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir and John Mulaney as Spider-Ham. Though their involvement in the sequel hasn't been officially announced, co-director Joaquim Dos Santos told Collider that "part of the joy of Gwen getting the band back together was the promise that you'll see them more in the next one."

For his part, Cage told Screen Rant in January that "no one's spoken to me" about returning as Spider-Man Noir, but "I wish they would."

Not necessarily longer than "Across"

Miller shot down a rumor on Twitter that there are plans to make "Beyond" longer than "Across." He noted that the "final length will end up being whatever works best for the story" but "there are no length intentions."

Hailee Steinfeld hasn't recorded any dialogue yet

Hailee Steinfeld, the voice of Gwen Stacy, told The Hollywood Reporter she hasn't started recording her dialogue for "Beyond the Spider-Verse" yet, even though she started recording lines for "Across the Spider-Verse" about "four years ago."

Directors don't know if it will make its release date

Steinfeld's quote sparked speculation that "Beyond" might not be ready for March 2024, and "the directors have no idea whether the film will" make its current release date, Variety reported. "We're all excited to at least get a breather for now," co-director Justin K. Thompson told the outlet.

When Rolling Stone asked Lord and Miller if they're confident they'll meet the current release date, Miller said "we're far along" on the movie but "there's still a lot of work to do," adding that "the deadline is excellence." So while a Sony representative stressed to Rolling Stone that the film is still slated for March 29, don't be shocked if a few extra periods are ultimately added to that "to be continued …."