# Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is an upcoming American animated superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, and to be distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the direct sequel to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) and the third and final film in the Spider-Verse trilogy, which is set in a shared multiverse of alternate universes called the "Spider-Verse". Directed by Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson from a screenplay written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller alongside David Callaham, the film stars Shameik Moore as the voice of Miles, alongside Jason Schwartzman and Karan Soni. The film continues from the cliffhanger ending of Across the Spider-Verse, with Miles trapped in an alternative universe.
Sony began developing a sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse before that film's release in 2018, and eventually decided to split it into two films, which was revealed in December 2021. The third film was titled in April 2022 and given a March 2024 release date. Early work coincided with Across the Spider-Verse's production before that film was prioritized first and the script and animation of Beyond were subsequently changed significantly. The film was removed from its release date due to these production changes and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike that July, after the second film's release, and production resumed in December after the strike ended. The writers and directors were revealed a year later.

## Voice cast

* Shameik Moore as Miles Morales / Spider-Man: A teenager who took over as the Spider-Man of Earth-1610 after the death of his reality's Peter Parker and is trapped in an alternative universe, Earth-42
* Jason Schwartzman as Dr. Johnathon Ohnn / The Spot: A former Alchemax scientist who, after an accident, became covered with interdimensional portals that allow him to travel through space and different universes
* Karan Soni as Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India: An alternate universe version of Peter Parker based in Mumbattan, India
Additionally, Jharrel Jerome is set to reprise his voice role as the Earth-42 version of Miles G. Morales / Prowler from the cliffhanger ending of the preceding film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).

## Production
### Development

By November 2018, ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) the next month, Sony Pictures Animation had begun development on a sequel to the film. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller returned from the first film as producers. After writing down the story they wanted to tell for the sequel, which featured the character the Spot as the villain while a planned third film was in early development, they realized that it was too much for a single film and decided to split the second film into two parts by February 2021. This was revealed in December 2021 along with the titles Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) and (Part Two). Work on both parts was taking place simultaneously, with Lord and Miller working on them with directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson. The second part was initially expected to be released in 2023, but in April 2022 it was given a release date of March 29, 2024, when Sony Pictures pushed the release of the first part from October 2022 to June 2023. The two films were renamed at that time, becoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. Around this time, major aspects of the third film's script, storyboards, and some visual development work and concept tests that occurred when the film was being developed as the second part were reportedly shelved and put on hold so those resources could be used to complete the second film first. By then, Beyond the Spider-Verse was internally not expected to meet its March 2024 release date, which was deemed unrealistic due to the film's technical aspects and high expectations, and it was not expected to be released until 2026 or 2027. During the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2022, Sony announced that the Spot would serve as the antagonist in both Across the Spider-Verse and Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Following the release of Across the Spider-Verse in June 2023, Lord and Miller said that Beyond the Spider-Verse would conclude their trilogy of Spider-Verse films and the story arc of Miles Morales. The duo also responded to reports of the film's potential delays and lack of production progress, saying that the production would take a necessary amount of time to complete the film and that they would not reserve a release date if it did not fit within their schedule. At this time, Sony had reportedly restarted work on the script, which had yet to include an ending. The following month, Sony removed Beyond the Spider-Verse from its release schedule due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which prevented the voice cast from recording dialogue. The March 2024 date was given to Sony's Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and a new release date was expected to be scheduled in the following weeks. After the strike ended in November, voice recording for Beyond the Spider-Verse was set to resume imminently, although, it was unclear if the film would still be released in 2024. Production on the film had resumed by December 2023, when Miller said the story would provide a "satisfying conclusion" to the Spider-Verse trilogy that would be as emotional as the prior films. Lord reiterated this the next month when he said it would further emotionally explore Miles and the character's relationships with his parents, Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman, and Peter B. Parker. He explained that after the preceding film's cliffhanger ending, which saw Miles trapped in an alternative universe known as Earth-42, Beyond the Spider-Verse would see the character deal with a "sense of betrayal" and explore how it becomes affirmative through the goodness and love the other characters have for him and how this "translates into his growth and success". In April 2024, singer d4vd said he worked on the film and that it would be released in 2025; at that point, Sony had reserved the release date of June 27, 2025, for an unspecified Marvel film, but that date was later removed while the studio ultimately did not plan to release the film that year.
After Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra said in May 2024 that the studio was exploring different opportunities to make their films less expensive and more efficient by primarily using artificial intelligence (AI), which was a central issue in the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Miller responded to concerns regarding the use of AI in Beyond the Spider-Verse, stating that generative artificial intelligence would not be used in the film. He explained their goals for the Spider-Verse films were to create visual styles not used in major computer-animated films and to not repurpose other artists' work through AI. Some machine learning technology, which is distinct from generative AI as it is based on work already done on the project, had been used by Sony Pictures Imageworks to assist animators during the production of the franchise's preceding films. Composer Daniel Pemberton said the next month that the creative team was "beavering away" on the film. He admitted that they felt pressured in making the film as the trilogy's conclusion because they had set a high bar for themselves, explaining that they sought to avoid repeating the "mistakes" of the third installments in other franchises, such as The Godfather Part III (1990). Karan Soni, who voices Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India, said in August that voice recording was slated to begin in "a few months" and that the film was "deep in production". The following month, journalist Jeff Sneider reported that Beyond the Spider-Verse was unlikely to be released until 2027 at the earliest. He said this was to allow the animators more time to work on the film after several scenes had been scrapped and changed, and because Sony was not expected to release the film within the same year as its fourth live-action Spider-Man film with Marvel Studios, which was soon scheduled to be released in July 2026. Sneider reported that this film's release delay had surprised some of its animators, who were said to be relieved by the decision. Pemberton and Miller subsequently denied that a majority of the film had been "scrapped" as previously reported, saying that the film reels were being produced.
In December 2024, Bob Persichetti and Thompson were confirmed to be directing the film, while Jinko Gotoh joined as a producer and Lord and Miller were confirmed to have written the script with Across the Spider-Verse co-writer David Callaham. Persichetti was a co-director of Into the Spider-Verse and an executive producer of Across the Spider-Verse, while Thompson was a production designer on the first film and a co-director of the latter. While Powers and Dos Santos had been expected to return as directors from Across the Spider-Verse alongside Thompson, Miller said Persichetti and Thompson had been the film's directors since production began. At the end of the month, Sneider further reported that there was potential for Beyond the Spider-Verse to be released in 2026 because the fourth Marvel Studios Spider-Man film had the potential to be delayed until 2027 instead. In January 2025, Jharrel Jerome—the voice actor for the Earth-42 version of Miles G. Morales / Prowler—said voice recording had yet to begin because the production was still "figuring out" several details, but was positive about the process.

### Casting and voice recording

Several actors reprise their roles from Across the Spider-Verse, including Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Karan Soni as Pavitr Prabhakar, Jason Schwartzman as the Spot, and Jharrel Jerome as the Miles G. Morales / Prowler of Earth-42. In January 2024, Jake Johnson expressed interest in reprising his role as Peter B. Parker from the prior films and had pitched ideas for the character's return to Lord. In August, Soni said voice recording would begin in the following months, after the SAG-AFTRA strike had delayed it, but it had yet to begin by January 2025.

### Music

Singer d4vd indicated in April 2024 that he was working on a song for the score of Beyond the Spider-Verse. Daniel Pemberton returned from the first two films to compose the film's score by that June, when he said he was focused on connecting the Beyond the Spider-Verse score with those of the prior films to provide cohesion between them.

## Release
### Theatrical

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse does not have a release date. The film is set to be theatrically released by Sony Pictures Releasing in IMAX and other premium large formats (PLFs). It was originally scheduled to be released on March 29, 2024, but was removed from Sony's release calendar in July 2023, due to production delays and the SAG-AFTRA strike preventing voice recording from being completed to meet that release date.
In April 2024, singer d4vd said the film would be released in 2025, at which point Sony had reserved June 27 of that year for an unspecified Marvel film, but this release date was ultimately dropped and the film was subsequently not planned to release that year. In September 2024, Sneider reported that Beyond the Spider-Verse was not expected to be released until 2027 at the earliest due to the production delays, which Pemberton and Miller denied, and he later reported there was potential for Beyond the Spider-Verse to instead be released in 2026 because the fourth Marvel Studios Spider-Man film could be delayed until 2027.

### Home media

In April 2021, Sony signed deals with Netflix and Disney for the rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate, following the films' theatrical and home media windows. Netflix signed for exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18-month window and included the sequels to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; this deal built on an existing output deal that Netflix had signed with Sony Pictures Animation in 2014. Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks.