The long wait for Sony Animation’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is almost over, and the film’s cast had a sneak peek to show attendees at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
Co-director Kemp Powers presented the film with Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld, who play Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy in the “Spider-Verse” film. They were joined by Issa Rae, who plays Jessica Drew, another webslinger from another dimension.
In a 14-minute sneak peek, CinemaCon attendees saw an exhausted Miles get a surprise visit from Gwen that was teased at the end of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” She tells him about the multidimensional team of Spider-Men that includes Jessica and Miguel O’Hara, a cold, calculating Spider-Man from the year 2099.
The two also talk about how lonely they feel not being able to tell their parents about their secret lives and how they can confide in each other in a way they can’t with anyone else.
“In every universe, Gwen Stacy falls in love with Spider-Man,” Gwen says. “And in every universe…it doesn’t go well.”
“Well,” replies Miles. “There’s a first time for everything right?”
But Gwen’s not just there to see her would-be boyfriend. She also leaves behind a spider-drone to track a villain called The Spot, who is blowing holes in countless universes. Miles wants to come along and help her with her webslinging team, but Gwen refuses, clearly holding back secrets. One of them, as seen in last year’s CinemaCon presentation, is that Gwen’s dad now knows that she is a webslinger and still believes that she is the one who killed her universe’s Peter Parker.
Four years ago, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” became the first film from Sony Animation to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, with a sequel announced for a release in 2022.
While that sequel got pushed back a year in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lord and Miller also said delays were necessary because of the ambitious scope of the film. At last year’s CinemaCon, the filmmaking duo said that film would leap acros six different universes, each with their own distinct animation style, and feature over 240 different characters. Animating all of that required a production team of over 1,000 people, the most ever for an animated project.
But after “Across the Spider-Verse” comes out on June 2, fans of the many different incarnations of the webslinger won’t have to wait long for more. A third installment, “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” is set for release in March 2024.