Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Producers Address Alternate Cut Theories

After Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse arrived in theaters, reports started popping up that there were actually different versions of the film in different areas. The videos that surfaced weren't of completely different edits, but of certain shots or sequences that just looked slightly different, potentially playing on the concept of infinite universes. As it turns out, there aren't alternate versions of Across the Spider-Verse after all. These videos are simply comparing the final version of the film to a slightly less polished version that was turned in for translations and eventually pirated online.

Producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller recently spoke to The Wrap about the movie, and they broke down what people are seeing when they talk about the "alternate versions" of Across the Spider-Verse.

"It's a little overblown, but the main thing that happened was when we made the international version of the movie, it had to be done almost two months before the movie came out for translations," Miller explained. "And there's a French censor board that has to see the film as it is to decide what the rating of the film is that is used throughout Europe. And so, we had to turn it in by a date almost two months before the movie came out."

"And we were not allowed to change that version," Lord added. "But the other versions kept improving. And so when people compare it to the most frequently pirated versions [online], those are those first international ones. That was the version that some people who don't go to the movie theater to see the movie saw and that's the version of the movie they know the best."

Miller went on to explain that the big changes between that early cut and the version that hit theaters are all superficial, as the animation and effects teams continued working on different shots. That tweaking continued through the film's digital release, which is slightly different than the theatrical edition.

"And so the remaining weeks [before release], Sony Pictures ImageWorks was like, 'There's a bunch of shots that we would love to keep working on and tweaking and things,'" He said. "And there was more sound editing that happened along the way. And so in the intervening weeks, we just kept working on the movie to make it, it was locked for length and whatnot, but there were little changes that were made to improve it along the way."

Beyond the Spider-Verse Release Date

Initially, the second part of this back-to-back Spider-Verse adventure was set to be released in 2024. Due to the writers' and actors' strikes, however, Sony has removed the film from the release schedule.

Speaking to ComicBook.com's Chris Killian, Lord and Miller said they would take as much time as needed to make the film properly.

"I would say that just like we're going to take the time necessary to make Beyond the Spider-Verse great," Lord began before Miller added a comment. "And we won't back into a release date that doesn't fit."