Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse Release Date Delay is Reportedly Inevitable
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has been another big win for Sony's Spider-Verse animated film franchise – but a new report cast a dark shadow over that victory. In a lengthy feature by Vulture's Chris Lee, artists who worked on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse allege that there were serious troubles throughout the production of the film – mostly due to writer/producer Phil Lord, one half of the famous duo Chris Miller and Phil Lord (The LEGO Movie, 21 Jump Street). Based on that troubled working experience, it's being said "no way is Beyond the Spider-Verse coming out in 2024."
In one part of his lengthy feature, Lee reveals that in May, production on Across the Spider-Verse wasn't even complete yet (despite a June release date) – let alone any work on Beyond the Spider-Verse. The reporter spoke to an "experienced artist" named Setphen who has worked "on projects for major animation studios and streamers," who confirmed that no work has yet been done on Beyond the Spider-Verse:
They've announced that Beyond the Spider-Verse will be released in March of next year. I've seen people say, "Oh, they probably worked on it at the same time." There's no way that movie's coming out then. There's been progress on the pre-production side of things. But as far as the production side goes, the only progress that's been made on the third one is any exploration or tests that were done before the movie was split into two parts. Everyone's been fully focused on Across the Spider-Verse and barely crossing the finish line. And now it's like, Oh, yeah, now we have to do the other one.
The statement that no work has yet been done on Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is huge, if true. Even without the delays of the COVID pandemic, it took years to get this sequel to Into the Spider-Verse; Sony promising a Summer 2023 and Spring 2024 release dates for the two sequels came with the unspoken assumption that they were conceived and produced as one big project, which was then split in two. Indeed, it was largely assumed that Sony was going so far as to have teams working on both films simultaneously, in order to meet those ambitious back-to-back release dates.
Now, things sound so chaotic behind the scenes that it's hard to measure or estimate when fans should really expect Beyond the Spider-Verse to hit.
Miles Morales returns to the big screen with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse now playing in theaters after premiering on June 2nd. Miles (Shamiek Moore) reunites with fellow heroes Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) for another web-swinging adventure through the multiverse, finding himself at odds with the Spider-Society led by Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac). Other new heroes include Spider-Woman Jessica Drew (Issa Rae), Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), and Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), while new villain the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) also enters the fray. The sequel to Sony Pictures' hit 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, and written by the team of Chris Miller, Phil Lord, and Dave Callaham.