The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story Short Film Officially Released

Sony Pictures Animation has released the full short film The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, continuing Miles Morales' story from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The hit animated movie is a sequel to 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and ended on a compelling cliffhanger that will be picked up in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. To whet our appetites until the third film arrives in theaters, Sony Pictures Animation has partnered with the Kevin Love Fund for a seven-minute animated short film promoting mental health. The short is part of a new mental health-focused lesson plan, titled "The Hero Within." 

The theme of The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story is Miles Morales struggling to juggle his responsibilities as Spider-Man, as well as being a normal teenager who has to worry about school, his parents, and girls. We begin with Miles walking home and being bombarded with images from his Spider-Man escapades, such as being punched in the face by a villain and holding up a falling building. Once he's home, Miles skips out on a scary movie marathon with his Dad, only to be haunted by more memories in his bedroom.

Miles' mind then conjures up a shadow figure that has the same body structure has himself, who then turns into a giant spider and then an army of small spiders. Once Miles gets his anxiety under control, he goes downstairs to ask his father for some advice. You can catch the trailer for The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story below.

What is The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story about?

The official description for The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story reads, "In the genre-bending thriller The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, Miles Morales struggles to balance his responsibilities as a teenager, friend, and student while acting as Brooklyn's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. After a particularly challenging day living with these pressures, Miles experiences a panic attack that forces him to confront the manifestations of his anxiety and learn that reaching out for help can be just as brave an act as protecting his city from evil."

"The Spider Within is the inaugural short of Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks's new LENS (Leading and Empowering New Storytellers) program. The program connects up-and-coming filmmakers from underrepresented groups with creative and executive leadership to produce a short film utilizing an existing pipeline from an upcoming feature film," Animation Is Film Festival adds. "This program will feature the North American Premiere of the film, followed by a panel with Jarelle Dampier (Director), Khaila Amazan (Writer), Clara Chan (VFX supervisor), and Joe Darko (animation supervisor), moderated by Michelle Raimo-Kouyate and David Schulenburg (Producers/LENS Program Creators)."