The animated threequel might be getting a massive creative overhaul.
It might be even longer until Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse swings its way into theaters. On Monday, a new report from Jeff Sneider indicated that Beyond the Spider-Verse will likely be delayed to at least 2027, in part due to the proximity of Destin Daniel Cretton’s Spider-Man 4. The report also claims that Sony Pictures has scrapped most of the existing work on Beyond the Spider-Verse due to a creative overhaul, but that animators are “relieved” to have more time to work on the sequel.
This comes after 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse faced controversy for allegations of poor working conditions, which partially led to Beyond getting delayed from its initial planned release date of March 2024.
In 2023, just following the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, reports came out claiming that Beyond the Spider-Verse would get delayed, amid allegations of production troubles and artists and animators claiming that virtually no work had been done. As producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller recently told ComicBook.com, the goal is to make sure Spider-Verse is handled right, as opposed to hitting a certain release date.
“I would say that just like we’re going to take the time necessary to make Beyond the Spider-Verse great,” Lord said before Miller concluded their answer. “And we won’t back into a release date that doesn’t fit.”
What is Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse About?
Beyond the Spider-Verse is expected to deal with the fallout of the cliffhanger ending of Across the Spider-Verse, with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) stuck on an alternate universe with a more villainous version of himself (Jharrel Jerome).
“Here’s what I can promise, and I said it about the second one when we were in the middle of it: Phil Lord, Chris Miller, everybody, the producers on this, the directors they’re going to bring in … What they did on the first one is all the directors became executive producers. So they just keep adding to it. What I can promise is they are not going to stop until it’s excellent,” Peter B. Parker actor Jake Johnson confirmed to ComicBook.com. “And if that means it takes a little bit longer, if that means it’s even bigger, if that means it’s longer — they don’t play by anybody’s rules. They work really hard. As actors in it, we’re always shocked that we get called in to record on this last one. I think it was a month before it screened, where we could not believe we were still recording. So they’re not going to quit until it’s great and I have nothing but faith in them. But in terms of giving anything away [about the story], can’t do it.”
