The follow-up to the Oscar-winning Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse is now available for home viewing with its digital release. This means fans can dive into the hidden gems and special appearances that helped make Across the Spider-Verse one of the best Spider-Man movies. One standout moment is Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man cameo, borrowed directly from the 2014 film, The Amazing Spider-Man. After The Direct shared a comparison of this cameo with its original scene, an editor from Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse revealed the backstory behind it and the actor's inclusion in the final movie, and it’s pretty fascinating.
On Twitter, Andy Leviton discussed Garfield’s memorable cameo in the critically acclaimed animated feature. He explained that a mock-up version of the scene was first created to assess its audience reception. Interestingly, before it was officially approved for the scene to be included in the movie, the poignant moment where Peter comforts a dying Captain Stacy was retrieved by Leviton from a YouTube video and refined using After Effects. You can refer to the tweets below for a deeper look into the scene's making.
Fun #AcrossTheSpiderVerse Fact!🧵Before officially adding AG to this scene I had to do a temp mock up so we could see how it played and test it with an audience. I had the edit assistants grab the Stacy death clip from Youtube, brought it into After Effects… https://t.co/fXGa2fHhroAugust 10, 2023
For the final version of the scene, Leviton passed his preliminary design to the experts at Sony Imageworks. They sourced the original high-quality footage from the studio, and then referred to Leviton's draft to determine which specific frames to include. The editor said, “They integrated it with the computer-generated sets and enhanced its visual appeal.” He also mentioned that the intention had always been to use existing footage from both Garfield's and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man movies rather than redesigning the scenes with a new animation approach.
It’s incredible to see how much experimentation goes into making an animated film, which probably accounts for the confirmed multiple versions of the movie that played in theaters. It's enthralling to see how the convergence of technology, creativity and nostalgia can create an on-screen moment that resonates deeply with audiences. Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man, alongside other Spider-People, only solidifies Across The Spider-Verse as a cinematic love letter to Spider-fans around the globe.
Across The Spider-Verse was a hit with both fans and critics, earning a 5-star rating from us and dominating the box office. The film, featuring Miles Morales, held the top spot for almost two weeks, dipped briefly, and then regained its number one position. Globally, it raked in a staggering $684 million. With such success behind this sequel, we're excited about the follow-up, Beyond the Spider-Verse (of which we know a few things), and hope it lives up to the high standards set. The ending of Across left viewers on edge with a major cliffhanger, setting up significant hurdles for the main characters. However, like almost all upcoming superhero movies, we assume everything will end OK for our heroes.
You can see Andrew Garfield's standout cameo and other hidden gems and nods in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse now. The film is available for digital purchase and will be released on 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 5.
