Let me start this off by telling everyone up front that I have not yet seen Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Like all of you, I’ve been patiently waiting to see the sequel to one of the best Spider-Man movies ever made, the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. And we were supposed to have seen the new movie by now. Its original release date hovered around April 2022, until the film got delayed, like countless other features during the COVID production cycle. But now it’s heading to theaters on Friday, June 2 (one of several things we already know about the sequel), and my brain has been racing about how this movie might end.
Why? Because during the production process on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it was revealed that a third movie also would be coming as part of package. This was mentioned following a rough tease of the first 15 minutes of Across during Sony’s panel at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. But it’s the title of the third movie, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, that really has me stretching the boundaries of my imagination. Because what do I think happens when one goes “Beyond” animation? They cross over into live-action.
