Things are not well in Sony’s Spider-Verse. For the past 10 years, the studio has struggled to make the most of the Spider-Man property, and though its attempts to focus on the web slinger's rogue’s gallery in live-action have infamously backfired, Sony’s found a lot of success on the animated front. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was an Oscar-winning triumph, exploring the multiverse in a way Marvel itself is still trying to match. It also gave a fan-favorite Spider-Man variant, Miles Morales, his first big-screen role, another huge part of its appeal.
With its 2023 sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, Sony finally seemed to be on a winning streak. The film was originally slated as the first part of a two-part finale, and fans eagerly awaited Beyond the Spider-Verse in 2024. Unfortunately, a handful of obstacles — from the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes to general behind-the-scenes tumult — delayed the film indefinitely.
Updates on Beyond the Spider-Verse have been few and far between, although in August, Karan Soni (who voices the Spider-Man India variant) revealed that the film is already “deep in production.” Based on his comments, there was a chance the film could be completed in time for a 2025 premiere. But with the demise of Sony’s live-action Spider-Verse, the studio seems to be taking even more care with its next animated film... for better and worse.
Deadline recently published an update on Sony’s box office woes, detailing the studio’s “Marvel problem” and how it could affect its Spider-Verse in the future. With Kraven the Hunter floundering at the box office, Sony will likely have to take the franchise back to the drawing board. Per Deadline, a “reset” for the universe is imminent, at least on the live-action front.
As for the animated Spidey films, Sony is approaching Beyond the Spider-Verse with “a lot of tender loving care.” The studio is taking so much time with the finale that Sony has “no plans” to debut the film in 2025. If Deadline’s intel is accurate, it may be three years before Spider-Verse fans see the conclusion to Miles Morales’ story. That’s a shame, but it’s hardly the end of the world; after all, it took five years to deliver a sequel to Into the Spider-Verse. Animation is already a demanding medium, and creating the Spider-Verse’s visual feats takes even more time.
This may be a frustrating development, but it’s certainly better than the alternative of overworking animators to deliver a rushed product. Sony seems to know what it has with the Spider-Verse movies: the first two installments delivered breathtaking visuals alongside a strong story, but Beyond the Spider-Verse will have to bring that trilogy home in a satisfying way. The wait will be worth it if Sony continues to support it rather than let it flounder like the live-action films.
