Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was released to overwhelmingly positive reviews earlier this month and looks set to be another box office hit for Sony Pictures' Spider-Man franchise.
When the movie's cast and crew were doing the rounds to promote the sequel a few weeks ago, they all played surprisingly coy when asked about next March's Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. Spider-Gwen actress Hailee Steinfeld even confirmed that, after years of working on this second instalment, she's yet to record a single line of dialogue for the threequel!
Vulture (via Toonado.com) recently posted a story sharing some insights into what it was like working on Across the Spider-Verse (spoiler alert: it wasn't good). An animator who was part of the team contributing to the latest movie - named "Stephen" to protect their identity - is convinced Beyond won't meet that planned release date.
"They’ve announced that Beyond the Spider-Verse will be released in March of next year," he says. "I've seen people say, 'Oh, they probably worked on it at the same time.' There’s no way that movie’s coming out then. There's been progress on the pre-production side of things."
"But as far as the production side goes, the only progress that's been made on the third one is any exploration or tests that were done before the movie was split into two parts."
Stephen adds, "Everyone’s been fully focused on Across the Spider-Verse and barely crossing the finish line. And now it's like, 'Oh, yeah, now we have to do the other one.'"
Some online scoopers have strongly hinted that the final chapter of this trilogy could be pushed back to as late as 2026, an agonising wait for fans who are excited to see how the story concludes.
We're assuming the release date hasn't been changed in an effort to avoid bad press that has any sort of impact on box office takings. Some moviegoers, for example, may be reluctant to watch this middle chapter if they know it's going to be years before the final part follows.
For now, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is still set for a March 29, 2024 release.