Sony sets new date for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

By Blair Marnell April 21, 2022

In 2018, Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse struck a chord with audiences on its way to critical and box-office success, as well as an eventual Oscar win for Best Animated Movie. Last year, Sony announced that the sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part 1, would arrive on October 7, 2022. But fans are going to have to wait another eight months to see it. Via Deadline, Sony Pictures has shuffled several release dates ahead of next week’s CinemaCon. And Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now slated to hit theaters on June 2, 2023.

While Across the Spider-Verse no longer has “Part 1” in its name, it is still a two-part movie. Now, the sequel also has a release date. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part 2 will arrive March 29, 2024. Sony didn’t offer a reason for the delays, but animated films are sometimes more complex to create than live-action movies, so this could simply be a case of giving the animators more time to refine the sequels.

Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

A more perplexing move is Sony’s decision to premiere its Madame Web movie on July 7, 2023, in the middle of the summer and just over a month after Across the Spider-Verse‘s debut. If Across the Spider-Verse has significant box-office legs like its predecessor, Madame Web will arrive just in time for Sony to compete with itself. Another factor working against Madame Web‘s potential success is the fact that the title character is even more obscure than Morbius, and she has never even had her own comic book series. Sony has often boasted about its control of over 900 Spider-Man-related characters, but not all of them can headline a movie. Making this film standout could prove to be a real challenge for the studio.

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In other Sony news, the studio is moving its animated film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile to October 7, the date formerly held by Across the Spider-Verse. The studio’s Korean War drama, Devotion, will have a limited release on October 14, before adding theaters on October 21 ahead of the full release on October 28. Finally, the latest entry in Denzel Washington’s action franchise, The Equalizer 3, will now arrive in theaters on September 1, 2023.

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Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…

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Across the Spider-Verse’s best cameo pays tribute to Miles Morales’ origins

Miles Morales stands in a bodega in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

If there’s one thing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse isn’t lacking, it’s Easter eggs. Whether it be the film’s brief trip to the same universe as the Venom movies or its multiple references to Sony’s popular Spider-Man video games, Across the Spider-Verse repeatedly proves that it isn’t afraid to pay homage to the various other superhero films and titles that have come before it. The movie even packs in a brief but noteworthy reference to the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Most of Across the Spider-Verse’s biggest Easter eggs appear during its trip to Nueva York, the home city of Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac). The film’s detour there gives it the chance to dive into the minutiae of the multiverse in a way that neither it nor 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse had previously.

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Like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? Then read these 5 comic books right now

spider man across the verse read these comic books miles morales in

There's nothing quite like the unbreakable, youthful zeal exuding from Marvel's many iterations of the web-slinging hero, Spider-Man, that attracts audiences far and wide. Ever since Sony began producing big-budget Spider-Man movies over two decades ago, the quippy, yet charming wall-crawler has entertained countless audiences and raked in mountains of cash doing it. But in the modern age of superheroes, the tried and true mainstays of the past have evolved. Endless variations of Peter Parker are no longer the standard. Fresh, new characters to don the tights and web cartridges like Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales have entered the spotlight. And not only do they web-sling and kick butt like the rest of them, but their personal histories and stories are also endearing and often relatable.

Of course, if you aren't well-versed in comic books, you should know that Miles Morales has actually been around since 2011. The biracial Brooklyn teen first appeared in issue No. 4 of Ultimate Fallout. Miles isn't just another alliterative name and face to affix to a facsimile hero of what came before. He also has additional abilities including camouflaging himself against any surface and focused energy attacks referred to as "venom blasts." But Miles is far from the only Spider-Man in the latest film. With the multitude of Spider-people populating the latest animated adventure, there's plenty of comic book lore that informed the basis of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. So, if you're looking to dive beyond the film further into the world of Miles, Gwen, or even the Spider-Man of 2099, Miguel O'Hara, look no further than our guide below to some must-read adventures.
1. Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

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Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse better than Into the Spider-Verse?

The poster for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had a tall task ahead of it. The new film from Sony Pictures had to follow up on one of the greatest superhero movies of all time in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. While Across pushes the boundaries of cinema even further than its predecessor, is that enough to top the remarkable achievement of the original?
Both movies possess unique and groundbreaking visuals

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse once again follows Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a teenager in New York City who likes to sling webs in his free time. Miles has been his universe's one and only Spider-Man for over a year, and he's honed his Spidey skills significantly more than when audiences last saw him in 2018. Now, Miles is thrust into the reality of Spider-Man; how can he save everyone without losing himself? When his multiversal friend and fellow Spider-person Gwen Stacy returns to Miles' Earth on a mission, the entire multiverse is at risk of deteriorating. And it's all because of Miles.