Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse took the world by storm when it first dropped in theaters on December 14th, 2018. It made over 375 million dollars in the box office worldwide, making it a smashing success. While it wasn’t Miles Morales first ever appearance, his movie debut was arguably his first mainstream appearance.
Across the Spider-Verse dropped on June 2nd, 2023 and serves as part one of two movies, seeking to finish it out as a trilogy. It made 690 million dollars worldwide, nearly double what the first movie was. The movie leaves a massive cliffhanger on the fate of Miles, leaving all of us in suspense for the final movie, which was slated to come out the following year.
However, that did not happen.
Originally, the last movie was anticipated to be a quick turnaround, coming out only about 10 months later on March 29th, 2024. However, there’s been multiple factors on why the delays happened.
Why was Beyond the Spider-Verse delayed
Firstly, the Hollywood strikes in 2023, which included the Writers Guild of America that lasted from May to September, halting production for months while writers fought for better working conditions. This was quickly followed by the SAG-AFTRA strike, which covered actors and voice actors, striking from July to November. Both of these strikes, while very necessary to ensure better conditions and rights for writers and actors alike, did significantly halt production for Beyond the Spider-Verse. As a result, writers did not work on the project for the duration of that strike and voice actors could not record during their strike either.
However, the strikes, while huge, were not the only reasons. There’s been disputes behind the scenes, namely Sony scrapping a large chunk of the production due to creative differences. As of now, the release year for the movie is set for 2027, a whopping four year difference compared to the just under a year promise they originally had. However, there’s been some debate on whether this is true or not. Either way, we know for sure that 2025 will not see the final movie.
Finally, there’s been talks that 100 animators left the Across the Spider-Verse project due to grueling work conditions and long hours, which may also contribute to the final movie being delayed. Allegedly, Phil Lord, one of the main producers, was named as one of the key factors for the rough working conditions. These conditions included constant revisions, long hours, and an overwhelming workload, forcing animators to eventually leave the project altogether.
Beyond the Spider-Verse’s release is not yet set in stone, and I wager it’s still a long road behind before we hear any real tangible updates on when the movie will come out. I’ve heard right now that the reported range is 2026 or 2027. As it stands, I don’t think that’s a horrible turnaround, despite what was promised before. Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse had a five year gap, so perhaps a 3 to 4 year gap wouldn’t be as bad.
Final Thoughts
Though all of these delays really brings into question why Hollywood insists on treating their workers unfairly. Most of these reported reasons for delay have to do with workers not being treated fairly, and even went as far as to strike in 2023 over it. Obviously, Beyond the Spider-Verse was not the only project impacted by them, as countless projects were delayed as a result. Perhaps maybe Hollywood should really start listening to all the artists and writers so that everyone is treated and compensated accordingly, and projects don’t end up halted or in development hell.
I’d love to see this movie come out eventually and I hope it lives up to the hype that Across the Spider-Verse started, but just like the long wait between the first two movies, only time will really tell the fate of the finale and Miles Morales.
