Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse was supposed to be released in theaters on March 29, 2024. However, given how long the second instalment took to head our way, we'd been having our doubts it could actually meet that date as planned for some time.
Both the threequel and this past June's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had already been hit by multiple delays, while VFX artists who worked on the second instalment would later reveal how hard it was to contribute to the animated franchise. From last-minute changes to completed scenes to a lot of overtime, it was clearly a gruelling production.
Due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, work on Beyond the Spider-Verse is thought to have been halted (the cast can't record their lines, for starters), news which may have been welcomed by the crew.
During a recent interview with Games Radar, the franchise's composer, Daniel Pemberton, was asked what he could share about the next movie and clearly didn't want to discuss it!
"Don't talk about it," he said with a laugh. "Everyone in this film, there’s a sort of pact, no one will talk about the next film because we're all still in recovery from the second one."
Elaborating on Across the Spider-Verse's challenging production, he added: "There'll be multiple different approaches on pretty much every scene in the movie. The directors and the producers and the writers, they want to try everything out and they're always pushing how to make the movie better. As a result of that, you end up writing a huge amount of music that just ends up in the bin, but I'm used to that as a composer."
"If you want to push the boundaries, you get prepared to fill the bin up with the stuff that doesn't work or could be better."
There are rumblings that the final chapter of this trilogy won't swing into theaters until as late as 2026, so we're clearly going to need to be patient when it comes to that big cliffhanger being resolved. You can't rush perfection and it sounds like everyone involved will benefit from avoiding the pressure that comes with a confirmed release date.
In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse saga. After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence.
But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.
The movie stars Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Karan Soni, Jason Schwartzman, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Greta Lee, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone, Shea Whigham, and Oscar Isaac.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now available on Digital and Blu-ray.