Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swings into theaters a few weeks from now, and it's no secret that this instalment is the first half of a two-part finale to the animated trilogy.
Sony Pictures has confirmed that Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will follow next March, and co-director Kemp Powers has now confirmed that the second chapter will end on a cliffhanger that sets the stage for the third part of Miles Morales' story.
"Across The Spider-Verse is a movie on its own, but it definitely ends on a bit of a cliffhanger," the filmmaker tells Games Radar. "I think it’s a good cliffhanger. We hope that it’s a satisfying tee-up for what’s coming in the third film, because you want people to be excited about what’s coming next."
"And it helps that we knew going in that this was part two of a three-part story. Since you already know that that third story is guaranteed, you can tackle it a bit differently," Kemp continues. "That being said, there’s a lot of key characters in this film, and there’s a story in this film that has an arc of its own that we needed to complete."
Interestingly (and rather boldly), co-director Joaquim Dos Santos compared this second chapter to a certain Star Wars movie.
"I was very satisfied after The Empire Strikes Back," he notes. "And hopefully, this is our Empire."
A new international trailer was released for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse yesterday, and you can check that out here. This sequel to 2018's Oscar-winning Into the Spider-Verse looks like a blast, and we're definitely intrigued to see how it tees up that third movie.
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 will swing into cinemas on June 2, 2023.