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Sony's Spider-Verse 3 replaces directors as Spider-Man's animated future remains lost in time

Two veterans of the first animated Miles Morales movie are stepping in to guide the concluding chapter

Miles Morales in the Across the Spider-Verse ending — Image credit: Sony Pictures Animation

Published on Tue Dec 17 2024

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It’s all change for Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Verse trilogy, with the news that the final installment in the trilogy has new directors — a move that suggests that we might be waiting longer for Spider-Man: beyond the Spider-Verse than fans had been hoping.

Deadline is reporting that Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson have been chosen to act as co-directors in the undated follow-up to 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Perischetti was one of the directors on 2018’s first installment of the series, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, while Thompson acted as the production designer on that movie before becoming one of three directors on Across the Spider-Verse.

“Bob and Justin’s fingerprints are woven into the DNA of these films, and their passion for Miles’ journey shines through in every frame of his last adventure,” said Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who are returning as executive producers and co-screenwriters (alongside David Callaham) for the third and final chapter of the series, in a statement.. “There is nothing more rewarding than collaborating with creative partners with bold vision and brilliant execution like Bob and Justin. We are thrilled to work with them once again to create a beautiful and satisfying conclusion to this story.”

In their own joint statement, the directors said, “We have had the immense privilege of being part of Miles’ journey from the very beginning, and directing the conclusion to his story is beyond exciting. The creativity and care poured into every minute of this project has been truly inspiring. We have crafted what we feel is a very satisfying ending, and we can’t wait for fans to experience it – we’re bringing everything we’ve got!”

Beyond the Spider-Verse actually started as the second half of 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, with the relationship between the two so close that the original title of the movie was Across the Spider-Verse Part Two even after the decision was made to release it as a standalone feature. Originally, the feature had been scheduled for a March 2024 release, before Sony removed it from the calendar entirely, officially as a result of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes but also in the wake of multiple allegations of unrealistic working conditions including unrealistically short timeframes for delivering finished animation and a constant stream of last-minute revisions.

The two replace the directorial team of Thompson, Kemp Powers, and Joaquim Dos Santos, who had been expected to continue their duties from Across the Spider-Verse.

According to an earlier Deadline report, Sony has “no plans” for the movie to be released in the next 12 months (especially in light of the poor box office performance of the live-action Spider-Man Universe movies), and the naming of new directors to the project only now suggests that the filmmaking process is far closer to the start of the process than some would expect, given that it was originally meant to be released nine months ago. Whatever lies in wait for Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, et al, here’s hoping it’s worth the wait…!

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.