Sony has been hard at work expanding their Spider-Verse after the massive success of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Morbius finally released earlier this month and both Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web are on the way next year. However, what every Spidey fan has been waiting for later this year was the highly anticipated sequel to the 2018 animated hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One). However, Sony has now announced that Across the Spider-Verse has been bitten by the delay bug.
Across the Spider-Verse has been officially pushed back eight months from October 7, 2022, to June 2, 2023. The film has also dropped “Part One” from its title. Along with this delay, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part II has been moved to March 29, 2024.
This news is sure to make any fan of Spider-Man sad. Into the Spider-Verse was beloved for its well-balanced emotional storytelling, fun humor, and energetic animation, and it memorably saw the big-screen debut of Miles Morales’ Spider-Man. It also gave fans their first taste of the multiverse with the introduction of Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, and Spider-Man Noir. When the first sneak peek for Across the Spider-Verse debuted in late 2021, it promised more of the same crazy multiverse adventure. However, it also announced that the sequel’s story was too big for just one film. At the end of the trailer, it was revealed that Part II of the sequel was on the way as well.
There is still not much known about this epic two-part story. What we do know is that it will see Spider-Gwen and Miles exploring the Spider-Verse with each of the different universes having its own distinct art style. The film will also see the big-screen introduction of Spider-Woman voiced by Issa Rae and will see the return of Spider-Man 2099 who was introduced in Into the Spider-Verse’s hilarious post-credit scene. 2099 will once again be voiced by Moon Knight’s Oscar Issac. Finally, the sequel will see the return of Shameik Moore as Miles, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, and Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker.
Some good news to come out of this release shift is that the Dakota Johnson starring Madame Web announced its release date of July 7, 2023. This is just over a month after the new date for Across the Spider-Verse which is now coming out June 2, 2023. Part II follows a little less than a year later on March 24, 2024. While the delay is a tough pill to swallow, at least this gives fans more time to rewatch all the Spider-Verse films including No Way Home and Into the Spider-Verse as many times as it takes to ease the wait.