Today, a presentation was held to show off the highly anticipated film Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse to lucky audience members at The Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Those in attendance got exclusive looks at everything from concept art to a clip from the film. While getting to see all that was shown would have been a treat, fans at home did get to experience the official Sony Pictures Animation Twitter account live-tweeting the event. One of the tweets came with the announcement that Shea Whigham would be voicing the character of George Stacey.
George Stacey first appeared in Marvel Comics in 1967’s Amazing Spider-Man #56 and was created by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., and Don Heck. George Stacey is the father of frequent Spider-Man love interest Gwen Stacey and is typically depicted as being a police captain in New York City. He was also frequently shown to be the only authority figure to approve of Spider-Man’s work as a vigilante. The character of George Stacey has previously appeared in several animated Spider-Man series and appeared in live-action in both the Sam Raimi trilogy (portrayed by James Cromwell) and in the Marc Webb films (portrayed by Denis Leary).
According to the thread posted by Sony Pictures Animation, Whigham’s George Stacey is described as a "by the books cop." It was also confirmed that the version he is playing will be the father of the Gwen Stacey seen in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld). The character was shown in an exclusive clip played at the presentation where Captain Stacey is “responding to a disturbance at the Guggenheim Museum” but gets beaten there by his superhero daughter. Below is the tweet that announces the casting:
As a treat #AnnecyFestival gets a sequence from the film! In this clip, we find Gwen's dad, George Stacy (voiced by Shea Whigham), a "by the books cop," responding to a disturbance at the Guggenheim Museum. Of course, Gwen beats him to the scene, where she's met with new faces…
Whigham is no stranger to playing enforcers of the law. His career has seen him play everything from a chief of police in the critically acclaimed series Fargo to playing an FBI agent in the fan-favorite Fast & Furious franchise. This film will also not be his first time playing an officer in a comic book property, as he played a detective in Joker and the head of the precursor to SHEILD in Marvel’s Agent Carter series. Whigham’s career also includes roles in series like Perry Mason, Homecoming, and Vice Principals, as well as films like Kong: Skull Island, Small Engine Repair, and Bad Times at the El Royale. He can next be seen in the highly anticipated Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning - Part One.
Whigham will be joining the returning cast of Shameik Moore, Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, and Oscar Issac and the new cast of Issa Rae, and the recently announced Jason Schwartzman and Jorma Taccone. The trio of Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson will be directing the film with the script being written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham.
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is scheduled to hit theaters on June 2, 2023. Stay tuned to Collider for any future updates on this upcoming film and check out the thread by Sony Pictures Animation below: