Draft:Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is an upcoming American animated superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel Entertainment, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the direct sequel to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) and the third film in the Spider-Verse franchise, which is set in a shared multiverse of alternate universes called the "Spider-Verse". Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, the film stars Jason Schwartzman.

Sony began developing a sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse before that film's release in 2018, and eventually decided to split it into two films which was revealed in December 2021. The title of the third film was announced in April 2022, when it was scheduled for a March 2024 release date. Work took place simultaneously with Across the Spider-Verse before the production chose to complete that film first. The film was removed from its release date in July 2023 due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike and production resumed that December after the strike ended.

Voice cast
A former Alchemax scientist who, after an accident, became covered with interdimensional portals that allow him to travel through space and different universes.
 * Jason Schwartzman as Dr. Johnathon Ohnn / The Spot:

Development
By November 2018, ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) the next month, Sony Pictures Animation had begun development on a sequel to the film. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller returned from the first film as producers. After writing down the story they wanted to tell for the sequel they realized that it was too much for a single film and decided to split it into two parts, which was revealed in December 2021 along with the titles Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) and (Part Two). Work on both parts was taking place simultaneously, with Lord and Miller working on them with directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson. The second part was initially expected to be released in 2023, but in April 2022 it was given a release date of March 29, 2024, when Sony Pictures pushed the release of the first part from October 2022 to June 2023. The two films were renamed at that time, becoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

At the premiere of Across the Spider-Verse in May 2023, executive producer Peter Ramsey said "the sky really is the limit" with Beyond the Spider-Verse and the imagination of the creatives involved. After Across the Spider-Verse was released the next month, Lord and Miller said the sequel would conclude their trilogy of Spider-Verse films and the story arc of Miles Morales. Later in June, Chris Lee of Vulture reported that the film was not expected to meet its March 2024 release date as previously scheduled because work had only taken place on concept tests or explorations from when it was originally being developed as two parts, after which the creative team shifted their focus to completing Across the Spider-Verse first. Shortly after, Lord and Miller said the production would take a necessary amount of time to complete Beyond the Spider-Verse, explaining that they would not reserve a release date if it did not fit within their schedule. In July, Sony removed Beyond the Spider-Verse from its release schedule due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which prevented the voice cast from recording dialogue. The March 2024 date was given to Sony's Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and a new release date was expected to be scheduled in the following weeks. After the strike ended in November, voice recording for Beyond the Spider-Verse was set to resume imminently, although it was unclear if the film would still be released in 2024.

Production on the film had resumed by December 2023, when Miller said the film's story would provide a "satisfying conclusion" to the Spider-Verse trilogy that would be as emotional as the prior films. Lord reiterated this the next month when he said it would further emotionally explore Miles and the character's relationships with his parents, Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman, and Peter B. Parker. He explained that after the preceding film's cliffhanger ending, which saw Miles trapped in an alternative universe, Beyond the Spider-Verse would see the character deal with a "sense of betrayal" and explore how it becomes affirmative through the goodness and love the other characters have for him and how this "translates into his growth and success". In April 2024, singer D4vd said he worked on the film and that it would be released in 2025; at that point, Sony had reserved June 27, 2025, for an unspecified Marvel film. After Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra said in May 2024 that the studio was exploring different opportunities to make their films less expensive and more efficiently by primarily using artificial intelligence (AI), which was a central issue in the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Miller responded to concerns regarding the use of AI in Beyond the Spider-Verse, stating that generative artificial intelligence would not be used in the film. He explained that one of their goals for the Spider-Verse films was to create visual styles that had not been used in a major studio computer-generated film, and to not repurpose other artists' work plagiarized by AI. Some machine learning technology, which is distinct from generative AI as it is based on work already done on the project, had been used by Sony Pictures Imageworks to assist animators during the production of the franchise's preceding films. The next month, composer Daniel Pemberton said the creative team was "beavering away" on the film. He admitted that they felt pressured in making the film as the trilogy's conclusion because they had set a high bar for themselves, explaining that they sought to avoid repeating the "mistakes" of the third installments in other franchises, such as The Godfather Part III (1990).

Casting
During the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2022, Sony announced that Jason Schwartzman would voice the Spot in both Across the Spider-Verse and Beyond the Spider-Verse. Jake Johnson said in January 2024 that he would be saddened if he did not reprise his role as Peter B. Parker from the prior films and had pitched ideas for the character's return to Lord.

Music
Singer D4vd indicated in April 2024 that he was working on a song for the score of Beyond the Spider-Verse. Daniel Pemberton returned from the first two films to compose the film's score by that June, when he said he was focused on connecting the Beyond the Spider-Verse score with those of the prior films to provide cohesion between them.

Theatrical
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse does not have a release date. It was originally scheduled to be released on March 29, 2024, but was removed from Sony's release calendar in July 2023, in part due to the SAG-AFTRA strike preventing voice recording from being completed to meet that release date. In April 2024, singer D4vd said the film would be released in 2025; Sony currently has June 27, 2025, reserved for an unspecified Marvel film.

Home media
In April 2021, Sony signed deals with Netflix and Disney for the rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate, following the films' theatrical and home media windows. Netflix signed for exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18-month window and included the sequels to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; this deal built on an existing output deal that Netflix had signed with Sony Pictures Animation in 2014. Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks.