Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Directors, Writer on the Decision to Split It Into Two Parts

When the masterful Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse came out in 2018, it blasted open a multiverse of potential adventures for Miles Morales and his bajillion Spidey counterparts. Naturally, a sequel was coming. But in December 2021 when a first look at the film was unveiled, it came with the surprise announcement that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse would be split into two parts.

“For a long time, we were trying to jam two movies into one, and then we realized the movie was telling us this was a whole complete arc of a story and this really was the second part of the trilogy, and so it just made a lot more sense then,” Chris Miller, the movie’s co-writer along with Phil Lord, told IGN during a recent interview. “Because it has a beginning and middle and end for all the characters, they all grow and they all have an arc. It felt like this is where the movie was telling us this is its own thing.”

Asked if they were nervous about the two-part format, co-director Justin K. Thompson said, “I think it was just probably nerve-wracking to think, ‘I hope we can make this feel like a complete film.’ “

“And it wasn’t so much like, ‘Hey, they split in two.’ It was more like we needed to be certain by the time this film came out that it was its own film and could stand alone and was a complete story, but still had enough of a question that was unanswered to make audiences want to see the next part,” Thompson, one of the movie’s three directors taking over for Into the Spider-Verse’s Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, went on.

“For me, the biggest nerves I had about it was people saying it was too dark,” added co-director Kemp Powers. “But that’s also necessary, as Justin said, to make people want to go into the next film.”

“For me, the biggest nerves I had about it was people saying it was too dark.

“I’d be lying if we didn’t say, every decision we make, there’s a certain amount of nerves that go into it,” said co-director Joaquin Dos Santos. “You have to, at the end of the day, believe in the art, believe in your decision making, trust your gut. The fact that we’ve screened this thing a bajillion times, and all that stuff goes into sort of a witch’s brew to make our final decisions. But I think it’s exciting and ballsy.”

“Exciting and ballsy” is an apt way to sum up the impending sequel, which was pushed back from its initial April 2022 release. Across the Spider-Verse will include six distinct animation styles and clocks in at a 2 hour and 40 minute runtime, making it the longest animated movie ever made from a major Hollywood studio.

Returning actors include Shameik Moore as Miles, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen, Jake Johnson as the once-jaded Spider-Man, and Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Velez as Miles’ parents, Jefferson Davis and Rio Morales. Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099, and Greta Lee as the AI hologram Lyla will also be back after a brief introduction in Into the Spider-Verse’s post-credits scene. (No Nic Cage’s Spider-Pig, though.)

New cast additions feature Issa Rae as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman, Daniel Kaluuya as Hobart “Hobie” Brown/Spider-Punk, Jason Schwartzman and Jorma Taccone as the villains Johnathon Ohnn/The Spot and Adrian Toomes/The Vulture, Shea Whigham as Gwen’s dad, and Rachel Dratch as Miles’ high school principal.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse web-slings into theaters on June 2. 

While you’re waiting, check out the character posters for the many, many new Spideys joining the crew and watch the latest exclusive clip to get a look at Spider-Cat, Spider-Rex, Web-Man, and Spider-Man 2211, to name a meager handful. You’ll also be able to land in Mega City as Miles or Spider-Man 2099 in Fortnite starting May 23. And stay tuned for a lot more from IGN’s interviews with the cast, writers, and directors.

Leanne Butkovic is an entertainment writer based in Brooklyn, NY.