MULTIVERSE OF RAD-NESS

The Spider-Verse is back! Ahead of the arrival of the long-awaited sequel to one of the most acclaimed animated films in recent years – and one of the most acclaimed superhero films, period – Total Film meets the team behind SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE to talk about the challenge of juggling multiple Spideys, game-changing visuals, and sky-high fan expectations.

- LEILA LATIF

When Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films first swung into the multiplex, the concept of ‘superhero fatigue’ was unimaginable. The trilogy had audiences champing at the bit to see who, or what, our friendly neighbourhood superhero would be battling next. In the decades since, superhero films have continued to dominate the box office, but entries now come so thick and fast the hunger for more isn’t quite what it used to be.

Unless, of course, you are actually talking about Spider-Man.

The prospect of seeing the beloved web-slinger still has critics and audiences counting down to each entry. And within the films themselves, it’s a case of the more Spider-Men the better! Fans practically levitated seeing Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland team up in No Way Home, but the bar had already been set almost insurmountably high by six SpiderPeople and one Spider-Pig in Into the Spider-Verse. The animated feature is arguably the apex of this oeuvre, a stunningly realised tale of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and a team of Spider-heroes from parallel dimensions stopping the universe collapsing in on itself.

‘People cannot get enough!’ exclaims producer Amy Pascal, who once headed up the Spider-Manproducing studio Sony before striking out on her own. She’s back to produce this summer’s sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, alongside returning producers (and writers) Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. ‘I’ve been working on Spider-Man movies for 25 years, and there’s still endless amounts of stories to be told,’ Pascal tells TF, ‘because whether it’s Peter or Miles or Gwen, they have the most human dilemma: if people know who you truly are, will they still love you?’