Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse took audiences by storm when it hit theaters in December of 2018. While fans were incredibly excited about the film, and it was expected to do well, no one was ready for how well it did.
The movie was awarded the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, which was a major win for super-hero films and fans everywhere. What's interesting is that Peter Ramsey (Godzilla, Independence Day) directed the film after delivering a flop with his directorial debut for DreamWorks with Rise of the Guardians.
Getting back up after failure is the theme of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, which makes it interesting that the concept mirrors in Ramsey's personal life. Finding success after failure in the pursuit of dreams is what the director appeared on Faceplant to talk about.
In support of his story and his Faceplant feature, we got the amazing and spectacular opportunity to speak with Peter. We covered a wide range of topics that we will be sharing with you all this week, including the fact that Ganke was initially intended to be a main character in Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse until Sony and Spider-Man Homecoming shut that down with their portrayal of Ned.
To hear our full conversation with director and storyboard artist Peter Ramsey click the podcast player below, otherwise, simply scroll down for the transcript!
Literary Joe: Is there anything that you can mention that didn't make it into the movie, or is all of that stuff being reserved for the sequels and spin-offs?
Peter Ramsey: No, actually, I can't think of too many recycled ideas that were like, "Oh, we always want it to do this." And there might be one or two stray things.
But the biggest thing that we wanted to do in this movie that we weren't able to do was having Ganke play a larger role. Definitely, because we had a whole person, and I think you can see some of it on one of the blu-rays with the alternate storyboard cut, where the whole first part of the movie Ganke was in it. And they were best friends from the very beginning, so much, it could have been about the two of them discovering Miles's Spider powers together.
And when Homecoming came out, and we saw that "Oh my God, look, Peter Parker has a best friend. He is literally like Ganke from the comics." I thought, well, we just couldn't do it. You know, it turned into a big thing, and it was kind of like Sony was going, "Oh, sorry, we ate your lunch." We had to tweak that whole relationship, and, at the end of this movie, you kind of see the origin of their friendship.
But the original plan was to have them be best friends from the beginning. So we were so happy with what we had, and we had so much fun with those two that it was almost like we don't even need for him to become Spider-Man. This is entertaining, just watching two friends.
But yeah, man, we had to let it go. And we were devastated, but looking at it now, I dunno how we could have spent enough time with those two to make it work out in a satisfying way. So it kind of all worked out for the best, I think.
What do you guys make of Peter's comments? Would you like to see more Ganke in the sequel, or do you agree that it would be treading the same ground as with Ned in Homecoming? Sound off below!
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the creative minds behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, bring their unique talents to a fresh vision of a different Spider-Man Universe, with a groundbreaking visual style that’s the first of its kind.
Spider-Man™: Into the Spider-Verse introduces Brooklyn teen Miles Morales, and the limitless possibilities of the Spider-Verse, where more than one can wear the mask.
If you're interested in watching Peter's Faceplant episode, you can check it out here.