Sony Pictures Animation has just dropped The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story short film in its entirety, a project developed alongside the Kevin Love Fund. Why? Because everyone is going through something, even superheroes like Spider-Man.
This Spider-Verse-set tale will be incorporated into the Kevin Love Fund's new mental health-focused lesson plan, "The Hero Within." That invites students to tell their own story through the lens of mental health awareness through an interactive curriculum including a creative storyboard activity.
In the genre-bending thriller, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, Miles Morales struggles to balance his responsibilities as a teenager, friend, and student while acting as Brooklyn's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
After a particularly challenging day living with these pressures, Miles experiences a panic attack that forces him to confront the manifestations of his anxiety and learn that reaching out for help can be just as brave an act as protecting his city from evil.
The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story was developed and produced in the inaugural year of Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks' Leading and Empowering New Storytellers program, a 9-month leadership training program that provides candidates from underrepresented groups with an opportunity to gain valuable leadership experience in animation.
"Miles represents so many of us doing the best we can in our day-to-day lives," Jarelle Dampier, director of The Spider Within, said earlier this month. "We don’t often realize all that we’ve been through until our own body forces us to become aware of its experience."
"My intention is that 'The Spider Within' can motivate deeper conversations amongst friends & family about their own mental health journeys - and I hope it feels like a love letter to those who adore Miles Morales."
The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story was written by Khaila Amazan, and produced by LENS program creators Michelle Raimo-Kouyate and David Schulenburg.
There's still no word on when Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will be released in theaters after it lost its original March 2024 release date due to last year's Hollywood strikes. This will tide us over for now, but here's hoping we get an update on the threequel sooner rather than later.
Watch the full The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story short in the player below (via Toonado.com).