The third Spider-Verse movie is shaping up to look nothing like the first two, and that is exactly the point. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who wrote and produced the trilogy, have opened up about how Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is changing the way its animation is built, from the look of each world to the way the camera moves through it.
The pair made the comments on The Town with Matthew Belloni, the podcast from The Ringer and Puck, during a live taping in front of students at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Host Matthew Belloni asked the duo about why these movies take so long to make, and the answer turned into one of the clearest looks yet at what fans can expect when Miles Morales returns.
Leaving the Rules of 3D Behind
The first two films already pushed computer animation to look like a moving comic book, with printed Ben-Day dots, hand-drawn hash marks and a different art style for nearly every universe Miles visited. According to Lord and Miller, Beyond the Spider-Verse is going even further in that direction.
"The particular looks that we're doing are really, really unique, and they don't follow rules of three-dimensional animation. They're much more in a 2D multiplane kind of style."
Multiplane is a term with a lot of history behind it. The multiplane camera was the classic hand-drawn animation rig that stacked painted layers of artwork at different distances from the lens, giving flat drawings a sense of depth as the camera moved. Applying that idea to a CG pipeline suggests a film that reads more like layered illustration than a digital space, which fits the direction the series has been heading since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
A Live-Action Camera Crew in an Animated Movie
The bigger surprise may be how the movie is being shot. The camera work on Beyond the Spider-Verse is being handled in a way that borrows heavily from live-action filmmaking.
"The camera work pipeline is completely new and a lot more akin to a live-action pipeline. So it's a lot more handheld."
That means real camera operators are part of the process, capturing shots inside the digital sets rather than having every move keyframed by animators.
"There's live action operators that are part of it, like shooting things virtually."
They also praised the results so far, calling the camera work outstanding. Alice Brooks, the cinematographer behind Wicked and tick, tick... BOOM!, is serving as director of photography on the film, bringing a live-action eye to a franchise that has always played with the language of comics and animation. A handheld feel could give the action a very different energy from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, whose sweeping, impossible camera moves were part of its signature.
Why the Wait Has Been So Long
None of this is a small adjustment, and it helps explain why the third chapter has taken as long as it has. Across the Spider-Verse ended on a cliffhanger in 2023, with Miles stranded in the wrong universe and Gwen Stacy gathering a team to go and help him. Since then, the follow-up has been pushed back more than once, with Sony eventually settling on a Father's Day weekend release.
Lord and Miller have kept busy in the meantime. They directed Project Hail Mary for Amazon MGM Studios, which Belloni noted grossed close to $700 million worldwide, and they are also producing another 21 Jump Street movie. Even so, Beyond the Spider-Verse remains the project fans most want to hear about, and these comments suggest the studio is not playing it safe with the finale.
For more on the wall-crawler's animated future, Marvel Animation has confirmed that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man seasons 3 and 4 are officially in the works.
When Does Beyond the Spider-Verse Release?
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is set to swing into US theaters on June 18, 2027, from Sony Pictures Animation. Some international markets get it a day or two earlier.
You can listen to the full conversation on The Town with Matthew Belloni, where the pair also talk about losing the Han Solo movie and what makes a good studio executive.
Are you excited to see a handheld, 2D-inspired look in Beyond the Spider-Verse?
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