Across the Spider-Verse Key Figure Made Production a Nightmare, Insiders Allege

in Marvel, Movies

Miles Morales running in 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'

Credit: Sony Pictures

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hit American theaters just a few weeks ago (after multiple schedule changes due COVID-19) and was instantly enshrined as a modern classic of both the comic book movie genre and animation. The continued adventures of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Peter B Parker (Jake Johnson), and all the other Spider-people have been a huge success at the box office, but insiders allege that not only was animating the film an absolute nightmare due to a key producer, but that the upcoming sequel Beyond the Spider-Verse is nowhere close to being ready to release in 2024.

spider-man-across-the-spider-verse
Credit: Sony Pictures Animation

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Multiple animation crew members on Across the Spider-Verse have called (per Vulture) the process of making the film “death by a thousand paper cuts” and that it caused about 100 animators to quit production before the film was finished. The animators (who spoke anonymously to protect their jobs in a tight-knit industry) describe 11-hour work days, seven days a week, and multiple painstaking sequences being thrown away or completely redone at a moment’s notice.

The animators also consistently take one person to task for this: producer Phil Lord.

Phil Lord Allegedly Clashed with Sony Pictures

According to the anonymous animators, Phil Lord allegedly dominated the production of Across the Spider-Verse, overruling Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, the three credited directors, at every turn. They also say that Lord had difficulty envisioning animation in the early development stages, which resulted in him requiring work to be completely rendered just so he could then order it to be redone.

Miles Morales in Across the Spider-Verse
Credit: Sony Pictures

Several of the animators also state that Phil Lord was continually clashing with Sony Pictures regarding his rewrites of Across the Spider-Verse, with one going so far as to say “I don’t know if he’s delusional. It’s really nuts. I’ve worked on projects where things are rewritten — even late in production. But this is another level of craziness.”

For the record, Sony has denied that there was any internal conflict between Phil Lord and the studio.

Morale Was Incredibly Low During Production of Across the Spider-Verse

The sheer amount of intense labor required by the continual rewrites, combined with long periods of idleness between said rewrites, plus allegedly low pay caused dozens of members of the animation crew to eventually leave. That’s a pretty shockingly high turnover, but the exhaustion and sprint to the finish line on Across the Spider-Verse also produced another problem: the looming prospect of a sequel.

Related: Sony Officially Cancels Future ‘Spider-Man’ Project

Beyond the Spider-Verse Is Reportedly Hugely Behind Schedule

As for Beyond the Spider-Verse, the culminating entry in the trilogy, one of the animators spoke bluntly: They’ve announced that Beyond the Spider-Verse will be released in March of [2024]. I’ve seen people say, “Oh, they probably worked on it at the same time.” There’s no way that movie’s coming out then.” As they put it, the sheer exhaustion of producing this last film has severely slowed down any momentum of the next, and audiences will be lucky to see the finished film in 2026.

Oscar Isaac as Spider-Man 2099 in "Across the Spider-Verse"
Credit: Marvel Studios / Sony Pictures

Along with the returning Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, and Jake Johnson, Across the Spider-Verse featured new characters like Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), Spider-Man India (Karan Soni), and the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), all of whom are expected to appear in the forthcoming Beyond the Spider-Verse. We can only hope things are a little easier on the animators this time around.

 

 

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