Opening the Spider-Man franchise to a multiverse of possibilities, much as Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse does, is both a fantastic possibility and a horrifying hypothetical. At least, that's what it sounded like when producer / co-writer Phil Lord was asked about what sort of opportunities this sort of movie unlocked for the Spider-verse, and what was exciting about this bold undertaking. Specifically, Lord had the following to say about how he felt about what he and the creative team had done:
If it's successful, and you guys like it, we're gonna get stuck making thirty of these. Because there are so many possibilities, and I think it's an apt metaphor for what it's like to be 13. There's so many different ways your life can go, there's so many people in Miles' life that represent a different pathway. So, I think that's why it felt organic to his story to present him with a lot of different examples of how you could live with this spider-bite. And when you see the rest of the movie, this kid really synthesizes all of these different influences into how he's going to do it.
This subject was raised by moderator Josh Horowitz, during Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse's panel presentation at New York Comic Con this weekend, and CinemaBlend was on hand to hear this discussion, which took place after the first 35 minutes of the film were shown to the audience. While we only saw two of the Peter Parker variants that Miles Morales meets up with throughout the film's events, the film sets up the importance of the multiverse approach quite clearly in a short amount of time. And to Phil Lord's point, there really are a multitude of approaches that could be taken should this project become a megahit.
Not only will Miles Morales's story be a viable franchise to revisit, should Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse take off, but any number of the other spider people could probably get their own adventures adapted as solo projects. In particular, one would assume that Spider-Gwen would give way to a separate franchise, which could then lead to a Spider-Gwen v. Gwenpool sort of situation, if the rights play out the right way. Plus, if Phil Lord and Chris Miller wanted to really swing their creative weight around in a truly impressive manner, they could try to set up a separate series of films following Nicholas Cage's Spider-Man Noir adventures.
As much as Phil Lord will admit he was being facetious, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse tells a story so unique to the Spider-Man canon, and with such a wide range of characters to follow, that it really could spin off its own universe of sequels. So there's no limit to what Miles Morales, Peter Parker and all the other web-slingers could be doing in theaters near you.
No matter what, if any of these characters progress through future films, it'll technically count as a sequel in the canon, seeing as everyone started out in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. In short: be careful what you say, Phil Lord, as 36 more of these films would be a very easy, and potentially extremely satisfying, possibility.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse will spin its storytelling web on December 14th, but if you're looking for some more immediate superhero action (and a dash of Into The Spider-Verse), you can see a short tease at the end of the credits to Venom, in theaters now.
