The door to the Spider-Verse has been kicked open. And joining us on the big screen are such varied interpretations of Spider-Man as Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham and Spider-Man Noir! But now that we know that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will receive a sequel, we asked co-producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller which characters they'd love to see in the follow up, and they replied:
You probably had no idea that there WERE that many different Spider people in the universe. Well, that's because one needs to go outside of the traditional Spider-Man story to find all of these different characters.
The conceit behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is that there are a multitude of parallel universes happening at any given time. And in each of those universes, the Spider-Man myth played out differently. Meaning, it wasn't always Peter Parker that was bitten by a radioactive spider. Once, it was Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales. Once, it was Gwen Stacy. And so on.
The animated adventure, which reinvented how Spider-Man stories can be told, thrived at the multiplex over the weekend, winning the box office with a robust $35.4 million in tickets sold. It showed that audiences were open to accepting offbeat and unexpected versions of Spider-Man (because anyone can wear the mask), which means that Phil Lord and Chris Miller -- and the three directors credited with tackling Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse -- can really get creative with the direction of a sequel. Especially as, in a Vanity Fair article, uber producer Amy Pascal has stated that Spider-Gwen will be joined, in upcoming movies, by Cindy Moon (Silk) and Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman).
That doesn't mean they are trying to isolate the casual filmgoer by being too weird. Chris Miller was quick to explain to CinemaBlend:
What's cool about the movie is that if you are into that sort of stuff, the deep comic-book canon, it's awesome. But even if you have no understanding of what comic books are, and you've never opened a page of one, these movies are still for you, too.
Audiences sure did respond to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. And critics helped push the movie ahead of 95% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie may struggle to keep pace, though, as three huge movies are rolling into theaters this weekend with Aquaman, Mary Poppins Returns, and Bumblebee. Even if the new movie falls off, however, the creative team behind it knows that the audience is behind them, and the preparation on the sequel can get underway.
We gave Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse a perfect 5 stars in our official review. What would you give it? Let us know in the comments section below.
