2018 was a big year for the Spider-Man film franchise, as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse not only marked the first animated, web-slinging theatrical venture, the critically acclaimed movie also took home an Academy Award month after it hit the big screen. But even before all that happened, Sony was impressed enough with Into the Spider-Verse to give the green light to a sequel, and work on Into the Spider-Verse 2 has been underway since June.
The latest update on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2’s progress comes from Octavio E. Rodriguez, who shared his involvement with the sequel as the head of story with the following post on Twitter:
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 marks Octavio E. Rodriguez’s second time working on a Spider-Man project, as he previously was a storyboard artist for an episode of the animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man. But that’s just the tip of Rodriguez’s extensive animation background, with his other notable credits including Johnny Bravo, CatDog, America Dragon: Jake Long, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Monsters University, Coco and Incredibles 2. So he’s definitely a welcome addition to the Into the Spider-Verse 2 festivities.
Octavio E. Rodriguez’s tweet follows two months after animator Nick Kondo announced his first day working on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2. Producer Chris Miller has also been hyping up the sequel in recent months, teasing its “groundbreaking art techniques” and possibly revealing that Cindy Moon, a.k.a. Silk, will appear in the story, though that hasn’t been confirmed yet. Other important behind-the-scenes figures on Into the Spider-Verse 2 include director Joaquim Dos Santos and screenwriter David Callaham.
So far no specific plot details concerning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 have been revealed yet, but Shameik Moore’s Miles Morales and Hailee Steinfeld’s Gwen Stacy will swing back into action and explore a romantic relationship. The sequel will also bring in Takuya Yamashiro, the Japanese Spider-Man who had a live-action TV series in the 1970s. The first Into the Spider-Verse movie had Miles and Gwen teaming up with Peter B. Parker, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker and Spider-Ham, but there’s no word yet on if any of them will return.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 will also serve as a launching pad for Spider-Gwen’s own spinoff movie, which will see her teaming up with other Spider-themed heroines, like the aforementioned Silk and Jessica Drew, a.k.a. the original Spider-Woman from the comics. There are also various Spider-Verse TV shows in development, although when the first one of those will hit our small screens remains to be seen.
Originally set for an April, 8, 2022 release, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 will now spin its web in theaters on October 7 of that same year. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for updates on its progression, and learn what movies are coming out sooner with our 2020 release schedule and 2021 release schedule.
