Development By November 2018, ahead of the release of
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) the next month,
Sony Pictures Animation had begun development on a sequel to the film.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller returned from the first film as producers. After writing down the story they wanted to tell for the sequel, which featured the character
the Spot as the villain while a planned third film was in early development, they realized that it was too much for a single film and decided to
split the second film into two parts by February 2021. This was revealed in December 2021 along with the titles
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) and
(Part Two). Work on both parts was taking place simultaneously, with Lord and Miller working on them with directors
Joaquim Dos Santos,
Kemp Powers, and
Justin K. Thompson. The second part was initially expected to be released in 2023, but in April 2022 it was given a release date of March 29, 2024, when
Sony Pictures pushed the release of the first part from October 2022 to June 2023. The two films were renamed at that time, becoming
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) and
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. Around this time, major aspects of the third film's script, storyboards, and some visual development work and
concept tests that occurred when the film was being developed as the second part were reportedly shelved and put on hold so those resources could be used to complete the second film first. By then,
Beyond the Spider-Verse was internally not expected to meet its March 2024 release date, which was deemed unrealistic due to the film's technical aspects and high expectations, and it was not expected to be released until 2026 or 2027. During the
Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2022, Sony announced that the Spot would serve as the antagonist in both
Across the Spider-Verse and
Beyond the Spider-Verse. changed plans for the third
Spider-Verse film after splitting the second film into two parts. In May 2023, Miller said that while the beginning and ending of
Beyond the Spider-Verse had been relatively figured out, the middle was "still a little squishy". Following the release of
Across the Spider-Verse the next month, Lord and Miller said that
Beyond would conclude the
Spider-Verse trilogy and
Miles Morales's
story arc. They also responded to reports of the film's potential delays and lack of production progress, saying that the production would take a necessary amount of time to complete the film and that they would not reserve a release date if it did not fit within their schedule. At this time, Sony had reportedly restarted work on the script, which had yet to include an ending. In July, Sony removed
Beyond the Spider-Verse from its release schedule due to the
2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which prevented the voice cast from recording dialogue. The March 2024 date was given to Sony's
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and a new release date was expected to be scheduled in the following weeks. After the strike ended in November, voice recording was set to resume imminently, although it was unclear if the film would still be released in 2024. Production had resumed by December 2023. In June 2024, composer
Daniel Pemberton said the creative team was "beavering away" on the film. He admitted that they felt pressured in making the film as the trilogy's conclusion because they had set a high bar for themselves, explaining that they sought to avoid repeating the "mistakes" of the third installments in other franchises, such as
The Godfather Part III (1990).
Karan Soni, who voices
Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India, said in August that voice recording was slated to begin in "a few months" and that the film was "deep in production". The following month, journalist
Jeff Sneider reported that
Beyond the Spider-Verse was unlikely to be released until 2027 at the earliest. He said this was to allow the animators more time to work on the film after several scenes had been scrapped and changed, and because it was not expected to be released within the same calendar year as Sony's live-action film
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which was scheduled for release in July 2026. Sneider reported that this film's release delay had surprised some of its animators, who were said to be relieved by the decision. Pemberton and Miller subsequently denied that a majority of the film had been "scrapped" as previously reported, saying that the
film reels were being produced.
Bob Persichetti and Thompson were confirmed to be directing
Beyond the Spider-Verse in December 2024, when Jinko Gotoh joined as a producer, and Lord and Miller were confirmed to have written the script with
Across the Spider-Verse co-writer
David Callaham. Persichetti was a co-director of
Into the Spider-Verse and an executive producer of
Across the Spider-Verse, while Thompson was a
production designer on the first film and a co-director of the latter. While Powers and Dos Santos had been expected to return as directors from
Across the Spider-Verse alongside Thompson, Miller said Persichetti and Thompson had been the film's directors since production began. Sony ultimately did not plan to release the film in 2025, and at the end of the month, Sneider further reported that there was potential for
Beyond the Spider-Verse to be released in 2026 because
Brand New Day had the potential to be delayed until 2027 instead. In January 2025,
Jharrel Jerome—the voice actor for the Earth-42 version of
Miles G. Morales / Prowler—said voice recording had yet to begin because the production was still "figuring out" several details, but he felt positive about the process. At Sony's
CinemaCon panel in March, the trio of Lord, Persichetti, and Thompson acknowledged the importance of the
Spider-Verse franchise to several audiences. The pair announced the film's new release date of June 4, 2027, explaining that they "could not run it back" and were ensuring they were taking enough time to make the film right. In July 2025, the release date was delayed by three weeks to June 25, 2027, but was moved up in September 2025 to June 18, 2027. In February 2026, Sony Pictures Animation co-presidents Damien de Froberville and
Kristine Belson said that Lord and Miller were able to frequently "iterate" and provide notes on
Beyond the Spider-Verse while the story was being developed, which allowed for fewer changes in animation sequences towards the end of production. They said this was complemented by Lord and Miller editing their film
Project Hail Mary (2026) on the
Sony Pictures Studios lot, so they could collaborate closely with the
Beyond the Spider-Verse crew. Lord and Miller reiterated their desire to elevate the film from its predecessors, and cited the main contributor to the delays as the crew "[h]aving to take it apart to put it back together again". The following month, Lord and Miller reaffirmed that
Beyond the Spider-Verse was on schedule to meet its June 2027 release date.
Writing Lord and Miller called
Beyond the Spider-Verse the most emotional film of the
Spider-Verse trilogy. They described it as a "massive finale" that provides a "satisfying conclusion" to the trilogy's story. Lord explained that
Beyond the Spider-Verse starts immediately after the
cliffhanger ending of
Across the Spider-Verse, which saw Miles trapped in an
alternate universe known as
Earth-42, and that it would see Miles deal with a "sense of betrayal" and explore how it becomes affirmative through the goodness and love the other characters have for him and how this "translates into his growth and success".
Beyond the Spider-Verse sees Miles on the run as a fugitive from the
Spider-People across the multiverse and that he may not be able to rely on his friends, such as Gwen, to help him save his family. During the writing process, Lord and Miller realized that they did not have a complete
three-act structure for the film until they devised a theme for the middle of the story, questioning "when your family is broken apart by your calling, your talents, how do you put them back together? How do you have it all?"
Casting and voice recording Several actors reprise their roles from the previous
Spider-Verse films, including
Shameik Moore as Miles Morales,
Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen,
Karan Soni as Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India,
Jason Schwartzman as the Spot,
Daniel Kaluuya as
Hobie Brown / Spider-Punk,
Nicolas Cage as
Spider-Man Noir,
Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker,
Kimiko Glenn as
Peni Parker,
Brian Tyree Henry as
Jefferson Morales (nee Davis),
Lauren Vélez as
Rio Morales,
Jharrel Jerome as the Miles G. Morales / Prowler of Earth-42,
Marvin Jones III as
Lonnie Lincoln / Tombstone, and
Greta Lee as the AI assistant
Lyla. The voice recording process was delayed by the SAG-AFTRA strike by July 2023, and was set to resume that November after the strike ended. Soni said in August 2024 that voice recording would start in the following months, but Jerome said it had yet to begin by January 2025. Steinfeld had started some recordings by April and said they were "well into" that process, Moore and Jerome were recording their lines by August, and Johnson had been recording his lines for several months by March 2026. Lee recorded her lines alongside
Across the Spider-Verse.
Animation and design Beyond the Spider-Verse features a wider variation of animation styles than the first two films.
Sony Pictures Imageworks is providing art and designs for the film, with Mike Andrews returning as the lead editor from
Across the Spider-Verse. Cinematographer
Alice Brooks worked on the film. De Froberville noted that, given her work on live-action films, Brooks was able to direct the camera in a new way that had not been done on the previous two films. Miller said they used the
Unreal Engine and a virtual camera for
previsualization after doing so with cinematographer
Greig Fraser on
Project Hail Mary. Lord and Miller added that the film would feature artistically abstract portal scenes for the Spot. After Sony Pictures CEO
Tony Vinciquerra said in May 2024 that the studio was exploring different opportunities to make their films less expensive and more efficient by primarily using
artificial intelligence (AI), which was a central issue in the
2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Miller responded to concerns regarding the use of AI in
Beyond the Spider-Verse, stating that
generative artificial intelligence would not be used in the film. He explained their goal for the
Spider-Verse films was to create visual styles not used in major computer-animated films and not to repurpose other artists' work through AI. Some
machine learning technology, distinct from generative AI and based on work already done on the project, was used by Sony Pictures Imageworks to assist animators during the production of the franchise's preceding films.
Music Daniel Pemberton, the composer of the first two films, confirmed he would return in June 2024, when he was focused on connecting the
Beyond the Spider-Verse score with those of the prior films to provide cohesion between them. == Marketing ==