The Mitchells vs. The Machines writer/director Mike Rianda has revealed he nearly snuck a Spider-Man cameo into Sony's animated sci-fi action/comedy.
“I remember trying to get like a kind of disheveled lumpy Spider-Man in the background of a shot,” Rianda told Inverse. However, with pressure mounting to finish the movie sooner than later, he ended up having to scrap the idea.
While The Mitchells vs. The Machine used the same 2D/3D hybrid animation technology as Sony's acclaimed 2018 animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Rianda admitted Sony Pictures Imageworks had to change things up in order to bring the former's "wrinkly and lumpy" heroes to life. “They took all those tools on Spider-Verse, and they kind of just like, bent them,” he explained. “It’s really subtle. You don't notice it ever, but hopefully when you just look at the movie as a whole, you're like, this is wild, what's different about this?”
As for the future, it's feasible The Mitchells and Spider-Man will crossover at some point, seeing as Sony own the rights to all those characters. In the meantime, the studio is moving forward with the untitled Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2, with Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson and Soul co-writer/director Kemp Powers serving at the helm. Sony's animated sequel is scheduled to open in theaters Oct. 7, 2022 and is expected to feature most of the main cast from the first movie, including Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld as the voices of Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, respectively.
The official synopsis describes The Mitchells vs. The Machines as follows: "A quirky, dysfunctional family's road trip is upended when they find themselves in the middle of the robot apocalypse and suddenly become humanity’s unlikeliest last hope!" In terms of its story and themes, the film is about "embracing the things that make us unique, learning what it means to be human in a world increasingly filled with technology, and holding tight to the people most important to you when the unexpected hits."
Directed by Michael Rianda and starring the voice talents of Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Mike Rianda, Eric André and Olivia Colman, The Mitchells vs. The Machines is now streaming on Netflix.
Source: Inverse