Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 has taken an exciting leap forward, as the followup to 2018's animated adventure has officially entered production.
Animator Nick Kondo posted on Twitter and confirmed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 had entered production, writing, "First day on the job," with a short teaser video.
Into the Spider-Verse was a hit that grossed $375.54 million on a $90 million budget and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Following the success of the first movie, Sony quickly gave the green light to a sequel that would once again follow the story of Miles Morales. Although Into the Spider-Verse 2 was pushed from its original release by six months, Joaquim Dos Santos is back on track for its October 2022 release.
Aside from the promise that the movie will explore the growing relationship between Miles and Gwen Stacy, little else is known about what the story will involve. However, Into the Spider-Verse's post-credits tease of Oscar Isaac as Miguel O'Hara hinted that Spider-Man 2099 could factor into the next chapter.
Sony is well on its way to expanding its own Spider-Verse away from Tom Holland's role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Alongside Into the Spider-Verse 2, there are live-action movies on the way including Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Morbius, among others. Furthermore, Into the Spider-Verse is also rumored to be joined by a Spider-Ham animated series and an all-female Spider-Verse movie with Spider-Gwen. Only recently, Hailee Steinfeld admitted she doesn't have an update on her own spinoff.
Despite most of Hollywood having ground to a halt due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Into the Spider-Verse 2 is in the lucky position that it can move forward. Even though animated movies have a notoriously long production schedule, Kondo and the rest of the team are getting to work on the highly anticipated sequel.
As well as Santos taking over for his directorial debut, The Expendables' David Callaham is replacing Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman as Into the Spider-Verse 2's writer. Still, Lord and co-collaborator Christopher Miller are producing with SPUMC overseer Amy Pascal. Callaham is no stranger to superhero movies thanks to his recent work writing screenplays for Wonder Woman 1984 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 arrives in theaters Oct. 7, 2022.