After taking the world by storm with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales is all set to return in the short film, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story. The film, which was originally released at the Annecy film festival in 2023, was not available to the public for a long time.
But in an exclusive interview with Variety, Sony announced that the film is finally set to arrive on YouTube, giving access to global audiences. The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story will premiere globally on March 27, 2024. No streaming platform will likely screen the film as it will be available for free on YouTube.
The release comes from Sony in partnership with Kevin Love Fund, which is a part of the fund's new mental health-focused lesson plan, "The Hero Within."
Shameik Moore reprises his role as Miles Morales in the short film, which also marks his last appearance as the iconic character ahead of Beyond the Spider-Verse, the third installment in the series.
What is The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story all about?
The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story is an animated short film based on the story of Miles Morales. It follows the teenage superhero's struggles to balance his work, studies, friends, and superhero responsibilities, ultimately causing him to have a panic attack.
The attack causes the young hero to fight the manifestations of the reality within him and battle anxiety. It ultimately depicts how reaching out for help is as heroic as fighting the big bads of New York City with web-slinging abilities.
The film aims to spread awareness about mental health and is made to encourage students and young minds to come forward with their own stories.
Interestingly, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story was produced in the inaugural year of Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks’ Leading and Empowering New Storytellers (LENS) program. This program allowed unrepresented groups to take part in the nine-month leadership training program.
The final product of this project was The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story. It was written by Khaila Amazan.
Apart from Moore, the film also features Brian Tyree Henry, who played Miles' father in the two feature films before.
The film had its premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 12, 2023.
What about Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse?
While it would be refreshing for fans to catch Miles Morales in action once again, what fans are really waiting for is Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, the third installment in the incredible series of animated films from Sony.
Moreover, the second film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, ended on a huge cliffhanger, leaving the third film to resolve things.
If things went according to plan for Sony, Beyond the Spider-Verse would have premiered on March 29, 2024. But with the SAG-AFTRA strike as well as the WGA strike, the film got delayed indefinitely.
As of now, the third and concluding film of the series does not have a release date, with Phil Lord only revealing that the film would premiere when it's ready. It could be as late as late 2025 or early 2026, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Till then, fans can catch Miles Morales in action in The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story on March 27, 2024 on YouTube.