How Many Spider-Men Are in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’?

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a sincere triumph at a time when superhero movies were losing steam. Can Across the Spider-Verse do the same? Aside from just telling a very interesting story, Spider-Verse has some tricks up its sleeve. The first movie featured some really striking visuals, as well as introducing some excellent characters that hadn't shown up on the big screen yet.

Across The Spider-Verse is going to crank that energy up to a whole new level. In fact, the film will feature a number of completely unique art styles, as well as roughly 240 unique characters in total. That’s about 200 more than appeared in Into the Spider-Verse.

Sony Pictures Animation

Across the Spider-Verse co-director Joaquim Dos Santos spoke with Entertainment Weekly, where he described the film’s approach to those myriad characters.

We’re essentially making five or six films in one. These aren’t just little pools that we're dipping a toe into. These are fully realized, robust worlds that could frankly hold their own film.

According to producer Christopher Miller, Spider-Gwen’s universe is particularly impressive, and was designed to look like an impressionist painting come to life. He added:

We had to develop a way for the world to be always changing and painted at every moment. It was very, very hard. Each shot had to be lovingly handcrafted. ... they hit play, and it started moving. We literally thought it was a still image that had been meticulously painted, and all of a sudden, the whole thing was moving.

The mind-blowing 240 characters in the film include new cast additions Spider-Punk (voiced by Daniel Kaluuya), Spider-Man India (Karan Soni), Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), and even a Spider-Horse (it’s a horse).

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is scheduled for release on June 2, 2023.