Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: release date, trailer, cast, plot, and more

Get ready, Spider-Man fans: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is just over a month away from releasing in theaters.

We're massive Spidey fans here at TechRadar, so we can't wait for the webslinger's next cinematic adventure (in animated form, anyway) to land on the big screen. And, as the next Spider-Man film prepares for launch, we're learning a lot more about it before the joint Marvel-Sony superhero flick arrives in theaters.

In this guide, you'll find the latest news on Across the Spider-Verse, including its release date, runtime, trailers, cast news, story details, its sequel, and more. Oh, and be sure to keep a close eye on TechRadar in the coming weeks for our exclusive interview with directors Kemp Powers and Joaquim dos Santos.

Full spoilers follow for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (find out where it ranks in our Spider-Man movies in order guide while you're here). Potential spoilers are discussed for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, too.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse release date

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse arrives in theaters on June 2. The film was originally supposed to wallcrawl its way into cinemas last April, but was pushed back to October due to the pandemic.

It was later delayed again, with executive producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller telling Deadline: “We could try to get it out at the original date and it would be fine. But the expectation for this film is it has to be as ground-breaking and special and wonderful as the first one was. So we thought 'let's make it great.'”

According to industry insider Cryptic HD, Across the Spider-Verse's runtime exceeds two hours. Few animated films are that long, so Spidey fans will be eating well when it leaps into theaters very soon.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's final official trailer debuted in April – and there's a ton to unpack from its two-minute runtime. For an in-depth rundown of what's on show, and what we think it's teasing, read our Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer breakdown article. The latest teaser also made Sony Pictures history upon release – Across the Spider-Verse's second official trailer becoming the most-viewed Sony movie trailer of all-time.

Missed the first official trailer, which aired in December 2022 and showcased the incredible amount of other Spider-People from across the, well, Spider-Verse? Check it out below:

Lastly, here's the movie's first teaser, which was released online all the way back in December 2021:

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse cast

Here's the confirmed cast list for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse so far:

• Shameik Moore as Miles Morales/Spider-Man
• Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen 
• Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 
• Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man 
• Issa Rae as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman
• Daniel Kaluuya as Hobart ‘Hobie’ Brown/Spider-Punk
• Jason Schwartzmann as Johanthan Ohnn/The Spot
• Bryan Tyree Henry as Jefferson Davis
• Luna Lauren Velez as Rio Morales
• Greta Lee as Lyla, Spider-Man 2099’s AI assistant
• Shea Wigham as Captain George Stacey
• Jorma Taccone as Adrian Toomes/The Vulture
• Rachel Dratch as Miles’ school counselor

Moore, Steinfeld, Johnson, Henry, and Velez will reprise their roles from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Oscar Isaac (Star Wars, Dune, Moon Knight) co-stars alongside the aforementioned quintet after cameoing in the first movie’s post-credits scene. Lee also returns as Lyla, Spider-Man 2099's AI assistant, from that end credits scene. 

Issa Rae (Insecure) will play Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman, who'll be pregnant in the film. Shea Wigham (Boardwalk Empire, True Detective) is voicing Captain Stacy, the father of Steinfeld's Spider-Gwen, in his first-ever voice acting role. Jorma Taccona (The Lonely Island) will play the Earth-65's version of The Vulture.

Jason Schwartzmann (Fargo, Moonrise Kingdom) will play The Spot, who we got our first menacing look at during an Across the Spider-Verse panel in mid-2022. A lesser known supervillain, The Spot – real name Johnathan Ohnn – is a scientist who tried to mimic Marvel superhero Cloak's superpowers (in the comics, anyway). Unsurprisingly, the experiment goes awry, with Ohnn's body becoming covered in giant, black spots. However, Ohnn realizes these are portals to other dimensions and begins using them for nefarious means.

With Across the Spider-Verse continuing to explore the Spider-Man multiverse, The Spot seems like the perfect villain. Per co-director Kemp Powers, Valve's iconic videogame series Portal was a key influence on The Spot's aesthetic (via IndieWire). Additionally, a new toy leak (thanks to Reddit for the, erm, spot), reveals “If The Spot can realize the true power of his abilities, he could become a threat to entire universe”. Sounds ominous.

Daniel Kaluuya (Black Panther, Nope) is portraying Hobart 'Hobie' Brown, aka Spider-Punk. Speaking to Empire magazine, Kaluuya gushed it was “cool as f**k” to play a British Spider-Person, particularly one who hails from Camden, London (as Kaluuya does in real life). Lastly, Karan Soni (Deadpool) will voice Pavitr Prabhakar, aka Spider-Man India, while Rachel Dratch (Saturday Night Live) plays an unnamed counselor at Miles' school.

Potential Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse cast spoilers follow.

Other Spider-People from the previous film could feature, including Kimiko Glenn’s Peni Parker and John Mulaney’s Spider-Ham, but there's been no mention of their return yet. Nicolas Cage definitely hasn't been asked back as Spider-Man Noir (via ScreenRant). Yuri Lowenthal, who voiced Peter Parker in Sony's PS4/PS5 Spider-Man game, hasn't been tapped to appear, either (per ComicBookMovie.com).

Ben Reilly, aka Scarlet Spider, is likely to play a prominent role, however. According to industry leaker Big Screen Leaks (BSL), the character's voice actor is being kept secret for a reason – as is another big cameo, which BSL declined to ruin pre-release.

Here are other Spider-People we've spotted in the two official trailers:

• Armored Spider-Man
• Bombastic Bag-Man
• Cyborg Spider-Woman
• Doppelganger
• Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man (PS4 and PS5 version)
• Manga Spider-Man
• Superior Spider-Man
• Spider-Cop
• Spider-Man (PS1 version)
• Spider-Man Unlimited
• Spider Monkey
• Spinneret
• Widow, aka Spider-Horse
• Wolf-Spider

Additionally, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's official poster spoiled some Spider-People appearances, such as Spectacular Spider-Man, Lady-Spider, Spiderling, and Spider Byte (who also appeared briefly in the film's second official trailer).

Live-action stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon have also expressed interest in appearing in this film or its sequel (more on this shortly). Speaking to Collider, Lord and Miller declined to comment on the trio cameo-ing, but The Cosmic Circus and CanWeGetSomeToast claim Holland will appear.

Other Spider-Men alumni in Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield could feature, too. The duo had supporting roles in Spider-Man: No Way Home but, speaking to Variety (via Fandom), Lord said of those rumors: “It's a high bar to clear. The gauntlet has been thrown [by Spider-Man: No Way Home]”, before Miller added: “All things are possible in the multiverse.” Watch this space, then.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse plot

Here's the movie’s official synopsis: “Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse saga, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. 

“After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.”

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly (EW) in 2021, Lord and Miller explained why the next chapter in Miles' story is being told over two movies: “Miles' story is an epic. We wrote what we thought the story needed to be, and to our surprise we realized it was two movies instead of one.” The pair have also described the follow-up film as “The Empire Strikes Back of the trilogy” (via Empire), while Miller has confirmed it's set one year and four months after Into the Spider-Verse.

Originally, Across the Spider-Verse was going to be an Avengers: Endgame-style movie, with a two-and-a-half hour runtime. Speaking to The Direct, though, senior animator Ere Santos revealed splitting the film into two gave Across the Spider-Verse room to breathe.

Per Empire, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's story will comprise six main universes – each with their own signature animation style. Two are seen in the 2021 teaser – Mumbatten, the Indian-inspired Earth-50101, and Nueva York, which is Spider-Man 2099's world and is based on Syd Mead's neofuturistic illustrations. We'll also visit Miles' world (Earth-1610), Spider-Gwen's universe (Earth-65, which is a watercolor-inspired realm), and Spider-Punk's New London (Earth-138) at various points. Empire claims the final universe is being kept tightly under wraps, likely due to some major spoilers.

Speaking to IndieWire, co-director Joaquim Dos Santos revealed the film's 1000-plus team worked closely with real-life Marvel artists, including Spider-Man 2099 creators Rick Leonardi and Kris Anka, to bring their work to life. “Comics are the R&D (research and development) and the foundation for all these franchises,” Dos Santos said. “But oftentimes the creators barely get a mention in the credits, so making sure they’re a part of this is super important.”

Elsewhere, Lord and Miller also hinted it might tie into the MCU. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Miller said: “The multiverse is big and wide, and all things grow. Why would you think [that in] a multiverse, in which many things are possible, that [those things are] not related?”

Lord added: “The writers and directors [on Spider-Man: No Way Home] are all buddies of ours, so we sort of have been in the loop as far as what's going on [in other movies]. And we are always trying to make sure we're not stepping on each other's toes and telling different types of stories, and different themes, and all that stuff – because people want an original story that feels new and interesting. It's our job to give it to them.”

As for Gwen Stacy's character arc, director Kemp Powers teased (per Total Film): “[This film explores] the unique dilemma of being Gwen Stacy. She’s a vigilante seen as responsible for the death of her world’s Peter Parker. [And] the cop in charge of tracking her down is her father.” 

Lord and Miller also revealed there’s one Spider-Gwen scene that'll really tug at our heartstrings, so we can expect Gwen to grapple with what it means to be a Spider-Person just as much as Miles. Powers and fellow director Justin K Thompson also told Cartoon Brew we'll see more family-based drama play out between Miles, Gwen, and their respective parents.

Where The Spot is concerned, directer Justin K. Thompson revealed 17 new tools were created to help The Spot's various ink-style spots function fluidly. Powers also told Cartoon Brew: “From the very beginning, he just seemed like endless potential visually and the arc of the character. His arc really complements the journey of Miles in this film really well.”

With those official comments out of the way, what can we determine from what we’ve seen of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

Potential Across the Spider-Verse story spoilers follow.

Initially, we thought Spider-Man 2099 would be Miles' new mentor. However, with Peter B. Parker confirmed to return, plus Spider-Man 2099 grappling with Miles in both trailers, it seems they'll end up clashing. The latest trailer and story synopsis make out that a Spidey civil war is on the way, so maybe Miles and Spider-Man 2099 become the figureheads of each faction, with Gwen caught in the middle. Speaking to EW, Miller teased: “He [Spider-Man 2009] is not the villain of the movie, but he's sort of an antagonist to Miles because they both think that what they're doing is the right thing.” 

Is that really the case, though? Speaking during the trailer afterparty, Phil Lord surprisingly revealed Spider-Gwen is actually recruited by Spider-Man 2099 to join his Spider-Force/Spider-Society team. Miles, though, doesn't, and she can't tell him why. The plot thickens…

As for Spider-Woman, Chris Miller explained she'll be a mentor to Gwen and that her movie look is inspired by a “comic run when she's pregnant during Secret Wars”. Could we see elements of that comic series used in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

Spider-Woman isn't the only Spider-Force individual that Spider-Gwen is close to. She'll also have a tight bond with Spider-Punk, with the pair's penchant for music a particularly cool shared interest. Understandably, Miles is jealous of their friendship.

And what of fans who have been shipping Gwen and Miles since 2018's Into the Spider-Verse? Can they expect a romance to finally blossom in this film? According to Lord: “It's… complicated. Long distance relationships are hard”. However, Amy Pascal, one of the movie's executive producers, has described Across the Spider-Verse as a “love story between Miles and Gwen” (per Empire), so romantic sparks may fly after all.

Lastly, given the secrecy around the live-action Spider-Man stars' appearances and Across the Spider-Verse's final universe, will this movie actually cross over with Sony and Marvel's live-action Spider-Man universe and the MCU? Industry leaker Daniel Richtman suggests we will. If these worlds collide, expect fans (us included) to lose our minds over the unprecedented crossover.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sequel

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's sequel, titled Beyond the Spider-Verse, is expected to land in cinemas on March 29, 2024. Its release date was revealed alongside Across the Spider-Verse's revised launch date, although Beyond the Spider-Verse's arrival could change if it needs additional development time.

Very little is known about this movie. Given its title, though, could we see Miles and company make the jump into live-action and potentially appear in the MCU (that's if they don't do so in this film, anyway)? It would be a hugely crowd pleasing moment if that happened, but we'll have to wait and see how Across the Spider-Verse ends first. There are rumors already floating around the internet about Beyond the Spider-Verse, too, so be safe out there!

For more Spider-Man content, find out which Spider-Person will be the first to receive a live-action show on Prime Video, plus the second Spider-Person who'll follow in their footsteps on Amazon's streaming service. Alternatively, read our Spider-Man movies ranked piece, or read about which Spider-Man films are available on Disney Plus again.