Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 reveals its official title and first footage

Our Spidey-senses are tingling with the reveal of the official title for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2. It's known as Across the Spider-Verse – and there's an exciting addendum: Part One. This means that the Spider-Verse sequel is the first in a two-part story (more details below).

Either way, it reunites us with the likeably goofy Miles Morales/Spider-Man (voiced by Shameik Moore), and his blossoming relationship with Gwen Stacey/Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld). The extended clip shows the flirtatious Gwen humorously playing on Miles' dual identities, luring him away from his apartment, where he's been grounded in classic teenage fashion, and encouraging his Spidey side to come out. She then appears to take Miles back into the multiverse, which is currently all the rage owing to the imminent release of the live-action Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The gorgeously designed and imaginative Into the Spider-Verse came from the brains of LEGO movie filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, eventually scooping the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. That made Spider-Verse the first superhero movie to win any kind of Best Film Oscar, a historic moment for the genre. The tentative friendship between Miles and Gwen (and it may well become more than that) was, at best, an implicit thing in the first film. However, it's now set to become the crux of the sequel's storyline. 

We have many questions about the Spider-Verse sequel, mainly relating to the title. If it's called Across the Multiverse, how many multiverses are we going to see in this, and potential future, chapters? Which characters will be on the side of Miles and Gwen? Which villains will they face? The initial movie amalgamated older Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), Spider-Noir (Nicolas Cage) and others, so the possibilities are surely endless as the series proceeds.

"Miles' story is an epic," Lord and Miller told Entertainment Weekly. "We wrote what we thought the story needed to be, and to our surprise, we realised it was two movies instead of one. We're working on them both as we speak. Part Two will be out sometime in 2023. We will sleep again in 2024."

The extended clip gives us a glimpse of the striking new animation techniques that have come from helmers Joachim dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin T. Thompson. And that mysterious suited figure who grabs Miles as he's falling through the multiverse? That's Spider-Man 2099, who was teased at the end of Spider-Verse as voiced by Oscar Isaac. We also know that Issa Rae will be voicing Spider-Woman and there will be appearances from characters such as Japanese Spider-Man.

To say we're excited about this one is an understatement. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) is due to hit Cineworld screens on 7th October 2022. (We're curious as to why Lord and Miller refer to 2023 in the above quote – stay tuned for more details.)

In the meantime, Spider-Man: No Way Home hits Cineworld on 15th December.