Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse revolutionized animated superhero films, as Sony’s take on Miles Morales was a lively and stylized blend of 2D and 3D techniques unlike anything we’d seen before. But it’s hard to be state-of-the-art, and there were five years between the releases of Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel, Across the Spider-Verse. The trilogy’s final installment, Beyond the Spider-Verse, has been equally mired with issues and delays, but for once, the release date has been moved up instead of pushed back.
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse had an initial release window of 2023 (and a working title of Across the Spider-Verse Part Two), but was pushed back to March 2024. It soon became clear that even that would be unrealistic, especially after concerns about working conditions for its artists began to emerge.
In June 2023, an anonymous Spider-Verse artist bluntly told Vulture, “There’s no way that movie’s coming out then,” especially since Across the Spider-Verse had “barely [crossed] the finish line.” Soon after, the movie was removed from Sony’s release schedule altogether, with the writers’ and actors' strikes stated as the cause.
Fans kept waiting for a new release date, but it took until April 2025 for co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller to announce one at CinemaCon: June 4, 2027. Then, three months later, it was delayed yet again, to June 25, 2027.
Now, however, there may finally be an end to this saga in sight. According to Variety, Beyond the Spider-Verse’s release date has actually moved up, to June 18, 2027. It may only be a week, but it’s movement in the right direction.
The movie has obviously taken more time and resources than expected, but if the release date is now being moved for strategic reasons, that means the biggest concern is no longer whether the movie will be finished, but which summer weekend has the most potential.
By the time 2027 rolls around, it will have been almost 10 years since we first entered the Spider-Verse. But these movies have been so good that it’s worth the wait, especially if it means that the artists making them aren’t suffering for their work.
